In England and Australia， it is more common than in the United States for a student to take a gap year(间隔年). What is a gap year？ After high school， it's time for students to go to college. But some students don't go to college directly. ①They will spend one year traveling or doing some other activities before entering college. The year is called a gap year.

On the one hand， students can learn a lot during a gap year.②Before the gap year ， students who take a break from their education will come back to college. When they come back， they will have a clear opinion about what they want to do in their life. ③ may ， learning ， they ， their ， towards ， attitude(态度)， change.

On the other hand， delaying(延期) college for one year can mean increased education costs of 8% or more. Besides higher education costs， the cost of the gap year can be large. That depends on the activities the student chooses.

Taking a gap year has advantages and 　④　. After considering all the things， I might take a gap year. My dream is to be a tour guide. I will spend one year working as a travel agent. That would be a wonderful experience for me.

    Reading is a very important skill. 阅读也是一种提高你的英语的好方法。However, to make sure what you read isn't too difficult, it's important to know what makes texts difficult and how you can improve your understanding of them. Here are some suggestions.

    ①Understand the purpose of your reading. The way you read depends on the purpose of your reading. The kind of reading you do in class or for your homework is different from how you read a novel for pleasure in the summer holidays.

    ② Find background information. Find something out about the topic you are going to read.

    The more background information you have, the easier it'll be to understand the text.

    ③Increase your vocabulary（词汇）. The more vocabulary you have, the easier your reading will be.

    ④ Use your dictionary correctly. A common mistake is to read everything very slowly and carefully, looking up each unknown word. Sometimes this is necessary, for example, when reading exam questions. However, it takes a long time and can be very boring; it can even make understanding more difficult!

    If you've followed the above advice and still can't understand a text, then it's simply too hard for you. Stop reading and ask someone to help you. 没有人想要放弃。However, you'll just be wasting your time if you continue to work at a text that's beyond you.

    Hi, my friend! My name is Lin Feng. I'm fourteen years old. I'm a junior high school student of Dongying. There are (有) four people in my family. My father is a doctor. My mother is a teacher. My sister and I are in the same school. I love my family very much and I like English, too. So I want to have an American pen friend. Let's be friends, OK? My address (地址) is 35 Jinan Street, No. 1 Junior High School Dongying, Shandong, China. My Email is Linf, L-i-n-f, @mail.sd.cn. You can also call me at 18995647.

根据短文内容，完成句子。

    In the town of Lampang in northern Thailand, there is an unusual group of musicians. They play many different kinds of music—everything from traditional Thai songs to music by Beethoven. Both children and adults love this group. What makes them so popular? Is it their music? Their looks7 Yes, it's both of the things, but it's also something else: they're elephants.

    These musical elephants started at the TECC in Lampang. The TECC protects elephants. It teaches people to understand and love them. And, like many zoos around the world, the TECC encourages elephants to paint.

    Richard Lair works for the TECC. He loves his job there and knows a lot about elephants. He says some of the animals' paintings are very good. But, in fact, elephants hear better than they see. And so he had an idea: if elephants are smart and they have good hearing, maybe they can play music. To test his idea, Lair and a friend started the Thai Elephant Orchestra. During a performance, the elephants play a number of instruments, including the drums and the xylophone (木琴).

    But can elephants really make music properly? Yes, says Lair. They are very creative. Human encourage the animals to play, but the elephants make their own songs; they don't just copy their trainers or other people. There are now CDs of the group's music which make money for the TECC. And the music these artists create is pretty amazing

    Summer is here. One of the best ways to cool off on a hot summer day is to jump into a swimming pool. Swimming is great exercise, and a trip to a pool or beach is a good way to have fun with friends. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, so it's important to stay safe as you do it. Here are a few things you can do to swim safely.

    ●Swim only in areas set for swimming.

    Don't swim unless there is a lifeguard (救生员) on duty. If you're on a beach near the ocean, this is especially important. In some places, fast currents (急流) can sweep swimmers away without warning. So if a sign says "no swimming", please take care.

    Be careful when diving (跳水) into the water headfirst.

    Most pools have deep ends where diving is safe. In natural water, don't dive unless you know that the water is deep enough. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, causing injury (伤害) or death.

    ●Make sure you have a partner with you.

    Nobody knows what will happen while you are swimming. If something goes wrong, you can get help from that person as soon as possible. In this situation, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    ●Pay close attention to children's safety.

    Kids who don't know how to swim should wear life jackets. But by themselves they are not enough, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. If you have a pool at home, put a fence (围栏) around it in case children fall in. And if a child disappears, check the pool first.