Swedish businessman Nile Bergqvist is delighted with his new hotel, the world's first igloo(冰屋) hotel.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (build) in a small town, it has been attracting lots of visitors but soon the fun will be over. In two weeks' time，Bergqvst's ice creation {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (be) nothing more than a pool of water. “We don't see it as a big problem,” he says. “We just look forward to {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (replace) it.”

    Bergqvist built his first igloo in 1991 for an art exhibition. It was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} successful that he designed the present one, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} measures roughly 200 square meters. Six workmen spent more than eight weeks —piling 1,000 tons of snow onto a wooden base；when the snow froze, the base {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (remove).

After their stay, all visitors receive a survival certificate recording their success. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} no windows, nowhere to hang clothes and temperatures below 0℃, it may seem more like a survival test {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a relaxing hotel break. “It's great fun,” Bergqvist explains, “as {#blank#}9{#/blank#} as a good start in survival training.''

    The {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (popular)of the igloo is beyond doubt：it is now attracting tourists from all over the world. At least 800 people have stayed at the igloo this season even though there are only 10 rooms.

    As I write this, I'm sitting on a bus back to Santiago in Chile where I am currently working{#blank#}1{#/blank#}a language assistant. I've just spent the weekend in a city called La Serena north of Santiago. I was lucky enough to see the flowering desert, a natural phenomenon that {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(occur) around every five years here in the Atacama Desert.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(follow) a particularly large amount of rainfall earlier, a{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(vary) of flowers come into blossom. Bright purple flowers create {#blank#}5{#/blank#} unbelievably beautiful scene at the base of the surrounding mountains.

    {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(catch) a glimpse of this magnificent treasure of nature, we took a bus from La Serena to a nearby town and then rented a car to go to the desert.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} we saw did not disappoint us, and as expected it was even more fascinating than the pictures we had seen online. The bloom was particularly {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(impress) this year due to the strong presence of El Niño (a band of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that changes the temperatures and increases the rainfall in certain areas). The vast carpet of colour {#blank#}9{#/blank#} spread into the distance towards the contrasting green hills was {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(simple) breathtaking and deserved a large amount of photos! A real reminder of the beauty our planet can provide.

    Just up the road from my home is a field，with two horses in it. From a distance，each horse looks like any other horse. But if you get a{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(close)look, you will notice one of them is blind. Instead of abandoning him, his owner has made him a safe and comfortable barn to live in. And if you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (come) from{#blank#}3{#/blank#} smaller horse. Attached to{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(it) halter is a small, copper-colored bell assisting the blind friend to follow him.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} you watch them，you'll find the horse with the bell always checking on the blind one，and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to {#blank#}6{#/blank#}the other one is，{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(trust ) he will not {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (lead) astray (歧路). When the horse with the bell returns to the barn each evening，he will stop {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(frequent) to look back，making sure that the other isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

    Life does not throw us away just because we are not perfect {#blank#}10{#/blank#}because we have problems or challenges. Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of our acquaintances；at other times we are the guide horse，who helps others to find their way.

    Wang Wei and Wang Kun are brothers and sisters. They have dreamed of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(take) a great bike trip. It was Wang Wei {#blank#}2{#/blank#} first had the idea to cycle along the Mekong River and finally they{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(ride) bicycles to travel along the river, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} source is in Qinghai Province. When it enters Southeast Asia, it travels slowly through hills and low valleys and the plains {#blank#}5{#/blank#} rice grows. Despite the {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(difficult), Wang Kun and Wang Wei were {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(determination) to begin their journey at {#blank#}8{#/blank#} altitude of more than 5,000 metres in Qinghai Province. During their journey, they enjoyed the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (continue) change of the weather. At last they reached Dali in Yunnan, where Dao Wei and Yu Hang joined them. The four of them went on {#blank#}10{#/blank#}their great bike trip.

Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.

People {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(influence) to become technology addicted. One survey reported that "addicted" was the word most commonly used by people {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(describe) their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(resist) the temptation of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.

The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. I see people {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(trap)in a pathological (病态的) relationship with time-consuming technology,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude(奴役). I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence {#blank#}7{#/blank#} uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.

What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what we need to ask {#blank#}8{#/blank#} if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about the use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for the wisdom that "too much of a good thing is wonderful." {#blank#}9{#/blank#} it's time to discover today's overused technology.

Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that "we can be swept away by our technologies," To break the grand digital connection, people must consider{#blank#}10{#/blank#} life long ago could be fantastic without today's overused technology.