Around twenty years ago I was living in York. Although I had a lot of experience and a Master's degree, I could not find {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(satisfy) work.

    I was driving a school bus to make ends meet and living with a friend of {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(me), for I had lost my flat. I had attended five interviews with a company and one day between bus runs, they called to say I did not get the job. "Why has my life become so hard?" I thought {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(pain).

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I pulled the bus over to drop off a little girl, she handed me an earring {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(say) that I should keep it in case somebody claimed it. The earring {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (paint) black and said "BE HAPPY".

    At first I got angry. Then it hit me — I had been {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(give) all of my attention to what was going wrong with my life rather than what was right! I decided then and there to make a list of fifty things I was happy with. Later, I decided to add more things to the list. That night there was a phone call for me {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a lady who was a director at a larger hospital. She asked me {#blank#}9{#/blank#} I would give a one-day lecture on stress {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(manage) to 200 medical workers. I said yes.

    My day there went very well, and before long I got a well-paid job. To this day I know that it was because I changed my way of thinking that I completely changed my life.

    A young man and an old man were waiting for a bus. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} sat next to each other. “What's that in your bag? ” asked the young man, pointing to a big bag beside the old man.“Gold. There was nothing but gold,” Answered the old man. The young man could not believe his won ears and was {#blank#}2{#/blank#}great amazement. Then he began to think about {#blank#}3{#/blank#}to get the gold. The old man was very tired and it seemed that he could hardly keep his eyes open. After a while the old man {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(lie) down on the chair and fell asleep.The young man took {#blank#}5{#/blank#}big bag gently and quietly. But when he was just about to run away, he found a corner of his fur coat was under the old man's body. Several times he tried to pull it out, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in vain. At last he took off his coat, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (think) that the gold in the bag must cost far more than his fur coat. Nervous but {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(delight), the young man ran out of the station as quickly as his legs could carry him until he reached a place {#blank#}9{#/blank#}he thought the old man couldn't find him. He stopped and quickly opened the bag but he just found a great many of small stones in it. Then he ran back to the station {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(hurry) only to find that the old man was gone.

    There were some strange things happening in Tangshan {#blank#}1{#/blank#} July 28, 1976. For three days , water in the wells rose and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (fall). The wells had deep cracks and a smelly gas came out of them. Pigs, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (chicken) and even mice became too nervous {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (live) as usual. At 3:42 am, everything began to shake. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} seemed that the world was at an end. One-third of the nation felt it. 

    A terribly huge crack cut across the city. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (immediate) the city lay in ruins. Two-thirds of the people died or were injured. Then {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (late) that afternoon, another big quake {#blank#}8{#/blank#} was almost as strong as the first one shook Tangshan. People began to wonder how long the disaster would last, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} not all hope was lost. Soldiers came to help those survivors. Slowly, the city began to {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（breath) again.

    Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is a traditional holiday, which {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (observe) each year over 2,000 years in China to honor Qu Yuan, an ancient Chinese patriotic（爱国的）poet. Originating from south China, Dragon Boat Festival enjoys higher{#blank#}2{#/blank#}popular) in southern areas, such as Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Guangdong Provinces. With a history over 2,000 years, it used to be a day{#blank#}3{#/blank#}people would use herbs（药草）to drive away diseases. However, the most popular origin is closely related{#blank#}4{#/blank#}the great poet Qu Yuan in the Warring States Period. Composing masterpieces like Li Sao, he was regarded as one of the greatest{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(poem) in Chinese history. After he was exiled（流放）by the king, he had no alternative but to choose to drown{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(he) in the river rather than seeing his country conquered by the State of Qin. He died on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which is{#blank#}7{#/blank#}people decided to commemorate（纪念）him on that day{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(annual).{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(remember) his death on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, people celebrate the festival in{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(vary)ways.

    Few people would even think of beginning a new job at the age of 76, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} one of America's most famous artists did just that. Anna Mary Robertson, better known as "Grandma Moses", turned to painting {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she was too old to work on her farm.

    Grandma Moses was crazy about painting soon after she picked it up and worked hard at it. She painted{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (care) and her works were nice .She first painted only to please {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (she),and then began to sell her works {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a little money. In 1993,a collector, Louis Caldor, happened to see several of Grandma Moses' works {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (hang) in a shop. He liked them {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (buy) them at once, and set out to look for {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (much).Caldor held {#blank#}9{#/blank#} show to introduce the works of Grandma Moses to other artists. Grandma Moses, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} was world-famous ,died on December 13, 1961,at the age of 101.