Many Beijing residents go to great lengths to avoid breathing the city’s smoggy air, especially when it reaches critical pollution levels, but one local businessman decided that canning（can v. 将...装入罐中） and selling this poor quality air as a souvenir would be a great idea. Believe it or not, he was right.

After seeing a number of companies achieve commercial success by canning fresh air from countries like France, Canada or Australia and selling it in China, Dominic Johnson-Hill, a British-born citizen of Beijing and owner of the Plastered 8 (创可贴 8 ) souvenir shop, decided to turn the idea on its head and sell canned Beijing air throughout China and abroad.

“I’d seen people going crazy to buy canned air from Canada and Australia, so I thought it was time to push business the other way,” the businessman said. “They’re perfect gifts! What else are you going to take home when you go home from Beijing? A roast duck? A Plastered T-shirt? These cans are light, easily carried home. You can just imagine someone’s face when they unwrap it for Christmas.”

The few mouth-fulls of Beijing air come in standard tin cans featuring a couple of famous city landmarks as well as a bitter description of the contents: “a unique mix of nitrogen (氮气）， oxygen and probably some unknown stuff. The ironic (讽刺的）souvenirs cost 28 RMB (US$4 ) and are available at the Plastered 8 shop, as well as in its online shop. But if you’re actually considering buying some, you’d better ask the shop in advance, as they are always flying off the shelves. Johnson-Hill said that his shop is selling hundreds of Beijing air cans every day.

Personally, the well-sold can probably is awakening for the public to be concerned about the living conditions. Yet one thing that’s not particularly clear is whether the air is really collected from Beijing, because the cans are labeled as “Made in Shenzhen”. There’s a big chance that it is just a kind of “Plastered 8 humor”, as they also list “Choking Risk” and ‘May have unidentified objects inside” as warnings.

Anyway, it is probably a unique way to arouse public awareness of protecting the environment.

Are you fresh out of college，looking to start a career？Have you recently started your very first job? Here are some nice tips to guide you through the first few days.

Listen more than you talk. Collect the information about how the organization works，and the reasons why，before you offer “helpful” advice.

Donˈt segregate yourself with people in your age group. Get to know older workers，too. The young group may be more fun for happy hours，but those who are a decade or more older than you can possibly help with your career. And you might find out you enjoy the company，too!

Take mistakes seriously. Thereˈs nothing more disappointing than a worker who made a mistake and doesnˈt seem to think itˈs a big deal. When you make a mistake，immediately be responsible for it，figure out how youˈre going to fix it，and make it clear that you understand its seriousness. Responses(回复)like “my bad” or worse，no response at all，signal that you donˈt take work seriously.

Take notes. Your boss expects you to remember the special instructions you were given. For most people，that means taking notes. And while a good manager is happy to answer questions，she wonˈt be if the questions are ones she already answered when you werenˈt bothering to pay attention.

Be open to learning. College gave you theory；work is going to give something entirely different. So stay modest and realize your first job is going to be largely about learning.

Thank people who help you. When your boss or another coworker takes the time to help you with something，give them a sincere “thank you”．People who feel appreciated are more likely to go out of their way for you again. If you donˈt seem to care，they probably wonˈt bother again.

Jill was walking to her class slowly. She was   (1)   about the history test she would have to take that morning. As she was   (2)   the classroom, a piece of paper suddenly fluttered （飘动）down and   (3)   near her feet. As Jill looked down at the   (4)  , her heart nearly missed a beat. It was the history test paper with   (5)  .

   Jill’s very first   (6)  was not to tell anyone about what she had found. She would   (7)   all the answers and do   (8)  well in the test. After some hard thinking,   (9)  , she knew that it would be a very   (10)  thing to do. Besides, it would not be   (11)  to her classmates   (12)  , Jill returned the paper to her history teacher, Miss James.

“Thanks, Jill. I have been   (13)   high and low for it,” said the teacher.

“I…I’ve read all the questions, Miss James,” Jill said.

Miss James told her not to worry   (14)  she would think of new questions for the test. Jill’s heart   (15)  . She was half   (16)   that the test would be cancelled. However, she tried her best in the new test later that day.

A few days later, the test papers were returned to the class. To her great   (17)  , Jill found that she had   (18)  eighty marks.

“You know something,” she told her friends. “I could easily have scored full marks if I had   (19)   in this test. But I wouldn’t be as   (20)  as I am now with the eighty marks I got.”

某英文报社正在举办 “An Unforgettable Experience” 征文比赛。假设你是李华，你班参加全校歌咏比赛获得一等奖。请根据所给提示写一篇100词左右的英语短文，向报社投稿。

写作内容应包括：      1. 准备工作:如 选歌; 展现形式; 服装等

                                          2. 简述成功原因及个人感受

注意：    1.短文开头语已给出，不计入总词数。2.短文中不要出现你的真实信息。

An Unforgettable Experience

I will never forget the day when our class won the first prize in the School Singing Competition._______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Joan was a nurse who worked in a children’s hospital. One evening there was a big  (1)  at the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses would be  (2)  , but some had to be  (3)  to look after the children, and Joan was not among the lucky ones who were  (4)  to go to the dance. She enjoyed  (5)  very much, so when she had to start work that evening  (6)  her friends were getting ready to the dance, she felt very  (7)  for herself. She went to each sick child one after another and said  (8)  until she came to a little boy whose name was Dicky. Dicky was only eleven years old, but he already talked  (9)  an adult. Poor Dicky has a very serious illness, and now he was  (10)  able to move any part of his body except his hands. Joan knew that he would never get  (11)  better, but he was always   (12)  and always thinking about other people instead of himself.

    He knew that Joan loved dancing, so now, when she came to say good night to him, he  (13)  her with the words, “I’m very sorry that you have to  (14)    the dance because of us. But we’re going to have a  (15)  for you. If you look in my drawer, you’ll find a piece of cake. I  (16)  it from my supper today, so it’s quite fresh. And there’s also a dollar there, which my mother gave me last week. You  (17)  buy something to drink with it, and I’d  (18)   and dance with you myself if I was able to,” he  (19)  .

 Suddenly the dance seemed very far away and not at all  (20)  to Joan.

  When I was a boy we used to live across the road from a big hill．When snow would    (1)  ，my two brothers would grab their sleds(雪橇)and   (2)   over to the hill for a day of fun．I    remember watching them with   (3)   because I was too small to go sledding．Finally，one winter I was thought   (4)   enough and joined my brothers as they   (5)   their sleds up the long hill and prepared to ride down it．

    The first few trips I rode with one of my brothers and had the   (6)   of my life．It was so exciting   (7)  the wind whip across my face as I flew down the hillside．Near the end of the day I was overjoyed too when my oldest brother decided to let me try riding the sled all    (8)   ．I climbed on it full of   (9)  and laid on my stomach．Then with one big    (10)   my brother sent me zooming down the    (11)   hillside．I was doing pretty well too   (12)   I hit an old stump(树桩)hidden by the snow and went off   (13)   ，straight towards one of those big Oak trees．At the last possible second I rolled off and the sled crashed into the   (14)  ．I could hear my brothers running down the hill   (15)   ，“You have to steer(掌舵)!You have to steer!”

      (16)   ，that wasn’t the last time I failed to steer when some   (17)   knocked me off course in my life．Many times problems，troubles，and my own failings have sent me crashing into the trees of   (18)  ，frustration，and despair．I am learning that life isn’t always   (19)   sledding．It’s up to me to steer   (20)   ．

I fell in love with Yosemite National Park the first time I saw it, when I was 13. My parents took us there for camping. On the way out, I asked them to wait while I ran up to E1 Capitan, a  (1)  rock of 3,300 feet straight up. I touched that giant rock and knew  (2)  I wanted to climb it. That has been my life’s passion (钟爱) ever since---   (3)  the rocks and mountains of Yosemite. I’ve long made Yosemite my  (4)  .

About 15 years ago I started seeing a lot of   (5)  , like toilet paper, beer cans, and empty boxes, around the area. It’s   (6)  me why visitors started respecting the place  (7)  and treated such a beautiful home-like place this way.

I tried  (8)  trash(垃圾)myself, but the job was too big. I would  (9)  an hour or two on the job, only to find the area trashed all over again weeks later. Finally, I got so  (10)  it that I decided something had to change.

As a rock-climbing guide, I knew   (11)  about organizing any big event. But in 2004, together with some climbers, I set a date for a   (12)  . On that day, more than 300 people  (13)   Over three days we collected about 6,000 pounds of trash. It was amazing how much we were able to  (14)  . I couldn’t believe the  (15)  we made ---the park looked clean!

Each year volunteers come for the cleanup from everywhere. In 2007 alone, 2,945 people picked up 42,330 pounds of trash and  (16)   132 miles of roadway.

I often hear people  (17)  about their surroundings. If you are one of them, I would say the only way to change things is by   (18)   rather than complaining. We need to teach by  (19)  . You can’t blame others  (20)  you start with yourself.

Going green seems to be a fad(时尚)for a lot of people these days．Whether that is good or bad，we can’t really say，but for the two of us，going green is not a fad but a lifestyle．

On April 22，2011，we decided to go green every single day for an entire year．This meant doing 365 different green things，and it also meant challenging ourselves to go green beyond the easy things．Rather than recycle and reduce our energy，we had to think of 365 different green things to do and this was no easy task．

With the idea of going green every single day for a year，Our Green Year started．My wife and I decided to educate people about how they could go green in their lives and hoped we could show people all the green things that could be done to help the environment．We wanted to push the message that every little bit helps．

Over the course of Our Green Year，  we completely changed our lifestyles．We now shop at organic(有机的)stores．We consume less meat，choosing green food．We have greatly reduced our buying we don’t need．We have given away half of what we owned through websites．Our home is kept clean by vinegar and lemon juice，with no chemical cleaners．We make our own butter，enjoying the smell of home-made flesh bread．In our home office anyone caught doing something ungreen might be punished．

Our minds have been changed by Our Green Year．We are grateful for the chance to have been able to go green and educate others．We believe that we do have the power to change things and help our planet．

One day when I was 12, my mother gave me an order: I was to walk to the public library, and borrow at least one book for the summer. This was one more weapon for her to defeat my strange problem — inability to read.

       In the library, I found my way into the “Children’s Room.” I sat down on the floor and pulled a few books off the shelf at random. The cover of a book caught my eye. It presented a picture of a beagle. I had recently had a beagle, the first and only animal companion I ever had as a child. He was my secret sharer, but one morning, he was gone, given away to someone who had the space and the money to care for him. I never forgot my beagle.

       There on the book’s cover was a beagle which looked identical to my dog. I ran my fingers over the picture of the dog on the cover. My eyes ran across the title, Amos, the Beagle with a Plan. Unknowingly, I had read the title. Without opening the book, I borrowed it from the library for the summer.

Under the shade of a bush, I started to read about Amos. I read very, very slowly with difficulty. Though pages were turned slowly, I got the main idea of the story about a dog who, like mine, had been separated from his family and who finally found his way back home. That dog was my dog, and I was the little boy in the book. At the end of the story, my mind continued the final scene of reunion, on and on, until my own lost dog and I were, in my mind, running together.

       My mother’s call returned me to the real world. I suddenly realized something: I had read a book, and I had loved reading that book. Everyone knew I could not read. But I had read it. Books could be incredibly wonderful and I was going to read them.

       I never told my mother about my “miraculous” (奇迹般地) experience that summer, but she saw a slow but remarkable improvement in my classroom performance during the next year. And years later, she was proud that her son had read thousands of books, was awarded a PhD in literature, and authored his own books, articles, poetry and fiction. The power of the words has held.