More than 3,000 languages are spoken on the earth today. Many of these languages are spoken   (1)   small groups of people. On the   (2)   hand, over 200 languages are spoken by one million or more people. Chinese is the language spoken by the   (3)   number of people in the world. But English is most   (4)   spoken in the world.

English is spoken by more than 400 million people   (5)   their first language. It is   (6)   by most people in the U.S.A., Great Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. And it is   (7)   used very widely in many other countries of the world.

Look at the back of your watch. You may see the English words“Made   (8)   China, or Japan, even Germany.”English is the first language in   (9)   of these countries. Why are English words   (10)   on it? That is because in the modern world English is widely used for business between different countries.

How can we practice our spoken English?

   The first and most important thing is to believe _(1)_. You should always be full of confidence or you_(2)_be able to improve your English. You should often encourage yourself. “Come on, don't be afraid!” You should never lose heart and never give up.

Maybe you are afraid of losing face, but you should think since we are students and we’re _(3)_, there’s no need to worry_(4)_ anything. You must always be active in practice. It’s OK if your pronunciation and intonation (语调) can’t be as good_(5)_the native people because we are Chinese, and we don’t have chances to live in foreign countries and talk with the people there_(6)_. But you must know that the main way to study English is to make ourselves understood and_(7)_ other people. You should believe that native speakers will not laugh at you. _(8)_ they will encourage you. So  if you are brave enough you’ll certainly make a rapid progress in your_(9)_  English. _(10)_be shy or afraid! Just have a try.

The DIY is very popular with us today. But what’s DIY？DIY   (1)  “do-it-yourself”. It is very new and fashionable. In my opinion, I  (2)   it is a very good thing. First, it can give you real  (3)   indoing something or making something and this experience is very helpful.   (4)  , it is a good way to express your own  (5)  . You can realize your idea by DIY,   (6)  , you can make a cake or dish by your own idea. What’s more, today, by DIY, we can   (7)    the happiness from it and get the sense of success or achievement by DIY. When you  (8)    some time doing DIY, you can have fun  (9)  it and when it is finished, you will be very  (10)  . Finally, DIY is a good way to reduce (减少) cost when we make something. All in all, it is a very good thing and suitable for many youth.

John Brown is my friend. He is   (1)   American, but he lives in Qingtian and he   (2)   in No. 1 Middle School now. He is in   (3)  . I am in the same class, and we often talk with each other   (4)   English. He likes basketball best and orange is his favorite(最喜爱的)   (5)  .

  John   (6)   a happy family. There are   (7)   people in his family-- his parents, his brother and John. His parents are businessmen(商人) in Qingtian. Mike is a   (8)   boy, they are twin brothers but they are different(不同的) in many ways. John is shy and quiet   (9)   Mike is not, he loves talking to people. John likes   (10)   hamburgers, but Mike doesn’t like   (11)   , because he thinks they are   (12)  . But they both  (13)   Qingtian is very beautiful and people  (14)  friendly.

  They like living   (15)   Qingtian.

Body language is used by people for sending messages to one another. It is very ____1_____because it can help you make yourself easily understood. When you are talking with ____2____ people, you are not just using words, but also using expressions and gestures. For example, wavingone’s hand is to say “Goodbye” or “Hello”. A smile and handshake show welcome, and clapping hands ____3_____congratulations. Nodding the head means agreement, but shaking the head from side to side means ______4_____. The gestures are accepted both by Chinese and foreigners _____5____ having the same meanings. Different countries have different body languages. For example, men inRussia,Franceand Arab countries ____6_____ each other when they meet, but men inChinaor Australia shake hands instead of kissing. People in Arab countries like standing __7__ one another when they are talking, but English people must ____8______ when they are talking .In some Asian countries, you must not touch the ___9___ of another person. In Arab countries, you eat with the fingers of your right hand, the left hand is not used at all. When you use a foreign language, it is very important to know the meaning of ___10___ and movements in the foreign countries, Following the customs will help you communicate with people well.

A good dictionary is an important tool. It will tell you not only what a word means but also how it is used. A dictionary needs to be printed again about eve ry ten years. Languages develop and a good dictionary must show these ne w changes.

A new English dictionary will only tell you   (1)   most people use the language today. It will not tell you what is right   (2)   wrong. It may tell you the right time to use a word. If only   (3)   people use a word, a dictionary will   (4)   tell you this or not list it.

Every dictionary will tell you many interesting facts. If you type a word and the word is too long, look it up in your dictionary. All dictionaries show you   (5)   to break a word. And they also show you how a word   (6)   .

Every dictionary, of course, tells you what a word means. But some words, like “get” or “take”, may have lots of meanings. In some dictionaries, the main meanings are often listed first. In   (7)   , the newest meanings are listed last. So before you use your dictionary, you should always   (8)   the front part. This part explains how to use it.

Some dictionaries also show you where a word comes from. Do you know that the word “brand” (标记) comes from an old word? This old word means “to burn”. This is because hundreds of years ago people burned their names on tables or boats to show who   (9)  them. They also burned their own names on their farm animals   (10)   they would not be stolen.

Your dictionary also has a lot of other interesting facts in it. After you have learned to use a dictionary, it can become your best useful book.

  (1)   a long trip.

The Ostrich Pillow (鸵鸟枕) is a kind of pillow which is    (2)   to carry. It can help you nap (小睡) anytime,   (3)   including in airports and on planes.

The Ostrich Pillow was   (4)  by Ali Ganjavian, who was born in England. He said, “We  (5)  many hours working every day and sleep is an important part of our day. So I thought why not create a   (6)   that can help us relax ... We have   (7)   it in airports, trains, libraries, offices, on planes, on a sofa and even on the floor and it’s really   (8)  .” 

The Ostrich Pillow is very hard. It has a hole in which to put your head, and a mouth hole that  (9)  you to breathe easily. It   (10)   has two side holes where you can put your hands — if you nap at a table in a library, for example.

The Ostrich Pillow now can be bought online.

The Great Wall in China is known to people all over the world. It   (1)  the Ten-Thousand-Li Great Wall in Chinese. Do you know the famous Chinese saying “He who does not reach the Great Wall is not a   (2)   man.”?

The Great Wall is   (3)  wall in the world. It is more than 6,000 kilometres long, and   (4)   four and five metres wide. In most places it is wide enough for five horses or ten men   (5)   side by side(并排) along the top. It was very   (6)   to build such a great wall without our modernmachines. All the work had to   (7)  by hand. Many people were made   (8)   the wall away from their homes. Thousands of them   (9)   and were buried(埋葬) under the wall. The Great Wall was made not only of stone and earth, but also of the flesh and blood(血肉) of   (10)  men.

You may have heard that many animals are endangered.What does that mean   （1  )  ? Endangered means there are very few of that kind still   (  2  )  . Some day they might die out. You may wonder   (  3  )   people can do to help endangered animals.

People  (  4  )  some ways to protect plants and animals from becoming endangered or extinct(灭绝的). One way is to protect the animalsˈ or plantsˈ habitats. Some governments have set aside   ( 5  )  for parks. No one  (  6  )   to disturb the habitat inside park lands. People cannot build houses there. They cannot hunt animals. No one can collect plants or animals from  (  7  )   the park. Mining and drilling(打孔) for oil is prevented in parks.

People have made the laws to protect plants and animals. Laws  (  8  )  be made to protect habitats. Hunting laws do not allow people to hunt certain animals. Some laws limit the   ( 9  )   of trees that can be cut down in forests. Other laws  (  10  )  that people cannot build homes, factories, or stores in certain places. Laws can protect the air and water from pollution.