I was a British general for eighteen years, and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(serve) in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Sierra Leone, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} I never really enjoyed it. I just enjoyed the respect that it gave me. The whole time I was just pretending to be a soldier.

    The problem is {#blank#}3{#/blank#}I was good at it, and it's {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(extreme) difficult to walk away from something that you're good at. I guess that was one reason {#blank#}5{#/blank#}I stayed for so long. And ironically (讽刺的是),{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (like) what you think, the military life is actually quite secure. Every one of your needs {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(take) care of finances, medical, housing. I was used to the military life. Even though I always had a dream of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (become) a great actor, I was {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(terrify) to start the life I really wanted. Anyway, I finally did it. I spent the last two years in {#blank#}10{#/blank#}acting school in California. And you know what? I'm doing quite well. I think I've got the talent. I'm going to be a movie star. Wish me luck, mate.

    Mandarin(普通话) is the most {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (use) non-European language for children to learn, the UK parents believe. It will boost(促进) their children's career prospects (前景),according to 55% of parents, while 56% felt it would open their children's minds {#blank#}2{#/blank#} an “exciting and dynamic（动态的）” culture. Arabic and Japanese, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} were both picked by 14% of parents, were the other key non-European languages. The figures were gained after 1,138 UK adults with children aged under 18 {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (be) questioned in a survey {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (conduct) by the Mandarin Excellence Programme (MEP).

    French, Spanish and German were the top choices overall for young people in the UK     {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (learn) after being picked by 57%, 54% and 40% of parents respectively.

    Mark Herbet, of the British Council, said: “With the global economy {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (become) more interconnected and the drive to boost exports, language skills are increasingly important for work and life. Mandarin is one of the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (language) that matter most to the UK's future prosperity (繁荣).If the UK is to remain competitive on the world stage, we need far more of our young people leaving school with a good grasp of Mandarin in order to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (success) work abroad or for businesses here in the UK. Learning Mandarin is also a fascinating process that brings {#blank#}10{#/blank#} valuable understanding of Chinese culture.”

    The MEP aims to help at least 5,000 young people in England to speak fluent Mandarin by 2020.

    As the plane circled over the airport, everyone sensed that something was wrong. The plane was moving {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (steady) through the air, and although the passengers {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (fasten) their seat belts, they were suddenly thrown forward. At that moment, the air – hostess presented. She looked very pale, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} was quite calm .Speaking quickly and almost in a whisper, she informed everyone that the pilot had fainted and asked if any of the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (passenger) knew anything about machines. After a moment's hesitation, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} man got up and followed the hostess into the pilot's cabin. Moving the pilot aside, the man took his seat and listened carefully to the urgent instructions that {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (send) by radio from the airport below. To everyone's relief, the plane, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} was dangerously close to the ground at the moment, soon began to climb. The man had to circle the airport several times to become familiar {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the controls of the plane. The {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (critically) moment came when he had to land. The man, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (follow) the instructions, guided the plane toward the airfield, and it landed safely after a long run along the runway.

    Now, I'd like to tell you about the development of computers. Computers began {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a calculating machine in France in 1642, it could {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (simple) difficult sums. In 1936, Alan Turing wrote a book about how a computer could be made to work as a "universal Machine" {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (solve) any difficult mathematical problem. By the 1940s, computers had grown as large as a room. As time went by, they were made {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (small). Since the 1970s computers {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (use) in offices and homes, first as personal computers and then as laptops.

    As computers' memory improved, computers became much smaller and more {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (intelligence). First the memory was stored in tubes, then on transistors and later on very small chips. Over time computer's memory {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (develop) so much that computers remember everything they have been told. In the early 1960s computers could be connected to each other by the network {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (call) the World Wide Web.

    Many new {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (apply) have been found for computers since the1970s. They have been used in communication, finance, trade, robots, mobile phones, space rockets and so the goal of computers is to provide humans {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a life of high quality.