When I called up my mother in the countryside on the phone, she told me snakes came to her home now and then, and {#blank#}1{#/blank#} they seemed to have made their home there. I got the chance to distinguish {#blank#}2{#/blank#} by inventing something {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (mercy) to catch the snakes.

    No products can help me catch snakes, so I set out {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (research) the habits of snakes to trap them. I decided on three approaches: firstly, removing their habitat; secondly, {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(attract) them into {#blank#}6{#/blank#} trap, and thirdly cooling them. I used the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (freeze) bowl to make the snakes less active, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} then collected them. The next day I released them into the wild.

    I have filled {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the form and filed my patent {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (apply) with the Patent Office.

    “Can I have a glass of hot water?” This is a very common question for Chinese customers in a restaurant. But {#blank#}1{#/blank#} you go abroad, you may find that meals in the West tend to come with tall glasses of ice water.

    For most Chinese people,{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (drink) hot water is part of everyday life. It is believed that water of a warm temperature (25-30 C) is good for people's health,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (especial) for the stomach.

    But for many Western people, they drink cold water even in winter. One possible reason is {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in Western countries people can drink water directly from the tap, rather than having to boil {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. And it's also normal to jump into a cold shower after exercise,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (bring) the heart rate down.

    However, there is one common thing {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(encourage) in both the East and the West: One {#blank#}8{#/blank#} cool down by drinking a hot drink in summer. Because sweating is a good way to cool off in summer, hot drinks make you hotter and you begin to sweat.

    Of course, it doesn't matter if you drink hot {#blank#}9{#/blank#} cold water. The more comfortable your body feels, the {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(good) it is.

    Long ago, there lived in Greece a learned man. He was so well-known{#blank#}1{#/blank#}his knowledge of almost everything that lots of people from all over the country came to learn from him. The great man{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(teach) his students whole-heartedly and answered their questions with great{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(patient).

    One day, a student asked him, “My dear teacher, didn't you say you yourself have many more questions about things than we do?{#blank#}4{#/blank#}I think we students have far more than you.”

    With a smile on his face, the teacher drew two circles, one as large as a big cake, the other smaller. Then he said, “Of course, I have learned much more. But it is wrong{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(think) a teacher has fewer questions than his students. Now, look at these two circles. The inside of the{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(big) one is my knowledge of things, and the inside of the smaller one is{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(your). Out of the circles is what is still unknown to us. Since mine is larger, I have to use the longer line to draw the bigger circle. That means I have more opportunities to face something{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(know). And that's{#blank#}9{#/blank#}I myself have more questions than you do. The{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(much) you learn, the more questions you have. You will never learn enough, you know.”

    Jane was walking round the department store. She remembered how difficult{#blank#}1{#/blank#} was to choose a Christmas present for her father. She wished that he was easy {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(please). Besides, shopping at this time of the year was not {#blank#}3{#/blank#}pleasant experience: people stepped on your feet or {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(push)you with their elbows, hurrying ahead to get to a bargain.

    Jane paused in front of a counter (柜台) {#blank#}5{#/blank#} some attractive ties were on display. But Jane knew from past experience that the {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(choose)of ties hardly ever pleased her father.

    Jane stopped where a small crowd of men had gathered. She found some good quality {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(pipe) on sale. She did not hesitate for long: although her father smoked a pipe only once {#blank#}8{#/blank#} a while, she knew that this was a present which was bound to please him.

    When Jane got home, her parents were already at table having supper. Her mother was {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(excite). "Your father has decided to stop smoking," Jane {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(inform).