Since the one-baby policy {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (carry) out in China, Chinese families have been shrinking from one with over 10 members to the other with only three including parents and one baby. Things are usually out of our expectation. Apart from the benefits {#blank#}2{#/blank#} have been mentioned enough, small families are now beginning to have {#blank#}3{#/blank#} own problems. Because parents are having fewer children, they increasingly feel the need {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (control) the lives of those children. As a result, many children are becoming less {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (depend), determined and ambitious than in the past.   

Parents today discourage their children from doing housework, extracurricular activities and socializing {#blank#}6{#/blank#} they fear it will interrupt their education. For example, when I was younger I wanted to learn the guitar {#blank#}7{#/blank#} my parents wouldn't allow me because they believed it would distract me from my studies. They are happy as long as I perform {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (wonder) in my exams but don't seem concerned about how I develop {#blank#}9{#/blank#} a person.

To some extent, I understand parents' concerns, but I think they should love their children for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} they are, not what they want them to be. We deserve the chance to chase our own dreams and learn on our own. Even if we fail, we can learn from those failures.

    Now, please allow me to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (introduce) Lhasa to you. Lhasa is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} capital city of Tibet, which is {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (locate) in the Southeast of Tibet. It is a city with a history of more than 1300 years. It is famous for the Potola Palace. Besides, it's also an {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (attract) city, attracting tens of millions of visitors from home and abroad each year. There are many {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (place) of interest and people  are very {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (friend). With the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (develop) of modern transportation, traveling becomes{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (easy). It takes only 2 hours to fly {#blank#}9{#/blank#} Chengdu to Lhasa. If you have a chance to come to Tibet, welcome {#blank#}10{#/blank#} Lhasa.

    Saint Patrick's Day is a major holiday in Ireland, but the rest of the world has influenced its celebration as much as the Irish{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (they). Most Americans think of Saint Patrick's Day as a big party{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(center) around drinking alcohol. But its {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (origin) in Ireland were religious, says Mike Cronin, a professor of Irish history with Boston College of Massachusetts.

    Saint Patrick lived in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago. He is{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (wide) considered to have established Christianity in the country. The Church decided to honor him with a holy day. March 17, the date of his death{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (choose) in the 17lh century.

    St. Patrick is believed{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(serve) in Ireland as a Catholic Bishop (主教). The average Irish person honored March 17 quietly{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(attend) church services was the main activity. In fact, most businesses that served alcohol would close in honor {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the day. In the early 1900s, Ireland's government made St. Patrick's Day{#blank#}9{#/blank#} official holiday. By the 1960s, towns across Ireland started celebrating the holiday with parades and music.

    In Ireland today, St. Patrick's Day is a four-day public celebration {#blank#}10{#/blank#} includes parades, music, food, and games.

    Stephen Hawking, who is one of the famous physicists, was born in Britain on January 8th, 1942. As a child, he was enthusiastic about {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (design) complicated toys but {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (fortune), in his twenties, he suffered{#blank#}3{#/blank#} a disease that was impossible to be cured,{#blank#}4{#/blank#}was a great challenge for him. However, he was not only positive about the misfortunes, and eventually he {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (defeat) all the obstacles but also he was absorbed {#blank#}6{#/blank#}  his research in the universe. In 1988, his best-seller A Brief History of Time {#blank#}7{#/blank#}  (publish), in which he put forward the idea {#blank#}8{#/blank#} time itself has a beginning, and that it will have {#blank#}9{#/blank#}end. In {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (conclude), he has made outstanding contributions to the fields of cosmology and quantum gravity.

David will never forget what happened to him the day before yesterday. He was eating something at home{#blank#}1{#/blank#} he received a strange phone call from a hospital. The caller said that his son{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(fall) to the ground unconscious on the way to school. It was he {#blank#}3{#/blank#}took him to the hospital. David hung up his cell phone and rushed to his son's classroom, only to find him listening to the teacher attentively. He suddenly realized that he had been cheated, but he felt {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(relieve). Just at that time the phone rang again, saying, "Your son is in great danger and he needs {#blank#}5{#/blank#}immediate operation which costs 48,000 yuan. The doctors here say they will not operate {#blank#}6{#/blank#}your son until they receive the money." When{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(ask) from where the caller had taken his son to hospital, the caller rang off. David gave a big smile and said. "What a pity!"

If the cheater thought he could get money from David in such a（an）{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(honest)way, he was wrong. Such phone calls are common these days. A few of them might have fallen victims to such tricks. Most parents are sensitive to {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. It was really silly to cheat well—educated men like David.

    Believe it or not, it's a true story. The{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(colleague)in his office can confirm it, such as Tom, Peter and so on.