Since the one-baby policy {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (carry) out in China, Chinese families have been shrinking from one with over 10 members to the other with only three including parents and one baby. Things are usually out of our expectation. Apart from the benefits {#blank#}2{#/blank#} have been mentioned enough, small families are now beginning to have {#blank#}3{#/blank#} own problems. Because parents are having fewer children, they increasingly feel the need {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (control) the lives of those children. As a result, many children are becoming less {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (depend), determined and ambitious than in the past.   

Parents today discourage their children from doing housework, extracurricular activities and socializing {#blank#}6{#/blank#} they fear it will interrupt their education. For example, when I was younger I wanted to learn the guitar {#blank#}7{#/blank#} my parents wouldn't allow me because they believed it would distract me from my studies. They are happy as long as I perform {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (wonder) in my exams but don't seem concerned about how I develop {#blank#}9{#/blank#} a person.

To some extent, I understand parents' concerns, but I think they should love their children for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} they are, not what they want them to be. We deserve the chance to chase our own dreams and learn on our own. Even if we fail, we can learn from those failures.

    New York, 10 November 5:27 pm, yesterday. Biggest power failure in the city's history.

    Thousands of people got{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(stick) in lifts. Martin Saltzman spent three hours between the 21st and 22nd floors of {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Empire State Building. "There were twelve of us. But no one{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(panic). We passed the time telling stories and{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(play) word games. One man wanted to smoke but we didn't let him. Firemen finally got us out."

    "It was the best night we've ever had," said Angela Carraro,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}runs an Italian restaurant on 42nd Street. "We had lots of candles on the tables and the waiters were carrying candles on{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(they) trays. The place was full and all night, in fact, for after we had closed, we let the people stay on and spend the night here. Business was{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(good) than usual."

    The zoos had their problems like everyone else. Keepers worked through the night. They used blankets{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(keep) flying squirrels and small monkeys warm. While zoos had problems keeping warm, supermarkets had problems keeping cool. "All of our ice cream and{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(freeze) foods melted," said the manger of a store in downtown Manhattan. "They were worth $50,000."

    The big electric clock in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in downtown Manhattan started ticking (滴答) again at 5:25 this morning. It was almost {#blank#}10{#/blank#}time.

One day, Mary was working in her office in London {#blank#}1{#/blank#}she received an email from her friend Joan. In Joan's email, she persuaded Mary {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(look) for a flat in London for her. As she had {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (little) money than before, the flat had to be cheap, but it had to be modern, with elevators and gas lines. Though Mary found {#blank#}4{#/blank#} difficult to find such a flat, she still went from one block to another, looking for a flat {#blank#}5{#/blank#} would meet Joan's requirements(要求). Having tried too many times, Mary came up {#blank#}6{#/blank#} her boss and asked him for advice {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (polite). It was the first time that she {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (talk) with her boss about her personal problems. It happened that the boss just had such a flat for rent, so they quickly reached {#blank#}9{#/blank#} agreement. But to her surprise, when she emailed Joan, telling her the good news, Joan said that she had changed {#blank#}10{#/blank#} mind— she was not going to London.

    Parkour (跑酷) is a sport which trains people to deal with any physical obstacles in their path. It is not a competition but a physical training. A person joining in parkour is called traceur. Traceurs run along a path and use only their bodies to deal with obstacles in the most efficient way. Parkour pays more attention to efficiency, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(make) it different from the similar practice of free running. Parkour {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(common) includes running, jumping, climbing, rolling and other similar types of physical movements. Many teenagers think that parkour is quite{#blank#}3{#/blank#}cool sport. They have great interest in it.

    The {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(invent) of parkour can't {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(give) to one person because many people have worked on it. A french officer developed the earlier form of parkour. The term “parkour” was first introduced by David Belle and Sebastiar Foucan in the early 1980s. {#blank#}6{#/blank#}that time, they were two teenagers. This sport{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(become) more popular in the 1990s when many films were made on it.

    {#blank#}8{#/blank#}makes parkour different from other sports is its power to bring people together. It allows traceurs to forget the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(society) and other problems, and makes a large group work and grow together instead of competing with each other. People can benefit from parkour as it can make them stronger. Still, it also influences one's thought process by improving self-confidence and critical-thinking skills. In this way, parkour allows one to deal with {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(difficulty) in daily life if he or she deals with them through parkour.

The Future Life on Mars

    Compared with the life we {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (live) on the earth now, the future life on Mars will be {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (total) different.

    Firstly, without pollution on Mars, people will be able to drink cleaner water {#blank#}3{#/blank#} breathe fresher air, so they will be {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (health).The food on Mars will be different from {#blank#}5{#/blank#} food now. People will just take {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (pill) and drink man-made juice instead of eating bread and meat. Secondly, people will travel back to the earth or to other planets for sightseeing by spaceship. Additionally, there will be no {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (fix) school and classrooms. Children will just fly to {#blank#}8{#/blank#} classroom {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the school spaceships. And people won't work in factories or companies. They can stay at home, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (work) with computers.