Teenage life—better now, or in the past?

    Does this situation sound familiar（熟悉）?

    You are complaining（抱怨）to your parents about something. Maybe your computer isn't powerful enough to play the latest games.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}.Then you hear…

    “When I was your age, there weren't any computers or video games. And I didn't get a bike until I was sixteen. And it was second-hand.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}”

    So, is it really true that life is better for teenagers now? It is certainly true that many teenagers have got more things nowadays.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}So parents have got more money to spend on each child. And many things are cheaper than they were when our parents were children.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Forty years ago, no one could imagine a world with tiny computers and amazing smartphones. And now these things are necessary—we can't imagine living without them!

    However, technology often means we spend more time at home. And often it's just us, with our computer or television. Teenagers don't do enough exercise.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} And, although young people still get on well with their friends, some people think teenagers today don't have so many social activities as they did in the past.

    What do you think? How is teenage life better these days?

A. And it was too big for me.

B. A typical family is smaller now.

C. Or your friends' bikes are better than yours.

D. So they aren't as healthy as they were in the past.

E. Technology is probably the greatest change in our life.

    Me Before You is my favorite romance(浪漫)novel by British writer Jojo Moyes. It tells the story of Louisa Clark and William Traynor (known as Will). At the end of the book, Will dies and leaves Louisa a lot of money. What happens next？You can find out in the book's sequel(续集)After You.

    Will wants Louisa to use the money to live her life happily and richly—to travel, discover new chances and continue her education. However, Louisa is too sad and finds it difficult to forget Will. Louisa now works at a bar in an airport, watching people fly to amazing places. Her boss is really unfriendly and she lives in an apartment that doesn't feel like home.

    However, all of this is about to change. One night, Louisa meets a girl at her doorstep(门阶). She tells Louisa where she is and Louisa can't believe her cars. If she closes the door, her life will stay the same. If she opens the door, she will accept challenges and become the woman Will wanted her to be. Which will she choose？You'll have to find out the answer for yourself.

    Jojo Moyes wrote After You because she wanted to give her characters from Me Before You a future. Her use of language is as descriptive(描写性的)and powerful as that in Me Before

    You. One special quote(引文), "Because me being here sort of means you're still here", deeply touched me. I think this line is really emotional(有感染力的)and powerful.

   Hi, I'm a girl. My name is Ann. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} It is A-N-N, Ann. This is my family photo. Look! This is my grandpa, Bill. It's BAI-L-L, Bill. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} This is my father. His name is David. My father has no brother.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} I call her Aunt Mary. That is my mother and her name is Emma. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} And she has a red jacket. Those are my two brothers. They are Mike and Mark. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Mike has a purple pencil box. Mark's pencil box is blue. Yellow is my favorite color and I have a yellow schoolbag. And I'm 8.

    Zhou Yan, a Junior 3 students in Taiyuan, wishes he never got a mobile phone. Last week he went to see a doctor because his arms and fingers were in great pain, and he could not see very well. The doctor told him that he had "mobile phone disease". A growing number of teenagers(青少年) are getting "mobile phone disease" because more and more people are using mobile phones.

    Zhou got his mobile phone only five months ago. His mum bought it for him to use when he was out. But Zhou used it to send messages to his friends. He sent messages to them all the time, even after going to bed, Zhou started to do badly in the exams because he spent so much time playing with his mobile phone. His mum got very angry with him but Zhou Yan didn't stop playing with the mobile phone until his arms started to hurt, Yang Ling, a doctor, says that if someone uses his mobile phone too much, like Zhou Yan, he might get "mobile phone disease".

    If teenagers find their arms or fingers hurt, they should go to see a doctor as soon as possible. Yang Ling suggests teenagers should try to use their mobile phones less, especially at school. They should try to have fun in other ways, such as reading and doing sports.

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