One afternoon, in Paris, Kate visited an art museum. She enjoyed seeing some great paintings in a quiet place like that. But a young man and his wife talked all the time. Kate watched them because of the noise and decided to go away.

    Kate met them many times when she walked through the museum. Every time Kate heard their noise, she left quickly.

    Kate was buying cards at the gate of the museum when those two people got there, too.

    “He's a brave man,” said the shopkeeper. “Most of us would give up if we were blind (失明), but he and his wife come when there's a new art show anytime.” “But how does the man enjoy the paintings?” Kate felt very sorry and asked.

    “His wife tells him about every painting.”

    At that moment Kate knew what patience (耐心) and bravery are. Kate saw patience from the wife and bravery from the man. He would not let blindness change his love on art.

    Were you the first or the last child in your family? Or were you a middle or an only child? Some people think it matters where you were born in your family. But there are different ideas about what birth order means. Some people say that oldest children are smart and strong-willed. They are very likely to be successful. The reason for this is simple.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} So this child is very likely to do well. An only child will succeed for the same reason.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Middle children don't get so much attention, so they don't feel that important. If a family has many children, the middle one sometimes gets lost in the crowd.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} He or she is the baby. Often this child grows up to be funny and charming.

   Do you believe these ideas of birth order too? A recent study saw things quite differently.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}. They didn't take many chances in their lives. They usually followed orders and seldom made their own decisions. Rules didn't mean as much to later children in the family. They went out and followed their own ideas.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

①How are you? {#blank#}1{#/blank#}                 A. Yes, it is. Thanks.

②What color is your bike? {#blank#}2{#/blank#}       B. I'm fine.

③Is this your book? {#blank#}3{#/blank#}             C. How do you do?

④IHow do you do? {#blank#}4{#/blank#}              D. It's yellow.

⑤Do you know Mike? {#blank#}5{#/blank#}           E. No, I don't.

The Art of Paper

    Chen Zijiang is a paper-cutting expert whom I interviewed for my article on Chinese Art. Paper-cutting is something that he learned to do from an early age.

    "It is a Chinese folk art with a long history," Mr Chen told me, "Paper cuts of animals have been found in tombs{#blank#}1{#/blank#}" He added that by the Southern Song Dynasty, paper-cutting had become an important part of everyday life.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}They are paper cuts for decoration, for religious purposes(宗教目的) and for design patterns.

    Paper cuts for decoration are often seen on windows and gates.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} They are also used on presents. A present for parents whose child has recently been born might show a paper cut of children, for example. Paper cuts which show the Chinese character for double happiness are often used to celebrate weddings.

    Paper cuts for religious purposes are often found in temples.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    The third kind of paper cuts are those used to make patterns on clothing. They are also sometimes used to decorate jewellery boxes {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. They are usually put up during holidays to bring good luck.

B. They are also used as offerings to the dead.

C. Dragons are very popular patterns for these designs.

D. They can date back to the time of the Northern and Southern Dynasty.

E. Mr Chen went on to explain that there are three types of paper cuts which people still make today.

    "Dreams may be more important than sleep. We all need dreams." some scientists say. Dreams take up about one quarter of our sleeping time. People have several dreams each night. Dreams are short films. They come to us over and over again. That may be because the dreamer is worrying about something. Dreaming may be a way of trying to find an answer. Sometimes we wake up with a good feeling from a dream. But often we can't remember the dream. Dream can disappear quickly from memory. Some people dream too much to sleep well.

    I will never forget the lesson about my window. Four years ago, I moved to a house in a large town. One of my new neighbors' house was only a few feet away from mine.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} Through one of my windows, I could see her reading by her window every afternoon.

    A few months later, I found I couldn't see the woman clearly. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I said to myself, "Why doesn't she clean her window? It looks terrible!"

    One afternoon, I decided to clean my house including (包括) the window.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} So I sat down by the window for a rest. What a surprise! I could see the woman reading there clearly again! By that time, I knew that my own window was too dirty, not hers! {#blank#}4{#/blank#} I had been watching her through my dirty window in the past days!

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Now I try to clean the window of my heart before judging(评判)others.