Most American businesses are open five days a week. American school children attend school five days a week as well. American families {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (usual) have a two-day weekend. The weekend is Saturday {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Sunday.

    Over the weekend, people spend their time {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (do) various things. Many families enjoy weekend together. They may go shopping, go for a drive, or visit friends. They may also send {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (invite) friends and have a party at home. Weekends are also good chances to take trips, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} are usually short ones. They will go to the nearby mountains, parks, lakes or other {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (interest）places to relax them. Some even go camping and picnicking there.

    Many families participate {#blank#}7{#/blank#} sports during the weekend. Running, biking, playing volleyball and swimming are popular in the summer. Skiing and skating are the favorite winter {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sport).

    Weekends are also a time for American families {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (work) on something in their yards or on their houses. Many families plant flowers and have vegetable gardens. So weekends {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (use) to paint or repair their houses. For most Americans, weekends are very busy.

    Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?

    In 1969, the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (be) unimaginable that it could ever be cleaned up. The river was so polluted that it {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (actual) caught fire and burned. Now, years later, this river is one of {#blank#}3{#/blank#} most outstanding examples of environmental cleanup.

    But the river wasn't changed in a few days {#blank#}4{#/blank#} even a few months. It took years of work {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (reduce) the industrial pollution and clean the water. Finally, that hard work paid off and now the water in the river is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (clean) than ever.

    Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you leave a habit {#blank#}7{#/blank#} is driving your family crazy. Possibly you drink too much or don't know how to control your credit card use. When you face such an impossible situation, don't you want a quick fix and something to change immediately?

    While there are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (amaze) stories of instant transformation, for most of us the {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (change) are gradual and require a lot of effort and work, like cleaning up a polluted river. Just be {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (patience)

    I was at the Indian grocery store with my cart totally full to check out. There was an African American man in his{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(sixty) behind me. I told him he could go before me{#blank#}2{#/blank#}he had just two items in his hand, and he was all smiles and added, as if{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(make) fun of me. “Thanks! Why don't you pay for my stuff too,” and laughed. I felt a little{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(embarrass)  and thought that the man had a wonderful sense of humor.

    I told the lady at the check out not{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(change) him. I said I would pay for him. He said, “No, no, no, I was just kidding.” And I{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(reply) with a smile, “Yes, yes your wish is heard. Please let me do it!”

    As we talked outside, he told me that the Indian herbs(草药){#blank#}7{#/blank#}he had bought{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) for his friend so I should take the money. I said to him, “It is good that it is not for you. Now you can pay it forward to somebody else.” He thanked me and promised he would.{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (eventual), I went home{#blank#}10{#/blank#}my car full of groceries and my heart full of warmth and kindness.

    No one thought that young Albert Einstein would grow up to change the world. He was so slow in learning to speak that he was considered a bit {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(fool).

    Albert Einstein was never happy in school. He answered slowly because he was very thoughtful, and he asked difficult questions, which made {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(he) teachers think that he was trying {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(make) trouble. The strict discipline（纪律）of a German school made him very unhappy.

    However, young Einstein {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(do) learn what interested him, and he was interested in what lay below the surface of {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(thing). For instance, his father once gave him a compass（指南针）. This made Albert curious {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the unseen forces that could keep a compass needle always pointing north. In his teens he read deep in science. He had already started to wonder about the mysteries of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} universe.

    At 17, Einstein entered the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} he studied mathematics and physics. He stayed away from many lectures and did not impress his professors, but he was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (actual) studying very hard all the time. When he graduated in 1900, he asked to be appointed as an assistant in the physics department but {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(refuse).

    Keeping a diary in English is one of the most effective ways to improve our English writing abilities. Compared with other forms of writing, it is shorter and takes{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(little) time. It can help {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(we) to develop the habit of thinking in English. If we{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep) on doing this practice, gradually we'll learn how to express ourselves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (difficulty). It often happens that we have trouble finding appropriate words and phrases{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(give) expression to our mind, and there are also many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese.

   As far as I am concerned, my suggestion is{#blank#}6{#/blank#}we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary within easy reach. Whenever something beats us, we can first put it down in our notebook{#blank#}7{#/blank#}then consult our dictionary. We can also turn to our English teacher for help, if necessary.

    In Hebei Province lies a vast forest called Saihanba. This green Great Wall, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} at its peak during the Qing Dynasty covered thousands of hectares, had by the 1950s {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（virtual）disappeared. This allowed sand to blow into Beijing from the northern deserts.

    Saihanba is a combination of Chinese and Mongolian, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（mean）“beautiful highlands". Until the Qing Dynasty, it was a royal hunting land because of its cool summer weather and beautiful surroundings. However, most of the area had turned into a desert by the end of the Qing Dynasty.

    In fact 56 years ago there was only one tree left. But without that tree, there {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（be）no miracle of Saihanba today. In the early 1960s, over 350 foresters {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（send）to this area to fight the desert. They were required {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（rebuild）the forest in Saihanba. Few people, including the foresters themselves, believed they would succeed.

Their doubt disappeared, however, when they found the 200-year-old tree, swaying alone in {#blank#}7{#/blank#} wind. If one tree could survive here, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} could millions of trees, they thought.

    After decades of hard work, three generations of the foresters have restored almost 80% of the original Saihanba forest. Recently, they were awarded the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（high）environmental honor from the United Nations for their great {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（contribute）to creating a greener world.