A sand storm often takes place in the northern China, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} is a kind of natural disasters. China usually experiences this kind of weather between February and May, while March and April see the most frequent and the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (strong) sand storms. It becomes a very important environmental problem. It does damage {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the society as well as the environment. Firstly, the strong wind destroys soil and plant cover by {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (bury) fields with sand and dust. Secondly, by leaving too much dust in the air it will {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(serious) pollute the air. Thirdly, a sand storm will have {#blank#}6{#/blank#}bad effect on transportation. The dust in the air makes traffic and aircraft movements more difficult. And when the sand buries the roads, the traffic will{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(block). When plants in the farmland are buried, food supply will lose.

    Sand storms are another {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(punish) nature gives to mankind. We should not only take effective measures {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(stop) them, but also draw some {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(lesson) from them. We should not develop the economy (经济) at the cost of the natural environment.

    There was a man who had four sons. He hoped his sons could learn not to judge things too quickly. So he gave them a task in turn,{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (ask) them to go to see a pear tree at a distance{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(separate).

    The first son set out in winter, the second in spring, the third in summer, and the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}young)in autumn.

    When all of them returned home, they were called together{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(describe) what they had seen. The first son complained the tree was{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (bend) and ugly. The second son said the tree was covered with buds(花蕾)and full of hope. The third son said it was full of flowers{#blank#}6{#/blank#}smelled so sweet and that he had{#blank#}7{#/blank#}seen such beautiful scenery. The last son disagreed{#blank#}8{#/blank#}all or them, saying it was filled with fruits, full of life and content.

    The man told his four sons that they were all correct, but they only saw the tree in{#blank#}9{#/blank#}season, He taught them that the value of a person could only be measure when all the seasons were over.

    If you give up in winter, you{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(miss) the hope of spring, the beauty of summer, and the harvest of autumn in your life.

    Why is pink or purple a color for girls and blue or brown for boys?

The answer depends largely {#blank#}1{#/blank#}cultural values as well as personal experiences. To the Egyptians, green was a color {#blank#}2{#/blank#} represented the hope and joy of spring, while for Muslims, it means heaven. Red is a symbol of good luck in many cultures. During the Spring Festival in China, children {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (give) money in a red envelope to bring good fortune in the New Year. For many nations, blue is a symbol of protection and religious beliefs. Greek people often wear a blue necklace hoping to protect{#blank#}4{#/blank#}against evils（灾祸）.

People's {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (choose) of colors is also influenced by their bodies' reactions toward them. Green is said to be {#blank#}6{#/blank#} most restful color. It has the ability to reduce pain and relax people both mentally{#blank#}7{#/blank#}physically. People {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(work) in green environment have been found to have fewer stomach aches.

Red can cause a person's blood pressure to rise and increase people's appetites（食欲）. Many decorators will include different shades of red in the restaurant. And many commercial websites will have a red "Buy Now" button because red is a color that {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(easy) catches a person's eye.

Blue is another calming color. Unlike red, blue is believed to cause people to lose appetite. So {#blank#}10{#/blank#} you want to eat less, some suggest that eating from blue plates can help.

    When we read a poem, we often imagine what the poets{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (think) when they wrote or what they were doing at the time. These thoughts let us connect with the words better, as if we'd created the poem{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (we). Will a poem still mean as much if a compute writes it?

    By{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (use) algorithms (算法) , computers can now create all kinds of text, including research papers, books, news, stories and even poems. Computer-generated poems might be correct in both grammar and style, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}some say they still lack {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (create) and true meaning.

    Australian researcher Oscar Schwartz created a website{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(call) "bot or not". On his site, you can read poems and guess whether they{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(write) by a human or a computer. Schwartz recently gave a speech at TedX Sydney, in {#blank#}8{#/blank#}he stated that some of the website's poems were able to{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(foolish) 65 percent of human readers.

    He said that on his website, he hoped people would question the difference between humans and machines—and be able to identify what it is {#blank#}10{#/blank#}makes us human.

    A few years ago, after a long morning of sightseeing in New York, my children and I took a rest on one of the park {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (bench) in Central Park.

    "Look!" my son said, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(point) to a nearby rubbish bin. That's when we saw our first raccoon (浣熊). Quite at home in the big city, he paid us no attention, concentrating only on finding a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (taste) lunch. He sorted through a few options before coming out with a wrapped sandwich {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (hold) between his paws.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (surprise), rather than run away, he jumped down and walked casually to a spot on the path, not a metre from where we sat. The children were spellbound, the raccoon providing better{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(entertain) than any museum. He glanced at us, perhaps checking to see {#blank#}7{#/blank#}we were about to steal his lunch.

    {#blank#}8{#/blank#}delicate fingers, he peeled back the layers of plastic wrap until the half-eaten sandwich {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (uncover).

    Then he surprised us all. Instead of starting his food, he turned to a nearby pool of water and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (dip) his paws in. With a casual air, he rubbed his paws together underwater for a moment, brushed his fur, then started gracefully picking at his meal.

    Cold Food Day, which honors Jiezitui, a hermit (隐士) who lived some 2600 years ago, used to be observed {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (wide), but today few Chinese observe it except on and around the mountain on {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the hermit lived.

    Jiezitui served {#blank#}3{#/blank#} an advisor to Chong'er, a prince in the state of Jin. A civil war forced the prince {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (leave) Jin and Jie Zitui followed him. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, when Chong'er returned and became the ruler of Jin, his followers were rewarded with money, land and official jobs {#blank#}6{#/blank#} Jie Zitui was overlooked.

    So Jie Zitui chose the life of a hermit on Mt. Mian, where he took care of his elderly mother. Chong'er's men set fires on Mt. Mian to drive him out of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} mountain and then reward him. But Jie and his mother refused and were burned to death. Out of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sad), Chong'er declared Cold Food Day in honor of him. It {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (celebrate) for centuries in China until {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (replace) by the more popular Tomb Sweeping Festival, which begins the day after.