'USA? Britain? Which country is better to study in?' We often hear such discussions. As China opens its door, it is a dream for many Chinese students to study abroad. They want to learn about the outside world.
     It's true that studying abroad can help students develop themselves. Their foreign language skills will be improved and it may be easier to find jobs.
     But there are problems that should be considered. Language is the first. Students must spend a lot of time learning another language.     
     Students must also learn to live without parents' care and deal with all kinds of things they haven't had to do before, like looking after themselves. There are reports about Chinese students abroad running into an ocean of difficulties and giving up finally. When they have to take care of themselves, it is hard for students to study well. 
     Finally, studying abroad brings a heavy burden (负担) to the family. For most Chinese parents, the cost of studying abroad is very high. But is it worth it?
     We know that there are many famous people who have achieved success through their hard work in China. Liu Xiang is a good example. Once an American teacher invited him there, but he refused. He kept training hard with his Chinese teacher. He surprised the world when he won a gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games. So when you wonder which country is better to study in, think again.

    You may love to see tigers at the zoo. But what if you had to stay with one on a boat on the open sea for over 200 days? Life of Pi《少年派的奇幻漂流》, the movie from American Chinese director(导演), Li An, tells an amazing story.

    Pi is a boy. He lives happily with his family in a beautiful Indian town. His father has a zoo, so Pi knows a lot about animals.

    But one day, his father decides to move to Canada. He will sell all his animals there. The family begin to sail on the Pacific with all the zoo animals. But a big storm(暴风雨) hits their ship at night. Finally, Pi finds the only Survivors(幸存者) are himself and a large tiger called Parker on an 8-meter boat.

    To keep himself alive, Pi has to keep feeding the tiger so that he does not get eaten. He tries to get on well with the tiger during a 227-day sail on the sea.

    The movie is from a Canadian writer Yann Martel's book of the same name. The book has sold 7 million copies world-wide. It discusses not only hope but also relationship(关系) between humans and nature.

    It took Li An four years to make the movie. He also used 3D for his first time. He hopes the movie will “make the people think”. Life of Pi opened in Chinese theaters on November 22, 2012.

( B )

    Beethoven had an ugly face , and he had a very bad temper (脾气), but people like to ask him to their homes. When he lost his temper, they forgave (原谅) him. He was often poor and ill during his life. After one illness, he suddenly found himself deaf. At that time he was just 31. What a blow(打击) it was on him! But this didn't stop Beethoven from walking on in his life. He went on writing much music. He wrote long pieces and short pieces, happy ones and sad ones all his life. During his life, he composed (作曲) about 300 pieces. To people's surprise, he wrote some of his best and most beautiful pieces after he became deaf. Many of them are known and loved all over the world.

    People burn coal, gas and oil to get energy But there are problems with these fuels (燃料). (A)________, these fuels cause pollution. Pollution makes the air and water unsafe for humans. Secondly, these fuels will not last forever. One day, we will run out of these fuels.

    Scientists are looking for new kinds of energy. One is heat from the Earth. We know that (B)地球中央非常热. We cannot reach the center of the Earth, but in some places the heat from the Earth's center comes to the surface of the Earth. Perhaps you know about some of these places One place is volcanoes (火山). It is very dangerous to go near an active volcano, (C) _______ we cannot use the energy from this.

    Another kind of heat from the Earth is hot springs (温泉). In these places, hot water comes to the surface of the Earth. If this water is near a town, the hot water can be sent in pipes (管道) directly to people's houses to heat them .In Iceland, this is a common way to heat houses.

    (D)In Australia, scientists are looking for ways to make energy using hot rocks under the surface of the Earth. They want to pump (抽水)water onto the hot rocks .When the water hits the rocks, it makes stream(蒸汽). The steam is piped to power stations where (E) it is used to make electricity. The electricity can then be sent all over the country.