Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?

    In 1969, the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(be) unimaginable that it could ever be cleaned up.The river was so polluted that it{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(actual) caught fire and burned. Now,ears later,this river is one of{#blank#}3{#/blank#}most outstanding（杰出的）examples of environmental cleanup.

    But the river wasn't changed in a few days{#blank#}4{#/blank#}even a few months. It took years of work {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(reduce) the industrial pollution and clean the water. Finally,that hard work paid off and now the water in the river is{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(clean) than ever.

    Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you leave a habit{#blank#}7{#/blank#}is driving your family crazy. Possibly you drink too much or don't know how to control your credit card use.When you face such an impossible situation, don't you want a quick fix and something to change immediately?

    While there are{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(amaze) stories of instant transformation, for most of us the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(change) are gradual and require a lot of effort and work, like cleaning up a polluted river. Just be {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(patience).

    No one could say that Katy Perry is an ordinary artist. Her songs are not just about sweet love and heartbreaks,{#blank#}1{#/blank#}usually have bigger themes. Take the songs Firework (2010) and Roar(2013) for example,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}Perry sings about being our own master and{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(discover) our true value. Earlier this year, she {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (announce) her new album (专辑) Witness, together with a new idea for W music Perry calls her new style “purpose pop”, meaning a{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(society) and political message. It seems that Perry has become tired{#blank#}6{#/blank#} simply encouraging people. Now, she wants to educate them politically as well. The best example of Perry's purposeful pop is{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (probable) the song Chained to the Rhythm, in which Perry criticizes the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (behave) that people are unwilling to think more critically (批判的) about the world.

    But when it comes to the concept (概念) of purposeful pop, it is, in fact, something a lot of pop stars have been doing for a while. For example, Beyonce's 2016 song Formation deals with various problems such as an {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (argue) between white policemen and black citizens (公民) in the US,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (hope) to create change through music.

    I can well remember that I was once asked to give a speech titled “A Real Test in My Life” before the whole class at the age of 9! You can imagine how {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (terrible) shy I was the moment I thought of that—with so many eyes {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (look) at me. I had no{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (choose) but to prepare for it, though. First of all, I was to draft(草拟) the speech, which was just a piece of cake for me, a good writer. But the hardest part {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (lie) in my oral presentation from my memory, for to read from the paper was not allowed. The real moment began {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I stood on the platform with my legs trembling and my mind blank. But my listeners {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (wait) patiently without any signs of rushing me. Gradually I found myself back, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(give) my speech with difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, I found my audience applauding—I made it! From then on, my fear of talking before a big audience disappeared. Actually, with my {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(confident) building up, I now turn out to be a great speaker. Looking back, I know the greatest difficulty on our way {#blank#}9{#/blank#} success is our fear. Overcome(克服) it , and we will be able to achieve our {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(goal).

    Have you complained{#blank#}1{#/blank#}your family, your boss, or even your life? Maybe everyone has, but after reading this story, you may change your view and treat the world with another attitude.

    An ass (驴),{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (belong) to an herb-seller who gave him too little food and too much work, could not bear the life any longer. So he made a request to God, to be released from his present service and provided with{#blank#}3{#/blank#}master. After warning him{#blank#}4{#/blank#}he would regret doing it, God made him to be sold to a tile-maker. Shortly afterwards, the ass found that he had{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(heavy) loads to carry and harder work in the brick-field, and asked for another change again. God, telling him that it would be{#blank#}6{#/blank#}last time that he could satisfy his request, made him sold to a tanner (皮革工). The ass found that he{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(fall) into worse hands. Knowing his new master's occupation, he said, “It would have been better for me either to have been starved by the first owner{#blank#}8{#/blank#}to have been overworked by the second. But now I have already been bought by my present owner,{#blank#}9{#/blank#}will peel off my skin even after I am dead, and make me useful.”

    We can see that people with dissatisfaction in a place are not{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(like) to find happiness in another.

When talking about our bodies, we often forget our skin. Actually, our skin is very important, too. It keeps us{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(inform) of the outside world--{#blank#}2{#/blank#}it is hot or cold, wet or dry.

Try this: pull up the skin from the back of your hand and then let {#blank#}3{#/blank#}go. What happens?

The skin goes back to its first position, which means that skin is elastic (有弹性的).

Our skin seems to be very thin, but it {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (make) up of two layers. The top layer is the one we wash every day. Do you know that this part of skin is dead? However, it is still very important because it serves as{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (protect) against dirt and disease.

Skin has millions of tiny holes called pores(毛孔). Pores allow liquid, especially sweat,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(pass) through. By{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (sweat), our bodies keep up a normal temperature. When it is very hot, we sweat a lot, but{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(strange) enough, when it is quite cool, we also sweat. On a cool day, our bodies produce {#blank#}9{#/blank#}average of 700 ml of sweat. That is{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(much) than 0.5 kilos.