“If you’re talking to me in a   (1)  (noise)restaurant and my nerve system is good at locking onto the sound of your voice, I can understand what you say better.”

The research at Northwestern University shows that   (2)  (play) a musical instrument is good for your brain. And the brain remembers how to “lock onto” the important sounds,   (3)  , our ears may not work as well as we age, and that helps us to hear better.

A scientist, living in France twenty years ago,   (4)   (write) about what he called the “Mozart Effect”. He said that   (5)   could be helpful to the brain when listening to the classical music of Mozart. Some researchers said that Mozart’s music would make you much   (6)   (smart), or even have some health disorders   (7)   (cure). Others said that there was nothing special about Mozart’s music. Any kind of high energy music would work. So if the cost of a musical instrument or music lessons is too costly, can we get   (8)  same brain experience just by listening?

Usually people have teachers, or they can teach themselves music.   (9)   , the point is that they’re actively playing a musical instrument and engaging in making music instead  (10)   listening to music passively.

Thank you very much for your letter. Your trip sounds exciting! I can’t wait __  (1)  _ hear what Africa is like.

Since my last letter to you, I had a little adventure ___  (2)  __ my own. Early this month, my mother and I took __  (3)  _ flight to Dunhuang, in the north-west of China. The desert out there was really quite amazing—I had never seen so much sand in my life! __  (4)  _ we were there, we arranged with a tour company to ride camels. I was very excited __  (5)  __ this was the first time I had seen one up close. We had hoped that we would get to see some other wildlife on our trip, __  (6)  __ sadly we didn’t.

Since you are going to the Sahara, I have some advice-----be sure to bring a large hat and a shirt with long sleeves, ___  (7)  _you’ll need for protection. The sun can be _  (8)  _brilliant that you’ll need to keep covered or you’ll get burnt-----my cheeks were so red for days after my trip. And another thing, you’ll need to keep a good supply of water with you, since it is so dry and hot.

I am sure you’ll have a nice trip. I look forward to receiving your postcards!

Best wishes

Aihua

When I was in elementary school, I got into a major argument with a boy. I have forgotten what it was about, but I have never forgotten what I learned that day.

    I   (1)  （think） that “I” was right and “he” was wrong, but he argued that “I” was wrong and “he” was right. The teacher decided   (2)  （teach）us a very important   (3)  . After she brought us up to the front of the class, she placed the boy on one side of her desk and     (4)     （I）on the other. In the middle of her desk, there   (5)  （be）a large and round object. I could clearly see that it was black. But the boy said it was white! Another argument started   (6)   us. The teacher told me to stand   (7)   the boy had been standing and told him to stand at my former place. We changed   (8)  （place）, and now I could see the color was “white.”

    It was an object with two differently   (9)  （color） sides. From his viewpoint it was white, but from my side it was black. Sometimes we need to look at a problem from the other person’s view in order to   (10)  （true） understand his or her view.

Though Chinese is   (1)   (old) than English, English is spoken   (2)   many people around the world every day. English speakers are always   (3)   (make) new words and we should be able to know where most words come from.

Sometimes, however, no one may   (4)  (real) know where a word comes from. Did you ever think about why hamburgers are called hamburgers, especially when they are not made with ham? About a hundred years ago, some   (5)  (man) went to America from Europe. They came from a big city in Germany  (6)   (call) Hamburg.

They did not speak good English,   (7)   they ate good food. When some American saw them   (8)   (eat) round pieces of beef, they asked the Germans what it was. The Germans did not understand the question and answered, “We came from Hamburg.” One of these Americans owned   (9)    restaurant, and had an idea. He cooked some round pieces of the beef like the man from Hamburg ate and   (10)  (sell) in many countries around the world.

In the days when an ice cream cost much less, Tom,   (1)   8-year-old boy, entered a hotel coffee shop   (2)   sat at a table. A waitress put a glass of water in front of him. "How much is an ice cream?" "Fifty-cents," replied the waitress. The little boy pulled   (3)   right hand out of the pocket and studied a number of coins in it.

"How much is a dish of plain ice cream?" he asked. Some people were now waiting for her service and the waitress grew a bit   (4)   (patience). "Thirty-five cents," she said   (5)   (rude). The little boy carefully counted the coins   (6)  . "I will have a plain ice cream," he said. The waitress walked   (7)  . The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left. It was not long   (8)   the waitress came back and then she began to wipe down the table and suddenly was surprised   (9)   what she saw. There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels (五分镍币) and five   (10)   (penny) ….. her tip!

Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Germany. He showed70.            (music) talent 71 .          an early age. He learned how 72.       (play) the violin from his father, 73.           was a singer.  Mozart met Beethoven and 74.             (impress) by him.

Beethoven met Haydn in 1971.After they had known each other for many years,  Haydn encouraged 75.         (he) to  move to  Vienna.  Beethoven became very popular in the Austrian capital and stayed there for 76.          rest of his life. As he grew77.      (old)，he began to go deaf . He became 78.         (complete) deaf during the last years of his life，79.            he continued composing.

“If you’re talking to me in a   (1)  (noise)restaurant and my nerve system is good at locking onto the sound of your voice, I can understand what you say better.”

The research at Northwestern University shows that   (2)  (play) a musical instrument is good for your brain. And the brain remembers how to “lock onto” the important sounds,   (3)  , our ears may not work as well as we age, and that helps us to hear better.

A scientist, living in France twenty years ago,   (4)  ．(write) about what he called the “Mozart Effect”. He said that   (5)   could be helpful to the brain when listening to the classical music of Mozart. Some researchers said that Mozart’s music would make you much   (6)  (smart), or even have some health disorders   (7)   (cure). Others said that there was nothing special about Mozart’s music. Any kind of high energy music would work. So if the cost of a musical instrument or music lessons is too costly, can we get   (8)  same brain experience just by listening?

Usually people have teachers, or they can teach themselves music.   (9)   , the point is that they’re actively playing a musical instrument and engaging in making music instead  (10)   listening to music passively.

James Long is holding a debate called “The economy or the environment — must we choose?” Lin Shuiqing,   (1)   environmentalist and Qian Liwei, an economist expressed their own opinions.

Mr. Lin holds the opinion   (2)   large areas of the world are damaged by industrial waste. In addition, many sea creatures are being destroyed ___  (3)  ____ fishing boats. Other types of waste flow into the river,  ___  (4)  _____(kill) river and sea life. The world’s population is approaching 6.5 billion. He advises people to cut back    (5)   production, reduce what we make and buy, expand our cycling industry, and meanwhile teach people about environmentally friendly ways of living.

While Mr. Qian thinks economic development is not definitely bad for the environment. Through working side by side with environmentalists, __  (6)  ____ thinks a healthy environment and a stable economy should be possible at the same time. But he does agree that recycling may be the key to __  (7)  _____ (help) both sides. People need more effective laws to preserve the environment   (8)   still allow the economy to grow. Those factories  __  (9)  ____ pollute the environment should have to pay higher taxes.

At last, James says they will open the    (10)   for further discussion.