Most American businesses are open five days a week. American school children attend school five days a week as well. American families {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (usual) have a two-day weekend. The weekend is Saturday {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Sunday.

    Over the weekend, people spend their time {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (do) various things. Many families enjoy weekend together. They may go shopping, go for a drive, or visit friends. They may also send {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (invite) friends and have a party at home. Weekends are also good chances to take trips, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} are usually short ones. They will go to the nearby mountains, parks, lakes or other {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (interest）places to relax them. Some even go camping and picnicking there.

    Many families participate {#blank#}7{#/blank#} sports during the weekend. Running, biking, playing volleyball and swimming are popular in the summer. Skiing and skating are the favorite winter {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sport).

    Weekends are also a time for American families {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (work) on something in their yards or on their houses. Many families plant flowers and have vegetable gardens. So weekends {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (use) to paint or repair their houses. For most Americans, weekends are very busy.

    Once upon a time a very strong woodcutter asked for a job in a timber merchant, and he got it. The pay was{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(real) good and so were the work conditions. For that reason, the woodcutter was determined to do{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(he) best. His boss gave him an axe（斧头）and showed him the area（地区）,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}he was supposed to work. The first day, the woodcutter{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(bring) 18 trees. “Congratulations,” the boss said. “Go on that way”. Very{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(motivate) by the boss's words, the woodcutter tried harder the next day, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}he could only bring 15 trees. The third day he tried even harder. But he could only bring 10 trees. Day after day he was bringing fewer and{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (few) trees. “I must be losing my {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(strong), ” the woodcutter thought. He went to the boss and apologized, {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(say) that he could not understand what was going on. “When was the{#blank#}10{#/blank#}time you sharpened your axe? ” the boss asked. “Sharpen? I had no time to sharpen my axe. I have been very busy trying to cut trees. ”

    One day, about ten years ago, while working at the cash register (收银机) in the gift shop at my University Museum of Natural History, I saw {#blank#}1{#/blank#} elderly couple come in with a little girl in a wheelchair. As I looked {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(close) at this girl, I found that she was fixed on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, a neck and upper body,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (dress) in a little white skirt. As the couple wheeled her up to me, I turned my head toward the girl. When I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the girl, who was giving me the most optimistic, largest smile I had ever seen. All of a sudden, her handicap (障碍) was gone and all I saw was this beautiful girl,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}smile just melted me {#blank#}6{#/blank#}almost instantly gave me a completely new sense of {#blank#}7{#/blank#}life is all about. She took me from a poor, unhappy college student and {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(bring) me into her world; a world of smiles, love and {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(warm). I'm a successful business man now and whenever I think about the troubles of the world, I think about that little girl and the remarkable (非凡的) lesson about life that she taught {#blank#}10{#/blank#}.

    What is standard English? Is it spoken in Britain, the US, Canada, Australia, India and New Zealand? Believe it or not, there is no such thing as standard English. Many people believe the English spoken on TV {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the radio is standard English. This is because in the early days of radio, those who {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(report) the news were expected to speak excellent English. However, on TV and the radio you will hear differences in the way people speak.

    When people use words and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(expression) different from the "standard language", it is {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(call) a dialect. American English{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(have) many dialects, especially the Midwestern, southern, African American and Spanish dialects. Even in some parts{#blank#}6{#/blank#} the USA, two people from neighboring towns speak a little {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(different). American English has so many dialects because people have come from all over the world. Geography also plays a part in {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (make) dialects. Some people {#blank#}9{#/blank#}live in the mountains of the eastern USA speak with an older kind of English dialect. When Americans moved from one place to another, they took their dialects with {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(they).

    As everyone know s, it is Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the local porcelain (瓷器) is highly desirable that is the center of world porcelain. Last year, my school {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (hold) a two-day research activity, guided by the slogan, "Exploring ceramic(陶瓷的)culture, traveling through ancient and modern times". The aim was to build students' {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (aware) of traditional culture.

    On our way to Jingdezhen, our guide introduced us to the basics of porcelain production. Our first stop was the Museum of Chinese Ceramics, which has {#blank#}4{#/blank#} unique and exquisite collection of porcelain made from materials such as clay(陶土)and stone.

    The guide told us of the great achievements in ceramics from ancient times until today. I listened carefully to everything. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (date) back to Neolithic(新石器时代)period, clay was used {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (make) pottery(陶器), which people used to carry water and food. Today, we still use porcelain but our pottery is far more beautiful than the products of those times.

    On the second day, the team leader took us to a small DI Y porcelain factory. Under the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (guide) of the teacher, we {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (give) some clay and the chance to design a piece of pottery. Although our efforts were not as beautiful as the articles in the museum, they w ere our own work. The two-day activity was very {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (enjoy) and meaningful. I learned a lot about porcelain and made an item {#blank#}10{#/blank#} my own. It meant a lot to me.

    Overweight children and teenagers aged between 5 and 18 in the China mainland {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (reach) 8.5 million in 2025, a number {#blank#}2{#/blank#} surpasses (超过) the population of Spain, a study said.

    According to the study, among the obese Chinese youth, millions of them {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (report) to suffer from all kinds of diseases. It also stated that in all there would be 268 million overweight schoolaged children worldwide by 2025, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(include) 91 million obese children, if no effective {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (measure) could be taken to stop the existing trends. Inactivity and the consumption of junk food and soda drink contributed {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the growing number of overweight {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (young) in the world. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (respond) to the increase of obese children in China, the State Council released a guideline this year. The guideline aimed to prevent more children from becoming obese and it urged that the local government in China {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (strength) the training of medical staff around children's health and promote knowledge of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (balance) eating and drinking habits among their parents.