{#blank#}1{#/blank#} it was autumn, the snow was already beginning to fall in Tibet. Our legs were so heavy and cold that {#blank#}2{#/blank#} felt like big blocks of ice. Have you ever seen snowmen ride bicycles? That's what we looked like! Along the way children who {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (dress) in long wool coats stopped to look at us. In the late afternoon we found it was so cold that our water bottles froze. However, the lakes {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (shine) like glass in the setting sun and looked wonderful. Wang Wei rode in front of me as usual. She was {#blank#}5{#/blank#} high spirit and I knew I didn't need to encourage her. To climb the mountains was hard work but as we  looked around us, we were surprised by the view. We seemed to be able to see for miles, and we were {#blank#}6{#/blank#} high that we found ourselves cycling through clouds. After {#blank#}7{#/blank#} while, we began going down the mountains. It was great fun especially as it slowly became much {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(warm). At the foot of the mountains, colorful butterflies flew around us and we saw many sheep {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(eat) green grass. Then we had to  change our caps, gloves and trousers {#blank#}10{#/blank#} T-shirts and shorts.

    The following is just a short story but it really brought home to me how very small acts of kindness and even polite behavior have {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (big) effects than we realize.

    I have a bad back {#blank#}2{#/blank#} flares up (发作) from time to time. Yesterday I was out walking in the street while {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (carry) shopping bags and my keys. My keys {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (sudden) slipped from my hand and fell to the ground. The problem was that because of my back I couldn't bend down {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (get) them. I was just thinking of how to get around this {#blank#}6{#/blank#} two teenage girls came up beside me. Without even speaking to me, one of the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (girl) just reached down, picked up my keys, handed them {#blank#}8{#/blank#}me and went on her way.

    While it was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} small gesture and she couldn't have known that I was in too much pain to bend down, it {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (mean) a great deal to me at that moment

    As an old English saying goes, "Honesty is the best policy". It is more than{#blank#}1{#/blank#}old cliché(陈词滥调), but a good way to live your life. First, honesty is the{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(easy) choice that we can make. When people get caught in lies, it always costs them something. Many relationships are destroyed by lies. Second, honesty gives us much{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(free). Many believe that being honest limits them in life, but that is not true. Sooner or later those dishonest people {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (pay) a price for their acts; on the contrary, when we are honest, we are {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (true) free.

    If there were two people standing before you, a person {#blank#}6{#/blank#} a record of being honest and a person who is known to be dishonest, who would you be more likely {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (believe)? I'm sure most people would side with the honest person. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} we live in the truth or we live in lies. Truth sets us free and lies leave us in nothing {#blank#}9{#/blank#} more troubles. Honesty is a choice that we can make each day. The choice is {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (you). What will you choose?

    Spring Festival is the most celebrated festival in China. On that day and over the following two weeks, people greet each other. Streets and houses {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(decorate)by many things of red color.

    Spring Festival is a time for expressing gratefulness. Gratefulness is a Chinese virtue. A regular activity is offering sacrifice to the heaven and to the earth, and to ancestors. It is meant{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(show) gratefulness to the origin of life.

    Spring Festival is also a salute{#blank#}3{#/blank#}another Chinese virtue, diligence(勤劳).We Chinese people believe that only with{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(we) own hands can we create a happy and beautiful life. Some activities staged during Spring Festival{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(most) reflect daily working scenes such as harvesting and fishing.

    Spring Festival also calls for sharing,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}value long kept by Chinese. As the old saying goes, good fortune should be shared, and misfortune be faced together. In some areas, people bring foods to a public place and have fun together by having games or{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(perform).

    As ware celebrating Spring Festival，the festival is getting more popular in the west.{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (tradition)Chinese activities，such as the dragon dance and the Peking Opera, are performed as a fixed program，{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (add) diversity to local culture. It indicates the trends of mutual (相互的)learning and harmonious coexistence(共存) between civilizations,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}are expected to contribute to the building of a shared future for humankind.

Ask Helpful Hannah

Dear Helpful Hannah,

    I've got a problem with my husband, Sam. He bought a smartphone a couple of months ago and he took it on our recent ski vacation to Colorado. It was a great trip except for one problem. He has a constant desire {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (check) for text messages; he checks his phone every five minutes! He's so addicted to it that he just can't stand the idea {#blank#}2{#/blank#} there may be an important text. He can't help {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (check) even at inappropriate times like when we are eating in a restaurant and I am talking to him! He behaves {#blank#}4{#/blank#} any small amount of boredom can make him feel the need to check his phone even when he knows he shouldn't. The temptation to see {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is contacting him is just too great. When I ask him to please put down the phone and stop {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (ignore) me, he says, "In a minute," but still checks to see if {#blank#}7{#/blank#} has posted something new on the Internet. Our life {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (interrupt). If we go somewhere and I ask him to leave the phone at home, he suffers from withdrawal symptoms. Maybe this dependency on his smartphone has become more than an everyday problem.

    I recently read an article about "nomophobia," {#blank#}9{#/blank#} is a real illness people can suffer from: the fear of being without your phone! I am worried that Sam may be suffering from this illness {#blank#}10{#/blank#} he feels anxious if he doesn't have his phone with him, even for a short time.

    Who would have thought that little devices like these could have brought so much trouble!

Sick and Tired Sadie