Problem: When Gretchen Baxter gets home from work as a New York City book editor, she checks her Blackberry at the door. "I think we are attached to these devices in a way that is not always positive," says Baxter, who'd rather focus at home on her husband and 12-year-old daughter. "It's there and it beckons . That's human nature (but)...we kind of get crazy sometimes and we don't know where it should stop."

Americans are connected at unprecedented levels--93% now use cell phones or wireless devices; one third of those are "smart phones" that allow users to browse the web and check e-mails, among other things. The benefits are obvious: checking messages on the road, staying in touch with friends and family, efficiently using time once spent waiting around. The _ : often, we're effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.

That's why, despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever, 2010 was the year we stopped talking to one another. From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook from work or checking e-mails while on a date, the connectivity revolution is creating a lot of divided attention, not to mention social anxiety. Many analysts say it's time to step back and reassess .

"What we're going to see in the future is new opportunities for people to be plugged in and connected like never before," says Scott Campbell. "It can be a good thing, but I also see new ways the traditional social construction is getting somewhat torn apart."

Our days are filled with beeps and pings--many of which pull us away from tasks at hand or face-to-face conversations. We may feel that the distractions are too much, but we can't seem to stop posting, texting or surfing. "We're going through a period of adjustment and rebalancing, " says Sherry Turkle and she wants to remind people that technology can be turned off. "Our human purposes are to really have connections with people," she says. "We have to reclaim it. It's not going to take place by itself."
1. What percentage of Americans use wireless devices?
2. What are 1/3 of those?
3. What did we stop doing in 2010?
4. What social media site is mentioned?
5. What kind of anxiety is it causing?
6. What are we going to see more of in the future?
7. according to whom?
8. What does Sherry Turkle want to remind people to do?
9. What does she think human's purpose is?
10. Does she think it will happen all by itself?
11. What does Gretchen Baxter do when she gets home?
12. Where does she live?
13. Is she married?
14. Does she have children?
15. How old is her child?
Answer: 1. 93%
2. smart phones
3. we stopped talking to one another
4. Facebook
5. social anxiety
6. new opportunities for people to be plugged in and connected
7. Scott Campbell
8. she wants to remind people that technology can be turned off
9. to really have connections with people
10. no
11. she checks her Blackberry at the door
12. New York City
13. Yes
14. Yes
15. 12

Q: As young Chinese increasingly forget how to write characters because they don't have to, using keyboards and touch screen technology on mobile phones is changing the trend.

For Yin Liang, a 26-year-old purchasing agent at a company, his embarrassment over forgetting how to write characters has gradually disappeared since he started to use the handwriting input method on his iPhone 4 a month ago.

"When you write on the touch screen, you use your finger, instead of a mouse or keyboard," Yin says.

"Actually, your finger is like a pen, writing the complicated characters that have long been spelled by pinyin, an alphabet-based input system. Whether typing on computers or texting on phones, most users in China type by phonetically spelling out the sounds of the characters and the software then gives a menu of characters that fit the pronunciation, so users only need to recognize the character.

Handwriting technology on a mobile phone touch screen has been around for years and became popular with the iPhone, which recognizes the input and offers a wide selection of characters.

"It's efficient and accurate," Yin says.

Chinese characters are the oldest continuously used system of writing in the world, but as pinyin-based typing has become more widespread, youths have started forgetting how to write out characters. This was one of the main topics for debate at the first Cross-Straits Chinese Character Art Festival, held recently in Beijing, which attracted experts from Taiwan and the mainland.

According to Zhang Zikang, president of the Culture and Art Publishing House, writing with a pen on the touch screen brings handwriting into the digital age. It is even better when you write with your finger, feeling the flow of the cursive script and the grace and art of Chinese characters, he says.

"Smart gadgets don't take life from the square-shaped characters, instead they offer a new and advanced platform to show the charm of Chinese characters, which are always evolving," Zhang says.

Answer the following questions:
1. What is like a pen?
2. Who are fogetting how to draw letters?
3. Why?
4. What is helping to change that?
5. What is the name of a purchasing agent?
6. How old is he?
7. How long has handwriting ability been available on phones?
8. Which phone made it popular?
A: 1. your finge
2. young Chinese
3. they don't have to, using keyboards and touch screen technology on mobile phones
4. the handwriting input method on his iPhone 4
5. Yin Liang
6. 26
7. Handwriting technology on a mobile phone touch screen has been around for years
8. popular with the iPhone

Problem: Lulu is a little dog. She likes to play with her toys. She really likes her little lamb. She likes when Lauren throws her lamb. Lulu likes to chases the lamb. Lulu doesn't like to bring the lamb back to Lauren. Lauren gets mad.

Lulu likes to bark. She barks at the children outside. She barks when the mailman comes to the door. Lulu barks at everything. Lulu barks all the time. Daddy gets mad.

Lulu likes to eat. She likes her dog food. Her dog food has a picture of dog that looks like her on the bag. Lulu likes her food, but she likes the cat's food better. The cat gets mad.

Lulu likes to drink water. Her favorite water bowl is in her cage. Lulu likes that water bowl because it's the right height. Lulu likes her water bowl, but she likes Heather's glass of water better. Heather gets mad.

Lulu likes her bed. She goes there to rest. She likes to sleep on the blanket there. Her favorite blanket is from Grandma. Lulu likes Grandma's blanket, but she likes Alan's better. Alan gets mad.

Lulu curls up on the blanket on the couch. Lauren gives Lulu her lamb to sleep with. Daddy pets Lulu. The cat licks Lulu. Heather thinks Lulu looks sweet. Alan lets Lulu use his blanket. No one gets mad at Lulu.
1. what is lulu?
2. what does she like to play with?
3. what toy does she like the most?
4. who throws the lamb?
5. Who does she bark at?
6. does she bark at anyone else?
7. what does lulu eat
8. Which does she like better?
9. does the cat get mad for eating her food?
10. where is lulu's favorite water bowl?
Answer:
1. dog
2. She likes to play with her toys
3. lamb
4. lauren
5. children outside
6. everything.
7. dog and cat food
8. cat food
9. yes
10. in her cage