Hundreds of people have formed impressions of you through that little device( 装置 ) on your desk. And they’ve never actually 1 you. Everything they know about you 2 through this device, sometimes from hundreds of miles away. 3 they feel they can know you 4 from the sound of your voice. That’s how powerful the 5 is. Powerful, yes, but not always 6 . For years I dealt with my travel agent only by phone. Rani, my faceless agent whom I’d never met 7 , got me rock-bottom prices on airfares, cars, and hotels. But her cold voice really 8 me. I sometimes wished to 9 another agent. One morning, I had to 10 an immediate flight home for a family emergency. I ran into Rani’s office 11 . The woman sitting at the desk, 12 my madness, sympathetically jumped up. She gave me a 13 smile, nodded while listening patiently, and then printed out the 14 immediately. “What a wonderful lady!” I thought. Rushing out 15 I called out over my shoulder, “By the way, what’s your name?” “I’m Rani,” she said. I turned around and saw a 16 woman with a big smile on her face waving to wish me a safe trip. I was 17 ! Why had I thought she was cold? Rani was, well, so 18 . Sitting back in the car on the way to the airport, I figured it all out. Rani’s 19 ---her warm smile, her nods, her ‘I’m here for you’ 20 -- were all silent signals that didn’t travel through wires.