One of the most exciting archaeological (考古的) discoveries in history was made in November 1922, when Howard Carter was   (1)  in the Valley of the Kings in Egypt. After many months of digging, he finally   (2)  an unknown tomb (坟墓).

  (3)  with his friend Lord Carnarvon, who was providing the money for his work, Carter entered the   (4)  tomb. At first there was   (5)  , because the tomb was   (6)  , and it was clear that it had been robbed (盗窃) at some time in the past.   (7)  , one of the workers eventually uncovered a small stairway that led down to another door that had not been  (8)  .

been   (12)  . The tomb of King Tutankhamun was full of treasures of   (13)  value. There were over 5,000 objects of silver, gold and precious stones which had lain there   (14)  for thousands of years.

Lord Carnarvon’s   (15)  at discovering the treasures did not last long. Many of the local people were afraid of   (16)  the kings’ tombs, and believed that the kings would punish anyone who   (17)  them. Lord Carnarvon had paid little attention to these   (18)  , but only a few weeks later, he   (19)  fell ill and died; at the exact time of his death, all the lights in Cairo went out all of a sudden, and far away in England, his dog also   (20)  .

 A Welcome Gift

Dario and his mother loved their new apartment. The living room was large enough for their piano. That night, the two of them  (1)  side by side at the piano. They played jazz music to celebrate their new home. The loud  (2)  filled the room and made them feel very happy.

The next morning,  (3)   , their happiness disappeared. Someone had left a  (4)   under their door during the night. One of their neighbor had written to complain(抱怨) about the sound of the piano. Dario’s mother asked the building superintendent(管理员) if he knew anything about it. But he said that they were all  (5)   people and he couldn’t imagine any of them had done that. Later that morning, Dario suggested that they write a letter to their   (6)  and apologize for their playing.

“Maybe we could go and  (7)   everyone in person.” his mother said.

“What if we invited them to come here for a  (8)  instead? Dario asked.

They both loved the  (9)  . Over the next few days, they sent out invitations and prepared desserts   (10)  their guests. They decorated the apartment with streamers(彩带) and party lights.

Finally, the day of the part  (11)   . Some guests brought presents. Others brought flowers. Some even brought desserts to  (12)  . One woman, Mrs. Gilbert,  (13)  Dario’s mother with a book of piano music by Chopin.

“I heard you playing the other night,” she said. “The sounds woke me out of bed. I  (14)  that you might play like this every night. So I wrote a short note. I hope you don’t think I disliked the playing.”

Dario’s mother smiled at Mrs. Gilbert. “I think maybe we owe you an   (15)   .” she said. “I didn’t   (16)  how late it was when we were playing. Maybe we should play some quieter music at night.

“You play, you play!” Mrs. Gilbert said. “I like what you play! Just not so loud at night.” She pointed to the book she had given them. “These songs are not such  (17)  music.”

“These songs are beautiful music.” Dario’s mother said. “We will be   (18)  to play them in the evening.”

“And we won’t play so loud or late!” Dario said. He was already looking forward to   (19)  the new music. More than that, however, he was happy to see the big smile on his mother’s face. It gave him a feeling of   (20)   and made him feel that they were home at last.

My grandfather was probably the toughest man I've ever known.   31  , as a child I didn't realize it. To me, he was just a(n)   32   grandfather. But his   33   changed the way I thought about him and it is the event that has had the most   34   effect on me in my life.

He died on Thanksgiving Day. At his funeral, his brothers began to   35   stories about their lives. They recalled their childhood, when they were poor and   36   in the countryside, their hunting adventures in the woods and their happy family get-togethers   37   festivals. In their eyes, my grandfather was understanding and kind-hearted. He was always there,   38     happiness to the family. They drank and continued telling stories, and then I noticed the   39  ; not polite smiles, but loud laughter.

  40   laughed. The louder their laughter was, the more   41   I felt. I pulled my mother aside.

“Grandfather is dead. How can they laugh?” I said in   42  . 

“What is the most important thing you   43   about your grandfather?” my mother asked. “ He wouldn't want us to be   44  . That's not how he would want to be remembered. He would have wanted   45   this kind of party.”

I   46  . Out of all the things I remember about him, the most   47   thing is his laughter. He   48   all the ups and downs in his life. No matter how hard something was in his life, he always   49   it with laughter.

I don’t know what   50   looks like, but I believe it is filled with his laughter.

Last weekend I went snowshoeing with a group of teachers from my school.   (1)  , it felt a little strange --- a bit like ,wearing flippers（脚蹼）  (2)   you swim! I felt quite clumsy to start with, and it was   (3)   to climb over the fallen trees with the snowshoes   (4)   to my feet. However, I love   (5)   and am used to walking in mountainous areas   (6)   I soon got used to it. I loved walking through the forest and seeing all the trees covered in   (7)  ! At times, walking uphill in the snow was hard,   (8)   when there were rocks underneath the snow. Once we reached the   (9)   it was worth it! The mountain we   (10)   was called "Le Tanet" and it was l,292 mhigh --- thatˈs higher than Snowdon, the tallest mountain in Wales! The sky was a bit gray, but the views were   (11)  . I managed to get some great   (12)   --- and remembered to use my new camera! After taking lots of photos, we started going down. In some ways, going down the mountain was harder than   (13)  . It was very steep(陡峭), and it was easy to     (14)   inthe snow.

    At the bottom, we had a hot drink in a cabin --- it was clearly   (14)   after a few hours of walking in the cold! Before we went   (15)   I attempted sledging(雪橇) which Iˈd never   (16)  before! It was great fun!

    To be honest, Iˈd really   (17)   snowshoes as an alternative to the more well-known   (18)   sports. Besides being a lot cheaper than skiing, itˈs easier to do and is considered to be a lot   (19)  !

       A blind boy sat at a street corner with a hat by his feet. He held up a sign which said, "I am blind. Please    (1)    ."

      There were only a few coins in the  (2)    . A man was walking by. He dropped a few coins into the hat. Then he took the sign and wrote some words on it. He put the sign back   (3)      .everyone who walked by would see the new words.

         Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving  (4)  to the blind boy. That afternoon the man came to see how things were. The boy recognized his   (5)     and asked, "Were you the one who   (6)   my sign this morning? What did you write?"

       The man said, "I only said what you said but in a  (7)    way." What he had written was: "Today is a beautiful day and I cannot see it." Both signs told people the boy was  (8)   . But the first sign simply told people to help. The second sign told people that they were able to enjoy the  (9)   of the day, but the boy could not enjoy it because he was blind.

        There are at least two   (10)    we can learn from this story. First, be thankful for what you have. Someone else has less. Help when you can. Second, be creative. Think differently. There is always a better way!

Mexican President Vicente Fox was once invited to a university to give a lecture. A student asked him, “In your experience in politics have you   (1)  ?”

Fox said, “No, never.”

The students were chuckling (轻声地笑)   (2)   every politician always said so.

Fox wasn’t   (3)  . He said, “In this society, perhaps it is very   (4)   to prove that I’m an honest man,   (5)   you should believe that in this world there’s   (6)  , which is always around us. I want to tell you a   (7)   which means a lot to me.

“There was a father who was ready to dismantle (拆除) the pavilion (亭子) in the garden. His son said to him, ‘Daddy, i want to   (8)   how you dismantle the pavilion, so can you not dismantle it   (9)   I come back from school?’ His father   (10)  . However, after the boy   (11)  , he asked some workers to dismantle the pavilion. After the boy returned from school, he found the old pavilion had   (12)  . Therefore, he said   (13)   to his father, ‘Dad, you told me a lie.’ His father was embarrassed and said, ‘My boy, I was   (14)  .’ The father called in the workers again and had them rebuild a pavilion in the   (15)   of the old one. After the pavilion was rebuilt, he called in his son and said to the workers, ‘Please dismantle it.’

“I know the father. He was not rich, but he kept his   (16)  .”

Hearing this, the students said, “What’s the father’s name? We hope to   (17)   him.”

Fox said, “He has died, but his son is still   (18)  .”

“Then, where’s the son? He must be an honest man.”

Fox said, “His son is   (19)   here. It’s me. I’d like to treat this country and everyone in it like my father   (20)  me.”

A storm of applause thundered in the audience.

Dismantling and rebuilding a pavilion restored the boy’s faith in honesty.

A Very Special Special Olympian

The professor was searching for student volunteers in the lecture room for a Special Olympics event. As the sign-up sheet went up and down the rows, I started to come up with my  (1)  . Maybe it was the distance to the college where the event was to take place, or the early hour that   (2)   had to report for duty. Whatever the reasons that made me hesitate, I am thankful to this day that I   (3)   up volunteering. If I had missed the event, I would have missed one of the most unforgettable moments that I have ever   (4)  .

   I arrived at the volunteer tent bright and early. My task was   (5)  . I was to stand at the finish line only and wait until the event was over and then take the   (6)   to the announcing booth(公告处). Standing at the finish line, I was able to witness many amazing efforts and close races. I was most impressed by the effort each athlete put into his or her   (7)  . What also impressed me was the sincere   (8)   each athlete expressed while participating though sometimes the joy of participating in a sporting event can get   (9)  inthe fierce competition of winning and losing.

Then an amazing moment happened right before my eyes. A group of athletes were   (10)   up to run a short race. One of them was in a wheelchair, a little girl with a   (11)   smile, wearing bright bows in her hair. Her smile filled the stadium that day. I couldn’t help but smile back at her.

   The gun sounded. They were off. Runners sped upinthe   (12)   with all their might. My eye  (13)   for the little girl with the bright bows. There she was, pumping her arms with all the   (14)   she had. Her efforts were getting little result, but that did not stop her. I noticed as she got closer that she also had an injured arm. But that did not stop this bright star. The race was long over   (15)   the young athlete kept pumping her arms. As she finally   (16)   the finish line, the noise of the crowd was thunderous. There I stood  (17)  , with tears falling down my cheeks.

After all these years, I can still hear those cheers. I wish I could thank that remarkable athlete for what her efforts   (18)   this unmotivated college guy. I grew up a lot that day because of the   (19)   of that little girl in the wheelchair. I was   (20)   that day of a poem from a book that states, “Whatever you do, do it with all your might.”

A twenty-three-year Dutch student has enjoyed a short but unexpected holiday in Dubai. Mr Frank Vreede, a business student, had taken a part-time job at Schiphol Airport to help pay for his   (1)   He worked as a baggage handler.

Last Friday night after a   (2)   day in the university library preparing for his final exams, Frank was   (3)   a plane at the airport. He was waiting for the next baggage truck to arrive and he felt tired. He decided to have a   (4)   rest so he sat down in the hold of the plane and shut his eyes just for a moment.

     (5)  , while he was sleeping, the plane took off. An hour later, Frank   (6)   and was shocked to discover that the plane was in the air.  (7)   was a terrible noise from the engines, and he tried not to   (8)  . It was dark, uncomfortable and very, very cold. Frank knew he could not   (9)   in the freezing temperatures. It was an impossible situation.

He decided to make as much   (10)   as possible. He hit the ceiling of the baggage hold and shouted at the top of his voice.   (11)   a passenger heard the noise and called a flight attendant, who immediately informed the pilot.   (12)   he captain understood what was happening, he ordered hot air to be pumped into the hold.

When the plane arrived at Dubai International Airport, an ambulance was waiting to take a very   (13)   and frightened Mr Vreede to hospital.   (14)   examined him, but he was unhurt and was allowed to leave after a few hours   (15)   spread quickly about this “stowaway”. The managing Director of one of Dubai's top hotels offered him a free room for the weekend. “He must have wanted to come to Dubai very much if he was prepared to travel in the hold!”  (16)   the MD.

“  (17)   been so kind,” said Mr Vreede. “I'm really enjoying my stay in Dubai and I’m getting a lot of rest, so I won't fall asleep on the job again.” He also   (18)   to his boss for sleeping at work   (19)   working, and promised it would not happen again. “Next time, I'll catch a   (20)   flight!” said Mr Vreede.

Risha loved school. However, there was one class Risha worried about more than any other—art. She didn’t know why she just wasn’t any good at   (1)  , painting, or cutting.

Ms. Clay, the art teacher, stood at the front of the room. “Class, next Friday our school is going to have an art   (2)  ,” she announced. Ms. Clay was a great teacher, and Risha liked her a lot. But this announcement made Risha   (3)  . “Everyone in the school will create a piece of artwork to   (4)  in the library. You can use the different types of artwork we have been studying.” Ms. Clay was quite excited when she spoke   (5)   Risha found herself sinking lower in her chair.

Risha had the whole weekend to work on her project,   (6)  she could not think of anything to do. On Monday, Risha felt frightened, so after school Risha asked Ms. Clay if she could write an art paper   (7)   doing an art project.

“I understand this project   (8)   you, Risha,” Ms. Clay said. “Just remember, you can

  (9)   any kind of art you want.” Ms. Clay smiled at her. “Art is a person’s way of expressing his or her feelings—it isn’t always painting, drawing, or cutting. I know you will think of something very creative, and I can’t   (10)   to see it.”

When Risha arrived home, she took out a piece of paper and a pencil. She   (11)   Ms. Clay’s words. “Art is a person’s way of expressing his or her feelings.” Risha wrote the word “terrified” on her paper. She crumpled(把……揉成团) the paper and threw it to the side of her desk. Then Risha stared at the crumpled ball. It reminded her of a snowball.   (12)   an idea struck her. Why not create a winter wonderland out of crumpled paper? Risha didn’t have to draw or paint or   (13)   cut.

Risha crumpled lots of paper balls, glued them all together, and   (14)   them on a big piece of hard paper to form a snowman. The snowman   (15)   a hat made of black paper and a scarf made of red paper. And she even crumpled brown and green paper to create a forest. Her   (16)   project was really wonderful.

On Friday, Risha carefully carried her project into the library. She noticed the   (17)    

and the nods from teachers and other students   (18)   she put her work on a table. Ms. Clay walked over to Risha.

“You have created an original and amazing piece of artwork. I am so proud of you!” Ms. Clay said.

Risha was proud of herself too. Her pride   (19)   when Ms. Clay placed a first-place star on her artwork. “Maybe I am a good   (20)   after all,” Risha thought.