Xuexiang Village, formerly known as a forestry farm, has been transformed into a booming tourist resort. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (locate) at the southern foot of Changbai Mountain, it has much snow. The snow here starts falling in October and begins to melt in April. A unique scene is the “snow mushrooms”, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} are formed after snow falls onto wood piles. Together with log cabins, pine trees and snowy mountains, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} place looks like a fairy tale world. Several decades ago, people {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (come) here as loggers. Years of excessive logging resulted {#blank#}5{#/blank#} a resource-shortage problem. After the natural forest protection project {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (launch) in 1999, the forestry farm stopped logging and started to make good use of the snow to develop the tourism industry. Amateur photographers first promoted the beautiful scenery, then, with the help of the internet, it {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (gradual) became famous and tourists began coming. {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sense) the new opportunities, loggers started to open family hotels and restaurants. Nearly 80 {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (family) are now involved in tourism business. “My family can make 200,000-300,000 yuan each year, which {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (able) us to live a much better life”, said Fan, a used-to-be logger.

    Would you like to explore the oceans? Do you want to find{#blank#}1{#/blank#}than we imagine there? For Jacques Cousteau, the answer was “yes”. His career was a lifelong dream, and he is{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (probable) the most famous ocean scientist in recent times.

    Cousteau was born in France in 1910, Even{#blank#}3{#/blank#}a child, he loved water, Cousteau was bright{#blank#}4{#/blank#}he got bored with school and began to cause trouble, His parents sent him to a strict boarding school. There, Cousteau finally {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (challenge). He studied hard and did well in all his courses. In 1933, he served as a general officer in the French Navy. He also began to explore the life under the water. He worked {#blank#}6{#/blank#}a breathing machine to stay under water longer. It was finished in 1943.

    In 1948, Cousteau became a captain, and he had new duties, Even so, he continued to explore the oceans. Two years later, he became the president of the French Oceanographic Campaigns. He also bought a ship {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (help) with his dives. But he {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (need) a way to get money for his trips. To do that, he produced many films and published a number of books, His films include The Silent World (1956) and World Without Sun (1996). One of his books is The Living Sea (1963).

    In 1974, he founded the Cousteau Society{#blank#}9{#/blank#}function was to further oceanic research and encourage people to help protect the oceans and the life within them.

    Cousteau won many honors for his work{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(include) the Presidential Medal of Freedom and membership in the French Academy in 1989.

    Rivers are one of our most important natural resources. Many of the world's great cities are located on rivers and almost every country has at least one river {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (flow) through it, which plays an important part in the lives of {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (it) people.

    Since the beginning of history, people {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (use) rivers for transportation. The Yellow River and Changliang River play a large role in China. The Mississippi, the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (long) one in the United States ever influenced the American people {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (great) in history. The lifeline of Egypt is the Nile. Rivers provide fresh water {#blank#}6{#/blank#} drink, grow crops, make electricity and chances to have fun for those {#blank#}7{#/blank#} live along their banks.

    {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the cities grow in size and industries increase in number, the river water is severely being polluted. It urges all countries to make {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (decide) and take immediate action to stop it from {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (pollute) any more.

    Once upon a time, there was a poor fisherman {#blank#}1{#/blank#} always dreamed of becoming rich. He wished to become {#blank#}2{#/blank#} millionaire, and so did his wife. He heard {#blank#}3{#/blank#} some old men before, that several ships {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (load) with diamonds and gold had sunk in the nearby seashore. Because of this, for a long time he kept searching that whole area for this treasure.

    One day, while he was sitting on the boat daydreaming, he suddenly felt that the fishing rod {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (weigh) down by a heavy object. He {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (excite) pulled hard at it, and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} he saw made him shout, "Wow! A big, shiny gold chain!" He pulled hard at the gold chain to get it into the boat, but {#blank#}8{#/blank#} seemed to be no end to it. His boat started to get overload and the sea water filled his boat. {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, he had begun dreaming of a big house, a big piece of land and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (buy) horses and cows... He kept pulling at the chain while the boat kept sinking. The boat was finally submerged and he struggled to stay afloat. Unfortunately, his feet were caught in the gold chain and he drowned.

The Chongyang Festival is a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (tradition) Chinese festival celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the lunar calendar. According to legend, during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220), a Taoist named Huan Jing saved his hometown {#blank#}2{#/blank#} a plague （瘟疫） by leading villagers up a high hill in Shangcai, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (wear) dogwood branches and drinking chrysanthemum wine to drive away evil {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (spirit). Since then, the tradition of celebrating the double ninth day {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (last) for more than 2,000 years. The star during the festival is the dogwood plant, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} grows in most parts of China. Many women and children wear its branches on their arms or decorate their hair with it. Additionally, people fill dogwood into sachets （香囊）, which come in various shapes and {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (decorate) with lively patterns like birds and flowers. They stands for different meanings of luck.

The Chongyang Festival is not only a historical Chinese festival but also {#blank#}8{#/blank#} opportunity to show respect for the elderly. It encourages family reunions and helps to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (strength) family bonds. Moreover, it shows the beauty of Chinese culture and allows people {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (connect) with their roots.