English Around the World

    There are more than 3,000 languages {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（speak）in the world. Of all these languages, English is the most {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(wide) used. Recent {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(survey) show that more than 500 million people speak English as their mother tongue.

    From its roots in England, the language was spread around the world {#blank#}4{#/blank#}English traders and English governments in new lands. One of these new lands {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(become) the United States of America. The population of the United States is 309 million,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (make) it the country with the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}large) number of native English speakers.

    About 300 million people speak English as their second language. There are even more people, like some in Europe as well as in China and Japan,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} study English as a foreign language.

    English has become the base language for international business, for the world's airlines and even for the Internet. Whatever language people speak, they need  {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(know) some English if they work in these fields.{#blank#}10{#/blank#} is clear that the English language is becoming more important.

    Recently, with the increasing popularity of social websites and personal online blogs, the potentially harmful practice of oversharing {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (become) much more common. Oversharing is the act of sharing too much information, or TMI,{#blank#}2{#/blank#} people who are not necessarily prepared or qualified to receive it. Telling a co-worker you don't want a piece of birthday cake may be acceptable, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} adding the fact that you're on a diet to lose 50 pounds would be oversharing. There are some {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (person) facts others may not need or want to know.

    Some oversharing is the result of a poorly {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (develop) social filter (过滤器) or “shut up button”. Different people may have different ideas over {#blank#}6{#/blank#}constitutes (构成) oversharing or TMI, so they may not realize they are making others feel {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (comfortable).

    Other times the oversharing may be an attempt {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (break) the ice socially. By sharing a few embarrassing {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (moment) with strangers, the oversharer lets others know it's okay to let down their guards and be more open themselves.

    While some oversharing may be OK,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} is generally a good idea to develop a sense of propriety (得体) in order to avoid sharing far too much information.

    Qiang Shuping was so busy making cloth shoes {#blank#}1{#/blank#} she didn't even rest during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday. The woman from Baipu County, Jiangsu Province, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) shoes since she was 19 years old, and this year marks her 3lst year making cloth shoes.

    She spends the entire day in her tiny studio, which {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(measure) less than 10 square meters altogether, filled with cloth shoes in {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(variety) stages of completion.

    Nowadays, many stores make cloth shoes {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(use) machines, but Qiang sticks to the technique of making shoes entirely {#blank#}6{#/blank#} hand. She say the shoes {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(produce) by machine are not of the same quality as handmade ones. The handmade cloth shoes are more durable（耐用的）and comfortable, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (soft), and absorb sweat better.

    Some people buy cloth shoes out of nostalgia（怀旧）, while others trust {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(they) quality. Making shoes isn't a profitable job, but Qiang still insists as she wants to preserve the craft and pass it down to the younger generation.

    Handmade cloth shoes are also called qiancengdi (shoes with a thousand layers), {#blank#}10{#/blank#} can date back to the ancient Zhou Dynasty. In 2009, the making technique of qiancengdi was listed as the national intangible cultural heritage（非物质文化遗产）

    As victor Hugo once said, “{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(laugh) is the sun that drives winter from the human face”, and up to now nobody has been able to do this {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(well) than Charlie Chaplin. He {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(bright) the lives of Americans and British through two world wars and the hard years in between. He made people laugh at a time when they felt depressed, so they could feel more content {#blank#}4{#/blank#} their lives. No one was ever bored watching him—his subtle acting made everything {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(entertain).  As time {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(go) by, he began making films. He grew more and more popular as his charming character, the little tramp, became known throughout the world. He walked around stiffly {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(carry) a walking stick. This character was {#blank#}8{#/blank#} social failure but was loved for his optimism and determination to overcome all {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(difficult). Charlie Chaplin wrote, directed and produced the films he starred in. In 1972 he was given a special Oscar for his outstanding work in films. He is loved and remembered as a great actor {#blank#}10{#/blank#} could inspire people with great confidence.

    Qian Zhongshu was a Chinese scholar and writer, known for his wit and erudition(博学). Despite failing in mathematics, Qian {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (success) entered the Department of Foreign Languages under Tsinghua University in 1929 because of his {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (excellence) performance in Chinese and English languages. In Tsinghua, he met his wife Yang Jiang, who was to become a successful playwright and translator, and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (marry) her in 1935. In the same year, Qian received government sponsorship {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (promote) his studies abroad. Together with his wife, Qian headed for the University of Oxford in Britain. After {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (spend) two years at Exeter College, he received a bachelor of literature. He studied for one more year in the University of Paris in France, and he didn't return to China {#blank#}6{#/blank#} 1938.

    Qian lived in Shanghai from 1941 to 1945, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} was then under Japanese occupation. At that time he devoted {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (he) to writing and many of his works were written or published then. A collection of short {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (essay), Writing in the Margins of Life, was published in 1941. His most celebrated work Fortress Besieged appeared in 1947. On the Art of Poetry, written {#blank#}10{#/blank#} classical Chinese was issued in 1948.

    Beijing was once a city of bikes, the capital of a country {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (know) as the Bicycle Kingdom, where cars were reserved for official and political business. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, decades of remarkable economic growth led to a huge flowing of cars in the city. Owning one became not just a marker of reaching the middle class but also a {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (require) for marriage. As the economy boomed, autos pushed bikes off the roads, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (create) heavy pollution and miserable traffic.

    Fortunately, now Beijing may be returning to its roots with a modem twist. Thanks to about 20 technology companies, brightly coloured shared bikes{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (flood) Beijing since last year. Many local residents welcome the shared bikes{#blank#}6{#/blank#} the flexibility and freedom they offer. They pick up the bikes and then ride and drop{#blank#}7{#/blank#} off anywhere they like, locking the back wheel, with no need to find a fixed place.

    Analysis in China say there are three factors{#blank#}8{#/blank#} contribute to the sudden increase of bikes: a lot of cash looking for a home, a good idea and government support. “As the city's population grew, traffic jams got{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (bad).” Cai, the Ofo spokeswoman, said, “Shared bikes could solve the 'last mile' problem in{#blank#}10{#/blank#} environmentally friendly way.”