Although most people believe that formal schooling is required for scientific success, a college degree is not always necessary. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}excellent example of a man who won fame as a scientist {#blank#}2{#/blank#}academic(学术的) training is Vincent J. Schaefer. His formal education ended {#blank#}3{#/blank#} two years of high school when he had to go to work in an untrained job at General Electric. Because {#blank#}4{#/blank#} his inventive mind and his skill as a model maker, he was soon allowed to try his own experiments in the company laboratory. His natural {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(curious) made him wonder about clouds. He developed, after many tries, a method of making clouds rain {#blank#}6{#/blank#}they would not normally do so. This method, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(call) seeding, has been very {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(help) to farmers, and {#blank#}9{#/blank#}made him win much fame.

    Schaefer believes that for people{#blank#}10{#/blank#}, most of all, are interested in the world and everything in it, a college degree is unnecessary.

    Dujiangyan is the oldest man-made water system in the world, and a wonder in the development of Chinese science. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(build) over 2,200 years ago in what is now Sichuan Province in Southwest China, this amazing engineering {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(achieve) is still used today.

    In ancient times, the region in which Dujiangyan now stands {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (suffer) from regular floods caused by overflow from the Minjiang River. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (help) the victims of the flooding, Li Bing, the region governor, together with his son, decided to find a solution. Li designed a series of channels built at different levels along Mount Yulei that would take away the floodwater while leaving the river flowing naturally. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (good) still, the extra water could be directed to the dry Chengdu Plain, making {#blank#}6{#/blank#} suitable for farming.

    Once the system was finished, no more floods occurred and the people were able to live {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (peaceful). Today, Dujiangyan {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (admire) by scientists from around the world because of one feature. Unlike modern dams {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the water is blocked with a huge wall, Dujiangyan still lets water flow through the Minjiang River naturally, enabling ecosystem and fish populations to exist {#blank#}10{#/blank#} harmony.

    English is a language{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(speak) all around the world. There are more than 40 countries{#blank#}2{#/blank#}most of the people speak English. What's more, the number of people who learn English {#blank#}3{#/blank#}more than 750 million. Everywhere in the world children go to school{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(learn) English. Most people learn English for five or six years at high school. In China, most students learn English at school {#blank#}5{#/blank#}a foreign language.

    In only fifty years, English{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(develop) into the language most{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(wide) used in the world. English is the working language of most international organizations, international trade and tourism. Businessmen and tourists often come to China without{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) able to speak Chinese. Chinese businessmen, taxi drivers and students talk with them using English. You can listen to English songs through the Internet. With so many people {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(communicate) in English every day, it will become more and more important to have{#blank#}10{#/blank#}good knowledge of English.

    For Nigel Portman, a love of travelling began with what's called a "gap year". In common with many other British teenagers, he chose {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (take) a year out before settling down to study for his degree. After doing various {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (job) to raise some money, he left home to gain some experience of life in different cultures, visiting America and Asia. The more adventurous a young person, the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (great) challenge they are likely to set {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (them) for the gap year, and for some, like Nigel, it can result in a thirst for adventure.

    Now that his university course {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (come) to an end, Nigel is just about to leave on a three—year trip that will take him right around the world. What's more, he plans to make the whole journey {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (use) only means of transport which are powered by natural energy. In other words, he'll be relying {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (main) on bicycles and his own legs; and when there's an ocean to cross, he won't be taking a shortcut (捷径) {#blank#}8{#/blank#} flying aboard—he'll be joining the crew of a sailing ship, instead.

    As well as doing some mountain climbing along {#blank#}9{#/blank#} way, Nigel hopes to pass on to the people he meets the environmental message {#blank#}10{#/blank#} lies behind the whole idea.

    Chengdu has dozens of new millionaires, Asia's biggest building, and new fancy hotels. But for tourists like me, pandas are its top {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (attract).

    So it was a great honor to be invited backstage at the not for profit Panda Base, where ticket money helps pay for research. I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (allow) to get close to these cute animals at the 600­acre center. From tomorrow, I will be their UK ambassador. The title will be {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (official) given to me at a ceremony in London. But my connection with pandas goes back {#blank#}4{#/blank#} my days on a TV show in the mid­1980s, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I was the first Western TV reporter {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (permit) to film a special unit caring for pandas rescued from starvation in the wild. My ambassadorial duties will include {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (introduce) British visitors to the 120­plus pandas at Chengdu and others at a research in the misty mountains of Bifengxia.

    On my recent visit, I held a lively three­month­old twin that had been rejected by {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (it) mother. The nursery team switches him every few{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (day) with his sister so that while one is being bottle ­ fed, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} other is with mom—she never suspects.