There are a number of special days of the year that are celebrated in different countries. One of the most popular of these, even though it is fairly recent, is Mother’s Day. Mothers have always been highly regarded in all cultures. The Ancient Romans had a festival known as Hilaria, during which children took presents to the temple of the “Mother of the Gods”. The Christian Church adopted this idea and called it Mothering Sunday. However, over the years the custom was gradually forgotten and almost disappeared by the end of the 19^th century.

Born in 1864 in Virginia, USA, Anna Jarvis was a school teacher and believed children should show gratitude to their mothers for all their love and care. Encouraged by a friend, she wrote to thousands of important people---politicians, churchmen, doctors, city officials---and asked them to support her ideas: a special day of the year for thanking mothers.

In 1910 the Governor of West Virginia introduced Mother’s Day into the state. The date chosen was May 10---the second Sunday in May, which is still observed in America today. This date was chosen because May 10 was the date on which in 1908 Anna Jarvis’s mother died. In 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made May 10 the official date for Mother’s Day throughout the United States.

Soon there was a Mother’s Day International Association and the custom began to be adopted in many countries of the world.

Anna Jarvis, a sad and disillusioned woman died in 1948. The custom she had worked so hard to establish and which had become almost universal had lost its original purpose. It had been taken over by business. As with Christmas, the giving of presents and the sending of cards had become a multi-million-dollar industry. (296words)

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        A farming game becomes popular on the Internet as users get up in the morning to steal crops and fruit from their friends’ farms and become the kings of virtual (虚拟的) farming.

      Just like the farm game “kaixin 001” in Chinese. Users can plant crops, and raise chickens and sheep, and the harvest can be sold and exchanged for experience points to increase the attraction. Players can sneak into (潜入) their friends’ farms and steal crops. The more practiced a user gets in planting crops, the more virtual money he or she can make. That makes it much more fun than just killing time on the Internet.

     Now more city white collars, young office ladies in particular, are going online to live a country life. ________ that they set the alarm for an early rise every day, when they start up the computer and go farming. If they overslept, their fields would turn into a tourist farm where anyone takes whatever he or she wants. They can use a virtual network to plant, water crops, get rid of pests, harvest and sell their crops, and they can raise chickens and cows, and buy dogs to guard the farm. The whole process is much more interesting than electronic chickens, and seeing the results of their own hard work pile in the storage offers some kind of satisfaction in an otherwise boring daily life.

     Compared with wasting some time on line, the game is more interesting. 

I ordered a new consumer product on New Year's Day．The order was so exciting that I felt it was going to enable me to stay organized and stylish．Then I went to the store and made the purchase．They made it pretty difficult because of a new process that had just been put in place．I went to the store with my cash in hand hoping to just give it to someone to get my new product，but I had to work pretty hard to get someone to let me buy it．

Two weeks later，a new accessory（附件） became available for my product．I decided to go and procure this new accessory on my birthday．However，they didn't have any and nobody could answer my questions，and they only had a number system before you could talk to anyone．So I spent an hour of my birthday sitting around waiting to be told that I couldn't be helped．I'm a customer that just wanted to buy the product，and then when I wanted to keep giving them money for my shiny new product，they still weren't interested．

    The only way I was told to get what I needed was to call someone and they could help．

    I knew it would be an experience that would require much patience，so I waited a week and a half to make that call．Today was the day．I was also reminded today that sometimes things would just be comically bad from beginning to end．

    After two specialists and one hour and twelve minutes，I got the information I needed．

    This terrible experience isn't quite over yet，but it's definitely reached the comical stage．So I'm laughing and thinking about what lesson I should learn from this situation．

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Most people think that making a film is exciting. In fact, sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. Earlier this year, I worked in a new film. It was about a bomb threat on a big British ship. Two hundred people were needed to act as the passengers in the film. I was one of them.

  Before we left, we were wanted to bring some warm clothes. These were necessary because the ship was going to spend the whole 16 days sailing in bad weather.

  Then the day came and we sailed out of Dover. The boat had on board the film crew, the director, the actors and actresses including Brinksley Meers, who acted the leading role, and us-200 amateur(业余的) extras.

  People came for different purposes. Some wanted to meet Brinksley Meers in person. Others were curious to see how a film was made. A housewife with her three children came for free holiday and a bit of adventure.

  During the voyage, a lot of people were very seasick. And although the work was very interesting, it was also very hard. We often worked all day on one scene, performing it again and again under the hot lights. In the evenings, there were drinks in the bar, but most people were so tired that they went to bed early. The next day often began at 6: 30 in the morning, sometimes with breakfast being filmed.

  When the ship finally returned to port, most people had enjoyed the trip, but were also so tired that they at least needed a week’s holiday. Answer the following questions:

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Afternoon tea, that most essential of English customs，is a relatively new tradition,although the custom of drinking tea dates back to 3 BC in China. It was not until the mid 19th century that the concept of “afternoon tea” first appeared.

Afternoon tea was introduced to England by Anna, the Duchess(公爵夫人), in the year 1840. The Duchess would become hungry and depressed and complain of "having that sinking feeling" around four o'clock in the afternoon. At the time it was usual for people to take only two main meals a day: breakfast and dinner at around 8 o'clock in the evening. The evening meal in her household was also served fashionably late at eight o'clock, thus leaving a long period of time between the two meals. The Duchess asked that a tray of tea, bread and butter and cake be brought to her room during the late afternoon. Later friends were invited to join her in her country house and this practice proved so popular that the Duchess sent cards to her friends asking them to join her for "tea and a walking". This pause for tea became a fashionable social event. During the 1880's upper-class and society women would change into long dresses, gloves and hats for their afternoon tea, which was usually served in the living room between four and five o'clock.

Traditional afternoon tea consists of a selection of delicious sandwiches served with frozen cream. Cakes and cookies are also served. Tea grown in India is poured from silver tea pots into delicate bone china cups. Nowadays however, in the average suburban home, afternoon tea is likely to be just a biscuit or small cake and a cup of tea, usually produced using a teabag.

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If you are worried about things and are under a lot of stress at work or school, then you are probably not sleeping well. Worry can keep you awake, and turning in bed until the early hours of the morning when you eventually fall asleep. When you wake up, you don’t feel refreshed, but tired and worn out and unable to face a new day.

Dr. Henry Winkle, in a recent newspaper article entitled Stress and Sleep, indicates that stress / worry and (lack of) sleep are directly related. Dr. Winkle says,“The more we worry, the less we sleep, the more we are unable to deal with stress. If we can find a way to get a good night’s sleep，”he adds,“we can often find the energy to deal with what’s worrying us.”

So, what is a good night’s sleep? Research shows that the amount of sleep which people need in order to keep healthy varies a lot. Seven hours is about the average amount, though strangely enough, sleeping longer often gives you a headache instead of making you feel more refreshed.

Dr. Winkle believes that preparing for sleeping is important. People who work late should try to give themselves a short break and do something restful before going to bed. This could be watching TV or listening to music. Doing some exercise earlier in the day should help you to feel physically as well as mentally tired. A bedtime drink can also help, but coffee or tea should be avoided as they contain caffeine and will keep you awake.“When you put the light out，”Dr. Winkle says,“concentrate on relaxing your muscles, working slowly up from your feet, and you’ll be asleep before you know it.”

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It was December 25. Marie, a 13-year-old Australian girl, was happy. It was Christmas, and Marieˈs mother was making a special cake. She put four small coins into the cake, and then she baked(烤) it. The four coins were for good luck. After dinner Marie and her family ate the cake. They found three coins in the cake and put them on the table. Where was the fourth coin? It was missing, but Marieˈs mother didnˈt notice.

    After Christmas Marie got sick. She coughed, and she couldnˈt speak. After six weeks she felt better, but she still couldnˈt speak. Marieˈs parents took her to hospital. Doctors at the hospital looked her over, and then said, "We are sorry, but we canˈt help her." For 12 years Marie didnˈt speak. She grew up, she got a job, and she got married. But she never spoke. One day, when Marie was 25 years old, she got a sore throat (嗓子疼) at work. She began to cough. She coughed up something small and black. What was it? Marie didnˈt know. She took it to the hospital. A doctor at the hospital said, "This is a coin!" The doctor told Marie, "I think you can speak again." Marie went to a special doctor, and soon she could talk.

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Swimming is one of those activities that can be learned early in life. Little children can learn to swim as soon as they walk. In fact, you need the same skills in walking as in swimming. However, I believe that five is the best age to learn. By five or six, a child knows fear of water, a very important thing to know. It’s wise to be afraid, to recognize true danger. Young ones understand that the water can sometimes be very dangerous. To really benefit from swimming, every swimmer should learn ____________：butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and crawl. I feel that one of these—the breaststroke—is different from the others, since some young swimmers use this stroke naturally, without any training.

In swimming, there are certain rules every swimmer should follow:

(1)Never swim alone! No matter how good you are in the water, don’t risk drowning by swimming alone. If you swim by yourself, with no life guards or friends with you, you may get into trouble.

(2)Don’t go beyond your abilities. Most swimmers know enough not to swim too far from the bank or the beach. Showing off by doing dangerous tricks is no good. Swim safely and you will continue to swim and alive.

(3)Don’t smoke. Swimming depends on a healthy body; good lungs are part of it.

(4)Work at any activity that builds muscles.

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 ____________________________and the recognition of its danger are sensible.

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