Life as Chopsticks

    Right now, more and more people are digging into their food with {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (二) sticks which are called chopsticks. Even people eating with knives and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(餐叉) begin to love them.  What's so special about them? Because they have deep influence in many people's ways of life.

    Simplicity. There's {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (几乎不) anything simpler than chopsticks. With new technology developing every day, there is {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (仍然) something that has just one use--simply to eat.  Also the chopsticks don't {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(花费) much. In real life, we don't need to keep improving things all the time.

    Aim. When using chopsticks, you can not pick up everything in one go. Know what you want and just do it. Sometimes, a little bit of focus makes the difference{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (在……之间) failure and success.

    Practice. Using chopsticks doesn't come naturally. You have to learn to use them and practice it, Most would {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(同意) that there's no better way than to practice. In real life, you may have many things you want to do, but it will just be a {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(梦想) if you don't try doing it.

    Slowing down. A healthy way to eat is to eat with chopsticks. It slows you down and it {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (允许) your stomach to tell your brain you are full before you overeat. In our life, we sometimes need slow down to have time to think, to realize that we're actually full and don't have to rush full {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(速度) through life.

    Before paper was invented, people wrote or drew on materials such as bamboo, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} /sɪlk/, animal hide, and wooden blocks. Writing materials were {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (real) expensive and few people learned to read. Therefore, few people wrote. This all changed, thanks {#blank#}3{#/blank#} an man named Cai Lun.

    Paper had already existed (存在) in China , but the process for {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (produce) it was difficult and the paper was of low quality. Cai Lun began experimenting (试验) with many different materials and different {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (method) to turn those materials into paper. In the year 105, he made it from tree bark, bamboo, cloth rags, and fishing nets. His paper was {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (strong) and cheaper than any paper that had been made before.

    With Cai Lun's papermaking method, Chinese culture {#blank#}7{#/blank#} /ɡruː/ more rapidly over the next several centuries. That's because ideas were much easier to share {#blank#}8{#/blank#} more people learned to read. The use of paper spread abroad, helping {#blank#}9{#/blank#} /'ʌðə/ cultures record and spread their ideas. Today, Cai Lun is considered a national hero in China. But {#blank#}10{#/blank#} whole world should remember the clever Chinese papermaker forever.