A young man and an old man were waiting for a bus. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} sat next to each other. “What's that in your bag? ” asked the young man, pointing to a big bag beside the old man.“Gold. There was nothing but gold,” Answered the old man. The young man could not believe his won ears and was {#blank#}2{#/blank#}great amazement. Then he began to think about {#blank#}3{#/blank#}to get the gold. The old man was very tired and it seemed that he could hardly keep his eyes open. After a while the old man {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(lie) down on the chair and fell asleep.The young man took {#blank#}5{#/blank#}big bag gently and quietly. But when he was just about to run away, he found a corner of his fur coat was under the old man's body. Several times he tried to pull it out, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} in vain. At last he took off his coat, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (think) that the gold in the bag must cost far more than his fur coat. Nervous but {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(delight), the young man ran out of the station as quickly as his legs could carry him until he reached a place {#blank#}9{#/blank#}he thought the old man couldn't find him. He stopped and quickly opened the bag but he just found a great many of small stones in it. Then he ran back to the station {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(hurry) only to find that the old man was gone.

    Some years ago, SARS broke out in the mainland of China, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (cause) some people to be killed or nearly got to death. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} severe was the situation that there was no time to debate who was {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (blame). The most important thing for the government to do was find out the cause of this {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (dead) disease. They invited all the top experts in this field to have a discussion and quite a few {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (suggestion) were put forward. Some of the top experts picked out those suggestions and tested them to see whether they were available. Doctor Zhong Nanshan chose one patient {#blank#}6{#/blank#} was seriously ill and had little hope of picking up and had the new medicine {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (test) on him. To his great joy, this patient recovered! He made his way to his office and telephoned the top official, telling him the exciting news. For {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (convenient), he moved to live in his office. His method did make sense. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} wasn't long before the other hospitals also controlled this terrible disease and kicked it out finally. If no efforts {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (make), China couldn't have defeated SARS.

    Every year around Valentine's Day, men begin to worry about what {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (present) to buy and women {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (fill) with hope and expectation. Or the other way around. In China, more couples get married on that very day, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (add) romance to their promises. But for many, love is neither the matter-of-course choice {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the preferred one. More young, working urban residents are delaying or even choosing not to {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (active) seek their partners despite the social pressure from the older generations to do so.

    Over the years, China's divorce rate has exceeded (超过) that of marriage. According to the statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, 10 million couples registered for marriage in 2017 fell by 7% {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (compare) with the same period last year, while 43.7 million couples divorced, 5.2% more than the same period last year.

    There is also a growing trend towards people marrying later: since 2013, the number of couples aged 25 to 29 has been greater than {#blank#}7{#/blank#} of younger couples. In the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (late) survey on professional attitudes towards love and marriage, more than half of the investigated in Yangzhou, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} second-level city on the East coast, were satisfied {#blank#}10{#/blank#} their marriage after 35.

    Mochi (年糕) is a traditional food popular in Chinese and Japanese cooking, made from {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (special) treated rice. It is often presented in the form of a round cake, and is traditionally exchanged at the New Year.

Mochi is made by {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (put) sticky rice into water overnight, cooking it and pounding it into a sticky paste. The paste is made into shapes ranging from simple to complex rounds, some of {#blank#}3{#/blank#} are stuffed with sweet fillings. Mochi is often decorated with {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (flower) or fruits, especially when it is exchanged as {#blank#}5{#/blank#} gift at celebrations like birthdays and the New Year.

    Traditionally, wooden mortars (臼) and pestles (杵) {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (use) to pound mochi rice. Fresh mochi is usually cooked and served warm {#blank#}7{#/blank#} a variety of sauces. Steaming and boiling are both popular preparations in Japan, along with cooking. Fresh mochi is soft but it{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (hard) quickly. Prepacked mochi blocks, flattened and cut into square pieces or shaped into rounds, are available at grocery stores. Mochi can go bad easily, so it's {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (good) to cook soon than to keep it in your fridge.

    Hard mochi pieces can be cooked, deep-fried, boiled, and more. Cooked mochi is very sticky, so be careful not {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (choke) on it.