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

    In the center 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 center 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 will be very dark. Some {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (neighbor) 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，only to find a bag of money under the stone. Imagine {#blank#}10{#/blank#} surprised he was!

    There are many festivals in Guizhou Province. One of them is Dong New year, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} falls in the eleventh lunar month after the harvest. In some villages, the festival {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(take) place in the tenth month. Dong New Year is as {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(importance) as the Spring Festival. In the days {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(lead) up to the new year, the Dong people make new clothes, clean their houses, and make rice cakes. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the eve of the New Year, the prepare “cold dish” with bean curd and homemade vinegar. It {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (give) as an offering to one's ancestors. Dong New Year is {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (usual) celebrated in many Dong villages in the area of Rongjiang in Guizhou Province. The exact date varies but falls during the period late October to early November. Public {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(celebration) include the Lusheng Festival and water buffalo fighting.

    Another one, Miao Sisters Festival, is celebrated from the 15^th to the 17^th day of the third lunar month calendar, when {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(marry) women make a return to the homes of their mothers. At home, they prepare and eat {#blank#}10{#/blank#} special kind of food, black rice cake. When they return to their own homes, they bring with them some of it and give it to their husbands as gifts.

Is Hothouse Earth Avoidable?

    Nearly 50 years ago, the Club of Rome's report "Limits to Growth" warned that if economic growth continued fast without regard for the environment, the world could face ecological and economic collapse in the twenty-first century. Yet that is essentially {#blank#}1{#/blank#} has happened. As new research for the Club of Rome shows — and the latest report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states — the world {#blank#}2{#/blank#} well be headed towards disaster.

    Many wrongly {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(interpret) the "Limits to Growth" as an attack on uncontrolled economic expansion. In fact, the report argued that {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the unlimited-growth pathway was chosen, it would require complementary policies (including funding) {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (preserve) the planet's limited life-support systems.

    This argument {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (ignore). Instead, the world has continued to pursue fast growth, without regard for the environmental consequences. This has enabled us to make enormous progress in reducing poverty, increasing longevity, and increasing wealth. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} it has come at a high cost to the formation of the society and the restoration of the planet.

    As scientists have conclusively shown, in the last decade, we have entered a new geological era, the Anthropocene, in which human activity — in particular, economic activity — has been the dominant factor {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(influence) Earth's climate and environment. In the Anthropocene, our planet's life-support system is changing faster than ever.

Climate change now represents a clear and present danger. If our planet becomes just 2℃ warmer than pre-industrial temperatures, we may be placed irreversibly on the path toward "Hothouse Earth" — a situation {#blank#}9{#/blank#} temperatures are many degrees warmer than today, sea levels are considerably higher, and extreme weather events are {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(common) — and more destructive — than ever.

    There are all kinds of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(festival)throughout the world，festivals to satisfy and please the ancestors，to honour some famous people {#blank#}2{#/blank#} important events，and to express people's gratitude to the God for bringing them a year of plenty. For example，Japanese observe Obon, when people go to clean graves and light incense in memory of their ancestors. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} India，October 2 is a national festival to honour Mohandas Gandhi，who helped India become an {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(depend) country. And in China the Spring Festival, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} is celebrated in January or February，is the {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(much)energetic and important because it is a festival that {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(look) forward to the coming of spring. Why are all these festivals everywhere？Because during the festivals，people can get together {#blank#}8{#/blank#}( eat), drink and have fun with each other, {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(forget) all the {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(day) struggles and demands for a while.