One day a man met Socrates and said, “Do you know what I just heard about your friend?” “1 a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about 2 friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment to filter (过滤) what you're going to 3. I call it Three Filter Test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely 4 that what you are about to tell me is true?" "Well, no," the man said. “5 I just heard about it and ..." "All right," said Socrates.  "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now, let's try the second filter, the filter of 6. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend 7 good?" "No, on the contrary..." "So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you're not certain it's true. You may 8 pass the test though, because there's one filter left - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be 9 to me?" "No, not really." "Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is 10 true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"

    “How can I learn English well?” “This is a 1 many students may ask. In my opinion, the most effective(有效的) 2 is to learn lessons by heart. If you can recite the text and write it out, you will learn it pretty well. And if you can tell 3 your own words about 4 the lesson says, you are a very successful learner indeed. Your English will be quite perfect.

    This is a difficult task. However, if you try to learn by heart only part of each lesson, you'll find it not so hard 5 you might have thought.

    Learn this way, and you will 6 fast progress. Of course, writing is also necessary. It helps you a lot on your way to 7 in English studies.

    It's equally(同样地) important to feel the language. You should laugh at English jokes and be 8 at bad news. When using English, try to 9 your mother tongue(母语). 10 helping you, your own language gets in your way. So, never try to learn English through putting every word into Chinese.

    A farmer, a cleaner and an electrical engineer ( 电气工程师 ) were waiting to be killed in the electric chair.

    The farmer was brought to the chair 1 "Do you have anything that you want to say?" asked the executioner(行刑者), putting him in the chair. "2," replied the farmer. The executioner closed the switch but3 happened. According to the special law, if the electric chair didn't4, the prisoner(犯人) could be alive.5 the farmer got free.

    Then it was the cleaner's 6. "Do you have anything that you want to say?" the executioner still asked 7 that. "No, just get on with it," replied the cleaner. The executioner closed the switch again. But it 8 work either. So the cleaner was free too.

    Then the electrical engineer 9. "Do you have anything that you want to say?" asked the executioner.

    "Yes," said the engineer. "You are 10. If you change the red and the blue wires over, you might make this chair work."

    Last year I was very lucky to have a week's holiday. So I wanted to spend 1 in the best hotel I could find. That was 2 I chose The Haven in a country park. I thought I would be able to escape problems and pressures of daily life. But, just 24 hours after arriving there, my wife and I 3 problems with the restaurant and security.

    We were ready to return to our room when we saw two policemen 4  closely at the building outside. One of them showed us how 5 in through the windows into our room. It seems that the hotel has no locks on the windows. 6 we were a little worried, our concerns were forgotten 7 when we saw a good-sized bed, a flat-screen TV, a spa bath which more suggested a comfortable stay.

    Things started to go from bad to worse the following morning when I found the restaurant only served low-fat meals: six days of rabbit food and only 8 meat and fruit. What had I let myself in for? Nobody had told us what the food 9 like before we booked. I ordered my breakfast 10 my will anyway, but I had waited forty-five minutes for it to arrive. This was not the service 11 I had expected.

    That afternoon, when we returned from a tour around 12 university nearby, we found that nearly £200 13 from our room. The Haven refused to pay back the money. They claimed that they 14 not be responsible for any loss if our window was not locked.

    My holiday was then a total failure. I thought a "haven" was sure to be a quiet and peaceful place. But in fact, I have experienced 15 stress and worry in that one day than I usually do working in the office for a week.

Doing projects is a fun way to learn as I can practise what I have been taught. I enjoy hands-on learning as it keeps me 1 in what I am doing. By putting what I have learnt into practice, I can test my own knowledge to see 2 I have fully understood what was taught. Even if I make 3 , I can learn from them. 

Once, I was given a gardening project for 4 class. For the project, my classmates and I had to grow plants from seeds and note down their progress over a month. Our teacher 5 each of us basil（罗勒叶）seeds to plant in the school garden. Following her instructions, each of us wet some cotton wool, put it in a small container, placed our seeds into the soil and left it in our classroom. We then waited a few 6 for the seeds to come out. I checked my seeds every day and made sure 7 the cotton wool remained wet. My seeds finally 8 in 7 days, like our teacher said it would. 

9 , some of my classmates forgot about their seeds and did not wet the cotton wool every day, so their seeds took 10 to germinate（发芽）. After germination, we placed the seedlings 11 the soil in the school garden and watered them every day. As basil seeds grow easily in tropical climates, the seedlings grew 12 . At the end of the month, most of us had fully-grown basil plants that were ready to be harvested. Our teacher allowed us to harvest the leaves and bring them home. I ended up eating it with some pasta my father made. I really 13 the gardening project as it helped me to familiarize 14 with the different growth stages of plants and how different elements like moisture and sunlight affect its growth. It was very satisfying to enjoy the fruits of my labor. 

Obviously, completing a project successfully 15 build up a teenager's confidence and can give them a sense of achievement, which can not only have a positive impact on their self-esteem but bring in great fun.