Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is the color of most growing plants, too.

Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that is not yet finished or plants that are not ripe.

For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in war (战争) .By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today——a person who is new in a job.

About one hundred years ago, greenhorn was a popular expression in the American west Old—timers used it to describe a man who had just arrived from one of the big cities in the east. The greenhorn didn't have the skills that he would need to live in the hard, rough country.

Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundred.

A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.

The Green Revolution (革命) is the name which was given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural (农业的) scientists who had green thumbs.

Here is a story: A man sees a butterfly (蝴蝶) . The butterfly tries to get out of its chrysalis (蛹) . F{#blank#}1{#/blank#}sorry for it, the man decides to help. He cuts the chrysalis and the butterfly comes out e{#blank#}2{#/blank#}. Surprisingly enough, the butterfly is unable to fly. If the butterfly doesn't struggle (挣扎；奋斗) to leave the chrysalis, it can't fly！The struggle develops the e{#blank#}3{#/blank#} in the butterfly which makes it fly. Similarly, the challenges of life bring out the best in young people and make the fly.

When people are young, meeting and overcoming challenges will make them s{#blank#}4{#/blank#} and ready to face life.

When we look at successful people, we see that the most successful of them are people who have had to struggle.

One famous businessman, who now o{#blank#}5{#/blank#}many big supermarkets, used to carry clothes on his back and sell them from door to door when he was young. Another successful man is Dennis. His father died when he was only twenty. He had to b{#blank#}6{#/blank#}up a big family. He took up the challenges and overcame them. Today his brothers and sisters are leading s{#blank#}7{#/blank#} lives.

Sometimes challenges do not appear to us because we keep away from them. So, some parents and teachers actively encourage young people to face challenges. They might organize some a{#blank#}8{#/blank#}for young people which provide them with challenges, like rock—climbing, camping, volunteer work and so on. However, just passing exams will not prepare a person for life. We must meet and overcome challenges. The young people of today will become the leaders of t{#blank#}9{#/blank#}. For countries to continue to become successful, it is i{#blank#}10{#/blank#}that the young people learn to meet challenges and overcome them.

注意：文中不能出现考生真实姓名、校名，否则不得分。

提示词：improve listen to the teacher, English cartoons, conversation, communicate

注意：文章开头已给出，不计入总词数。

How to Improve English Listening and Speaking

As we know, English listening and speaking are really important in learning English. 

 As a book lover, I' ve tried both paper books and e- books. While both give you the pleasure of reading, the experience can be quite d{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. 

 Many people p{#blank#}2{#/blank#} reading paper books because they are easy to buy and comfortable to read. Paper books also allow readers to take n{#blank#}3{#/blank#} conveniently. However, some books, such as dictionaries, can be heavy and are not easy to carry around. 

E- books can be stored in a lighter reader. Many e- book readers also have a dictionary for you   to look up new words quickly! However, you can only get e- books online. And you must read  e- books on an e- book reader, a computer, or a smartphone. Moreover, our eyes can get tirede{#blank#}4{#/blank#} when we read e- books on the screen for a long time. 

 In my opinion, t{#blank#}5{#/blank#} more people will try e- books, paper books will not disappear. It doesn't matter which you use as long as it allows you to enjoy reading. 

 Riding a Mobike on the street, you might hear some people speaking Chinese aloud. Turning to the right, you see a Sichuan- style restaurant. After walking into a store, you see that Huawei smartphones are on sale. But you' re not in China- you' re in Manchester in Britain. In fact, you might see similar things in many other cities.

 Chinese products have been going all over the world. Chinese food has been enjoyed in Western countries for a long time. To meet local people's tastes, Chinese restaurants have made some changes to the dishes." One example is the meat." said Yin Hang,a Chinese student who is studying in Australia." We like to eat meat with the bone(骨头) in, but people here don't. So the local Chinese restaurants provide big pieces of meat without bones, even for fish."

 Some Chinese brands are also becoming more popular. It is reported that in many cities in Europe, many stores sell TCL televisions, Haier fridges and Lenovo computers. More than half of US- owned drones(无人机) are Chinese models, according to China Daily. They' re not only made in China, but also designed and developed in the country.

 In the past, most Western people thought Chinese products were cheap and unreliable. But now, things have changed greatly. More people trust Chinese brands." Made in China" becomes cool." They are beautiful and offer something special that American phones don't have." an article on CNN once said about Chinese smartphones.

 As it is said, Chinese government has been trying its best to improve its national brands of all kinds to meet the needs of modern life.