She looks like any other schoolgirl, fresh-faced and full of life. Sarah Thomas is looking forward to the challenge of her new A-level course . But unlike school friends ,16-year-old Sarah is not spending half-term  {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (rest). Instead, she is earning $6500 a day as {#blank#}2{#/blank#} model in New York.

    Sarah  {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (tell) that she could be Britain's new supermodel， earning a million dollars in the new year. Her father Peter44,want her to give up school to model fulltime. But Sarah, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}has taken part in shows along with top models， wants  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (prove) that she has brains as well as beauty. She is determined to carry on with her{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(educate).

    She has turned down several {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(invitation) to star at shows in order to concentrate on her studies. After school she plans to take a year off to model full time before going to university to get a degree {#blank#}8{#/blank#} engineering or architecture.

    Sarah says, "My dad thinks I should take the offer now. But at the moment, school {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(come) first. I don't want to get too absorbed in modeling. It is{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(certain) fun but the lifestyle is a little unreal. I don't want to have nothing else to fall back on when I can't model my more."

    I can well remember that I was once asked to give a speech titled “A Real Test in My Life” before the whole class at the age of 9! You can imagine how {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (terrible) shy I was the moment I thought of that—with so many eyes {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (look) at me. I had no{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (choose) but to prepare for it, though. First of all, I was to draft(草拟) the speech, which was just a piece of cake for me, a good writer. But the hardest part {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (lie) in my oral presentation from my memory, for to read from the paper was not allowed. The real moment began {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I stood on the platform with my legs trembling and my mind blank. But my listeners {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (wait) patiently without any signs of rushing me. Gradually I found myself back, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(give) my speech with difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, I found my audience applauding—I made it! From then on, my fear of talking before a big audience disappeared. Actually, with my {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(confident) building up, I now turn out to be a great speaker. Looking back, I know the greatest difficulty on our way {#blank#}9{#/blank#} success is our fear. Overcome(克服) it , and we will be able to achieve our {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(goal).

Time to Learn How to Sort

Whatever we don't want —- no matter whether it's eggshells, newspapers, soda cans or old socks —- it's all garbage. And garbage goes to the garbage bin. There seems to be {#blank#}1{#/blank#}wrong with that. But do you really know how to throw away garbage properly?

    China {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (promote) garbage sorting for over a decade, but for the majority of the public the concept hasn't sunk in. Shenzhen issued a new regulation. It says residents will be fined up to 100 yuan and organizations 1,000 yuan for not sorting rubbish {#blank#}3{#/blank#}specific groups.

    "It's evident that the government is determined to push this forward," said Zhang Ning, a program officer {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(serve) in a Beijing-based public welfare organization. "But I'm afraid the regulation will prove to be counter-productive because garbage sorting has never been achieved by merely imposing severe punishments."

    A recent survey found that 49.5 percent of the respondents said they still don't know how to sort garbage, {#blank#}5{#/blank#}45.5percent just can't be bothered to do it. "Lots of citizens {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(confuse)about what's recyclable and what's general waste. For example, it's scarcely known that tissue is non-recyclable because it's too moisture-prone and usually too polluted {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (recycle)." said Zhang, a representative.

    According to Zhang, 70 percent of garbage is a " {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(misplace)resource". For instance, a ton of waste steel can be refined into 0.9 tons of usable steel, and a ton of kitchen waste is able to produce 0.3 tons of organic fertilizer.

But all of this is based on the condition {#blank#}9{#/blank#}the garbage is categorized properly. And the behavior of households {#blank#}10{#/blank#}the sorting process initially starts —- is the key. Garbage sorting is a chain effect. Misconduct at the very beginning will make all the following efforts go in vain.

    Garbage sorting is a complex issue and takes patience. So next time when you throw away what is called "garbage", do it in the right way.

On keeping a diary in English

    Keeping a diary in English is one of the effective ways to improve our English writing ability.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (compare) with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (little) time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} we keep practising, gradually we'll learn how to express ourselves in English. On keeping a diary in English, we certainly meet with many {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (difficult).

    Firstly, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} often happens that we have trouble {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (find) appropriate words and phrases to give expression to our mind.

    Secondly, there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese. And it is extremely hard for us to put them into English properly.

    As far as I {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (concern), my suggestion is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese­English dictionary within easy reach. Whenever we meet with something that we don't know how to express in English, we can first put it {#blank#}8{#/blank#} in our notebook and then refer to our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary. In short, I believe that it is very {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (use) to keep a diary in English for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} development of our writing skills.

    In ancient Egypt, the pharaoh (法老) treated the message runner like a prince if he brought good news. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, if the exhausted runner had the misfortune to bring, his head was cut off. Shades of that spirit spread over today's conversations. Once a friend and I packed up some peanut butter and sandwiches in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (prepare) for an outing. As we walked {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (cheerful) out of the door, a smiling neighbor looked up at the sky and said, "Oh boy, a bad day for a picnic for it's going to rain." I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (strike) him in the face in my mind not for his stupid weather report {#blank#}5{#/blank#} for his smile.

    More often than not, what makes someone angry is not the unpleasant news but the unsympathetic attitude with {#blank#}6{#/blank#} it's delivered. Everyone must give bad news from time to time, but big winners know they should share the feeling of the receiver when {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (deliver) any bad news. If my neighbor {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (tell) me of the upcoming rainstorm with {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (sympathetic), I would have appreciated his warning. Big winners, when they bear bad news, deliver bombs with the emotion the bombarded (被轰炸) person is sure {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (have).

    For the first time in 94 years, the Palace Museum has extended its opening hours, allowing the public to celebrate the Lantern Festival at night in the ancient palace.

    About 3, 000 lucky visitors received free tickets from the government, among {#blank#}1{#/blank#} was Zhang Zhifu, a 77-year-old public security volunteer. It's a mark of gratitude for her volunteer work. "It is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (true) an honor to be granted this special privilege," Zhang said.

    To guarantee the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (safe) of the palace, festival organizers {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (plan) this year's Lantern Festival event used LED lights rather than traditional paper lanterns and red candles. It's a fascinating event for visitors to absorb {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (they) in the festive atmosphere in the museum. Discussion of the Palace Museum's new look lit up social media following Tuesday's display.

    Since he became director of the Palace Museum, Shan Jixiang {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (bring) many changes to the world's {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (large) royal complex (建筑群). Once in a speech the 64-year-old director shared his idea about how to make traditional {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (treasure) come alive again. "{#blank#}9{#/blank#} matters to a museum is not how many visitors they have, but how close they are {#blank#}10{#/blank#} people's daily lives," he said.