I have been in love with China since 2010.

    After one year in Zhejiang University,I got a great1—to work as an assistant manager in a big hotel.The best part of this job was that I was the only2,so I got a good chance to understand Chinese culture and practice my3.

    Actually,I have got 4I supposed to.I have got valuable experience,devoted friends and the feeling that I am not laowai anymore.

Guests were pleasantly surprised to see me there,because I was an interpreter,trip adviser,and5guide at the same time,which made their life much6.I met people from all over the world,who came to China for the first time, 7who knew China better than me.8my Chinese colleagues,who had answers to all the questions about9,I could explain why you should10before you buy,why Chinese don't let guests11dinner,why it is not common to book a taxi and why it is better to catch12on the street.I also had chances to13the development of China.

    The waiters and managers were not only my teachers,but14my friends.If I needed help,they were15to help me.I enjoyed our small conversations16they were kind and educated.I was very proud and happy of the fact that all of them17me and I don't feel18anymore.

    The best part of my job was to see people coming19the hotel.When they recognized me,they20share their adventures,burdens,even thoughts with me.It means the world to me.I spent there 8 months and it was a period when I was proud to be who I am.

Yasmeen's Mehndi

    Mrs. Cross, Yasmeen's social study teacher, announced, “Boys and girls, you have been learning about world customs. Be ready to 1 one of your family's customs tomorrow.”

    After school, Yasmeen dragged her backpack along, thinking about the day's2“I'm the only Indian student in my class,” she thought, “what will everyone think about my family's customs?”

    At home, Yasmeen was3 She opened the kitchen door and saw her mother busily crushing (压碎) henna (指甲花) leaves.

    “Ready for the4tonight?” Mother smiled.

    Yasmeen shrugged (耸肩). Normally, she'd be excited when her aunts, uncles and cousins came to5 the end of the ninth month of the Islamic year. This holy month is observed with prayers and fasting (斋戒) during daylight hours.

    Later, Yasmeen explored the house, trying to get a (an)6for her assignment. She 7her father's Koran (《古兰经》). She quickly turned over the worn pages of her father's holy book. “Maybe I'll take this to school,” she thought. But the Koran isn't a 8

    “Maybe I'll wear my salwar (沙丽) to school. Wrong! Everybody might 9me. Tears filled Yasmeen's eyes as she tried to figure out 10to share.

    Yasmeen walked into the 11 again and watched Mother mix henna powder into a smooth paste (膏), to be used at the party.

    That night all the girls12 their glittering dresses gathered around the sofa to have their hands 13 with Mehndi (henna paste).

    It was Yasmeen's14 Mother drew tiny flower patterns on her hands. Seconds later, “That's it,” Yasmeen shouted out, “Mehndi!”

    “On special Muslim holidays,” Yasmeen15the next day at school, “it's an Indian16to paint women' s hands with Mehndi designs.” Yasmeen17displayed the design on her hands. She also held up a bowl of crushed henna leaves for the class to see and then described how her mother prepared henna paste.

    “18you paint me a Mehndi design?” All her classmates held out their hands.

    Yasmeen's eyes moistened. She had always thought that Mehndi was only something 19in her own country, but now she was far too glad to see this ancient art on hands 20by people of different cultures.

    “Mom, you're always on the computer！” Laure complained.

    “No, I'm not，” I1.

    “Every day I come home from school you're working on the computer.”

    “Well, at least I'm here 2you！”

    My daughter was right. Day after day, in my home office, I would stare into space as my 3 typed out the thoughts of a speaker or research completed for an article.It seemed that my work as a writer and speaker 4 my fingers to the keyboard and my mind to valuable ideas.What Laure did not 5 was that during her day away, I'd also be doing a lot of housework.It was only around three in the afternoon that I'd 6 seat myself at my desk for a few 7 moments of deep thought.Then she'd come from school.

    I was8of myself on being available to my children.After all, I am a speaker on child behavior and parenting.But Laure's observation9 my heart.In her eyes, I must have been a mom who was 10 but unapproachable.I wouldn't make such an image (形象) before her.My relationship with my children is more 11 than any other work.

    “Laure，” I called, “come here a minute.”

    She wandered to my doorway.I had decided to have her 12 me when I was too devoted to work.I wanted her to have the 13 to let me know when she thought I was cold.

    After I explained my 14 and the fact that I chose home office to be accessible to her and her sister, I offered Laure the following 15.

    “Whenever you feel I'm ignoring you or you need my 16 ， I want you to 17 me，” I said.“Just come up and give me a little hug.That'll be our signal that you 18 me.”

    Years later we still have that 19 sign.I've become much more sensitive to my daughters' comings and goings.20 she always gives me a little hug to remind me of the real reason why I work at home.

    Trees play a special role in my life. They accompanied my growth, and my personal experiences and memories often 1with them. There was a row of poplars（杨树）in my first childhood home; I never2the house without the trees.

    Out on the farm, my grandparents always cut a Christmas tree from the fields. They were always short. Those trees were a family 3; I can still 4 their smell all these years later.

    The pines in our backyard were only 1.5 meters tall when we moved in. They grew right alongside our kids, and in the same 5: silently and quickly. Those pines once stretched a hammock（吊床）6 the two of them. They watched over our rounds of hide-and-seek, snowfalls, and 7 family gatherings.

    A huge willow tree once 8 in the backyard as well. The kids had a tree-house in it for a long time. Other kids in the 9 enjoyed it too.

    There is a sadness to a 10 tree; to the ground it makes when it hits the ground.

    My husband and I were working as newspaper photographers 11 the active volcano Mount St. Helens exploded. Many nearby forests were 12 destroyed by the effects of the explosion. The loss of all the trees can somehow be as 13 as the loss of lives and homes.

    Trees tend to be 14 of strength and beauty.

    The trees returned to Mount St. Helens -- and they returned 15 than the experts predicted. To all who had witnessed the disaster, the 16 was encouraging. Those small trees 17 us of the beauty of new beginnings.

    We've filled in the empty holes 18 the pines stood and dug a new hole that will soon be home to a new tree.

    One of the grandchildren asked how tall the new tree is.

    “Not much taller than I am,” I said.

    “Can we decorate it for Christmas?” she asked, eyes 19.

    The old trees may be gone, but the new one will soon become part of my grandchildren's 20 for many years to come.

    I remember when my husband started coaching the basketball team at a local high school in Richmond, California. He had a(n)1for sports and loved working with kids. Sitting in the stands during the first game, I cried 2joy as I watched him interact with the students. He seemed to3.

    On the car ride home, we both realized that he has a gift for4. Not just on the5, but also in the classroom. He6a well-paid job in finance, and went back to school to7his teaching certification. He landed a job teaching 8^th grade US history to the amazing kids at Helms Middle School in San Pablo, California. He had found his occupation. Little did I know that I would be in the8, too.

    My husband knows that I work for a software company that does stuff with 3D printing and that we get free tickets to Maker Faire(创客节), but that's usually the extent of his interest m my profession. So I was9when he asked me to be a(n)10speaker in his class that first year.

    11I was planning my first lesson for his students, I asked myself, "What should I do? How do I integrate(融入)12, modeling and 3D printing into 8^th grade US history?" I13my friends from Make magazine, read the local teacher blogs and thought I was14to go. But a15thing happened during my first lesson: I kind of failed. The end result, 16, was better than I ever17.

    At the end of the class, I asked the students how they felt about what18had just learned. They raised their hands and19answers and sought me out to more questions. When the bell rang, they thanked me for my20.

A woodblock print art exhibition kicked off in Guangzhou-based Ji'nan University in the provincial capital on November 16,{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (provide) young students in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area with an opportunity to understand{#blank#}2{#/blank#}great traditional Chinese art of woodblock watermarks.

More than 220 precious woodblock print artworks and dozens of historical{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (document) from the national intangible cultural heritage inheritance base of Shizhuzhai, Zhejiang Province, will be{#blank#}4{#/blank#} display during the one-year-long show titled "Woodblock Print: The Scenery of Spring and Autumn, Watermark Heavenly Fragrance", demonstrating Chinese history and culture.

Shizhuzhai (Ten Bamboo Studio) is an art museum in the Zhejiang provincial capital of Hangzhou, which was {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (honorable) added to the National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of China in 2014. 

Watermark woodblock prints have a history of more than 1,200 years. Since their appearance, they {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (regard) as outstanding Chinese artistic treasures {#blank#}7{#/blank#} combine technology, art, painting and aesthetics, representing the wisdom and {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (creative) of the Chinese people.

Lin Rupeng, Party secretary of Ji'nan University, said the exhibition organized by the university aims{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (carry) forward traditional Chinese culture, as well as demonstrate the university's firm belief in enhancing Chinese culture's influence.

"Ji'nan University integrates much{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (excellence) traditional Chinese culture into teaching while sparing no effort to nurture (培养) high-level modern talents," he said.