When you take a walk in any of the cities in the West, you can see a lot of people {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(walk) with dogs. It is still true that a dog is the most useful and faithful animal in the world, but the reasons why people keep a dog {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(change). In the old days people used to train dogs to protect themselves against attacks by other beasts. And {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(late) they came {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(realize) that a dog was not only useful for protection,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} willing to obey his master. For example, when people used dogs for hunting, the dogs would not eat what was caught without {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(permit). But now people in the city need not protect themselves against attacks of animals. Why do they keep dogs, then? Some people keep dogs to protect themselves from robbery. But the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(important) reason is for companionship. For a child, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} dog is his best friend when he has no friends to play with. For young couples, a dog is {#blank#}9{#/blank#}child when they have no children. For old couples, a dog is also their child when their real children have grown up. So the main reason why people keep dogs has changed from protection {#blank#}10{#/blank#} friendship.

    We think that life in Chinese high school is an adventure in which we have to survive mountains of homework and all kinds of exams. Yet would it be{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(surprise) if I tell you that high school life in the US is almost as stressful and demanding as it is in China?

    In US high school, everything{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(record) into your studying document, including your grades on quizzes, tests and final examinations. Failing{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(turn) in your homework on time will directly affect your grade for a certain course. Perhaps contrary to{#blank#}4{#/blank#}we used to think of the US high school students, they pay more attention to their{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(academy) performance to try to get into a distinguished university.{#blank#}6{#/blank#}, they'll be disappointed after graduation from high school.

    Like university students, US high school students have the{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(free) to choose the courses that most interest{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(they). Even a ninth grader can sit{#blank#}9{#/blank#}the same classroom as twelfth graders. But this also means he or she has to work very hard, because the teacher will not treat him or her differently just because he or she is a few years{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(young).

    I'm Yuan Longping. Look at my sunburnt face and arms and my slim strong body and you will think I'm {#blank#}1{#/blank#} like a farmer than a scientist. In fact I {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(struggle) for the past five decades to help {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(farmer). In 1974, I began to grow a so-called super hybrid rice. This special strain of rice makes {#blank#}4{#/blank#} possible to produce one-third more of the crop in the same fields.

    I was born into a poor farmer's family in 1931. When I was young, I saw many people go hungry often. So I have devoted myself to {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(find) ways to increasing rice harvest without expanding the area of fields since I graduated from Southwest Agriculture College in 1953. Now more than 60% of the rice{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(produce) in China each year is from this hybrid strain. I am circulating this knowledge in India, Vietnam and other less developed countries to increase their harvest. Perhaps you think I am rich. {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(actual) I live a simple life. I care little for money. In my opinion, a person with too much money will have more troubles. I don't want to be famous {#blank#}8{#/blank#} I prefer to have more time to do my research. In my free time I love listening to music, playing mah-jong and reading. I once had a dream, in {#blank#}9{#/blank#} I saw rice plants as tall as sorghum and each ear of rice was as big as an ear of corn and each grain of rice was as huge as a peanut. Now I have another dream-to export my rice so that it can {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(grow) all over the world.

    My friend had a chance to make a trip to Hong Kong{#blank#}1{#/blank#}August 15, 2016. He had dreamed about{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(visit) it since his boyhood and it was the first time that he{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(be) there. The following was{#blank#}4{#/blank#}he had seen.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(arrive) there, he was{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(shock) by its beautiful scenery and tall buildings.{#blank#}7{#/blank#}we all know, Hong Kong has the most skyscrapers in the world. Wherever he went, he saw many smiling faces. People in Hong Kong were kind, generous, easygoing and ready to help others. Much to his surprise, he saw that people there always kept order in public places.{#blank#}8{#/blank#}a great number of people were waiting for the next train at the subway station, they were talking in such a low voice as not to disturb others.

    Chinese and English are the official languages of Hong Kong. English is{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (wide) used in governments, markets, service centers and other fields.

    Staying there for a week was a good experience for him,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}he would never forget.

    When the construction of the new factory came to the end in {#blank#}1{#/blank#} European village, a pump was put in. Then, all the settlers {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (defeat) by a severe disease {#blank#}3{#/blank#} characteristic was similar to cholera. An expert physician who was instructed to attend to the victims and handle this case showed great enthusiasm, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} he didn't foresee that it was a hard challenge. After simple enquiry, he announced that it was the {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (pollute) water that made the people {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (suffer) from the disease. But without positive {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (evident), people suspected and rejected his view, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (say) the theory he put forward made no sense. Being much {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (strict) with himself than before, he contributed himself to the case. Apart from making enquiries, he made detailed charts and analyzed the data carefully. Finally, he drew a scientific {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (conclude), linking the disease to the radium in the pump. He found out why people there got sick immediately.