As is known to us, the year 2016 has one extra day in it — February 29th. This is because it's {#blank#}1{#/blank#} we call “a leap year”. Every four years, the year has 366 days in {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  instead of 365.

    It is called a leap year because hundreds of years ago in England, the extra day wasn't{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (legal) recognized. There is a well-known tradition in the UK{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (associate) with February 29th, introduced many centuries ago. Women are allowed to break with tradition and propose(求婚) to their boyfriends on this day. This all started back in the{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (five) century, when a famous Irish saint made a{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (complain) that women had to wait too long for men to propose. According to the legend, Saint Patrick said any female dreaming of a proposal could ask her boyfriend to marry her on this additional day in February. This so-called tradition{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (write) in law in the thirteenth century. Scotland passed a law allowing women to propose to men in a leap year. It was said that if the men refused, they had to pay a fine!

    Now in 2016, there are calls{#blank#}8{#/blank#} February 29th to become a public holiday. Some people believe that it should be an{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (office) day off, because no one gets{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (many) payments for working an extra day in a leap year. For the moment though, the British still have to go to work on this day.

    One day when I was five years old, my mother took me to a swimming pool. She wanted to teach me how to swim.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (sad), I was almost drowned(淹死，溺死).{#blank#}2{#/blank#} I was rescued by a man, my mother was so {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(frighten) that she decided never to let me get close to a swimming pool again.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}, I thought quite differently. Instead of letting that horrible incident create more fear around water for me, I decided to become a good {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(swim). After I told my mother about that, she thought I was right and {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(agree). So I started to learn how to swim again. My mother became more careful and I was not in danger again. Later I became {#blank#}7{#/blank#} interested in swimming that I decided to compete in swimming events. After years of efforts, my dream came true. I was the first African American {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(win) an Olympic Gold Medal in swimming. I did so at both 2008 and 2012 Olympics.

    Now I spend much of my time {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (help) children learn how to swim. Hundreds of children each year drown in the United States.{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (learn) how to swim can prevent 80% of these tragedies.

    Itzhak Perlman, a famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert. He was stricken with polio（小儿麻痹症）as a child, so getting on stage is no small {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (achieve).

    The audience sat quietly while he made his way across the stage {#blank#}2{#/blank#} his chair and began his play. But this time,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} went wrong. Just as he finished the first part, one of the strings on his violin {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(break). We thought that he would have to stop the concert. But he didn't.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

    {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(power) and pure, his performance attracted all the attention.

    Of course, anyone believes {#blank#}7{#/blank#}impossible to play a harmonious work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (know) that.

    When he finished, people rose and cheered.

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (smile), he wiped the sweat and said, “You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with {#blank#}10{#/blank#}you have left.”

    “I saw rice plants as tall as sorghum, each ear of rice as big as an ear of com and each grain of rice as huge as a peanut. I could hide in {#blank#}1{#/blank#} shade of the rice crops with a friend.” That is the dream of the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (agriculture) scientist Yuan Longping.

    Yuan Longping, born {#blank#}3{#/blank#}September 7, 1930, is known for developing the first hybrid rice varieties in the 1970s. Since then, hybrid rice {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (grow) in over 20 countries,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (attract) attention from the whole world, especially areas at risk of hunger.

    This year 88-year-old Yuan Longping has {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (successful) developed rice growing in saltwater and desert. Though his rice could reduce food shortage, the new strain has a long way to go {#blank#}7{#/blank#} it can be widely spread.

    Yuan Longping's achievement has brought him many awards and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (honor) both at home and abroad. As Yuan Longping accepted his Lifetime Achievement Award, he said that {#blank#}9{#/blank#} lifetime achievement means is to achieve your dream with all your life.{#blank#}10{#/blank#}, fame and wealth mean much less to him than his research, and he says he will focus on developing better rice.

    Museums keep history alive. Well; museums have great importance for people who{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(enjoy) history, or who are very{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(interest) in one particular subject. There are art museums, railroad museums, dollhouse museums, and museums of history, or the history of a certain area. There are many, many other types as well. For people who love paintings by very popular artists, but are too poor to buy a painting, art museums are probably {#blank#}3{#/blank#}only place for them{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(see)an original, Picasso, for example. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (visit) museums is a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (wonder) and popular tourist activity.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} you go to a new country, seeing some of the history described at a museum is interesting and even fun. Sometimes the museums are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (attract) than the most famous places of interest.

    I {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(visit) a couple of large dams (水坝) so far, and seeing the historical information about how the dams {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (build) is fascinating(吸引人的) to me. Obviously, not all the people like the same kind of museums. But I am sure that you can find one you enjoy.

    Exercise could not only benefit your body, but also improve your memory, researchers found{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(recent).

    In their paper, researchers in the United States and Japan{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(introduce) their experiment and conclusion.

    Scientists invited 36 volunteers{#blank#}3{#/blank#}were in their early 20s to do 10 minutes of light exercise before taking a memory test in which they{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(show) pictures like broccoli(西兰花) or picnic baskets and asked to recall them later. The same experiment was repeated with the same group of volunteers without exercising. “The memory task really was quite{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(challenge),” said Michael Yassa, co-author of the study. “ We used very similar items to see if they would remember {#blank#}6{#/blank#}it was this exact picnic basket versus that picnic basket.”

    Researchers also scanned brains of some of the participants during the experiment.

    They found increased communication between parts{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(involve) in the storage and recollection of memories in brains of those who had exercised.

This suggested that just 10 minutes of light exercise might have a positive effect {#blank#}8{#/blank#}memory power.

    As all{#blank#}9{#/blank#}volunteers in the experiment were relatively young, researchers are still working{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(look) at the influence of light exercise on older people. “Our main goal is to try to develop an exercise way that can be used by older adults who might have disabilities,” said Yassa.