A Thanksgiving Day story in the newspaper told of a school teacher {#blank#}1{#/blank#} asked her class of first graders to draw a picture of something they were thankful for. She {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (think) of how little these children from poor neighbourhood actually had to be thankful for. But she knew that most of them would draw pictures of turkeys or tables full {#blank#}3{#/blank#} food. The teacher was taken back with the picture Douglas handed in—a small childishly hand!

    But whose hand? The class was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (puzzle) by the abstract drawing. “I think it must be the hand of God {#blank#}5{#/blank#} brings us food,” said one child, “a farmer,” said another, “because he feeds turkeys.” Finally, when the others were at work, the teacher {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (bend) over at Douglas' desk and asked whose hand it was. “It's your hand, Teacher,” he said in a low voice.

    She remembered that {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (frequent) at break she had taken Douglas, a small lonely child, by {#blank#}8{#/blank#} hand. She often did that with the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (child). But it meant so much to Douglas. Perhaps this was everyone's Thanks-giving, not for the material things {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (give) to us but for the chance, in whatever small way, to give to others.

    Climate change has caused a rise in sea levels. This has increased the amount of salt in fresh water {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(use) on coastal farms. As a result, farmers are {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(gradual) unable to use fields close to the sea. However, Marc Van Rijsselberg, a farmer in the Netherlands is now using a {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(mix) of sea and fresh water {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(grow) healthy and tasty vegetables.

    He teamed up with scientists from the Free University and divided a farm {#blank#}5{#/blank#}eight negated areas. Separate pipes pumped fresh and sea water, and a computer program created water with eight levels of salinity (含盐度).

    The water levels and the levels of salinity was {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(control) by computerized measuring devices called “sensors”. Mr. Van Rijsselberg said he was able to harvest vegetables from most of the eight testing areas. He said the vegetables were smaller than {#blank#}7{#/blank#} grown in fresh water. But he said they also had more sugar and salt, so they tasted much {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(good).

    He found that potatoes grew better than the other vegetables in the combination of sea and fresh water. Mr.Van Rijsselberg said four kinds of these potatoes would be sent to Pakistan {#blank#}9{#/blank#}thousands of hectares of land {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(damage) by salinization last year.

    Keeping a diary in English is one of the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(effect) ways to improve our English writing ability.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(compare) with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes less time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English. If we persist in this practice, gradually we {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(learn) how to express ourselves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(difficult). In the first place, it often happens {#blank#}5{#/blank#} we have trouble finding and phrases to give expression to our mind. Secondly, there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese. And it is {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(extreme) hard for us to put them into English properly.

    As far as I'm concerned, my {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(recommend) is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary {#blank#}8{#/blank#} easy reach. Whenever something beats {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, we can first put it down in our notebook and then consult our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary. In {#blank#}10{#/blank#} word, I believe that it is of great use to keep a diary in English for the development of our writing skills.

    Yuan Longping was born in 1930.Since he graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953, he{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(devote)his life to finding ways{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(grow)more and more rice. As a young man, he saw the great need for increasing the rice output. At that time{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(hungry)was a serious problem in many parts of the countryside. Yuan searched {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a way to increase rice harvests without {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(expand) the areas of the fields. In 1950, Chinese farmers could produce about 56 million tons of rice. In{#blank#}6{#/blank#}recent harvest, however, nearly 200 million tons of rice were produced. These increased harvests mean that 22% of the world's people{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(feed)from just 7% of the farmland in the world. Yuan Long Ping is now circulating his knowledge in India and many other less{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(develop)countries to increase their rice harvests.{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(thank)to his research, the UN is trying to rid the world{#blank#}10{#/blank#}hunger. Using his hybrid rice, farmers are producing harvests twice as large as before.

    He's an old cobbler (修鞋匠) with a shop in a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he told me, "I haven't time. Take them to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} other fellow on the main street.

    Just looking at his bench {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(load) with tools and pieces of leather, I knew the craftsman (手艺人) was rather {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(skill). "No," I replied, "the other fellow can't do it well."

    "The fellow he mentioned" is one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(careless), and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair. The reason {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I wanted to have my shoes repaired in the shop is that the man works very carefully.

    The man {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(have) me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, "Come back tomorrow."

    I was about to leave {#blank#}7{#/blank#} he took a pair of soft leather {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(boot) off a shelf.

    "See what I can do?" he said with pride. "Only three {#blank#}9{#/blank#} us in Paris can do this kind of work."

    The cobbler was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty hat, his funny accent and, above all, his pride in his craft.

    In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(satisfy) from pride in a job well done.