Julie:Are you OK, Bill? You look tired.

Bill:Iˈm fine, Julie. I just   (1)  ________ (stay) uplate last night to write an English essay. It istime for me to improve my English writing.

Julie:Read as many things youˈre interested in aspossible,   (2)   ________ soon youˈll realise thatthere are many different ways of saying  (3)  ________ same thing. After all, having avariety of sentence  (4)   ________ (structure) inyour writing makes your English appear better.

Bill:Reading can also broaden my vocabulary. Whatkind of books should I read?

Julie:You can choose books   (5)  ______ (write) bynative speakers. They often contain sentences

  (6)   ________ differ from those commonly seenin English textbooks.

Bill:Good idea. But sometimes I donˈt know what towrite about and find   (7)   ________ hard to writea long essay.

Julie:I suggest you begin by writing short ones abouttopics youˈre interested in, such as movies andsports.

Bill:Yes. Iˈll write something every day.

Julie:Writing all the time is the key   (8)  ________improving your writing.

Bill:Quite right. Practice makes perfect.

Julie:Itˈs   (9)   ________ (easy) said than done. But inthe end, itˈs worth the work youˈve put in.

Bill:Thank you for giving me such   (10)   ________(value) advice.

Holi ( 洒红节) is a spring festival, also   (1)   ________ (know) as the festival of colours or the festival of love. It is an ancient Hindu religious festival   (2)   ________ has become popular in and outside Asia. It is celebrated at the end of winter   (3)   ________ the night and the day are of equal length. The date of the festival is different every year. According to the Hindu calendar, it   (4)  ________ (usual) comes in March, sometimes in late February.

The celebration   (5)   ________ (start) with a bonfire ( 篝火) on the night before Holi, where people gather, sing and dance. The next morning is a carnival of colours, where anyone, children or elders, friends or   (6)   ________ (strange), chase and colour each other with dry powder and coloured water. Everyone is happy to be made fun   (7)  ________. Groups carry drums and musical instruments,  (8)  ________ (go) from place to place. After a(n)   (9)   ________ (excite) day, people visit their friends and share the delicious food after cleaning up and dressing up.

The purpose of the festival is to celebrate the beginning of the new season, spring. Hindus believe   (10)   ________ is a time for enjoying spring's rich colours and saying goodbye to winter.

Cynthia: Hello, Paul. Yesterday I bought a book — Corinne Maier's French bestseller Bonjour Paresse,   (1)  ________ translates into English as Hello Laziness. Have you heard of it?

Paul: Yes. In fact, I finished   (2)   ________ (read) it last week.

Cynthia: Really? What do you think of it?

Paul: It's very interesting. I   (3)   ________ (laugh) out loud several times while reading it. If you are working in a(n)   (4)  ________ (bore) job with little chance of advancement, do as little as possible when you are at work. That's   (5)   ________ Maier says in her book.

Cynthia: Why does she advise readers to do so?

Paul: She thinks most people work because they have to — because they need the money   (6)  ________ (live), not because they love their jobs.

Cynthia: Do you agree with her?

Paul: Not really. Instead, I think Maier's book encourages people to give up. For example, there's   (7)   ________ tip from Maier: Never accept a position of responsibility,   (8)  ________ you'll have to work extra hard for little money. However, if we act just as she says, we could be replaced by another person   (9)   ________ any time.

Cynthia: Well, I think we can't take anything she says very  (10)   ________ (serious). It's kind of a joke.

I needed to get some money so I   (1)   ________ (take) a job in the clothes department at Graham's for the January sale. I can't say that I enjoyed it,   (2)   ________ it was an experience I'll never forget.

When I arrived half an hour before opening on the first day of the sale, there was already   (3)  ________ queue around three sides of the building. This made me very nervous. The moment the security guards unlocked the doors, they hid behind the doors for   (4)   ________ (protect) as the noisy crowd rushed in. I couldn't believe my eyes: this wasn't shopping; it was a battlefield!

After a while, clothes were flying   (5)  ________ all directions as people searched for the sizes, colours and styles they wanted. Within minutes I had half a dozen people   (6)  ______ (push) clothes under my nose, each wanting   (7)   ________ (be) the first served. The whole day continued like that. People were spending money like water without thinking   (8)   ________ they needed what they were buying. As long as it was a bargain it was OK.

That night, after a quick dinner I went to bed   (9)  ________ (exhaust), fearing the sound of the alarm   (10)  ________ would tell me to get ready for the second day of the sale.

Attending a live musical performance in a huge sports center with thousands of other fans is   (1)   (excite). Even in a restaurant or theater, a skilled   (2)   (perform) can provide a great show. Here in the US, a very different kind of performance space is gaining in popularity.

Singer-songwriter Annalise Emerick is getting ready   (3)  (play) a show in Nashville, Tennessee. It is something   (4)   she does most nights in coffee houses, bars and other small spaces across the country. But tonight, the setting is even  (5)   (small). Ms. Emerick will play for a few people in Kristina Shulz's home.

“An artist will come into my house and play music. All I have to do  (6)  (be) provide the atmosphere, which I am   (7)   (absolute) happy to do,” says Ms. Shulz. She has been holding such performances in her home  (8)  about four years. The crowd is usually a mix of family, friends, neighbours and even strangers. The performances  (9)   (list) on house concert websites.

House concerts have become  (10)  important part of Annalise Emerick's earnings, too.“I can play a bar for 100 dollars, but I can play a house concert and if there are 50 people there and they all pay $20, I'm having a great night. And they all buy CDs, too. It's amazing.”

Yuan Longping is one of the most famous scientists in the world. He    61    (struggle) for the past five decades for the Chinese farmers. He grows    62    is called super hybrid rice. This special strain of rice makes    63    possible to produce one-third more of the crop in the same fields.   64    (use) his hybrid rice, farmers are producing harvests twice as large as before.

     Finding ways to grow more rice has been his life goal since he graduated from college in 1953. At that time, hunger was    65    disturbing problem in many parts of the countryside. Therefore he wanted to help his motherland rid of hunger    66  increasing the rice output without ____67   _ (expand) the area of the fields, and he finally made it .

         68     a great scientist, he lead a very simple life. He believes that a person with too much money has more rather than    69    troubles. He has another dream    70    his rice can be grown around the globe and no hunger is in the world.

Silly Fred was a little surprised when he saw his mother in his house.

“ I got your ___61___ (invite) to come for dinner, said Mother.

“ I did,” said Silly Fred, ___62___ (try ) to think of why he had invited his mother for dinner and then thinking that it ___63___ be her birthday. “ Happy Birthday!”

“It isn’t my birthday,” said Mother. “It is Mother’s Day.”

“ Well then,” said Silly Fred. “Happy Mother’s Day.”

“Thank you,” said Mother. “Now, ___64___ is for dinner?”

“Dinner?” shouted Silly Fred.

“Oh dear,” said Mother. “You ___65___ (forget) about cooking me dinner?”

“Well actually,” said Silly Fred, not able to lie ___66___ his mother. “I did forget to prepare for the dinner. ___67___, there is a nice restaurant down the street. How about going out dinner?”

“Sure,” said Mother.

Silly Fred and Mother had ___68___ nice supper together. Silly Fred went to pay for the meal but he couldn’t find his wallet.

“Are you looking for ___69___?” asked Mother, handing Silly Fred his wallet, ___70___ she saw him put on the counter at home.

“Yes,” said Silly Fred, a little embarrassed. “Thank you.”

It was a busy day at the grocery store and an old couple were in line behind me with birthday balloons.

From ___61___they said, I knew their nephew had a twin and something bad happened to the baby at birth. Though they did all they could ___62__(help)them but times were tough for them.

They seemed to be too nervous and were too ____63___(anxiety) to leave, so I asked ___64__they wanted to go ahead of me or not. They didn’t understand what I ___65__(mean) at first. After knowing it, they were very appreciative. But they stood behind me.

At that time I knew it had to be a significant day to them. Nothing could be __66__(good)if someone offered to help them. So I told the cashier to add the balloons to my purchases. The old couple refused at first __67___I insisted. I said, “You tell your sweet nephew that there are still nice people left who wanted to give them __68__hand in this world.” They thanked me over and over and the cashier was moved to tears, __69__(say)there was an angel in her line today.

That little act of __70__(kind) made everyone who saw it feel good---but it made me feel the best of all!

The Internet is an       61      (amaze) information resource. Students, teachers, and researchers use it as      62      investigative tool. Journalists use it to find information for stories. Doctors use it to learn more about unfamiliar diseases and the     63     (late) medical development. Ordinary people use it for shopping, banking, bill-paying, and communicating  64   family and friends. People all over the world use it to connect with individuals from__65__  countries and cultures. However, while there are many positive developments _____66    (associate) with the Internet, there are also certain fears and concerns. One concern relates to a lack of control over      67     appears on the Internet, With television and radio there are editors to check the accuracy or appropriateness of the content of programs, and with television there are     68      (restrict)on other aspects, for example, what kinds of programs can___69___   (broadcast) and at what time of the day. With the Internet, parents cannot check a published guide to determine what is suitable for their children     70    (see).