The first foreign language I studied was French, and I learnt it at a secondary school between the ages of 11 and 18. It was a compulsory subject for the first three years and I{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (choose) to continue studying it afterwards because I enjoyed it, found it {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (interest) and was quite good at it. Outside class I practiced {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(listen) to the French language radio and reading French books.

    Before going to university, I spent three months working on {#blank#}4{#/blank#}farm in southern France. This helped me become pretty fluent{#blank#}5{#/blank#} French and acquire a rich farming-related vocabulary.

    My French has also been {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(help) on holiday on Morocco and Portugal. French {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (use) as a second language in Morocco and in other countries quite a few people speak French in places {#blank#}8{#/blank#}a lot of tourists visit.

    In September 2009 I joined a couple of French conversation {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(group) in Bangor and I have been going to them ever since. It has resulted in my{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(improve) in my spoken French.

    Now I can still speak French fluently and can also read it well, but my written French is not so good.

    Tu Yoyo was honored with the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine  {#blank#}1{#/blank#}Oct. 5. She was the first Chinese citizen {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(win) a Nobel Prize in science. Tu {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(share) the prize with the Irish-born William Campbell and Satoshi Omura of Japan.

    Tu is a researcher at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine now. She  {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(give) the prize for  {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (develop) artemisinin (青蒿素) , a new drug therapy against malaria( 疟疾)， {#blank#}6{#/blank#} has saved millions of lives worldwide, especially in developing countries.

    Tu and her colleagues joined a government project to find a new malaria drug in the late 1960s. They made 380 herbal extracts from two thousand recipes from traditional Chinese medical books. In 1971, after nearly two hundred  {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (fail), Tu's team  {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(final) found an extract that was 100% effective against the malaria parasites-atremisinin. In 2001, the World Health Organization made artemisinin {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (it) first choice in the treatment of malaria.

    “The discovery of artemisinin is a gift to mankind from traditional Chinese medicine. It's the achievement of the research team. Winning the prize is  {#blank#}10{#/blank#} honor for Chinese science and traditional Chinese medicine,” Tu said.

    I'm Yuan Longping. Look at my sunburnt face and arms and my slim strong body and you will think I'm {#blank#}1{#/blank#} like a farmer than a scientist. In fact I {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(struggle) for the past five decades to help {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(farmer). In 1974, I began to grow a so-called super hybrid rice. This special strain of rice makes {#blank#}4{#/blank#} possible to produce one-third more of the crop in the same fields.

    I was born into a poor farmer's family in 1931. When I was young, I saw many people go hungry often. So I have devoted myself to {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(find) ways to increasing rice harvest without expanding the area of fields since I graduated from Southwest Agriculture College in 1953. Now more than 60% of the rice{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(produce) in China each year is from this hybrid strain. I am circulating this knowledge in India, Vietnam and other less developed countries to increase their harvest. Perhaps you think I am rich. {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(actual) I live a simple life. I care little for money. In my opinion, a person with too much money will have more troubles. I don't want to be famous {#blank#}8{#/blank#} I prefer to have more time to do my research. In my free time I love listening to music, playing mah-jong and reading. I once had a dream, in {#blank#}9{#/blank#} I saw rice plants as tall as sorghum and each ear of rice was as big as an ear of corn and each grain of rice was as huge as a peanut. Now I have another dream-to export my rice so that it can {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(grow) all over the world.

    New York, 10 November 5:27 pm, yesterday. Biggest power failure in the city's history.

    Thousands of people got{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(stick) in lifts. Martin Saltzman spent three hours between the 21st and 22nd floors of {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Empire State Building. "There were twelve of us. But no one{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(panic). We passed the time telling stories and{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(play) word games. One man wanted to smoke but we didn't let him. Firemen finally got us out."

    "It was the best night we've ever had," said Angela Carraro,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}runs an Italian restaurant on 42nd Street. "We had lots of candles on the tables and the waiters were carrying candles on{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(they) trays. The place was full and all night, in fact, for after we had closed, we let the people stay on and spend the night here. Business was{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(good) than usual."

    The zoos had their problems like everyone else. Keepers worked through the night. They used blankets{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(keep) flying squirrels and small monkeys warm. While zoos had problems keeping warm, supermarkets had problems keeping cool. "All of our ice cream and{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(freeze) foods melted," said the manger of a store in downtown Manhattan. "They were worth $50,000."

    The big electric clock in the lobby of the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in downtown Manhattan started ticking (滴答) again at 5:25 this morning. It was almost {#blank#}10{#/blank#}time.

    Reggie was a normal boy, but he had been born deaf. He was well known to everyone in town, and they were all very fond of him. Unfortunately, he always seemed to be treated {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (different) from everyone else.

    Reggie didn't like this very much. But the person {#blank#}2{#/blank#} disliked this most was his friend Michael. Michael decided that things had to change. So he managed to persuade other people in town {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (choose) one day of the festival for deaf people this year. During that whole day everyone in town would have to wear earplugs( 耳塞). The day {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (call) The Day of Silence, and when it arrived everyone stuck plugs in their ears. As the hours passed, people began to realize {#blank#}5{#/blank#} difficult life was for the deaf. Soon no one was thinking of Reggie as {#blank#}6{#/blank#} deaf person. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (use) his usual gestures, Reggie was the one who could communicate best with everyone. They were surprised at his ability to find solutions {#blank#}8{#/blank#} almost any problem. They realized all Reggie needed was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (much) time than others to communicate. That was the only difference.

    It was on this day {#blank#}10{#/blank#} everyone realized they have to give people a chance to show how useful they are.

    A British insurance company recently asked 1,000 people {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (vote) on the most romantic letter. A letter by musician Johnny Cash to his wife June Carter Cash {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (win) first place.

    Some say it is not the most romantic letter ever {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (write). But Johnny and June's long life together was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (evident) of their strong relationship. They married in 1968 and stayed {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (marry) until June Carter Cash died in 2003. Johnny Cash died four months later.

    Here is his love letter to June：

    "We get old and get used to each other. We think alike. We read each other's minds. We know {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the other wants without asking. Sometimes we annoy each other a little bit. Maybe sometimes take each other for granted. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} once in a while, like today, I meditate on it and realize how {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (luck) I am to share my life with the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(great) woman I ever met."— Johnny Cash.

    The letter {#blank#}10{#/blank#} is simple and heartfelt, gives the best advice when writing a letter to the one you love - write from the heart and keep it real.