Bill Bird is a shoemaker in London. He makes shoes for people with feet of unusual {#blank#}1{#/blank#} very large, very small, very fat or very thin.The shoes are as beautiful as those found in shopping centers! His shop is so popular that he {#blank#}2{#/blank#}he can't make shoes fast enough for his growing number of customers (顾客)

   Mr. Bird says, "My {#blank#}3{#/blank#} is that I need more work and I can't find them young people all went to work {#blank#}4{#/blank#} computers these days. I'm afraid shoemaking will {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a lost art because there are fewer and fewer shoemakers nowadays. I am 45, and now I want to teach young people {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I know about making shoes. It's a good job, and a lot of people want to buy beautiful shoes specially made for  them."

    Mr. Bird {#blank#}7{#/blank#} making shoes 19 years ago and now he employs (雇用) three people. "Our customers come because they want {#blank#}8{#/blank#}. shoes which are the right size," he says .His customers pay about ￥500 for {#blank#}9{#/blank#} first pair of shoes. Extra (额外的) pairs of shoes are between ￥320 and ￥450. They are never cheap, as it takes one employee about a week to make {#blank#}10{#/blank#} one shoe.

    Jane and Sally are my new classmates. They{#blank#}1{#/blank#}very nice. Jane{#blank#}2{#/blank#}from Canada and Sally is{#blank#}3{#/blank#}  America. They {#blank#}4{#/blank#}English. Many students in our class {#blank#}5{#/blank#}English a lot{#blank#}6{#/blank#}I like it a little.So my {#blank#}7{#/blank#}is not very good. Jane and Sally often help me{#blank#}8{#/blank#}it. They like Chinese very much. But their Chinese is not good, so I help{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. We are good{#blank#}10{#/blank#}and we help each other.

Andy: Do you like your life in Grade 9, Paul?

Paul: Yes, I do. But I must {#blank#}1{#/blank#} very early every day. I don't want to {#blank#}2{#/blank#} school.

Andy: Really? Do you feel tired at school?

Paul: No. But I feel tired {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. We usually have too much homework.

Andy: No students like too much homework. Then when do you {#blank#}4{#/blank#}?

Paul: At ten o'clock.

Andy: Ten o'clock? Why don't you start to do your homework earlier (更早)?

Paul: Well, I{#blank#}5{#/blank#}for a walk first after dinner. And then I start to do my homework at 7:00.

Katie: How was the welcome party for foreign students last night？

John: Great! I made some new friends. But a funny thing {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

Katie: What？

John: I met a Japanese boy{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Sato, and as soon as held out my hand, he bowed.

Katie: That's how people in Japan are expected to greet each other. It's {#blank#}3{#/blank#} if you don't bow.

John: I didn't know that. So I just stood there with my hand out. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, I returned the bow.

Katie: I remember when I first met Marie last year, I did the same thing. I held out my hand and to my surprise, she kissed me on both {#blank#}5{#/blank#}of my face!

John: I wouldn't mind that!

Katie: Very funny. Later I found out French people are supposed to kiss when they see each other.

    Robots have a long history. The first one was made by a Greek inventor(希腊发明家).

    You may see robots in some movies. The robots in these movies are stronger, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}and cleverer than people. In real life, most robots are used in factories. They do many dangerous, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} or boring jobs.

    Some people can't look after {#blank#}3{#/blank#}and robots are used to help them. For example, some people can't see, so they use a dog {#blank#}4{#/blank#}themselves move around. This dog is called a guide dog, Scientists are {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a robot to help them. In the future, robots might take the place of (代替) these dogs.

    Robots are {#blank#}6{#/blank#}used in hospitals, In one hospital, a robot {#blank#}7{#/blank#}meals from kitchen to the sick people's rooms, It never loses {#blank#}8{#/blank#}way because it has a map of the hospital in its computer systems(系统).

    In the future, robots will {#blank#}9{#/blank#}in space, But robots will never take the place of human, they can, however, help {#blank#}10{#/blank#} in a lot of different ways.