I got laid off at 53 from a senior management position in a restaurant. And I knew it was going to be hard to find another job in the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (competition) working market. My age put me at {#blank#}2{#/blank#} disadvantage. But I also knew it was time for me{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(realize) my lifelong dream of owning a restaurant.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} was most difficult was that in order to make this happen, I needed to find an{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (exist) café that wasn't doing well. It couldn't be better if its owner was ready to quit his business. With great{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (lucky) I found just what I wanted eight blocks from home. Since I had never financially planned for this day, I had to borrow money from friends as well as {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (relative). I, together with my wife,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (be) ready to start off. We changed the name to Black Dog Coffee, the menu, the recipes and the look of the cafe, and my wife did great job of designing. Eighteen years later, we're still here and doing{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (well) than ever. I'm grateful{#blank#}10{#/blank#}the layoff and the opportunity to pursue my dream.

—Why me ? Mike is sitting there doing nothing.

    The first foreign language I studied was French, and I learnt it at a secondary school between the ages of 11 and 18. It was a compulsory subject for the first three years and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (choose) to continue studying it afterwards because I enjoyed it, found it {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (interest) and was quite good at it. Outside class I practiced {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (listen) to the French language radio and reading French books.

    Before going to university, I spent three months working on {#blank#}4{#/blank#} farm in southern France. This helped me become pretty fluent{#blank#}5{#/blank#} French and acquire a rich farming-related vocabulary.

    My French has also been {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (help) on holiday on Morocco and Portugal. French {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (use) as a second language in Morocco and in other countries quite a few people speak French in places {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a lot of tourists visit.

    In September 2009 I joined a couple of French conversation {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (group) in Bangor and I have been going to them ever since. It has resulted in my {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (improve) in my spoken French.

    Now I can still speak French fluently and can also read it well, but my written French is not so good.

The Best Way of Losing Weight

    Forget what the skinny movie stars and the TV adverts say - losing weight is hard work. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} you do it through exercise, diet, or a bit of both, it's extremely challenging to lose those pounds and then to keep them off. Sometimes it can involve {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (change) huge parts of your day-to-day life and it can mean breaking decades-old habits.

    But it turns out there's one little thing you {#blank#}3{#/blank#} do to help you achieve your goal and it's got nothing to do with food or exercise. The experts at Weight Watchers did research which shows many of their members were more successful and {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (discouraged) when they shared regular updates on their new healthy lifestyle online. They found people who shared a diary of their daily lives with friends and followers were stimulated and inspired by positive feedback {#blank#}5{#/blank#} they lost some pounds and kept them off.

    More than 50 per cent of people said the support of a weight loss community was crucial when it came {#blank#}6{#/blank#} changing their eating habits and 53 per cent shared photos of their meals on social media. With this knowledge under their belts, Weight Watchers {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (launch) a series of short films lately which show people recording their daily weight loss journey.

    One of the members who shared her journey was Danielle Duggins, and her video shows her enjoying a range of healthy meals and a few treats, while {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (play) with her children.

    The company's marketing director Claudia Nicholls said: "The support of a community has always proved to be an effective way of forming and sustaining healthy habits, but there has never been an easier or more affordable way {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (tap) into the power of the crowd for support and inspiration with the explosion of online communities. Weight Watchers owns a social community for members, Connect, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} sees over 14,000 daily posts in the UK alone, and provides our members with instant access to a community of people who are on similar journeys to them.

    Taihe Ancient Cave is located on Huajian Mountain of Qingxin county, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} is about 5 km away from Qingyuan or 70 km away from Guangzhou.

    Taihe Ancient Cave scenic spot is one of the {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(much) popular tourist destinations in Qingyuan. Once it {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(name) on the 2002 list of Qingyuan's Top 10 attractions. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} cave has a history of more than 150 years and {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(visitor) from home and abroad come to enjoy {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(it) dangerous peaks, unique stone formations, dense forests, waterfalls, stone carvings, and winding streams.

    The ancient cave was {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(original) built in 1854. Tai He Gu Dong, four Chinese characters {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(write) on the cave door which mean "ancient cave", was inscribed(刻,写) by Zhu Ruzhen. Zhu is the last Bang Yan, the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(two) place winner in the imperial examination, during the Qing Dynasty (1644－1911). The cave is also a holy place {#blank#}10{#/blank#}Taoism.