Saint Patrick's Day is a major holiday in Ireland, but the rest of the world has influenced its celebration as much as the Irish{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (they). Most Americans think of Saint Patrick's Day as a big party{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(center) around drinking alcohol. But its {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (origin) in Ireland were religious, says Mike Cronin, a professor of Irish history with Boston College of Massachusetts.

    Saint Patrick lived in Ireland more than 2,000 years ago. He is{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (wide) considered to have established Christianity in the country. The Church decided to honor him with a holy day. March 17, the date of his death{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (choose) in the 17lh century.

    St. Patrick is believed{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(serve) in Ireland as a Catholic Bishop (主教). The average Irish person honored March 17 quietly{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(attend) church services was the main activity. In fact, most businesses that served alcohol would close in honor {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the day. In the early 1900s, Ireland's government made St. Patrick's Day{#blank#}9{#/blank#} official holiday. By the 1960s, towns across Ireland started celebrating the holiday with parades and music.

    In Ireland today, St. Patrick's Day is a four-day public celebration {#blank#}10{#/blank#} includes parades, music, food, and games.

    The word Nushu literally means "women's writing" in Chinese: As the name suggests, Nushu is created and specially used by women.

    Often {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（call） "the world's only surviving characters for women", these slim words were developed from standard written Chinese. In the old days, Nushu {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（teach）by elderly women to girls at home because female children weren't allowed {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（attend）formal school. During gatherings in villages, women used the characters to write poems or song lyrics to express their emotions {#blank#}4{#/blank#} were hidden from men. The words were full {#blank#}5{#/blank#} encouragement and positive energy, and showed an uncommon open-mindedness among women at that time.

    Ji Xianlin once said that Nushu is a feminist（女权主义者）symbol. "It's {#blank#}6{#/blank#} unique writing system created by {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（talent）women who were deprived（剥夺）of the right to education," he wrote in an article. "It has significance in various {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（field）and represents Chinese people's strong spirit."

    Nushu was made as a national cultural heritage in 2006. However, it is not {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（wide）used in daily life today. In fact, it is a dying language. Now linguists are taking action to prevent this incredible cultural heritage from {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（disappear）.

    Earthquakes are quite common. In fact, thousands of earthquakes {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (happen) almost at every moment. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, most of them are too weak to feel. During a big earthquake, there is often a big noise first. Then the earth shakes {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (terrible) and many houses fall down.

    As one of the most deadly natural disasters in the world, the earthquake often result {#blank#}4{#/blank#}many people being injured or killed. In 2008, a severe earthquake hit China's Sichuan Province, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (kill) more than 80,000 people there.

    Besides the great damage and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (death) caused by the earthquake, other accidents such {#blank#}7{#/blank#}fires often follow. More buildings may be damaged and more {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (injury) may be caused. For centuries, people have been making studies of earthquakes. About 2,000 years ago, for example, a Chinese scientist {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (name) Zhang Heng invented a machine which could find out the direction{#blank#}10{#/blank#} the earthquake waves came.

How can my son be a year old already?

    My son turned one last week. The day marked the end of {#blank#}1{#/blank#} has been both the longest and shortest year of my life. I haven't slept for a year and I don't really know how time works any more. From the instant he was born, it's felt {#blank#}2{#/blank#} my son has always been part of this family.

    How is he one already? First he was born, and was a sleepy ball of flesh then, and now in his place is a little boy who {#blank#}3{#/blank#} walk and has teeth and knows how to switch off the television at precisely the most important moment of anything I ever try to watch. It's not exactly {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (extraordinary) development in all of human history — child gradually gets older — but it's the first time I {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (see) it close up. It's honestly quite hard to grasp. Even photos of him {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (take) last week seem like a different boy. He's leaving milestone after milestone in his tiny parts of me along with them.

    He'll never again be the tiny baby who lay in my arm, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (suck) on my little finger in the middle of the night while his mum slept, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} will he be the baby amazed by the taste of solid food. Soon enough he'll stop being the baby who rests his head on my shoulder whenever he gets tired, or laughs uncontrollably whenever I say the word 'teeth' for reasons, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} I don't think I'll ever work out.

    But I've had a year of this and it's ok. He's never going to stop changing, and I don't want him to. This sadness, this constant sense of loss, of time slipping just {#blank#}10{#/blank#} your grasp, is an important part of this process. He won't realise this, of course. He's got years of unbroken progress ahead of him, where everything will always be new. Years of his life will pass in a moment and he won't be able to understand where they've gone.

    But it's ok. You can't freeze time. You just have to make the most of what you have.