If we don't have classes or exams, summer vacation is a good time for every kid. To me, it means  (1)  more than not going to school. It is also a golden opportunity to   (2)   time with my family because 1 have  (3)   time with them during the school year.

    Last summer I traveled with my family to the Hawkesbury River in Western Sydney. It was one of the most unforgettable summer   (4)   of my life.

    Staying by the river helped us escape  (5)   the hot weather and noise of the city. Every day, my family and I got up early to go   (6)  in the cool water. In the morning, we all took part in a big game. Everybody played,   (7)  my grandparents, parents, brothers and sisters. We enjoyed water-skiing, wakeboarding (水上滑板) and other activities. These activities   (8)   our family closer together.

    In the afternoon, we peacefully read a favorite book under a tree by the river, The days always ended with a campfire (篝火). Everyone sat around the fire, talking and laughing.

    The river is a great place for you to forget about all the   (9)   of everyday life and simply enjoy the moment. To me, it is the perfect place to spend time together with my family. I can't   (10)  thinking about those days again and again, even so many months later.

In the eyes of many foreigners, Chinese are the best hosts (主人) and the worst guests in the world. They’re not really bad guests, but because the guest-host relationship in China is much different than in some western counties, it appears they are not nice guests. And western guests sometimes look rude (粗鲁的) in the eyes of Chinese guests.

   In China, guests are almost like gods. Whenever I enter a Chinese person’s home, there is always fruit on the table for me, and someone is quick to bring me a cup of tea or water. In the west, generally the guest is not a god. Acting according to the host’s way of doing things is usual behavior for a guest.

   My wife’s mother, a very kind elderly Chinese lady, doesn’t smoke. When I see some of her guests smoking in her house, as a non-smoker, I feel unhappy. Usually I want to stop them directly, but I must realize that in China, to be a good host, she must not do that. In most North America homes, if you are a guest, and the hosts are not smokers, you should not smoke in their house. At the very least, you could ask, “Is it OK if I smoke?” “But, don’t besurprised if they say, “No, you can’t smoke.” In our culture, if you smoke in their home, you are a bad guest, but if they don’t allow you to smoke in their house, they are not a rude guest.

   Guests in China also have special habits. Some western people may not adapt to these habits very soon. Thankfully my wife is Chinese, so whenever we visit a Chinese family she tells me to buy them a gift. However, giving a gift to a host is not always necessary in my country. So, if you invite international guests to your home, don’t be too surprised if they don’t bring you a gift.

In China, you probably wonˈt need to change the guest-host relationship very much because you will probably only be the host, and Chinese are naturally very good hosts. If western hosts invite you to their house, try not to be too surprised if their style of treating you is not what you have expected.

To encourage reading, a Chinese company placed over 10,000 books around the underground, in taxis and on planes in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. The activity earned the support of many Chinese stars. The “book-dropping battle,” however, won little praise. Instead, the movement drew much criticism(批评).

Some books were left untouched. Around the underground, passengers thought the books were left there to save the seats. Some books were taken away by cleaners. People also complained that they couldn’t get to the books—the carriages were too crowded.

The movement led to a hot debate.

Most people thought it could do little to encourage reading. “I think the best result is that people take selfies(自拍)when they pick up the books and write a post in WeChat. After that, they will just bring the books back home and place them on their bookshelves,” wrote one Weibo user.

Some pointed out that while Watson was a great reader, the Chinese stars who supported the movement didn’t seem to be reading much. Isn’t it embarrassing that the movement is supported by stars who don’t read a lot?

Murong Xuecun is a famous Chinese writer. He thought the book-sharing campaign was not at all a bad thing. “In the past years, the Chinese economy(经济) has been developing rapidly. Everybody is busy with work. They don’t have time for reading,” said Murong.“However, just because Chinese people don’t read regularly, it doesn’t mean we should do nothing to encourage reading, ” Murong added.

What would you do if you found a wallet on the street? Maybe you say quickly that you want to  (1)  it back to the owner．But what if there’s lots of money in it，for example,$50，000？You may spend time deciding  (2)  to do．But Pakistani hotel cleaner Mr Khan showed us how to be  (3)  .

Mr Khan is a cleaner in a  (4)  in Pakistan．He only makes less than$240 a month．But he handed the$50，000 over to the hotel as  (5)  as he found it．He said he never considered keeping the money  (6)  ．“Although times are hard for everyone，that doesnˈt mean we should start stealing and  (7)  things which don’t belong to us，”Mr Khan said．

Mr Khan is a father of five and he hopes his act of kindness will  (8)  his country．“I want people around the world to know that there are many good people in Pakistan—not  (9)   is a terrorist(恐怖分子)here，”he said．

Mr Khan has been  (10)  as a national hero．The government was proud of him and said that this is the face of Pakistan that people donˈt see normally．He was also given a $220 award by the hotel．

A teacher cleared off his desk and placed on top of it a few things. One of them was an empty mason jar（玻璃瓶）. He filled the jar with golf balls until he could fit no more. He looked at the classroom and asked his students if they agreed that the jar is full. Every student agreed that the jar was really full.

The teacher then picked up a box of small pebbles（卵石） and poured them into the jar with the golf balls. The pebbles filled all of the openings in between the golf balls. He asked the students if the jar was full. Once again, they agreed.

Now the teacher picked up a bag of sand and poured it into the jar. The sand filled in all of the empty space left between the golf balls and pebbles. He asked the class again if the jar was full. The students agreed again.

The teacher said, "I want you to know that this jar represents your life," he started. "The golf balls represent the important things: your family, health, friends…The pebbles represent the other things in life, such as your job, house and car. The sand is every small thing . If you put the sand in first, there is no room for the pebbles or golf balls.The same goes for life. If you spend all of your time on the small things, you will never have room for the things that are most important.

   Pay attention to the important things in your life. You should know there will always be time to clean the house or go shopping.

Some students from Thailand(泰国) write an article on the website(网页). They ask us to save the elephants in Thailand. They tell us that the elephant is one of Thailand’s symbols（象征）. Their first flag had a white elephant on it. This is a symbol of good   (1)  .

Elephants are   (2)   animals. They can play soccer or music. They can also draw very   (3)  . People say that “ An elephant never forgets.” Elephants can walk for a long time and   (4)  get lost. They can also remember places  (5)  food and water. This helps   (6)   to live.

But elephants are in great danger. Elephants are losing their homes   (7)   people cut down many trees. People also kill elephants for their ivory（象牙）. Today there   (8)   only about 3,000 elephants (over 100,000 before). We must save the trees and not buy things made of ivory. Donˈt forget that Thai Elephant Day is   (9)  March 13^th . Let’s work together and   (10)  the elephants!

Nowadays most women are fond of shopping online.

According to a study published last week in the US, women have jumped ahead of men for the first time in using the Internet to do their holiday shopping. For years men have been more likely to shop on the Internet than women, but during the 2009 holiday season 58 percent of those making online purchases were women.

“It shows how mainstream the Internet is becoming,” said Lee director of the Pew Internet and American Life Project Group, which carried out the study.

Lee said it was only a matter of time before women shoppers caught up with men. This is because women traditionally make decisions about spending.

Users were more likely to shop online to save time. Internet users between the ages of 18 and 29 were responsible for some of the most dramatic increases in the online gift-buying population this time around.

However, three-quarters of the US Internet users did not buy holiday gifts online in 2009. They worried about credit card security, or just compared online prices with off-line prices, then dashed off to the shops to get the best deals.

“But even if shoppers don’t buy online, websites are becoming promotion tools for stores,” said Dan Hess,vice present of Comscore Networks Inc. Hess said that actually most storesˈ websites can make customers fully believe the security of their credit card numbers .And most are able to ensure that gifts arrive on time.

“Itˈs all about making the shopping experience more efficient, more reliable and more comfortable, ”Hess said

根据材料内容选择最佳答案。

Some people think the greatest invention in the world is electricity, while others believe computers are the most   (1)   in modern society．But I think the invention of books is the greatest.

   A famous person has ever said, “Books are the best   (2)  .” Exactly! That's   (3)  I would like to say first. In the long history of humans, books have played an important part in spreading knowledge. And even today, the situation is   (4)  the same. Each year, millions of books are published (出版)in the world. Knowledge   (5)  our lives. People can make a difference by reading books. If a knowledgeable person wants to express some new ideas, he or she will probably choose to write a book.

   Books provide us with   (6)  ideas. And we make our own decisions to choose any one that fits   (7)  . Or you may choose none of them, just like me, instead of following books'   (8)  . I choose “books” as the greatest invention in my eyes.

   Books are thought of as teachers without   (9)  . But how are books different from our real teachers? I think the fact is that if a real teacher advises me to choose electricity or the computer as my topic today, you can imagine how much courage I will need to   (10)  . So don't you think it's more relaxing to choose books as your “teachers”?

Many people have the wrong ideas about pigs．Pigs are actually（买际上） very clean animals．On farms，they live in dirty places，so they become very dirty．But in the wild，pigs keep themselves very clean．

They are also very smart．They may he smarter than dogs．So pigs can learn things from people．

Pigs are very friendly animals．Some people raise （饲养） them as pets．Of course，people raise the smart kind，not the big kind．Small pigs are very cute．And they donˈt break things in the house．Big pigs usually live outside on the farms，not in peopleˈs houses．