{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (exact) when the first people arrived in what we now know as California，no one really knows. However, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} is likely that Native Americans were living in California at least fifteen thousand years ago.

Scientists believe that these first settler {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (cross) the Bering Strait in the Arctic to America {#blank#}4{#/blank#} means of a land bridge which existed in prehistoric times. In the 16th century, after the {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (arrive) of Europeans, the native people suffered greatly. Thousands were killed or forced into slavery. In addition, many died {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the diseases brought by Europeans. However, some survived these terrible times, and today there are more Native Americans {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (live) in California than in any other state.

    In the 18th century, California was ruled by Spain. Spanish soldiers first arrived in South America in the early 16th century. Two centuries later, the Spanish had settled in most parts of South America and along the northwest coast of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} we now call the United States. Of {#blank#}9{#/blank#} first Spanish to go to California, the majority were religious men, whose ministry was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (teach) the Catholic religion to the natives.

    Once there lived a rich man {#blank#}1{#/blank#} wanted to do something for the people of his town. But first he wanted to find out whether they {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (actual) deserved his help.

    In the centre of the main road into the town , he placed{#blank#}3{#/blank#} very large stone. Then he {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.

    “Who put this stone in the centre of the road?” said the old man, but he did not attempt {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (remove) the stone. {#blank#}6{#/blank#},with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone but nobody tried to remove it. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (say) to himself; “The night {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be)very dark. Some neighbors will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

    The he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (strong)to move it. To his amazement, he found a bag of money under the stone.

    Nowadays, it is common that more and more high school students open their own micro-blogs on the Internet. For one thing, it can provide a colorful platform to show their talent. For{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, it is a useful way to release their pressure. And all these make it more and more popular with high school students.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} ,many parents and teachers hold a different view. They think that managing one's micro blog will take a lot of time and energy, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}should be used to study.

    In my view, I am greatly in favor {#blank#}4{#/blank#}this activity. Today the Internet is playing {#blank#}5{#/blank#}important and essential role in our life. Therefore as high school students, we need to learn to make use of this {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(value) tool to communicate and display ourselves. What's more, opening microblogs need various abilities such {#blank#}7{#/blank#}writing, designing , being skillful at computer and so on. Only if we master those abilities can we make a successful micro blog. As a result, we will improve ourselves while {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(organize) our microblogs.

    In fact, microblog {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(oneself) is of little harm. It is your attitude towards it {#blank#}10{#/blank#}matters. We should take the advantages and avoid some bad effects.

    Do you know that some of the most interesting urban gardens are in unexpected places? They may be on top of {#blank#}1{#/blank#} public building, in the middle of a commercial district, or in the terminal of one of the world1s {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (busy) airports. You may have wandered on a sidewalk next to a “secret garden”{#blank#}3{#/blank#} realizing it was just around the comer or on the other side of a wall.

    If you don t know these attractive {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (nature) spaces exist, you might never experience them. At the same time, the fact that these places escape notice {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(make) them worth seeking out.

    St. Dunstan-in-the-East is a historic church in London, which has a history of hundreds of years. It survived the Great Fire of London in the 17th century, but it {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(hit) by a German bomb during World War II. St. Dunstan was rebuilt in the 1960s. Later, the city turned the grounds into a public garden.

    St. Dunstan is on a quiet street, but it's only a short walk from major {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (tour)attractions like the Tower of London. This peaceful park reportedly gets {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(relative)crowded at noon on sunny days during {#blank#}9{#/blank#} time office workers from the nearby buildings come to eat lunch. At most other times, however, it's a quiet place {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (get) away.

    A recent study found that people who live in colder climates consume {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (much) alcohol than people who live in warm weather.

    "Alcohol is something that everyone thought harmful for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (decade), but no one has scientifically demonstrated it," a professor wrote in a press release.

Why do people in Russia drink so much? Everybody {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (assume) that's because the weather is cold. But we couldn't find a single paper {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (link) climate to alcohol intake. Since alcohol could increase warm blood flow in the skin, last month, the researchers in a study {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (suggest) that people should reach for booze (豪饮) when it's cold outside. The researchers combed through data to compare climate factors and alcohol consumption per capita (每人的). {#blank#}6{#/blank#} study also found that as temperatures and sunlight hours decrease, alcohol consumption goes up. Shorter hours of sunlight and cooler temperatures also relate {#blank#}7{#/blank#} higher rates of depression, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} is linked to an increase in drinking.

    The professor hopes this data will help influence health policies on alcohol abuse. "Knowing that cold places have more drink-related problems can could be {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (help) to the efforts in these areas {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (determine) better places," he said.

    The Chinese invented block printing more than 1, 400 years ago. The original characters were carved on wood and ink was then applied. Block printing is time consuming and {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (cost) a lot of manpower and materials. Misprinted characters cannot be {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (easy) corrected. These shortcomings were only overcome after the appearance of movable type printing, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} greatly improved the speed and quality of printing.

    Bi Sheng of the Northern Song Dynasty invented the movable type printing. He carved the Chinese characters on small {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (cube) of sticky clay. He baked them in the fire until they became hard and movable. In the course of presswork, the movable characters were placed into {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, iron frame until it was full. He then took a smooth board and pressed it over the surface so that the block of type became even: Then ink was applied and it was ready {#blank#}6{#/blank#} printing. To be more {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (efficiency), he prepared two iron boards. When one was being used for printing, the other could be used {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (put) characters in order for the next page. The two boards were used alternately.

    Although what Bi Sheng invented was simple when {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (compare) to today's letterpress printing; it already bad the main traits of modem printing. So Bi Sheng's {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (contribute) to printing cannot be overstated.