Today, our class went to “The Fishery”, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} is a local fish store, because we are learning about fish: where they live and how they are different from people. Inside the store it was very dark, except for the bright lights on top of each tank. The girl {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(work) in the store told me that the lights are neon, and they are used to show off the bright colours of each fish. Under the lights, the fish were blue, purple, yellow, and green. They {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(look) so beautiful that I wanted to take all of them home.

    I recently became friends with a young man {#blank#}1{#/blank#} had just migrated to Australia to escape war in his homeland. He was unskilled and was finding life difficult as he was unemployed. I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (work) for a company in Australia for more than ten years before I found a better job. I knew that the manager would be disappointed when I was leaving.

    The manager asked me to introduce someone who I thought could do the job just as well as me, so I took this opportunity {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (arrange) an interview for my new friend. However, in the end, he was not offered the job after the interview.

    Later, I asked the manager why my friend was turned {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. The manager thought that his English was not good enough for the position, but I suggested that my friend should be a {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (suit) choice for the company since I could train him. I believed that once {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (give) the time to learn, he could do the job. After a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (week) training, he was employed and was happy with his position.

    I knew how the terrible war had forced him to leave his homeland and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} price he had paid for doing so. I appreciate {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) able to live in Australia and believe that this {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (appreciate) is best proved by offering acts of kindness to people in need of help.

    Once there lived a rich man{#blank#}1{#/blank#}wanted to do something for the people of his town.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} first he wanted to find out whether they deserved his help.

    In the centre of the main road into the town, he placed{#blank#}3{#/blank#}very large stone. Then he {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.

    “Who put this stone in the centre of the road?” said the old man, but he did not try to remove the stone. Instead, with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way{#blank#}5{#/blank#}man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone but not tried to remove {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone,{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(say) to himself: “The night{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) very dark. Some neighbors will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

    Then he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(strong) to move it. How great was his surprise at last!{#blank#}10{#/blank#} the stone, he found a bag of money.

    Beijing Opera roles require performers to paint{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(they) faces in patterns and colours to represent different character types and{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(quality).

    In Beijing Opera, facial painting can be quite complex. However, in the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(begin), only three colours were used-red, white, and black. Now, many other colours, such{#blank#}4{#/blank#}yellow, purple, blue and green, are used for facial painting.

Red is a colour for brave and loyal characters. Guan Yu, a general from the Three Kingdoms Period (AD 220-280), is a good example of this kind of character. He is famous{#blank#}5{#/blank#}being very loyal to his emperor, Liu Bei.

    White highlights all{#blank#}6{#/blank#}is bad in human nature. It{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(suggest) dishonesty and betrayal(背叛). One of the typical white-faced characters is Cao Cao, a{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(power) and cruel prime minister from the Three Kingdoms Period.

    Black face paint is{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(usual) used for someone who is fierce and violent. One typical example is General Zhang Fei from the classic novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

    All these different colours are used in Beijing Opera facial painting {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(provide) a clear picture of each character.

    Summer is over, but there's no reason to be upset as that means autumn is upon us, arguably the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (good) season of the year.

    Beijing's autumn is extremely short, so parks around the city fill up fast with people coming to see the season's sight—a show of changing {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (color) as the trees turn from dark green to deep red. There are plenty of places in the city center {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (catch) the golden Gingko leaves, but I'm heading just outside of the Fifth Ring Road to see the season on {#blank#}4{#/blank#} larger scale.

    Despite parks like Xiangshan getting so busy {#blank#}5{#/blank#} you need tickets a week in advance, there are still areas well-known and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (frequent) visited by the Beijing crowds, and Baiwangshan, one of such places, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (locate) 3km from the Summer Palace to the city's North West. It offers hiking tails and beautiful views of the city and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (surround) forests.

    I love coming to Beijing's parks at this time of year because I can always enjoy {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (I), bathing in the last of the good weather and golden colors. You never know {#blank#}10{#/blank#} you're going to find around every corner.