In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Singapore, Korea, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

    Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine（使……结合）different kinds of hardwoods and metal {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (create) special designs.

    The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) twigs（树枝）to remove it. Over time, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (gradual) turned into chopsticks.

    Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced（影响）the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killing and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) too violent for use at the table.

    Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat {#blank#}10{#/blank#} their hands.

    Ask helpful Hannah

    Dear helpful Hannah,

    I've got a problem with my husband, Sam. He bought a smart phone a couple of months ago and he took it on our recent ski vacation to Colorado, it was a great trip except for one problem. He has a constant urge {#blank#}1{#/blank#} for next messages; he checks his phone every five minutes! He's so addicted to it that he just can't stand the idea{#blank#}2{#/blank#} there may be an important text. He can't help checking even at inappropriate times like when we are eating in a restaurant and I am talking to him! He behaves {#blank#}3{#/blank#} any small amount of boredom can make him feel the need to check his phone even when he know he shouldn't. The temptation to see {#blank#}4{#/blank#} is connecting him is just too great. When I ask him to put down the phone and stop {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  (ignore) me, he say, “In a minute.” but still checks to see if {#blank#}6{#/blank#} has posted something new on the Internet. Our life {#blank#}7{#/blank#}  (interrupted). If we go somewhere and I ask him to have the phone at home, he suffers from withdrawal symptom. May this dependency on his smart phone has become more than an everyday problem.

    I recently read an article about “nomophobia,”{#blank#}8{#/blank#} is a real illness people can't suffer from the fear of being without your phone! I am worried that Sam maybe suffering from this illness because he feels anxious if he doesn't have his phone with him, even for a short time.

Who would have thought that little devices like these could have brought so much trouble!

    Sick and Tired Sadie

    Increasingly, Americans are becoming their own doctors by going to diagnose their symptoms, order home health tests or medical devices, or even self-treat their illnesses with drugs from Internet pharmacies(药店).Some avoid doctors because of the high cost of medical care, especially{#blank#}1{#/blank#} they lack health insurance. Or they may stay away because they find it{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(embarrass) to discuss their weight, smoking, alcohol consumption or couch potato habits. Patients may also fear what they might learn about their health, or they distrust physicians because of negative {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (experience) in the past. But{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(play) doctor can also be a deadly game.

Every day, more than six million Americans turn to the Internet{#blank#}5{#/blank#}medical answers— and most of them aren't nearly sceptical enough of what they find. A 2002 survey by the Pew Internet &American Life Project found that 72 percent of those{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(survey) believe all or most of what they read on health websites. They shouldn't look up “headache” and the chances of finding {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(rely) and complete information, free from a motivation for commercial gain,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (be) only one in ten, reports an April 2005 Brown Medical School study. Of the 169 websites the researchers rated, only 16 scored as “high quality”. Recent studies found faulty facts about all sorts of other disorders, causing one research team to warn that a large amount of incomplete, inaccurate and even dangerous{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (inform) exists on the Internet.

    The problem is most people don't know the safe way to surf the Web. “They use a search engine like Google, get 18 trillion choices and start clicking. But that's risky, because almost anybody can put up a site that looks authoritative ( 权威的), so it's hard to know if what you're reading is {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(reason) or not,” says Dr. Sarah Bass from the National Cancer Institute.

    All the customers who went to the new supermarket had one strong wish to be the lucky customer who did not have to pay {#blank#}1{#/blank#} her shopping, for the notice inside the entrance {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (say), "Remember, once a week, one of our customers gets free goods. This may be your lucky day!"

    For several weeks, Mrs. Edwards hoped to be one of the lucky {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (housewife) like many of her friends. She never gave up hope. Cupboards in her kitchen {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (fill) with things that she didn't need at all. She dreamed of the day {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the manager of the supermarket would say to her with a smile, "Madam, this is your lucky day. Everything in your basket is free."

    One Friday afternoon, after she had finished shopping and had taken it to her car, she found that she had forgotten to buy some sugar. She rushed {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to the supermarket, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (get) the sugar and went towards the cash desk. As she did {#blank#}8{#/blank#}, she saw the manager of the supermarket come up to her and said, "{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (congratulate)! You are the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (lucky) among all the customers this week and everything in your basket is free!"