As I write this, I'm sitting on a bus back to Santiago in Chile where I am currently working{#blank#}1{#/blank#}a language assistant. I've just spent the weekend in a city called La Serena north of Santiago. I was lucky enough to see the flowering desert, a natural phenomenon that {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(occur) around every five years here in the Atacama Desert.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(follow) a particularly large amount of rainfall earlier, a{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(vary) of flowers come into blossom. Bright purple flowers create {#blank#}5{#/blank#} unbelievably beautiful scene at the base of the surrounding mountains.

    {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(catch) a glimpse of this magnificent treasure of nature, we took a bus from La Serena to a nearby town and then rented a car to go to the desert.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} we saw did not disappoint us, and as expected it was even more fascinating than the pictures we had seen online. The bloom was particularly {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(impress) this year due to the strong presence of El Niño (a band of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that changes the temperatures and increases the rainfall in certain areas). The vast carpet of colour {#blank#}9{#/blank#} spread into the distance towards the contrasting green hills was {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(simple) breathtaking and deserved a large amount of photos! A real reminder of the beauty our planet can provide.

    Born in England in 1944, Ian Wilmut{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(know) as the leader of the research group than first cloned a female lamb {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (call) Dolly in 1996. Dolly became famous and pictures of her appeared on the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (cover) of magazines all over the world. The {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (possible) of reproduction without a male and female being involved also made her the focus of a moral debate. For scientists, however, the cloning of dolly using the DNA of an adult cell was a breakthrough {#blank#}5{#/blank#}showed the cloning of special animals was possible.

    However,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}Wilmut think unlikely is human cloning. He says {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (undertake) the procedure with humans would require 29 surrogate（替代的）mothers and 300 eggs. Of those 29, 28 would be bound {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(experience) failure and suffer physically and emotionally. He says he is also concerned about the psychological and {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(society) consequences a cloned might have to go through. For these reasons, he is not{#blank#}10{#/blank#} favor of it.

    Today we talk about a word that is a feeling as well as a place. This word is “home.” Long ago in the 1700s, “home” was used as a verb,{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (mean) “to be guided to a destination.” So, when you home in on something, you get {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(close) to your target. For example, you could say, “Police are homing in on the suspects.” That is also where we get homing pigeons－pigeons that can find {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (they) way home after being released.

    But today, “home” is more often used as a noun. And it has a very emotional {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(connect) for American English speakers. You can remember the meaning of the word by the expression “home is {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the heart is.” That expression means home is anywhere you feel love and comfort. It is a place where you belong, and often a place you consider your origin. In other {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (word), “home” is not {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(simple) a building where you live—that's a house. There is a big difference {#blank#}8{#/blank#}a home and a house.

    The writer, Thomas Wolfe, had {#blank#}9{#/blank#} different idea about home. In 1940, his book “You Can't Go Home Again”{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (publish). Today we use this title to mean that the ideas and feelings that you had as a child often change when you are an adult. So, even if you return to the place where you grew up, time and distance have changed your perspective (观点).

    Over the years I have been teaching kids about a simple but powerful concept —— the ant philosophy ( 哲学 ), an {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (amaze) four part Philosophy.

    First, ants never quit. If they are heading somewhere and you try to stop them, they will climb over. They will climb under or climb around. They never quit {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(look) for a way to get where they {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(suppose) to go! Second, ants think about winter and summer. They are always gathering their winter food in the middle of summer and they are making{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(prepare) for the long cold winter. So you have to think about storms in summer and think about rocks{#blank#}5{#/blank#} you enjoy the sand and sun. Third, ants think about summer all winter. During the winter, they remind{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (they),” This won't last long and we will soon be out of here.” On {#blank#}7{#/blank#}first warm day, the ants are out. If it {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(turn) cold again, they will dive back down .But they come out again if it is warm. Last, how much will an ant gather during the summer to prepare for the winter? All that it {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(possible) can. {#blank#}10{#/blank#}you can learn from the ant philosophy is: Never give up, look ahead, stay positive and do all you can!

People eat rice all over the world

    Rice is believed to have been first grown in China or possibly somewhere else in eastern Asia around 10,000 years ago. The earliest evidence of rice farming comes from a 7,000-year-old site near the lower Yangtze River village of Hemudu in Zhejiang province in China.

    Rice is a kind of food which requires much labor. In developed countries, the planting and harvesting is done {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (most) with machines.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, in much of the world, these things are still largely done by hand. It takes one farmer 1,000 to 2,000 working hours {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (raise) a rice crop on 2.5 acres of land. The fact that rice {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (need) so much labor means {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (keep) a lot of the population on the land.

    Rice is also a crop{#blank#}6{#/blank#} need of lots of water. The wet rice {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (grow) in most of Asia needs hot weather after a period of rain and conditions provided by the Asian {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (rain) seasons affect many places {#blank#}9{#/blank#} rice is grown.

    Rice straws (稻杆) {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (leave)in the fields add nutrients (营养物) to the soil after rice is harvested. For the next crop, rice farmers can often enjoy a good harvest by adding little or no fertilizer (肥料).