Lantern Festival falls{#blank#}1{#/blank#}the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is the first full moon of the new year, representing unity and perfection， this festival also marks the{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(office)end of the long holiday.

    There are many legends(传说)related to the origins of Lantern Festival.

    According to one legend, once in ancient times, a celestial(天堂的)swan came into the human world {#blank#}3{#/blank#} it was shot down by a hunter. The Jade Emperor, the {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(high)god in Heaven, was angry about this. He{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (plan)an attack on Earth on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, with orders to destroy all people and animals. But the other celestials {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (disagree) with him and risked their lives {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(warn)the people of Earth. As {#blank#}8{#/blank#}result, before and after the fifteenth day of the first month, every family hung red lanterns outside their doors and set {#blank#}9{#/blank#}firecrackers and fireworks(烟花爆竹), giving the impression that their homes were already burning. By successfully {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(trick)the Jade Emperor in this way, human beings were saved from destruction.

    Do you have any idea of New Year paintings?{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (know) as “paper paintings” and “painted pictures”, New Year paintings are a special art form in Chinese folk culture. Without New Year paintings, our traditional Chinese folk culture would be much less {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(color). The paintings get such a name because they are {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(most) posted during the Chinese New Year holiday for {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(decorate) and they are also accepted as a symbol of New Year's greetings.

    New Year paintings appeared around the Tang dynasty, replacing the previous door pictures believed to be able to protect the residents and drive away ghosts. In the Song dynasty the New Year paintings{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (create) on a large scale(规模){#blank#}6{#/blank#} the printing techniques improving, the content and forms of New Year paintings became various. The development of the paintings matured in the Ming and Qing dynasties,{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the art hit its heyday (全盛期).

    There are many {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(tradition) printing methods of New Year paintings,{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (include) woodblock printing, stone-block printing, offset printing, watercolor painting, etc.{#blank#}10{#/blank#} is reported, woodblock-printed New Year paintings are the most popular and interesting ones, according to a recent survey.

    Today we talk about a word that is a feeling as well as a place. This word is “home.” Long ago in the 1700s, “home” was used as a verb,{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (mean) “to be guided to a destination.” So, when you home in on something, you get {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(close) to your target. For example, you could say, “Police are homing in on the suspects.” That is also where we get homing pigeons－pigeons that can find {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (they) way home after being released.

    But today, “home” is more often used as a noun. And it has a very emotional {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(connect) for American English speakers. You can remember the meaning of the word by the expression “home is {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the heart is.” That expression means home is anywhere you feel love and comfort. It is a place where you belong, and often a place you consider your origin. In other {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (word), “home” is not {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(simple) a building where you live—that's a house. There is a big difference {#blank#}8{#/blank#}a home and a house.

    The writer, Thomas Wolfe, had {#blank#}9{#/blank#} different idea about home. In 1940, his book “You Can't Go Home Again”{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (publish). Today we use this title to mean that the ideas and feelings that you had as a child often change when you are an adult. So, even if you return to the place where you grew up, time and distance have changed your perspective (观点).

    China has built a high-speed passenger rail network in recent {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (year) and will continue to expand it. By the end of 2018, China's railway mileage (里程){#blank#}2{#/blank#} (reach) 131,000 kilometers, of {#blank#}3{#/blank#} 29,000 kilometers were high-speed rail. This accounted for 2/3 of the world's total high-speed rail tracks, making China's high-speed rail system the world's {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (large) high-speed rail network.

    China's high-speed trains are similar {#blank#}5{#/blank#} those of France's TGV, German's ICE and Japan's Shinkansen. The fast trains with a top speed of 250-350 km/h {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (call) CRH, China Railway High-speed.

    If you want to travel around China, the high-speed trains will be your ideal choice since they are clean, comfortable {#blank#}7{#/blank#} modem. Unlike on the conventional trains in China, nobody is allowed {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (smoke) on high-speed trains, not even between carriages.

    The seats are as good as those on the plane or even better. Most high-speed rail tickets have corresponding (对应的) seats, and only {#blank#}9{#/blank#} small number of standing tickets are sometimes sold on limited trains. There's never a crowd of people sitting in the aisles. The ticket prices for China high-speed trains are reasonable and, on most routes, the frequency of departure is very high, so people can buy tickets{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(convenient).

    She looks like any other schoolgirl, fresh-faced and full of life. Sarah Thomas is looking forward to the challenge of her new A-level course. But unlike her school friends, 16-year-old Sarah is not spending half-term{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(rest). Instead, she is earning £6500 a day as {#blank#}2{#/blank#}model in New York.

    Sarah{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (tell) that she could be Britain's new supermodel earning a million dollars in the next year. Her father Peter, 44, wants her to give up school to model full-time. But Sarah, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}has taken part in shows along with top models, wants{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(prove) that she has brains as well as beauty. She is determined to carry on with her{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (educate).

    She has turned down several {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(invitation) to star at shows in order to concentrate on her studies. After school she plans to take a year off to model full-time before going to university to get a degree{#blank#}8{#/blank#}engineering or architecture.

Sarah says, "My dad thinks I should take the offer now. But at the moment, school {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (come) first. I don't want to put too much in modeling. It is{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (certain) fun but the lifestyle is a little unreal. I don't want to have nothing else to fall back on when I can't model any more."

Marty is a {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(able) but a fairly positive person who never feels {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(annoy) for himself. In other words, he has learned to adapt to his disability. Marty always tries hard to live {#blank#}3{#/blank#}good life. He is realistic{#blank#}4{#/blank#} his disability {#blank#}5{#/blank#}he never stops doing as much as he can. He keeps {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(he) busy doing things like{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(write) and computer programming that do not require{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (physics) strength.

He has friends with whom he has access to going to movies and football matches and he has lots of pets. He also studies hard and never has absence from school. He is a {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(mental) strong {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (depend) boy. All in all, he is able to live as rich and full a life as everyone else.