We all love new inventions. 1 _________________________________________________. But have all these inventions really improved the quality of our lives? Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen. 2 _______________________________________________. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, with no telephone, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? 3 ________________________________________________________________.

   One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10and Thomas, 7. spent nine weeks in a house of the 1940s. 4 _________________________________________. The grandmother, Lyn, said, “5__________________________________________________”. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy, beer-drinking granny to one who cooked things”.

   We all love new inventions. 1 _________________________________________________. But have all these inventions really improved the quality of our lives? Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen. 2 _______________________________________________. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, with no telephone, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? 3 ________________________________________________________________.

   One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10and Thomas, 7. spent nine weeks in a house of the 1940s. 4 _________________________________________. The grandmother, Lyn, said, “5__________________________________________________”. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy, beer-drinking granny to one who cooked things”.

When Susan told me that she was terribly ill and probably would die. I cried. I didn’t understand why this happened to my best friend. Then Susan   35  me a red ribbon(丝带) without saying anything.

A month later, Susan was at a hospital about two hours away from where we lived. I asked my dad to take me to see her. I wanted to give my best friend a   36 . So I took out the ribbon and cut it into two pieces with scissors(剪刀). I put one in my pocket and the other in an envelope(信封), along with a letter explaining it to her. I told her to keep her   37  beside her bed, and I would keep mine near me, too. Then I went to the hospital one Friday afternoon, wondering (想知道) if the ribbon would   38  anything to her. I walked into the room and ran over to give her a big hug. Then I gave her a teddy bear and the envelope. We talked for a while and then she started looking   39 , so I asked her to get some rest and left the hospital. All the way home I   40 the ribbon close to me.

For the next four months, the ribbon was with me  41 I went: school, home, shopping, and at friends’ houses. Where I went, it went. It was something to remind(提醒)me that I had a friend who would   42  home very soon. Susan said that she wore her ribbon   43  her arm all the time and she always had it close to her when she was being tested and treated.

Finally, Susan came home! I was so happy. That night, I looked at the ribbon which was still with me. I had a feeling it would never   44 , that I would remember what had happened during the time she had been ill.