Are you shy? If you are, you are not alone. In fact, close to 50 percent of people are shy. Almost 80 percent of people feel shy at some point in their lives. These days, shyness is becoming more and more common. Now, scientists are trying to understand shyness. They have some interesting ideas about why people are shy.

Is it possible to be born shy? Many scientists say yes. They say 15 to 20 percent of babies behave shyly. These babies are a little quieter and more watchful than other babies. Interestingly, these shy babies usually have shy parents. As a result, scientists think that some shyness is genetic.

Family size might cause people to be shy as well. Scientists at Harvard University studied shy children. They found that 66 percent of them had older brothers and sisters. As a result, they became shy. At the same time, children with no brothers and sisters may be shy as well. Growing up alone, they often play by themselves. They are not able to learn the same social skills as children from big families.

You may also be shy because of where you were born. When scientists studied shyness in different countries, they found surprising differences. In Japan, most people said they were shy. But in Israel, only one of three people said so. What explains the difference? One scientist says the Japanese and Israelis have different opinions of failure. In Japan, when people do not succeed, they feel bad about themselves. They blame（责备）themselves for their failure. In Israel, the opposite is true. Israelis often blame failure on outside reasons, such as family, teachers, friends, or bad luck. In Israel, freedom of opinion and risk taking are strongly supported. This may be why Israelis worry less about failure and are less shy.

For shy people, it can be difficult to make friends, speak in class, and even get a good job. But scientists say you can get over your shyness. They suggest trying new things and practicing conversation. And don't forget—if you are shy, you are not the only one.

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    What picture do you have of the future? Will life in the future be better, worse or the same as now? What do you hope for about the future? Scientists think that life will probably be very different in 2050.

    First of all, it seems that people won't use TV channels by 2050. Instead, people will choose a program from a "menu" and a computer will send the program directly to the television.

    Water will become a very serious problem. We'll need much more water, but there won't be enough. Some scientists think that water would be the cause of war.

    Cars will run on new clean energy and they will go very fast. And there won't be any accidents with the help of computers. On the other hand, space planes will take people around the world in two hours.

   Robots will work in factories instead of people. Many factories have already used robots. Big companies prefer robots—they do not ask for money, and they work for 24 hours a day.

    In a word, by 2050, our life will change a lot and our future will be quite different from now.

My friend Alice visited me last week. She arrived in Hong Kong on Wednesday morning. She came from Australia. I showed her around. 

We visited the Clock Tower first. The Clock Tower was very tall. We took some photos there. Then we went to Hong Kong Science Museum. After that, we saw a good movie. 

The next day, we visited the Ladies' Market （女人街）. There were a lot of clothes shops. The clothes were cheap and beautiful. Alice bought some clothes for her parents and friends. Then we went to the Dried Seafood Street. We bought some seafood. We also had seafood in a restaurant. Both of us enjoyed the food. Then we went to a concert （音乐会） in the evening. The music was fantastic （极好的）！

On the third day, the weather was very hot, so we decided to visit Hong Kong Wetland Park. We saw many kinds of plants and animals in it. They were very interesting. Alice went back to Australia on Friday evening. She enjoyed the trip. She invited （邀请） me to visit Australia next summer. 

Will you feel happy if your friends are happy? If your friends are sad, how will you feel? An old man lived in a village.He was one of the 1 people in the world.The whole village was tired of 2 because of his bad mood (情绪).Even on big days, while other villagers were celebrating, he was still complaining.When people tried to cheer him up, he would turn them away.His bad mood could also easily 3 to others.By 4 like these, he made the rest of the villagers feel unhappy as well.So nobody liked to stay with him.

An unbelievable thing happened on 5 day when he turned 80 years old.One neighbour told the villagers, "The old man is happy today.His face looks 6 than before and he is smiling at us.He hasn't complained about 7 .It's very strange, isn't it?"

8 surprised the villagers were! They ran to see the old man.Someone asked the old man, "What 9 to you?"

"Nothing special has happened, in fact," the man said."For 80 years I 10 unhappy.I tried to look 11 happiness, but it was no use.Now I just want to enjoy 12 my life simply.That's the reason why I'm happy now."

Everyone has bad days sometimes.It is important to realize that your mood 13 affect(影响) the people around you.14 someone tries to cheer you up, don't be rude to them.Just try to accept their help 15 .