Have you ever tasted or perhaps heard of sugar painting? As fewer people choose to make this kind of painting, the traditional Chinese folk craft might have become a {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(distance)memory in some ways.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}, a 38-year old craftsman, Li Jianzhong, is committed to{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep)the art of sugar painting alive.

     Li worked as a miner for more than ten years. After {#blank#}4{#/blank#}mine closed down, Li turned to housing decoration, until he {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(force) to give that up due to a finger injury. Earlier this year, he discovered sugar painting, something he really had an interest in and a strong desire to learn.

     Since there was no sugar painting craftsman in his village, he studied by {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(he) through large quantities of videos and information on the internet. Li loved painting when he was young, and he found it easy{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(learn) the skill in sugar painting. He soon mastered the skill and could make a {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(vary) of sugar paintings. A sugar painting is made with melted brown or white sugar. Craftsmen {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(normal) paint animals and flowers on a stone board with the syrup(糖浆). When the sugar cools down, {#blank#}10{#/blank#}appears is a piece of sugar art.

Cathy: Stan, do you have a minute?

Stan: Oh, hi, Cathy. What's up?

Cathy: Well, I am really {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (disappoint) with the situation in the office.

Stan: I am not in that very often. It is {#blank#}2{#/blank#} noisy that I can't work.

Cathy: Yeah. I {#blank#}3{#/blank#} have finished my papers yesterday, but Jack kept {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (ask) his students to come in and out.

Stan:  Has anybody spoken to him about it?

Cathy: No, not yet. So we should come up with an idea {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(stop) him doing that kind of things.

Stan: Yeah. I am not able to do my work and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} are you.

Cathy: Could we ask for a kind of meeting room? When teachers have to talk with their students, they could use the meeting room instead {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the office. You know, there is {#blank#}8{#/blank#} room down the hall.

Stan: You mean that little storage room? Oh, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} would be too small.

Cathy: Are you sure? With those things taken out, it might be {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (big) than it looks.

Stan: Good idea.

"What did you have for lunch at school?" I asked my son at dinner. This was a question my kid expected {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (ask) each evening at suppertime. Usually, he would share the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (detail) information about what he ate and what happened in school with me.

One day, my son {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (sad) told me that some of his classmates had laughed at him. Actually, I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (inform) this incident (事件) by his teacher before picking him up to return home. Although his teacher told me the reason why it had happened and {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (promise) to deal with it as soon as possible, I still couldn't help {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (wonder) how I could comfort my son.

The next day {#blank#}7{#/blank#} school, I talked about this-incident again on the car ride home. My son replied, "It was{#blank#}8{#/blank#} embarrassing thing for me to be laughed at in front of the class. But my classmates had apologized to me, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} made me choose to forgive them this time." I was glad and amazed at his {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (able) to forgive others and move on.