Coffee has been a part of people’s lives for thousands of years, and today it is still a favorite drink of millions of people in the world. Coffee is so   (1)  , but do you know the story of coffee and how it was discovered?

There is an old   (2)   that says coffee was discovered in Africa a long, long time ago. One day, a farmer was watching his goats(羊), and he   (3)   them eating some small berries from a plant. After they ate the berries, the goats became very   (4)  . The man often felt tired, so he decided to try the berries too. Surprisingly,   (5)   did not feel tired any more. So, coffee plants were discovered.

Then coffee was taken from Africa to Arabia, and there it was first used   (6)   medicine. The Arabs kept coffee a secret for many years. Later, coffee came to Turkey, then Italy, then France. From   (7)  , the coffee plant was taken to America. People found that coffee plants grew well in many parts of South America,   (8)   large coffee farms were started, and many coffee plants were grown. On these farms, coffee beans were picked from the plants by   (9)  . Then the beans were dried and prepared for market to sell. Different coffee beans were mixed together to   (10)  different kinds of coffee. Coffee was sent to places all over the world, and soon became very popular.

Middle school students should have a new look. For middle school students, New rules and behavior standards (行为规范)   (1)  . Middle schools use a new way to decide   (2)   the excellent students are. The best students will not only have good grades, but they will   (3)  be students who don’t dye (染) their hair, smoke or drink. The following are some of the new rules.

Have you ever copied   (4)   work during an exam? Don’t do it again. That’s not what an   (5)   student should do. If you played computer games for two hours in your room, don’t tell your parents you were doing your homework   (6)  .

 Do something more meaningful at school. Good students love animals and care   (7)   others. April is Bird-Loving Month in China. Is your school doing anything to celebrate? You should join! In that way, you can learn more about animals and learn how to protect them. And when your classmates are in trouble, remember to give them a   (8)  . You know a friend in need is a friend indeed.

 If you often use the Internet, try to be careful. Because every coin has two sides. There are many useful websites for homework, English listening, Chinese culture and so on. Only in this way will you get more knowledge in the oceans of websites. You shouldn't be allowed to   (9)   all the bad web pages. Open your mind to new ideas. Have you ever thought that people could live on the moon or even on Mars? Maybe you can discover a new planet some day. Never look down on any new idea. You should welcome them because new ideas from your own can   (10)  your life better.

Is your schoolbag too heavy? The e-schoolbag will help you. It is said that e-schoolbags are going to be brought into   (1)   in Chinese middle schools soon.

Heavy schoolbags have been a serious   (2)   for a long time. But the e-schoolbag will  (3)  . An e-schoolbag is   (4)   lighter than a usual schoolbag. Perhaps, the e-schoolbag should be   (5)   an e-textbook. It is a small computer for students. It is as   (6)   as a usual book,   (7)   it can still have all the things for study, such as textbooks, exercise books and so on which can be made   (8)   chips(芯片) like stamps. The students can read the text page by page on the screen, take notes, or even send e-mails to their teachers. They only need to   (9)   the right chip into the e-schoolbag. Then they can use it.

Some people say   (10)   e-textbooks can be easily broken, while others say it is not good for eyes. But only time will tell.

My favorite food is Chinese dumplings(饺子). They are a kind of  (1)  Chinese food in North China. And they’re also popular  (2)  Chinese holiday and festivals.

I like  (3)  dumpling not because I’m from North China   (4)  because they’re really delicious. My family usually eat dumpling when all the members  (5)  together. Making dumpling with my family is the happiest thing for  (6)  .

Chinese dumplings are one of the most important foods at the Spring Festival. On the first  (7)  of a new year, the first meal is very important. People from the north and the south  (8)  different food on this special day according to（根据）their own eating  (9)  . In North China, people usually eat dumplings.

There are many kinds of Chinese dumplings with different fillings(馅). I’m sure you can  (10)  the kind you like, because the filling can be made with different ingredients.

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.