Nowadays, phone calls and messages help us get in touch with others. It means that we seldom write letters now. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a TV show, Letters Alive(《见字如面》), is bringing back this old habit.

    Letters Alive invites famous actors and actresses, but there are no funny jokes or {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (compete). It's just one person {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (walk) up to a microphone and reading a letter. The letters were written by people from {#blank#}4{#/blank#} times in history. For example, in one period, they read a letter written by a famous {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (write) Xiao Hong to her younger brother in 1941. The letter shows that Xiao Hong missed her brother so much and had great hopes for his future.

    "Every letter opens another world for us," according to Guan Zhangwen, the director of the TVshow. "We can also touch the heart of the writers. " Since its {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (one) period on Dec. 5th, Letters Alive {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (be) widely praised. Many audiences(观众) said that it had provided a breath of fresh air for today's TV shows

    Beside Letters Alive, some other cultural TV shows have also been well {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (receive) by Chinese audiences. Chinese Poetry Conference is a traditional Chinese poetry competition. And The Readers invites people {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (read) poems and articles they like or wrote. It suggests {#blank#}10{#/blank#} cultural values and true feelings are becoming our interest.

How are American families different from Chinese ones?

    In some ways American families are very different from Chinese ones, and in other ways they are {#blank#}1{#/blank#} same. For example, American families enjoy family dinners. They support and love each other just {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Chinese families do. The {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(different) come from culture, however. Many Chinese students are surprised to learn that American teenagers are {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(allow) to make many decisions {#blank#}5{#/blank#} their own, and the parents want their children to leave home at eighteen.

    In most American families, children are encouraged to make their own {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(choose) at a young age. They start with small choices and gradually larger ones until they graduate from high school. That is when they face {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(big) decision of their lives: what to do next. Parents and family will help with the choice, but the children themselves make the {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(finally) decision.

    Americans seldom move back into family homes {#blank#}9{#/blank#} they get older. {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, they prefer to have their own lives for as long as possible. It is important to remember that these are cultural differences, and that Americans see this as part of the culture.

    There was a small village by the sea in America. Every summer lots of people came here {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(spend) their holidays. But a few of them came here only to end their lives. Two months ago right here a young woman jumped into the sea in the darkness of the night. From then on, the people in the village began to pay more attention {#blank#}2{#/blank#}each of the visitors. If someone looked {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(happy) or worried, they would watch him all day long with care. They would never let the same thing happen again.

    A week {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(late) came several visitors. Among them there was a young woman. One day she looked different {#blank#}5{#/blank#}others. She went out alone at night. A villager found her. The villager made no noise and followed her. When the young woman {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(walk) to the beach, the villager rushed at(冲向) her and tried hard {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(pull) her back. "Let me go. Don't pull me!" cried the young woman, "I was playing on the beach this afternoon. Now I can't find the key to my suitcase. I think it must be left here." "But {#blank#}8{#/blank#}don't you look for it tomorrow morning?" said the villager. "Tomorrow morning I'll leave here and catch the early bus to New York. I must leave {#blank#}9{#/blank#}the day breaks(破晓) ." When the villager heard that, he had a good laugh and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(help) her look for the key in the moonlight.

    Mr. Brown had an umbrella shop in a small town. People sometimes brought him broken {#blank#}1{#/blank#} and then he took them to a big shop in London. They were {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (fix) there. One day Mr. Brown went to London by train. He {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (forget) to take an umbrella with him that day. Sitting in front of him was a man with an umbrella standing {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the seat. When the train arrived in London, Mr. Brown picked up the umbrella as he often {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (do) during his journey by train. Just as he was getting off, he was {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (stop) by the man. He said {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (angry), "That's mine!" Mr. Brown's face turned red and he {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (give) it back to the man at once. When Mr. Brown got to the big shop, the shopkeeper had got his six umbrellas ready. After a good look at all of them, he said, "You've mended them very well." In the afternoon he got on the train again. The {#blank#}9{#/blank#} man was in the same seat. He looked at Mr. Brown and his six umbrellas. "You've had a {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (luck) day," he said.