Venice Film Festival is considered to be the oldest film festival in the world. The first Venice Film Festival was  1  in Italy in 1932. It was 14 years earlier than the first Cannes Film Festival in France.

    At the first Venice Film Festival, there were no judges（裁判） and no 2 at all. Only a list of good films was chosen by the public. At the 3festival, prizes started to be given. The prize of the festival was the Golden 4 . The lion is a symbol of the ancient republic of Venice.

5the Venice Film Festival was first held, the government has wanted to hold it every year. But from 1938 to 1942 the festival was destroyed 6 special reasons. Also, from 1940 to 1942, the festival was not held in Venice, so it was considered to have been 7 during that time. In 1946, the festival became active again. Now the festival becomes more and more 8 . Each of the editors in the world wants to have a seat in this festival.

      Venice Film has  9  a great opportunity for people around the world. They can learn about other countries' culture by watching films. Many movie makers send their  10 to the festival and some of them hope to win the Lion Award.

    My parents took me to Japan when I was little. I lived there for five years.1 I came back, my Japanese was very good. "Can I do something useful with my Japanese?" I asked myself.

    Then, one day last spring, I got a good opportunity(机会).

    Everyone was afraid of SARS, so I stayed at home with 2 to do.

    My father brought me a Japanese book. "Why don't you translate(翻译)it into Chinese? It will be better than3computer games all day."

    I promised (许诺)to do 2000 words each day. But 4 I found it was hard to keep the promise.

    One day in May, the weather was beautiful. But I couldn't go out. Those 2000 words were still5 me.

    After translating only three pages, I had already lost interest in the book.

    I looked at it for a long time. But I couldn't make myself turn the pages. How I6 I could just go outside and play football with my friends!

    I counted the words again and again .I just wanted to give up.

    I felt as if two people were fighting7 my mind. One said, "Don't give up! Keep working hard , and you'll do well!" But then the other one said ,"Go and play! It will be more 8 than translating. Do your work tomorrow. "

    I stood up and would9the computer.

    But then I remembered 10my parents had told me: "Whatever you do, don't stop halfway. " So I sat down and went on with it .

    I moved to a new neighborhood two months ago. A taxi driver lived in a house with a large1across the road. He's a single parent with two school-age children. At the end of the day, he would2his taxi on the road. "Why not in the garage？"I asked myself.

    Then one day I learned that he had another3. In the afternoon he would come home from work, leave his taxi and go out4his personal business in his other car, not in his taxi. I felt it was5.

    I really want to see his personal car but did not make it. Two weeks later, I6 to be outside one evening, when the garage door was7and he drove out in his "own" car: a Rolls-Royce(劳斯莱斯)! It8 me completely when I realized what that meant. You see, he was a taxi driver. 9deep inside, he saw himself as something else：a Rolls-Royce owner and a(n)10. He drove others in his taxi but himself and his children in his Rolls-Royce. The world looked at his taxi and called him a taxi driver. But for him, a taxi was11something he drove for a living. Rolls-Royce was something he drove for a(n)12.

    We go to bed every night and13every morning as parents or children, not as bankers, CEOs or professors. We go for a party as close friends or go for a vacation as a family. We love life as it is. Yet often, we base our happiness and14on how high we climb the social ladder(阶梯)—how much bigger and better a taxi we have. And we fail to notice Rolls-Royce, keeping it dusty in our garage. We should pay more attention to 15we are than what we do！Isn't it the true meaning of life？

Have you ever had lucid (清醒的) dreams? Recent studies suggest that the number of people having them is on the rise. Someone having a lucid dream realizes they are dreaming and may from then on" direct" the action, or they may simply " watch" the dream unfold. The sense of awareness (知道) makes it different from a dream that is simply very lively and true to life. And although the description may seem strange, the process is far from alien to many of us.

Studies suggest that the number of people in the Western world experiencing lucid dreams, which happen once in a while, has risen by between 10 and 40 per cent since the 1980s. Today, they are so common that about one in eight of us will have one in our lives. But still, little is known about what causes them or what is behind the rise.

Research carried out at the respected Harvard University in the US shows that the brain is working hard during lucid dreams. In fact, the level of the mental (精神

的) activity in some parts of the brain is similar to that of a person who is awake. Lucid dreamers seem to share certain personal characters. For example, in general they are quite creative. They are also good at digging deep into problems and going out of their way to solve them. Furthermore, they always believe in personal responsibility rather than letting society carry the can.

Our nightmares (噩梦) may show our waking worries, with the five most common ones-- falling, being run after, feeling disabled, being late and the death of a loved one. Men are more likely to have nightmares about fights or being fired while hair and tooth loss appear more in women's nightmares-perhaps showing worries about losing their looks. Research has also found that women have more nightmares than men. Their dreams are also scarier and more unforgettable.

Two days before Christmas I went out for shopping in town. It was pretty late 1 I walked out of the supermarket. I quickly put all the shopping bags 2 my car and started to drive home. 

When I was waiting for the 3 , looked out of the window and saw many homeless people on the empty pavement (人行道). Some of them 4 on the pavement and sleeping. They had very little 5 themselves on the cold night. I had pity on them. Suddenly, I had 6 idea. 

The next day I went to shops and bought as 7 blankets (毛毯) as possible. In the evening, I drove to the place where I had seen the homeless people the night before. I walked up to them and 8 each a blanket. They all looked at me in surprise. One lady kept hugging the warm blanket and saying over and over again 9 soft and warm the blanket was. I also brought some food for them. I felt really happy when I saw the smiles on 10 faces. And I thought the smiles were the best Christmas presents l had ever received. I have done this every Christmas Eve since then.