I seldom thought I had a passion. I would sit before the TV all day, thinking about nothing but the next show. It was not long ago that I first learned how important {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (have) a passion is to life.

    One day I went with Mum {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (drop) my sister off at the gym. Then, as Mum stopped at a red light, someone on the roadside caught my eyes. It was a man {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (dress) in rags, homeless. That didn't interest me, for I {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (see) many like him before.

    But the man wasn't sitting down with a sad {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (express). He had a radio in his hand and was dancing {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (merry) to the music. The radio seemed to be the most precious thing {#blank#}7{#/blank#} he had.

    “Mum, why does that man have a radio even though he is homeless?” I asked.

    “He bought {#blank#}8{#/blank#} ,”she replied.

    “But if he is homeless, why doesn't he use the money to buy food or clothes? He wasted it on something he doesn't need.”

    “Well, Sarah, sometimes food and clothes aren't the only important things. We need happiness, too.”

    “I see.” The man {#blank#}9{#/blank#} care too much about music, so he bought a radio instead of food and clothes. I realized that happiness is the key to life. Without it, there {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (be) nothing to look forward to. A passion a person the happiness he needs to keep going!

    In recent years, Internet voting has become {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（increase）popular in China. People not only cast on-line votes {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(them), but also urge others to vote for{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(compete) like the "Most Beautiful Teacher" and the " Cutest Baby".

    Lin Yue, a high school student, is invited to vote in the "Best Police Officer ", {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(organize) by the local government to let the public have{#blank#}5{#/blank#}better understanding of police officers' daily work. Lin Yue visits the website and reads all the stories. He is deeply moved by {#blank#}6{#/blank#}glorious deeds. He is already thinking of becoming a policeman himself in the future.

    Wu Hua is invited by his uncle to vote for his cousin in the "Future Singer". He {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(receive)three similar invitations so far. His uncle tells him {#blank#}8{#/blank#}his cousin wins it, the family will win an overseas tour{#blank#}9{#/blank#}free. Wu Hua likes his cousin very much, but he finds other singers perform much{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(well). To vote, or not to vote? This is a question that troubles him very much.

    Adversity(逆境) can beat you down, {#blank#}1{#/blank#}probably it also has the ability to make you stronger. The impact and ultimate result depend on {#blank#}2{#/blank#}you do with the difficulties that come in your way.

    Beethoven composed one of his {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(great) works after going deaf. Sir Walter Raleigh wrote The History of the World during his thirteen-year imprisonment. Had Columbus turned back, no one could{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(blame) him. Of course，no one would have remembered{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, either. Abraham Lincoln made great achievements by his display of wisdom during the Civil War.

    Eventually，consider a more recent example. For sixteen years, Mary Groda-Lewis had a difficult time in recognizing and comprehending the written words on account of a learning disorder. She{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(put) in prison on two different occasions and almost died of a stroke when{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (bear)a child. Committed to going to college, she did a variety of odd jobs to save money. When she graduated from high school at eighteen, she was considered as an outstanding and finally entered college {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (success). Determined to become a doctor，she received many medical school{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(reject) before Albany Medical College finally accepted her. In 1984，Dr. Mary Groda-Lewis，{#blank#}10{#/blank#}was thirty-five years old then, graduated with honors and realized her dream.

    Lake Hillier is a saltwater lake on the edge of Middle Island, a large island off the south coast of Western Australia. It is pink in color, due {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a plant that causes the salt {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(produce) a red color. There's a long strip of land {#blank#}3{#/blank#} separates the lake from the ocean. It was first written about in 1802, when Matthew Flinders hiked one of the island * s highest {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(mountain). He named the lake after William Hillier, an {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (explore) who had previously visited Middle Island. In 1889, Edward Andrews moved to the island with his two sons. They began to mine the lake for salt, and soon other miners came. However, the mining was {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (eventual) stopped, as the salt wasn't fit to eat or use in other products because it was{#blank#}7{#/blank#}( poison). In 2002, the lake was recognized as {#blank#}8{#/blank#} wetland, and in 2012, it became a {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(protect) area. A walking trail {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(build) around it for tourists to use. Even though the lake contains a lot of salt, it is still safe to swim in.

    It was Mother's Day morning last year. My five­year­old son, Tenyson, and I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (leave)the supermarket after shopping when an old woman fell over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground. Her husband was with her, but the woman was {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (serious) hurt and shaking with pain.

    At the front of the supermarket a charity (慈善) group was selling flowers to raise funds. Tenyson suggested that we {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (buy) the lady a flower. "It will make {#blank#}4{#/blank#} feel better," he said. I was amazed that he'd come up {#blank#}5{#/blank#} such a sweet idea. So we went to the flower seller to buy a flower for the lady.

    By now rescuers had arrived, and were attending the {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (injure) woman. As we walked up to her, my son became frightened by all the blood and medical {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (equip). He said he was just too scared to go up to her.

    Instead I gave the flower to the woman's husband {#blank#}8{#/blank#} told him, "My son was very upset for your wife and bought her this flower to cheer her up."

    At that, the old man was moved and said, "Thank you so much, you have a good son. Happy Mother's Day to you."

    The man then gave his wife the flower, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (tell) her who it was from. {#blank#}10{#/blank#} badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tenyson with thanks in her eyes and gave him a little smile.

    English is a language {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(bring) to Britain in the 5th century by Anglo­Saxon settlers from various parts of Northwest Germany. It is convenient to divide English into three periods roughly─Old English, Middle English, and Modern English.

    The {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(early) form of English is called Old English or Anglo­Saxon. Old English developed from a set of North Sea Germanic dialects {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(origin) spoken along the coasts of Frisia, Lower Saxony, Jutland, and Southern Sweden by Germanic tribes known {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. Later, Old English was strongly influenced by the North Germanic language Norse, spoken by the Vikings who settled mainly in the northwest. The most famous work from the Old English period is the epic poem Beowulf, written by {#blank#}5{#/blank#} unknown poet. Old English is very different from Modern English and difficult for the 21st­century English speakers to understand.

    For the 300 years following the Norman Conquest in 1066, the Norman kings and the nobility spoke only a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(vary) of French called Anglo­Norman. English continued to be the language of the common people. The Norman influence {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(strong) the continual evolution of the language over the following centuries, resulting in {#blank#}8{#/blank#} is now referred to as Middle English. And one of the best­known works from the Middle English period is Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.

    From the late 15th century, the language changed into Early Modern English, often dated from the Great Vowel Shift. English is continuously absorbing foreign words, especially Latin and Greek, causing English to have the largest vocabulary of any language in the world. By the late 18th century, the British Empire had sped the spread of English through its colonies and geopolitical dominance. Commerce, science and technology, diplomacy, art and formal education all contributed to English {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (become) the first truly global language. As there are many words from different languages, the risk of mispronunciation is high. In 1755, Samuel Johnson published his A Dictionary of the English Language, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} introduced a standard set of spelling conventions and usage norms.