Polar bears are suffering in a much {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (warm) world.

    Polar bears live in environments too cold for most animals. During much of the year, they live and hunt on the frozen Arctic sea ice. Nature has {#blank#}2{#/blank#} （prepare）them for the cold conditions. But nothing has prepared the bears for the danger {#blank#}3{#/blank#} threatens the only home they know.

    The polar bears' world is melting. Studies show that the amount of the polar ice {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（have）decreased by 9.8% every 10 years since 1978. Now about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears live in the Arctic. Polar bears rely {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the sea ice for their survival. “The sea ice is more {#blank#}6{#/blank#} just this platform that the bears walk over,” says Andrew Derocher, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} scientist who studies North American polar bear populations. “{#blank#}8{#/blank#} it, they can't exist.”

    Some melting and refreezing of the polar ice is natural. But in a warmer world, these cycles speed up, and bears have less time {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (hunt). Normally, they have three months in the spring when they gain more weight. The extra fat is used later, when the bears are not {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(active) hunting.

—To be practical, I prefer to live in the country farming rather{#blank#}1{#/blank#} stay in the city living poorly.

    Diets have changed in China — and so too has its top crop. Since 2011, the country {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(grow) more corn than rice. Corn production has jumped nearly 125 percent over {#blank#}2{#/blank#} past 25 years, while rice has increased only 7 percent.

    A taste for meat is {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (actual) behind the change: An important part of its corn is used to feed chickens, pigs, and cattle. Another reason for corn's rise: The government encourages farmers to grow corn instead of rice {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (improve) water quality. Corn uses less water {#blank#}5{#/blank#} rice and creates less fertilizer(化肥) runoff. This switch has decreased {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (pollute) in the country's major lakes and reservoirs and made drinking water safer for people.

    According to the World Bank, China accounts for about 30 percent of total {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (globe)fertilizer consumption. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture finds that between 2005—when the government {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (start) a soil-testing program {#blank#}9{#/blank#} gives specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers - and 2011, fertilizer use dropped by 7.7 million tons. That prevented the emission(排放) of 51.8 million tons of carbon dioxide. China's approach to protecting its environment while {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (feed) its citizens "offers useful lessons for agriculture and food policymakers worldwide." says the bank's Juergen Voegele.

My wife and I like watching plays, so we will go to the theater whenever we have time. But before we buy tickets, we would like to know if the play is good or bad. When a new play comes, we {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  (usual) read the newspaper to get information about it. Last week a new play was put on at the theater. The newspaper said it was very {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (interest) so we decided to go on Saturday night. My wife took a long time to make her {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (decide) about what to wear and we left our house a little late. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the time we got to the theater, the first act had already {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (begin). After the play was over, we met some friends, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} lived next to us several years ago. Then we went dancing. By the time we got home, it was about two o'clock in the morning. I'm not used to {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (stay) out so late and I was {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (extreme) tired.

When I was younger, I did not have the money to go out for {#blank#}9{#/blank#} evening like this. Though I can afford it now, I don't have the energy{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(enjoy) it.

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.