Gift from a stranger

    My local supermarket is always busy. The first parking space I found was convenient, but I'd noticed a woman in a blue car circling for a while.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} I was in a good mood, I let her have it. On the edge of the car park I backed into the next available spot—it was a tight fit.

    Pretty soon I'd made my way through the supermarket and was back in the fresh air. Feeling good, I{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(empty) my purse change into the hands of a homeless man and helped a struggling woman reverse park（倒车）.

    Just as I approached my car, 1 saw the woman I'd let have my car space earlier. She was giving me {#blank#}3{#/blank#} odd look—half puzzled, half intent (热切的). I smiled and wished her a pleasant day. As I squeezed back into my car, I spotted the same lady {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (look) in at me. "Hello," she said, hesitantly. "This {#blank#}5{#/blank#}_ sound crazy but I was on my way to drop some of my mother's things off at the charity bins.” You are just so much {#blank#}6{#/blank#} her.” You helped those people, I noticed, and you seemed so happy.” She looked at me meaningfully and passed a box in through the window. “I think she would like you to have it.”{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (shock), I took it from her automatically. She smiled and walked away.

    After a pause, I opened the box. Inside was a beautiful gold necklace with a large grey pearl. It was {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (nice) gift I'd ever received, and it was from a complete stranger. The necklace was around my neck, a warm reminder of human kindness.

    In Canada and the United States, people enjoy entertaining(请客) at home. They often invite friends over{#blank#}1{#/blank#} a meal, a party, or just for coffee and conversation.

    Here are the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (kind) of things people say when they invite someone to their home: "Would you like to come over for dinner Saturday night?” "Hey, we{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(have) a party on Friday. Can you come?"

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(reply) to an invitation, either say thank you and accept, or say you're sorry and give an excuse: "Thanks, I'd love to. What time would you like me to come?" {#blank#}5{#/blank#}"Oh, sorry. I've tickets for a movie."

    Sometimes, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, people use expressions that sound like invitations(邀请) but which are not real invitations. For example: "Please come over for a drink sometime." "Why not get together for a party sometime?" "Why don't you come over and see{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(we) sometime soon?"

    They are really just polite ways of {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(end) a conversation. They are not real invitations because they don't mention a specific(确定的) time or date. They just show that the person is trying to be{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(friend). To reply to expressions like these, people just say "Sure, that would be great!" or "OK. Yes, thanks."

    So next time when you hear what sounds like an invitation, listen {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(careful). Is it a real invitation or not?

    Once there lived a rich man{#blank#}1{#/blank#}wanted to do something for the people of his town.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}first he wanted to find out whether they deserved his help.

    In the centre of the main road into the town, he placed {#blank#}3{#/blank#} very large stone. Then he {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(hide ) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.

    "Who put this stone in the centre of the road?" said the old man, but he did not try to remove the stone. Instead, with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}man came along and did the same thing; then another came ,and another. All of them complained about the stone but not tried to remove {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(say) to himself: "The night {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) very dark. Some neighbors will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone."

    Then he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(strong) to move it. How great was his surprise at last! {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the stone, he found a bag of money.

Every region in the world is easy to identify by the kind of clothing traditionally worn there. Clothing {#blank#}1{#/blank#} is traditionally worn in Germany is unique too. The clothes that men and women wear traditionally tell us a lot about the country {#blank#}2{#/blank#}its culture.

To actually understand the German clothing of the years that have gone by, it is important {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (understand) the concept of clothing. It allows people to know certain things about another person. These details include the marital status, the place of origin, and the trade. According to these details, the clothing patterns changed {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (slight). And as time goes by, these clothing patterns have become more complete, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (result) in common designs.

There are German pants called lederhosens. The pants are made of leather. The pants are also worn by young boys. Lederhosens worn in the Bavarian region have {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (feature) such as suspenders (吊裤带)and front flaps? and these are quickly adopted by other countries. These pants {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(wear) with shirts and sweaters made of linen (亚麻布)or wool. Other clothes teamed with the pants are wool stockings and country shoes.

Today there {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (be) several clubs and societies that are devoted to the preservation of traditional German clothes. These societies are working towards reviving the clothing traditions so that more people choose to wear them {#blank#}9{#/blank#}occasions like weddings, festivals, etc. They think it is a patriotic (爱国的)sign to show {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (they) pride in motherlands.