The summer before I went off to college, Mom stood me in her usual spot behind the ironing board (烫衣板) and said, “Pay attention: I’m going to teach you to iron.”

Mom clearly explained her reasons ___(1)_____ this lesson. I was going to be in dependent and need to learn this important skill. Also, I would be meeting new people, and ___(2)_____ (proper) ironed clothes would help me make a good ____(3)____ (impress) .

“ Learn to iron a shirt.” Mum said, “_____(4)___ you can iron anything.”

But ironing shirts was not easy work. It didn’t make use of long muscles (肌肉) we used __(5)______ (throw) a baseball, and it wasn’t a special operation like ice-skating. Ironing was __(6)______driving a car on a street that has a stop sign every 10 feet. __(7)______, an iron produced steam and it carried some danger. If you touched the wrong part of it, you’d get ___(8)_____(burn). If you forgot to turn it off when you went away, you might burn down the house.

Over the years, I have learned to iron shirts skillfully, ____(9)____gives me a sense of pride.

____(10)____ failures I suffer in my life, an ironed shirt tells me I am good at something.

阅读下面对话，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡相应位置上。

W: _

M: Very

W: I enjoyed it very much too. I have never seen a more interesting game so far this year.

M: I had expected it to be a wonderful match because

W: I’m sorry I missed the first part of it..

M: You were late for the match? What for?

W: I was filled with anxiety to see the match and fell   

M: I’m sorry    

W: Yes, but not very __

M: You should have seen a doctor first. How long were you late for the match? What time was it when you got to the sports field?

W: When I got to the sports field,

M: Three twenty? Oh,you were twenty minutes late for the match. You missed a wonderful part of the match.

W: Yeah. It was really a pity.

Bill：I heard that the tea culture of China is   (1)  (amaze). Could you tell me something about it.

Ann:Of course. Tea drinking in China is very complicated（复杂）. It starts with the environment. In the past, tea drinking took place in a setting(背景) ___  (2)  ______“spring water ran on marbles” or “ in the woods during sunset.” . __  (3)  ____ present, in order to recreate such an atmosphere, teahouses ___  (4)  _______ (decorate) with traditional paintings and furniture. Besides, there is always a__  (5)  ______(perform) of a traditional Chinese musical instrument, such as the guzheng.

Bill：How about the water?

Ann:In the old days, the water that came from melted snow was regarded as the best. Today no one collects snow any longer because of pollution and __  (6)  ___ people use is bottled water.

Bill：Is there any difference in the tea?

Ann:Generally __  (7)  ____ (speak), there are four kinds of tea: red tea, green tea, Oolong tea and Pu’er tea. The first three types of tea are processed using similar methods but Pu’er tea uses a  __  (8)  ____ (total) different method.

Bill：Is tea drinking in a teahouse very expensive?

Ann:Yes. As __  (9)  __ matter of fact, it is a commercialized hobby now. Many people nowadays go to expensively-decorated teahouses  __  (10)  ___(talk) business.

The Amber Room   (1)   (put) up in 1709. It used to belong  (2)   Frederick William I, the first King of Prussia. Peter the Great fell in love with the room on a visit, and in 1716 the King of Prussia sent it to Peter the Great as a gift.

The Amber Room was shipped to Russia in 18 large boxes and put in the Winter Palace in St Petersburg as a part of a European art collection. It was first open in 1746 in the Winter Palace,  (3)   it was housed till 1755. In 1755, Czarina Elizabeth ordered the room     (4)   (move) to the Catherine Palace in Pushkin. An Italian   (5)   (art) Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli redesigned the room to fit into its new larger space,   (6)  (use) extra amber from Berlin.

  (7)   seems hard to believe that boxes of several tons of amber could go missing, and many historians have tried to solve the mystery. Most of them believe   (8)   the boxes were destroyed in the Second World War. One of the more extreme theories is that Stalin   (9)  (actual) had a second Amber Room and the Germans stole a fake (赝品).

The history of the new Amber Room, at least, is known for sure. The reconstruction (重建),  (10)  ​      was based largely on black and white photographs of the original Amber Room, began in 1979 at Tsarskoye Selo and was completed 25 years later.

M: Maria, what can you tell us about your plans for the future?

W: Well, I  (1)  (consider) taking a year out after I graduate. You know, I maybe travel around the world and see some different countries.

M:  (2)  do you hope to gain from traveling?

W: I’ve always been interested in seeing different places and  (3)  (experience) different cultures, so it will give me a chance to experience these things first-hand rather than read about them in a book. But I also think that the experience I gain will help me find a good job when I come back.

M: Can you explain  (4)  you think traveling will help you find a job?

W: Well, the modern business environment is changing. Therefore, to be  (5)  (success) in one’s life, it is important to be able to accept changes.

M: What do you mean?

W: I mean that you  (6)  change your attitudes and even working habits to suit the ever-changing environment. And  (7)  you’ve spent some time traveling, it means that you have to get used to different ideas and ways of doing things as well as simpler things, such as food and climate.

M: Er...It sounds reasonable.

W: I also believe that traveling will teach  (8)   (my) to be independent as well as value other people.

M: Why do you believe traveling will help you to value other people?

W: As you know, when you’re traveling you can’t get help from your family,  (9)  you have to depend on your friends, or even turn  (10)  strangers.

M: Oh, I see. You’re right, Maria.