From an early age, Parker always said that he would be an astronaut. But no matter {#blank#}1{#/blank#}much he studied, worked, and took tests, he never passed. Finally, he {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (grow) over the maximum(最高的) age for taking the test. He would never be able to realize his dream.

    People {#blank#}3{#/blank#} ( feel )sorry for his dream. Although he{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (tell) about having to give up his dream, Parker continued training and studying, as though he was going to sit the tests next month.

    He carried this on as he got {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (old), and when he was a very old man he heard that they were doing some very important medical experiments. For those experiments they needed {#blank#}6{#/blank#} very old astronaut. Parker, who now walked with a stick, was the only old man in the whole world who was trained to fly in a rocket.

    So Parker found {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(he) flying in space at last. The experiments were very {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (succeed). The knowledge from the experiments helped doctors to cure one of the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(bad)sicknesses for old people, and Parker was celebrated as a hero. Photos of the astronaut with a walking stick and no{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (tooth) spread all over the world. It showed  that persistent effort always brings reward, even though that reward may not be in the form we had first expected.

    Why do people wear clothes? "To make me warm and to cover my body" will {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (probable) be the answer. That's why people wear clothes, but people also want to look attractive and appear {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (success) to others.

    If people only wore clothes for warmth and to cover their bodies, most clothes would be simple and cheap. In many countries, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, clothes are sometimes very expensive. The main reason for that {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) not the cost of the materials or the cost of {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (make) clothes. The clothes are expensive because they are fashionable.

    Successful businessmen, for example, often wear very expensive suits, shirts and ties. Sometimes they pay thousands of dollars {#blank#}6{#/blank#} a suit and several hundred dollars for {#blank#}7{#/blank#} tie. It's still just a suit and a tie, but they pay these prices because of the famous designer.

    Fashion is changing. It means that people {#blank#}8{#/blank#} want to be fashionable have to buy new clothes every few months, even if last {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (month) clothes have been worn only once or {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (two). Some people have wardrobes (衣柜) full of clothes, but some of these clothes have never been worn. These clothes are no longer in fashion though they are still new.