Time Activities On 15th July: Toby and his brother leave London and will take a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (fly) to Morocco. Then they are going to travel on camels {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the Sahara Desert{#blank#}3{#/blank#} they can see beautiful stars on clear nights. About a week {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (late), they are going to travel down the River Nile and go white-water rafting {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (wear) a helmet and a life jacket. After that they will go to Kenya to see wild animals. They will buy a large backpack to carry their {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (supply) of water and food. They will walk across the land, following{#blank#}7{#/blank#}tracks of big animals, and try to take some good photographs. After the Kenya trip they will go on {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (climb) Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The activity can be very {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (tire), and many people feel sick as the air gets {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (thin). After about 15th August, they are going to the Himalayas.

    With the amazing development in China, all China's major cities have good transport networks. There are the tour buses, mini buses, taxis, as well as public buses.

    Buses in Chinese towns are always {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (crowd). The fare depends on distance, and is payable to the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (conduct) of buses.

    A taxi is often {#blank#}3{#/blank#} most convenient means of travel in the city. They are available at airports, railway stations and hotels and even in urban areas. The total fare depends on the starting meter price, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} can range from 5 to 12 yuan, and the distance. Extra fees{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (charge) for waiting and low speed driving during traffic jams. If you take a taxi after 11 pm, a 20 percent surcharge {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (apply) over the basic fare.

    The minibus is a compromise between the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (relative) expensive taxis and full public transport. Their charge is a little more than that of the bus, about 2 yuan or more {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (depend) on distance, but it is very convenient, because it can stop {#blank#}9{#/blank#} any point you want along the route.

    Tour buses, normally {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (equip) with air conditioning and TV, are managed by travel agencies, hotels and airports and provided for short tours. A tour guide is usually present on such buses.

    Middle English is the name {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(give) to the English used from around the 12th to the 15th centuries. Many things played a part in the{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(develop) of this new type of English. The most important {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(贡献) was from the Normans, a {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (French speak) people who{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (打败) England and took control of the country in 1066. {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, the Norman Conquest did not affect English as much as the Angles and the Saxons' victory about 600 years earlier, which led to Old English {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (replace) Celtic. Even though the Normans spoke French for the e{#blank#}8{#/blank#} 250 years they ruled England, French did not replace English {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the first language. On the other hand, the English language did borrow many words from French. This resulted in even more words with similar meanings, such as answer (from Old English) and reply (from Old French). It is interesting to learn {#blank#}10{#/blank#}the words for animals and meat developed.

    Tracy Wong is a well-known Chinese-American writer. But her writing skill was something she picked {#blank#}1{#/blank#} by herself. She became a part-time writer for IBM after {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(graduate) from college. Then, writing stories was {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(simple)a personal interest. Tracy sent three of her stories to a publisher. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(interest), they immediately suggested that she put them together {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(make)a single one long story and paid Tracy $ 50, 000 in advance, which was a pretty money for an unknown writer.

    Even though Tracy's {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(character) are interesting, her stories sometimes leave readers uneasy: those about the supernatural. “My mother believed I could connect with the afterlife world,” she told a close friend. “She used to have me speak with my grandmother, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} died many years ago.”

    "Can I? I don't think I can," Tracy said with a laugh. "But I do have moments when things come to me for no reason." Once, she {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(wonder) how to complete a scene set in ancient China when the doorbell suddenly rang. It was a FedEx delivery man, with a copy of a book on Chinese history. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} came without her having ordered it!

    Though she has published 10 books, Tracy has remained unchanged by her fame. She lives in the same way she lived 27 years ago — although in a {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(big) house. There's more room for joy in her life — and it wasn't just writing.