I used to believe in the American Dream, which meant a job, a mortgage (按揭), credit cards, success, I wanted it and worked toward it like everyone else, all of us   46   chasing the same thing.

One year, through a series of unhappy events, it all fell   47  . I found myself homeless and alone. I had my truck and $56. I   48   the countryside for some place I could rent for the   49   possible amount. I came upon a shabby house four miles up a winding mountain road   50   the Potomac River in West Virginia. It was  51  , full of broken glass and rubbish. I found the owner, rented it, and   52   a corner to camp in.

The locals knew nothing about me,   53   slowly, they started teaching me the   44   of  being a neighbor. They dropped off blankets, candles, and tools, and began   55   around to chat. They started to teach me a belief in a   56   American Dream — not the one of individual achievement but of   57  .

What I had believe in, all those things I thought were   58   for a civilized life, were nonexistent in this place.   59   on the mountain, my most valuable passions were my   60   with my neighbors.

Four years later, I moved back into   61  . I saw many people were having a really hard time,   62   their jobs and homes. I managed to rent a big enough house to   63   a handful of people. There are four of us now in the house, but over time I’ve had nine people come in and move on to other places. We’d all be in   64    if we hadn’t handed together.

The American Dream I believe in now is a shared one. It’s not so much about what I can get for myself; it’s about   65   we can all get by together.

An old Spanish proverb states, “Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week”. How many  (1)   have we put off our dreams until tomorrow? I’d say, too many. Our dreams should not, and cannot wait. We have to go for them now! Here’s    (2)    .

  Tomorrow is not (3).

Nobody likes to talk about death，but the   (3)  is everybody is going to die  (4)  . None of us know the day, or the hour.   (5)  today is all we have．Make the decision to go after every dream, big or small, right now.

   The world is   (6)  your gift.

You were born into the world with a  (7)  gift, which nobody on this earth can copy. Sure, other people may be able to sing, but they’ll never be able to sing   (8)  like you . Sure, other people can write, but they’ll never be able to write in the same  (9)  that you write. Don’t deprive (剥夺) the world of your gift. It’s the oxygen that we need to  (10)   .Therefore, it is your responsibility to   (11)  exactly what your gift is，and use it to   (12)  your life and the lives of those   (13)  you .

   You can’t let fear win.

One of the biggest dream   (14)  is fear. Many people could have achieved amazing

things   (15)  they weren’t afraid. Just think about all the things you’ve wanted to do，but allow fear to tell you that you were not good,or   (16)  enough. Never let fear stop you from   (17)  your dreams.  

   You will be much happier if you go for it.

Imagine how much happier you will be if you’re living the life you  (18)  dreamed about. The only thing that is stopping you is you.  (19)  your own happiness. Don’t keep your dreams waiting. Go after them today!

On August 26, 1999, New York City was struck by a terrible rainstorm. The rain caused the streets to    (1)   and the subway system almost came to a stop.
  Unfortunately, this happened during the morning rush hour. Many people who were going to work were    (2)   to go home. Some battled to    (3)   a taxi or to get on a bus. Still others faced the    (4)   bravely, walking miles to get to work.
  I    (5)   to be one of people on the way to work that morning. I went from subway line to subway line only to find that most     (6)    had stopped. After making my way    (7)   crowds of people, I finally found a subway line that was     (8)  . Unfortunately, there were so many people waiting to    (9)    the subway that I could not even get down the stairs to the     (10)   . So I took the train going in the opposite direction, and then switched back to the downtown train. Finally, after   (11)   seemed like forever, the train  reached my stop. Then I had to walk several blocks in the increasingly heavy rain. When I finally got to my office, I was    (12)   through, exhausted and     (13)   . 
  My co-workers and I spent most of the day drying off. When it was 5:00 p.m., I was ready to go home. I was about to turn off my computer     (14)    I received an email from Garth, my Director:
   I would like to thank all of you who made the effort and  (15)      reported to work. It is always reassuring( 令人欣慰 ), at times like these, when employees so clearly show their    (16)    to their jobs. Thank you.
  Garth’s email was short, but I learned more from that     (17)   message than I ever did from a textbook. The email taught me that a few words of   (18)   can make a big difference. The rainstorm and the traffic    (19)   had made me tired and upset. But Garth’s words immediately     (20)   me and put a smileback on my face.

The government in China plans to end its one-child per family policy(政策) and instead let families have two children.

 People knew the   (1)   after an important meeting in Beijing. It’s reported that there are many reasons   (2)   the change in policy. One of them is to  (3)   population development. 

 China has the worldˈs   (4)   population. It carried out the one-child policy in 1980. But the government  (5)   only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, at rural areas,  (6)  the first-born is a girl, couples can have a second child.

 In 2013, the Chinese government  (7)   other couples a chance to have two children. Families could have two if one  (8)  was an only child. However, too many young people in the cities are probably no longer   (9)   in having a second child. 

 At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800  (10)  of them are employed(雇佣). With the two-child policy, an increase in births will change the labor shortage(短缺).

My name is Wang Gang. Last summer, I went to a coastal city called Brisbane in Australia on an exchange(交换) program. I stayed with Mr. and Mrs. Smith and their daughter Joan. They lived in a big house close to the     41   . I like that area very much, because there is a cinema, a swimming pool and a     42   .

I got along very well with Joan. We shared many     43    interests. Almost every day, we went swimming in the swimming pool. Sometimes we swam in the sea if the     44    was nice. We went to the zoo and I really     45    seeing those wild animals and the     46    ones. I saw those cute koalas and kangaroos, but I didnˈt get close to them     47    people said actually koalas were not as gentle as they     48   . They might bite people. We also went to the cinema a couple of times and I really liked the films there.

We visited Sydney on a sunny day. Brisbane is about 1 000 kilometers     49   

from Sydney, so itˈs not a short distance.   50   , we went there by plane. The journey by plane was quite fast and     51    and it took us only two hours to get there. When I got     52    the plane, I was so excited to see this modern city. The next day, we visited the famous Sydney Opera House. It was amazing!

The     53   in Sydney was absolutely beautiful and the food there was well-cooked. My favorite was sea fish. The Smiths were very nice to me. They even

   54  me to some very expensive lobster(龙虾). That was the first time I    55 

lobster, and I     56    say it was really delicious.

The whole trip was very enjoyable     57    the last day. We planned to go boating on the sea. However, it rained the whole day. We     58 in the hotel that day and chatted. In the end, we decided to go back to Brisbane by     59   , because the ticket was cheaper and also we could enjoy the scenery outside the train windows.

On the whole, I really had a great time in Australia. It was a     60    trip. Iˈd like to go back there again! 

It was a Thursday in Canada. I was taking an autumn walk through the fields.

    On the way I saw a   (1)  lying on the ground. There was no one around. Thinking it might have been stolen and   (2)   aside, I picked it up. But when I opened it, I found the contents seemed untouched and that there were some   (3)   inside. As the papers showed, the bag belonged to a young French woman called Lale, who appeared to live on the other side of the town.

    I took the bag home, and tried to   (4)   Lale. However, her name wasn't listed in the phone book. Then I found a prescription(药方)inside with her doctor's phone number on it.  (5)  it was late in the evening, I made a phone call to the doctor. Unfortunately, he didn’t have her phone number either.

     (6)   I borrowed a friend's car and drove to her house. I rang the doorbell and then an old woman came out to   (7)   the door, who turned out to be Lale's mother. She was so happy that I had returned her daughter's bag and invited me   (8)   dinner. At dinner I was told that Lale was going on a trip to Singapore and wouldn't be able to do so without   (9)   passport. After dinner I was served coffee and sweets. When I was leaving, Lale's mother asked me to come back and visit again.

    How  (10)   life can be if you just follow where kindness leads！

There is a holiday next week and I can’t decide what to do．I have a lot of work to do  16   and this would be a good chance  17   ．But I don’t like _18__the holiday in such a way． I can work at home all the rest of the year．Last year I went  19   to the mountains． __20  there was beautiful，but it is too cold this time of a year. And it’s really  21   far to go for a short holiday．I decide __22   this isn’t a good time to  23   the mountains．But I __24    to go somewhere else．

Perhaps this would be a good chance to go to the beach（海滨）．I like to go for walks _25 the seashore  26  the warm sunshine and watch the water. It’s only eight miles away and I could get there  27   about two hours．After thinking it    28  ，I am sure that this is a  29  time for the seashore than   30  ．Oh， here is a letter  31   Jim． He  32  he is going to his house in the mountains for the  33  ，and he  34  me to go with him． 35  giving it some more thought， I wrote back to Jim and thanked him for that．