Paul Lucas can often be seen walking around the city of San Francisco. Sometimes people are {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (surprise) to see him walking without any shoes or socks,{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Lucas doesn't mind at all. He likes to walk barefoot, and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} do 640 other members of Dirty Sole Society, the club that Lucas {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (start) years ago. Lucas' idea for this is to encourage others to live {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (free)－free of shoes.

    According to Lucas, the barefoot life has many {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (advantage). The most important is simply that it feels good. He also says that walking barefoot allows you to experience the world directly by {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (touch) it with your feet. In addition, the feet do not smell so much {#blank#}8{#/blank#} they stay dry,{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (make) it hard for bacteria(细菌)  to grow. And, of course, walking barefoot keeps your feet in good shape, so it's actually {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (healthy) than wearing shoes.

The pickle (泡菜) jar as far back as I can remember sat on the floor beside the dresser (梳妆台) in my parents' bedroom. When he got ready for bed, Dad would empty his pockets and toss (投掷) his coins into the jar. It seemed that he was accustomed{#blank#}1{#/blank#}doing such a thing When the jar was filled, I used to {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(go) with him and he would take the coins to the bank. "These are for my son's college fund. He'll never work at the mill (磨坊) all his life like me. If he {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (work) like me in the future, he might not have a bright future. Good education can make a difference to people." He had the coins {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (count) and then he deposited the money in the bank.

    The years passed, and I finished college and took a job. Sometimes the job makes me tired {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(mental) but it is my particular preference. If possible, I will do it permanently in my life. Once, while {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (visit) my parents, I noticed that the pickle jar in my parents' bedroom was gone. My father thought {#blank#}7{#/blank#} very important for me to receive a good high education. He demanded that I {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (try) my best to enter a good university.

The first Christmas after our daughter Jessica was born, we made an {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(appoint) to visit my parents so we spent the holiday with them. Now our big family consists of five people. When Susan came back into the living room, she said softly, "Look". To my amazement, there stood the old pickle jar, the bottom already{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (cover) with coins. I walked over to the pickle jar, dug down into my pocket, and pulled out a fistful of coins.

    With the strong emotion choking me, I dropped the coins into the jar. I looked up and saw Dad who was carrying Jessica. Our eyes locked, and I knew he was feeling the same emotions as I felt.

    Don't be too concerned {#blank#}1{#/blank#}money, because it will change you from achieving happiness. And the ironic(讽刺的)thing is that people think they will be happy when they have money.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}（actual), money has little to do with happiness. If you have money but you are{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(happy), you will use that money for more unhappiness. But people keep{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(look)for money as if money is going to bring happiness. People are ready, at any moment,    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (change)their ways, if more money is available somewhere else. Once the money is there, then suddenly you are no longer {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(you); you are going to change. This is the way of the worldly man. Remember, I don't call a person worldly because he or she{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(have)money. I call them worldly if they change their motivations for money. This applies to people with no money as well. The non-materialistic (非物质主义的)life is one in{#blank#}8{#/blank#}money is just a means: Happiness is in the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(major). You know who you are and where you are going, and then you will see your life has{#blank#}10{#/blank#}meaningful quality.

    It was my first day in Hangzhou, the Chinese city famous for its {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (nature) beauty and history and I didn't have much time to spare. I wanted to see {#blank#}2{#/blank#} much of the city as possible in the two days before I was to return to Guangzhou.

    My first task was to decide where to go and how to get there. I took out my guide book {#blank#}3{#/blank#} there was a lot of information about the city's well-known tourist {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (attraction) and started to read. At that moment, an attractive young lady who noticed my book came up {#blank#}5{#/blank#} me and introduced herself. She said her name was Bai Li and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (kind) offered to show me around the city. I was delighted and was about to accept her suggestion when she {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (suggest) we first go to the West Lake and walk along the Broken Bridge.

    I liked the idea of visiting the West Lake, but wasn't so sure about crossing the Broken Bridge. If it was broken, did she expect me {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(jump) across? And I couldn't swim, so if I fell in then I {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (die). That was definitely not an attractive idea, so I politely declined her {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (invite), closed my book and walked away.

    The Han people have its own spoken and written language-Chinese. Chinese belongs to the Han-Tibetan language family. It is the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (common) used language in China and among the largest languages in the world.

    Written Chinese came out in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (it) earliest form approximately 6,000 years ago. The Chinese characters {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (use) today, also called “Hanzi”, developed from those used in bones and tortoise shells more than 3,000 years ago. There are about 56,000 characters, of which only about 3,000 are in common use.

    Mandarin is a category (种类) of Chinese {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (dialect) spoken across most of northern and {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (southwest) China. The term “Mandarin” can also refer to Standard Mandarin, which {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (base) on the Mandarin dialect spoken in Beijing. It is officially considered to be the standard for the People's Republic of China.

    Why do most non-Chinese speakers choose to learn standard Mandarin Chinese? Mandarin is understood by most Chinese people. As mentioned above, it is China's national language. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} you are interested in basic communication, scholarly research, or {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (pursue) a career in China, standard Mandarin is {#blank#}9{#/blank#} necessary tool for communication. And it often serves {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a bridge for communication.