Now more than 40 million {#blank#}1{#/blank#} around the world are learning Chinese, according to a report. The relationship {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the United States and China is becoming more and more important in the world. This has really {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the growth of Chinese language learning in U.S.

    I am Chris from the United States. I am one of the many people {#blank#}4{#/blank#} are learning Chinese. I am studying at a Confucius Institute(孔子学院)in New York. There are 10 students in our class. Some are over thirty years old. Some are middle school students. Our teacher comes from Beijing. He is fun and often tells us interesting things in China.

    I think Chinese is {#blank#}5{#/blank#} to learn. The biggest challenge for American learners is the writing. Chinese is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} different from any other language in the world. It will take me a lot of time to learn enough Chinese characters(汉字). But I think there are many benefits (益处) of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} time in learning Chinese. One important benefit is that it makes me see things from a {#blank#}8{#/blank#} point of view, because Chinese is {#blank#}9{#/blank#} a different language from English. I think for American the students most important benefit is that {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a challenging language can open up their eyes.

    It was a long day. David felt {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (happy) as he walked home slowly. He couldn't help thinking about his stupid mistake on the school soccer field. He missed scoring that goal. It made the school team {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (lose) in the game.

    As soon as he arrived home, his mother found his sadness, for it {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (show) on his face. After {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (hear) the whole story, she told {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (he) that it was not necessary to be too hard on himself and winning or losing was only half the game. She asked David {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (communicate) with his teammates. She added that the most important thing was to support each other in a team. What his mother said made him think a lot.

    The next day, David went to soccer practice {#blank#}7{#/blank#} courage instead of fear in his heart. He apologized to his teammates for his mistake. He said they should continue to work together as {#blank#}8{#/blank#} whole team. It was a relief that his {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (teammate) all agreed with him. They promised to encourage each other and work much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (hard) the next time.

    William Hanna and Joseph Barbara created the cartoon series "Tom and Jerry" in the 1940s. The {#blank#}1{#/blank#}are about a cat called Tom and a mouse called Jerry. They {#blank#}2{#/blank#} all the time and seem to hate each other. Tom tries to lead Jerry to {#blank#}3{#/blank#} places or catch him. But Jerry is too clever and he always manages to run away. I discovered this funny show when I was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} years old. and I still laugh when I {#blank#}5{#/blank#} "Tom and Jerry" today. Why don't you try it? Expect you will enjoy it too!