Wouldn't this be great? You come home from school and your new dog {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (wait)at the dor to greet you. Or, you have a bad and your new kitten jumps onto your lap for a hug. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (have)a pet is a dream for many  teenagers. And finally your mum and dad have agreed. But just because you {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (allow)to get a pet doesn't mean you should. Pets are not toys but friends {#blank#}4{#/blank#} need our love and company. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} don't get a pet if you're not ready to devote.

    As they walk down the halls during their years together at Shady Side, our boys and girls —— so soon to become men and women —— are learning to think, to work, to question, to be {#blank#}1{#/blank#} and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, to{#blank#}3{#/blank#}with others, to laugh at their mistakes and to act {#blank#}4{#/blank#} when {#blank#}5{#/blank#} comes their way.

    Sir William Osler, a famous Canadian doctor,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} the value of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} by saying, "No man is really happy {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a hobby, and it makes precious little {#blank#}9{#/blank#} what the outside {#blank#}10{#/blank#} may be."

    Tony and I are good friends. We tried to walk across the United States of America. We're not exactly sure{#blank#}1{#/blank#} we were doing it. Part of it was to test ourselves; to see if we could face the challenges. When I was{#blank#}2{#/blank#} teenager I often daydreamed that I was going to walk across the United States{#blank#}3{#/blank#} I graduated from high school.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} , I didn't do that. Before I knew it I was in my thirties, married,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} （have） a job, yet still had this idea in my mind with each{#blank#}6{#/blank#} （pass） year. I figured I was too old and my opportunity had passed. Then, a few years ago, I met Tony,{#blank#}7{#/blank#} was in his thirties and quit his job as a civil engineer in New York City to walk across the United States. He wasn't doing it for a cause{#blank#}8{#/blank#} as part of an organization. He was doing it{#blank#}9{#/blank#}（simple） because he loved to walk and discover. The idea was back and I no longer had an excuse. We planned on averaging 20miles a day and taking some days off to rest, so we expected the walk to take about 6months realizing it could take{#blank#}10{#/blank#} （long）. We were in no hurry: The total distance would have been about 3,100miles.

    From the first day I arrived in Kunming, I had my understanding of China {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(change). Far from being narrow-minded and hostile to {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(foreign), people came up to talk to me the first time I went out on the street. It happened to be all in Chinese, so I didn't understand much, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}it did cause me to rethink my assumptions.

    As my Chinese improved, this continued throughout my stay, from my landlord introducing me to people who could help us learn Chinese to {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(get) to know the couple who ran a noodle restaurant nearby.

    If you're interested in other people, their culture, and their language, they'll be{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(friend) to you. China isn't {#blank#}6{#/blank#}exception.

    Don't judge a country by its media coverage, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(especial) some Western media, which have much prejudice.

    I saw a very different kind of China with my own eyes. Kunming, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} I lived for most of my stay, wasn't much polluted. I had frank conversations with Chinese people about almost everything.

    Still China {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(develop), but the economic growth means that most people {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(see) their living standards improve rapidly in the last 20 years. People I spoke with were generally optimistic about the future.

    When Sandra was a child, her family was very poor, but she wanted {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (bad) to believe that her poverty was just a temporary situation, so she looked toward stories {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (escape). Her favorite book {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (check) out of the library over and over again was called The little house. Throughout Sandra's life, she had to move between cities, never {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (allow) her much time to get settled in one place. Her {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (separate) from family drove her to burying herself in books. Though reading a lot, according to Sandra, she didn't really start writing {#blank#}6{#/blank#} she attended her first creative writing class in college. She then realized that she needed to write what she knew, and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} purpose she adopted a writing style opposite to that of her classmates. Admission to Loyola University {#blank#}8{#/blank#} she earned a BA in English was a turning point for her. Sandra's writing {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (shape) by her experiences since then. She doesn't just make up {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (character), but writes about real people that she has encountered.

    It's difficult to say exactly when IWD(International Women's Day) began. It dates back to 1908, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} 15,000 women marched through New York City demanding voting rights, better pay and {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(short) working hours.

    A year later, the first National Woman's Day {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(allow) in the US on February 28, according to an announcement by the Socialist Party of America.

    In 1910, a woman {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(call) Clara Zetkin—leader of the "women's office" for the Social Democratic Party in Germany came up with the idea of International Women's Day. She suggested that every country {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (celebrate) International Women's Day on one day every year to push for their demands.

    A meeting of more than 100 women from 17 {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(country) agreed to her suggestion and IWD was formed. In 1911, it was celebrated for {#blank#}7{#/blank#} first time in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland {#blank#}8{#/blank#} March 19.

    In 1913, it was decided {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(change) IWD to March 8, and it has been celebrated on that day ever since. The day was only recognized by the United Nations in 1975. It {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(create) a theme (主题) each year for the celebration ever since.