Once upon a time, there was a man {#blank#}1{#/blank#} was very wealthy. He wanted to do something for the people in his village. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} that, he wanted to find out whether they deserved his help.

    In the center of the main road into the village, he placed {#blank#}3{#/blank#} very large stone. Then he {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his horse.

    “Who put this stone in the center of the road?” said the old man, but he did not try to remove the stone. Instead, with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone but not tried to remove {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone,{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (say) to himself, “The night {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) very dark. Some neighbors will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

    Then he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(strong) to move it. How great was his surprise at last!{#blank#}10{#/blank#} the stone, he found a bag of money.

    Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce {#blank#}1{#/blank#} ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by{#blank#}2{#/blank#}（combine） paper﹣cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi paper﹣cuts over western﹣style pencil sketches（素描）{#blank#}3{#/blank#}（create） a typical presentation of Chinese elements （元素）,which turns out to be a {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（success） and impressive breakthrough.

    Hua Mulan,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} story has been told by generations in China, is a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty（386﹣534）. As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army{#blank#}6{#/blank#}place of her father. Mulan's characteristics, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude toward fame and fortune, made{#blank#}7{#/blank#} （she） one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan's story has been adapted{#blank#}8{#/blank#}（frequent） in modern media, including TV shows, video games and literature. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（consider） a great success by critics and the public.

    To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（visit） to sites of ancient battles and Henan province's Yuju Opera. After years of preparation she finally makes this extraordinary work.

    My interest in Chinese food started years ago, when I was a young reporter for the Washington Post. Our office wasn't far from Chinatown,{#blank#}1{#/blank#}I found some very good Chinese restaurants.

    That was the first time that I{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(notice) the fresh taste of the meat and vegetables of Chinese food.

    When I learned more about the food, I began to understand why{#blank#}3{#/blank#}has this special feature.

    Many years ago, china had{#blank#}4{#/blank#}energy crisis because it lost much of its wood due to over population and poor management of its forests. This{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(lose) was very bad for the country, of course, but it turned out to be very good for the food. Wood became very expensive and hard to get, so the Chinese had to either find a substitute for their{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(value) wood, or learn how to use it better. There weren't any substitutes so people found ways to economize.

    In order to economize in cooking, they had to use very little wood. So they started cutting their meat and vegetables{#blank#}7{#/blank#}small pieces before they put them in the hot oil. That way, the food cooked{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(fast) and they saved more fuel. The food{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(prepare) in this way kept its fresh flavor and it's this flavor{#blank#}10{#/blank#}attracts people from other countries to the art of Chinese cooking.

    A 90-year-old has been awarded“Woman Of The Year”for {#blank#}1{#/blank#} （be）Britain's oldest full-time employee-still working 40 hours a week. Now Irene Astbury works from 9am to 5pm daily at the pet shop in Macclesfield， {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she opened with her late husband Les. Her years of hard work have {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（final）been acknowledged after a customer nominated（提名）her to be Cheshire's Woman Of The Year.

    Picking up her "Lifetime Achievement" award，proud Irene {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（declare） she had no plans {#blank#}5{#/blank#} （retire） from her 36-year-old business. Irene said," I don't see any reason to give up work. I love coming here and seeing my family and all the friends I {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（make） over the years. I work not because I have to, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} because I want to.”

    Granddaughter Gayle Parks，31-who works alongside her in the family business-said it remained unknown as to who nominated Irene for the award. She said，"We don't have any idea who put grandma forward. When we got a call {#blank#}8{#/blank#} （say）she was short-listed，we thought it was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} joke. But then we got an official letter and we were blown away. We are so proud of her. It's {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (wonder）."