In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

    Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (create) special designs.

    The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) twigs（树枝）to remove it. Over time, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(gradual) turned into chopsticks.

    Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) too violent for use at the table.

    Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat {#blank#}10{#/blank#} their hands.

    Zhang Jianxing has been walking through the ancient forests of the Shennongjia National Nature Reserve for over two decades to find the wild man. He will not give up until he {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (come) face-to-face with the creature. He began living in the mountain in 1994. after becoming{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(fascinate) by the wild man. Armed with a camera, he {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(constant) looks for clues of the creature's whereabouts, living off the land and {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(sleep) in abandoned homes and empty eaves. To him, the wild man is a branch of science, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} that he has been studying for a very long time. So far, he has collected enough evidence of the wild man's {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (exist)—more than 100 hair samples and 3,000 photos of large footprints (脚印).He even came close to seeing it for himself no less than nineteen {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (time). However, most scientists regard it as nothing more than a legend {#blank#}8{#/blank#} there is a lack of concrete evidence. But Zhang Jianxing {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (convince) that he will one day find the wild man himself and prove the scientists wrong. To him it's just {#blank#}10{#/blank#} matter of time.

    The giant panda {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (love) by people throughout the world. Chinese scientists{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (recent) had a chance to study a wild female panda with a newborn baby. She was a very {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (care) mother. For 25 days, she never left her baby, not even to find something {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (eat)! She would not let any other pandas come near. She licked the baby constantly to keep it clean. Any smell might attract dangerous {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (animal) that would try to eat the little comforting pats. The mother held the baby in her front paws much the way a human does.  {#blank#}6{#/blank#} it cried, she rocked it back and forth and gave it little comforting pats. The mother continued to care for the young panda {#blank#}7{#/blank#} more than two years. By that time, the panda no longer needed {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (it) mother for food. However, it stayed with her and learned about the ways of the forest. Then, after two and a half years, the mother {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (drive) the young panda away . It was time for her to have a new baby, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it was also time for the young panda to be independent.

—I'm afraid it's {#blank#}1{#/blank#} his ability.

    Our cat was ready to give birth to her kittens. My son was curious and excited to see the birth of these new babies. The event took place yesterday. The cat {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(give) birth to one kitten by the time he arrived home from school. He was so amazed at {#blank#}2{#/blank#} he saw. When the second was on its way, the mother cat began to yell very loudly. I saw tears in my son's eyes because he learned about the pain of giving birth.