When I just moved to Los Angeles（洛杉矶）, I didn't have a car.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, but I wanted to prove（证明）them wrong.

    I asked my neighbor, Mrs. White, to take me to the bus station in the center of the city, so I could try taking the bus home.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. When I got there, I went inside and got a bus timetable（时刻表）. I looked at the map and worked out that I needed to take three buses to get home.

    I bought the tickets and went outside to wait at the bus stop for the Number 8 bus. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}. I gave my ticket to the bus driver and took a seat. At the right stop I got off. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. I waited and waited. A man was also waiting for the same bus. He said that it wasn't unusual for the bus to be late. Half an hour later, it finally came. To make the matter worse, the third bus broke down halfway and the driver had to fix it. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. So when I finally got home, I was very tired. Maybe getting a car in Los Angeles wasn't such a bad idea!

The erhu is a traditional Chinese musical instrument. It is the most popular of the huqin family. In the Song Dynasty, musicians began to use this type of huqin to perform different kinds of music, and it became quite a popular instrument. With the rise of some forms of folk art, the art of the erhu developed quickly during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It became an important accompanying (伴奏) instrument in different folk music. Now it is used in both traditional and modern music. It has even become a solo (独奏的) instrument. One of the most famous musical pieces played on the erhu is Erquan Yingyue by Abing.

The erhu used to be mainly played by common people, As the playing skills were passed down by oral (口传) tradition, there are few written records about the erhu that can be found. To study the history and the development of the erhu, historians usually turn to ancient paintings, sculptures and murals (雕塑和璧画). The earliest pictures of this instrument were found in Yulin Caves and Eastern Thousand Buddha Caves in Gansu Province.

Because of so many people's effort, the erhu becomes more and more popular around the world. In fact, we can hear the familiar sound of the erhu in many Hollywood productions, such as Kungfu Panda in 2012 and most recently, the Oscar nominated(提名)film Up in the Air(《在云端》). When people watch these movies, they also enjoy the special music of the erhu. The erhu is also called "Chinese violin" by many westerners, but in many ways, they are quite different.

It was Lisa's seventh birthday. She received a special gift from Uncle To by. It was a box of little ducks. Lisa was very excited, because she was looking forward to playing with little ducks.

Lisa tried to carry the box to her garden. However, the box of ducks was heavy and she dropped it. The box fell to the ground and broke. The ducks all ran out. They ran everywhere—into neighbours' gardens, into the field, even into the next street. Lisa spent hours trying to find them and took them back to her garden.

Then she called her uncle and told him about the little accident.

"Did you find them all?" her uncle asked.

"I hope so," Lisa replied. "I caught ten of them."

"That's very interesting," her uncle said with a smile, "because I only sent you eight."

One day, Mr Smith goes to a dinner party. His clothes are very 1 . He comes into the room. There are many people in the room, 2 no one looks at him. And no one asks him to 3 at the table. He isn't 4 . But he doesn't say 5 . 

Mr Smith runs home very 6 and soon he puts on his best clothes. Then he goes back to the party. All people in the room 7 and look at him. They give 8 good food to eat. Mr Smith takes off (脱掉) his coat, and puts it on the 9 and said, "Eat, coat! It's time 10 you to have dinner." The other people are surprised (感到吃惊的) and 11 , "What are you doing? 12 do you do that?" 

Mr Smith says, "I am asking my 13 to eat food. When my clothes are old, you don't look at me. But after I 14 my nice clothes, and you give me good food. You shouldn't judge a man by his 15 !"

There were no {#blank#}1{#/blank#} that afternoon. Henry went to a clothes shop near his home. The shop {#blank#}2{#/blank#} many jackets. He looked at {#blank#}3{#/blank#} and found a very nice one. He told the shopkeeper (店主) to put it into a bag.

At that time his friend Bruce came into the shop. They didn't see each other for a long time. They were so {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to meet again that they forgot everything. Soon they were busy {#blank#}5{#/blank#} with each other. And they talked {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. It was six o' clock, so they wanted to go and have {#blank#}7{#/blank#} together. They walked to the door. The shopkeeper stopped them and asked Henry to pay for the jacket. Henry looked at him in {#blank#}8{#/blank#} at first, but soon he remembered that he didn't pay for it. He said {#blank#}9{#/blank#}. And he gave him the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} and then left the shop with his friend.

Pan Yuzhen, 77, comes from Taijiang County, Guizhou Province. She is an inheritor(继承人) of Miao embroidery(刺绣).

" The girls in my hometown can embroider at an early age. When I was five years old, I learned embroidery from my mother and sister. Miao embroidery skills are not easy to learn, but I have learned all embroidery methods," Pan said. At first, Pan embroidered for her own use, but as she grew older and married, her skills were put to use for her family, creating beautiful embroidered clothes.

Pan's daughter Zhang Yammei, who was born in 1977, suffered from an illness at the age of three. To treat her daughter and feed the family, Pan embarked on (开始) a journey, travelling to different cities to sell her Miao embroidery products.

In 1999, Zhang went to Beijing to join her mother. At that time, Pan had a store in a market. Here, she met a lot of foreign friends who were attracted by her embroidery skills and encouraged her to expand her business abroad." They advised me to go to foreign countries and sell cultural and creative products. Then I went to the US to do business connected with Miao embroidery," Pan said.

In 2016, Pan's career took a huge leap forward as she worked with a famous clothing brand in China . With the help of the brand, Pan went to the UK to take part in different fashion shows. Now Pan is well- known. Pan hopes more young people can inherit Miao embroidery skills.