Before COVID I used to go swimming a lot. I’d also do yoga a couple of times a week, but because of the situation, everything suddenly ________. To be honest, I was kind of at a loss what to do with myself.

One day as I was ________ Facebook, I saw a Mirthy event. Being an ex-teacher, this seemed really interesting so I thought I’d give it a ________! I really enjoyed it. After this event, I looked around the ________ and saw it also provided yoga classes. ________, I felt that the ________, Elaine, was really patient and ________ to the audience. After one class I was absolutely ________. I really can’t say enough about these ________ events because they’ve ________ me to a whole new world.

This community is so lovely that I ________ quite a lot since first joining. I’ve been doing both the live exercise classes and the live talks. You really feel like you are ________ with everybody else! We all know that mental stimulation (激励), especially as you get older is the key to good ________. So, when COVID really took over and we were ________, I became very inactive and didn’t care really about anything anymore. I had ________ to look forward to, and now with Mirthy I really do. Mirthy.co.uk now offers ________ of events too. Sometimes you just want to watch it back at a later date.

I’ve ________ for 45 years, so I’m a great believer in lifelong learning. Some people just go into retirement (退休) and think, “oh, I can ________ now” — but you need more, something to keep you ________ and interested in the world. Give Mirthy a couple of weeks and just join the occasional event and you will ________ it.

Brandon and Derek's mother, Beth Lash, shared a Facebook video on Dec. 25, 2017.when Bandon _______his card out loud. On Brandon Lash's 24th birthday, his little brother, Derek, _______him with a rather large card filled with an even bigger _______．

"I have always _______you，" Brandon reads from the front of the card, _______by this brother．

"I love spending time with you. I'm so _______I have you for my brother. You have always been there for me, even though I get on your nerves sometimes．You will always have a piece of my heart，" Brandon continues, opening up the _______．

"And now you will have my _______, too. We are a _______match．" Brandon reads, ________the card to the floor and breaking down into ________．

Brandon has kidney receives ________three times a week, and was told that he had been recommended for the transplant list. Unfortunately, his parents are not a match, but ________, his brother is．

"I can't believe Derek would ________so much all this for me，" Brandon tells the publication. " He's giving me a ________to have a healthy life again. I________can't believe it's happening．"

"I________seeing him sick and knew something needed to be done to make him healthy again．" Derek adds. "Not only was I the________thing to do, but the only thing to do. He's my brother. We didn't know ________he could be on the transplant list, and I knew I just wanted my ________brother back．"

“It’s time to wake up, Emily,” my mom sings from the kitchen. I ______ to open my eyes. Why didn’t the alarm on my cellphone go off?

Soon, I realize today is the day for my ______ : “A day without technology.”

I didn’t realize what I had gotten myself into until I was driving to school in my car in ______. No radio playing my favorite songs. I had to sing to myself.

As soon as I got to school, I went to the library to print out my English project from my flash drive. “Uh-oh,” I thought. “This isn’t ______.”

The school day went on and I finally grew ______ the rule. This wasn’t so ______! I could do this every day.

I drove home in silence again, and my ______ eventually went into after-school mode (模式), ______ on what I would eat for supper and who would be voted off (被淘汰出局) American Idol later that night. The ______ thing I knew, I was chatting with friends on Facebook, checking email and watching a video on YouTube, all at the same time!

My mom walked in and her jaw dropped.

“What happened to no ______?” she asked me. I froze for the second time that day and ______myself to go back to reality. I had ______ .

This experiment, which many teenagers would ______ have the courage to attempt, was actually ______ to me. Even though my attempt at going about my day without these luxuries (奢侈品) was a failure, I realized that if I really tried, I would be completely ______ without my addiction to technology.

Hey, we may even ______ we like talking to our families instead of watching TV. We might ______ a bicycle ride or a walk to the park instead of looking at pages and pages of Facebook pictures.

These devices ______ make my life easier, and I definitely wouldn’t ______ getting rid of them altogether, but I do believe the lives of today’s teenagers would be dramatically ______ without our tech dependence.