(1)How {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  it was to hear that some pop stars would come to our town.

(2)The micro letter is used {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  in China. It has over 300 million users.
(3)— Mary, could you tell me who invented {#blank#}3{#/blank#} ?
— A team of scientists, John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley.
(4)Do you know what the{#blank#}4{#/blank#}  of the tower is? About twenty metres.
(5)We enjoyed {#blank#}5{#/blank#}  trip to the Statue of Liberty very much. What great fun we had!

    Chinese students work hard to learn English. Do you know American kids are {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to learn Chinese? About 50,000 American students now study Chinese .“Because of china's fast growth, Chinese is more useful than{#blank#}2{#/blank#}languages,” said Scott McGinnis, a Washington language expert.

    For example, in 1999,only three Chicago schools had Chinese classes. This year more than 20 do. In many US cities , students take Chinese lessons during holidays{#blank#}3{#/blank#}on the weekends. But Chicago schools teach Chinese during the regular day. Last year China gave them 3,000 textbooks because they had done a good job.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Chinese classes are becoming popular, it is one of the most difficult languages. It totally takes an English speaker about 1,320 hours to become good at Chinese , but it only takes 480 hours to learn French, Spanish or Italian.

Our environment

    Nowadays, the air is full of dust (灰尘). The water is {#blank#}1{#/blank#} clean and clear. The land is much poorer. In {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to build more houses or other buildings, we cut down trees. As a result, the Earth is becoming {#blank#}3{#/blank#} and warmer.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, people have realized (认识到) how serious the problem is. The polluted water and air make us {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. We can't plant anything on poor land, so we will have {#blank#}6{#/blank#} to eat. The {#blank#}7{#/blank#} world will come to the end.

    Therefore, we have to protect (保护) our environment. It is hard for us {#blank#}8{#/blank#} using these kinds of things. Though we have {#blank#}9{#/blank#} a lot to protect the Earth, it is not enough. So it is time {#blank#}10{#/blank#} us to do something.

    One day I was reading the newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked a lot like Mary and whose last name was Lee— Mary's {#blank#}1{#/blank#} name. "There must be thousands of Lee," I thought, but I wrote to her anyway.

    She called as soon as she got my letter. "Mrs. Tobin!" she said in a(n) {#blank#}2{#/blank#} voice. "I haven't heard from you for years!" Minutes later I heard a voice that I recognized {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, even after 40 years. We laughed and cried and caught on each other's lives.

    Now the empty place in my heart is {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. And there's one thing that Mary and I know for sure: We won't lose each other again!