Dear Tom，

    How time flies! You {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (study) in Beijing for nearly a month, during which you must have achieved a lot. Well, how's everything going? It is reported that the weather there is very hot and dry these days, which is very different from{#blank#}2{#/blank#} of your country. Have you adapted to it? In addition, you once complained that the food {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (serve) there was not {#blank#}4{#/blank#} your taste. I hope that should have been improved.

    I am glad to tell you that I will go to Beijing to take part in an English speech contest in July, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is not only an honor, but also a great opportunity for me to improve {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. And now I try my best to make {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (prepare) for it. {#blank#}8{#/blank#}, I have some trouble in collecting the materials relevant and using the language. I will appreciate {#blank#}9{#/blank#} if you give me a hand to solve the problems.

    After the contest, I am to drop {#blank#}10{#/blank#} at your school to visit you. Please wait for my phone.

Li Hua

—Yes, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    From red lanterns to red envelopes, did you ever wonder {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the color red is so popular in China, especially during the Chinese New Year? It is said that it all began with Nian, a wild beast {#blank#}2{#/blank#} would frighten villagers on the New Year,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (eat)crops, livestock(家畜),and even children. But villagers learned that this animal {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a lion head was afraid of three things: fire, noise, and the color red. Nian was defeated, and from then on, the color red was considered {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (bring)good luck and good fortune to all.

    “Usually red lanterns are hung outside the doors to ward off(避开)bad luck,” suggests Karen Katz, author of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} picture book My First Chinese New Year.“ Also red cutout papers {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (use)as decorations to hang on the walls. If you live near a Chinese neighborhood, you should be able to purchase these {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (item), but if not, go online and order them. You can also make your own cutouts.”

Still, the most popular way to celebrate the Chinese New Year {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be)to hand out red envelopes filled with money. However, like toys under the Christmas tree, some traditions are meant for children, and Chinese red envelopes are given to {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (they)to ward off evil spirits.

    People with colour blindness can't see colours in a normal way. Colour blindness{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(affect) approximately 1 in 12 men and 1 in 200 women in the world.

There are various causes of colour blindness. For the majority of colour-blind people, the condition is something they have from {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(bear), although some people get it later in life because of diseases.

    Most colour-blind people can see things as clearly as other people, but {#blank#}3{#/blank#} are unable to fully "see" red, green or blue light. There are different types of colour blindness and there are extremely rare cases {#blank#}4{#/blank#} people are unable to see any colour at all. The {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(common) form of colour blindness is red/green colour blindness. Although {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (know) as red/green colour blindness, the form of colour blindness doesn't mean sufferers {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (mere) mix up red and green. It means they mix up all {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (colour) that have some red or green as part of the whole colour.

    The effects{#blank#}9{#/blank#}colour blindness can be mild, moderate (中等的) or severe. Approximately 40% of colour blind people are even unaware that they're colour blind. Statistically{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(speak), most people with a moderate form of red/green colour blindness can only identify 5 coloured pencils from a standard box of 24 pencil crayons.

This is where my kids grew up

    For years now, I've been wanting to sell our home, the place where my husband and I raised our kids. But to me, this house is more than just a building. In the front room, there's a wall that has hundreds of pencil lines. Every growth stage {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(mark) in pencils, with each child's name and the date.

    Of all the objects and all the memories, it's this one thing in a home that's {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(hard) to leave behind. Our kids grow in so many ways, but the wall is physical evidence of their progress. Friends I know have visited their previous home only {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(discover) their wall of heights has been freshly painted over. Over the years, I've talked about how much I would hate leaving that wall behind when I moved, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the last marks were made 10 years ago when my kids stopped growing. So one day, while I was at work, my children decided to do {#blank#}5{#/blank#} about it.

    They hired Jacquie Manning, a professional photographer {#blank#}6{#/blank#} work is about capturing the beautiful things in life. She came to our house while I was at work, and over several hours, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(take) photos of the hundreds of drawings and lines, little grey fingerprints, and old marks. Somehow, she managed to photograph {#blank#}8{#/blank#} we had experienced in all those years. Afterwards, she put all the photos together into one image, {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(transform) them into a beautiful history of my family.

    Three weeks later, my children's wonderful gift made its way to me —{#blank#}10{#/blank#} life-size photo of the pencil lines and fingerprints that represents entire lifetimes of love and growth.