One day Mary was busy working in her office in London {#blank#}1{#/blank#} she received an E-mail from her friend Joan. In Joan's e-mail, she persuaded Mary {#blank#}2{#/blank#}( look) for a flat in London for her. As she had{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (little) money at her command than before, the flat had to be cheap, but it had to be modern, with elevators and gas lines. It had to be in the{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (east) part of London, with petrol and subway stations nearby. Though Mary found it difficult to find such a flat, she still went {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(care) from one block(街区) to another, looking for a flat {#blank#}6{#/blank#}would meet（满足） Joan's requirements. Having tried too many times, Mary met her boss and politely asked him {#blank#}7{#/blank#}advice. It was the first time that she{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (talk) with his boss about her personal problems. It happened that the boss just had such a flat for rent, so they quickly reached {#blank#}9{#/blank#}agreement(协议). But to her surprise, when she e-mailed Joan, telling her the good news, Joan said that she had changed{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(she) mind—she was not returning to London.

    In England the launch of the Christmas advert (广告) seems to signal the start of the Christmas period. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}, I don't think it is seen as such a big event in France. Yes, of course they celebrate Christmas here, and there are obviously {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (display) in shops and Christmas markets, but there seem to be no signs of Christmas adverts. I'm sure they exist but they don't seem to have the same impact here, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}they do in the UK.

    Through the power of all kinds of {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (society) media, Christmas adverts in the UK are even starting to spread to other countries. Some of {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (I) French friends seemed to know about the John Lewis Christmas adverts, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} is undoubtedly the one people are fond of each year.

    The main reason why I look forward {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the Christmas advert each year is {#blank#}8{#/blank#} it signals the approach of the festival period for me and is something that reminds me of home. I think it's always nice to have something {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (remind) you of home when living in {#blank#}10{#/blank#} foreign country.

    "Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small." "Nothing is softer and {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(flexible) than water, yet nothing can resist it."

    These are the food for thought {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (serve) to Tube passengers at Oval station in south London. It's been 14 years since customer services manager Anthony Gentles {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (inspire) to brighten up the "blank faces" of travelers with daily {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(wise) from his favorite book, Tao Te Ching. Every day he wrote one quote on the board {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (him). Mr. Gentles said offering quotes from ancient China was his way of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (try) to make people feel more welcome as they braved the Underground.

    Thousands of quotes later, Mr Gentles' favorite message remains the first one he wrote: "A journey of a thousand miles begins {#blank#}7{#/blank#} a single step". "Because it's {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (fundamental) true," he said. "No matter {#blank#}9{#/blank#} you live your life, regardless of your situation, you have to take the first step."

    Since 2007, the baton(接力棒) has been taken on by his colleague Glen Sutherland, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} posts on the station information board have set off a wave of enthusiasm to copy the practice across the capital.