One day, Nick invited his friends to supper. He was cooking some delicious food in the kitchen. Suddenly, he {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(find) that he had run out of salt. So Nick called to his son, “Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it: neither too much {#blank#}2{#/blank#}too little.

    His son looked surprised. “I can understand why I shouldn't pay too much, Father, but if I can pay less,{#blank#}3{#/blank#}not save a bit of money?

    “That would be a very{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(reason) thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(us), Nick said.

    Nick's guests,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}had heard their conversation, asked why they should not buy salt more cheaply if they could. Nick replied, “The only reason a man would sell salt{#blank#}7{#/blank#}a lower price would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect for the sweat and struggle of the man who worked very hard to produce it.”

    “But such a small thing couldn't {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(possible) destroy a village.

    “In the beginning, there was only {#blank#}9{#/blank#}very small amount of unfairness in the world, but everyone added a little, always {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (think) that it was only small and not very important, and look where we have ended up today.”

    As I write this, I'm sitting on a bus back to Santiago in Chile where I am currently working{#blank#}1{#/blank#}a language assistant. I've just spent the weekend in a city called La Serena north of Santiago. I was lucky enough to see the flowering desert, a natural phenomenon that {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(occur) around every five years here in the Atacama Desert.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(follow) a particularly large amount of rainfall earlier, a{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(vary) of flowers come into blossom. Bright purple flowers create {#blank#}5{#/blank#} unbelievably beautiful scene at the base of the surrounding mountains.

    {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(catch) a glimpse of this magnificent treasure of nature, we took a bus from La Serena to a nearby town and then rented a car to go to the desert.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} we saw did not disappoint us, and as expected it was even more fascinating than the pictures we had seen online. The bloom was particularly {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(impress) this year due to the strong presence of El Niño (a band of warm water in the Pacific Ocean that changes the temperatures and increases the rainfall in certain areas). The vast carpet of colour {#blank#}9{#/blank#} spread into the distance towards the contrasting green hills was {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(simple) breathtaking and deserved a large amount of photos! A real reminder of the beauty our planet can provide.

Jane: Hi, Jack. What are you doing there?

Jack: I'm reading a book about the American scientist, George Washington Carver, who made great {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (contribute) to American farming.

Jane: I have read an article about him too. He was born into a state of slavery.

Jack: Exactly right. But he became {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (know) for the development of new crops for southern farmers {#blank#}3{#/blank#} main cash crop (经济作物) was cotton.

Jane: And I remember that he carried out many {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (science) researches on the planting of crops, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (aim) to improve the farmers' quality of life.

Jack: You are right. However, he had an unfortunate family. His parents had eleven children but all of his ten brothers and sisters died young. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} addition, Carver and his mother was kidnapped (绑架) and sold to Kentucky when he was just one week old. Though he {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (find) by his master later, he never saw his mother again.

Jane: I can see {#blank#}8{#/blank#} he had a really hard childhood.

Jack: Yes. But his life changed after slavery was abolished (废除). He was able to attend a school {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (build) for blacks. Then he managed to get into the Tuskegee Institute, and began his crop research {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (short) after graduation.

    An Italian town will pay people hundreds of euros(欧元) per year if they cycle to work instead of{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(drive) their cars. The government will pay{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(cycle)25 cents per kilometre, up to a monthly limit of 50 euros. That means commuters(通勤者)who switch to two wheels could pocket up to 600 euros in a year. It is said to be the first such plan in Italy.

    Fifty workers will be included in a 12-month trial, which will use a smart phone app to record the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(distant) travelled each day. The plan is being supported from fines{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(collect) from traffic tickets in the town,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}by law have to be spent on road safety.

    The plan will encourage citizens{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(make)sure the area becomes more liveable. It will {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(natural)mean less traffic on the streets and more health benefits. A bicycle organization which helped to develop the idea, says it hopes that other towns will now follow the lead.

    A similar plan{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(introduce)in France in 2014, with mixed results. A six-month trial found that paying people to cycle to work did increase the numbers doing so, but the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(major) had been using public transport, rather than private vehicles.{#blank#}10{#/blank#}those making the move from cars to bicycles, most had already been carpooling (拼车). Private cars remained crowded in the Streets