A Bite of China

    No trip would be complete without experiencing the local food culture. Actually, China has various kinds of delicious food,{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (include) a wide variety of local snacks (小吃).

    Without a doubt, for the majority of the foreigners I contacted, and myself included, Peking Duck, Dim Sum, Mongolian Hot Pot were the favorite Chinese {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (dish). China is a place{#blank#}3{#/blank#} the food is not only delicious, but the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (cheap) I've ever found.

{#blank#}5{#/blank#}my last night in Beijing before returning to the States, I went to a Peking Duck restaurant that had been suggested for me to try. What a beautiful place! Splendid woodblock prints on the walls, fresh flowers in the vases on the table,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (attract) silverware (镀银餐具) and beautiful chopsticks. I was handed {#blank#}7{#/blank#} menu and found most of the prices{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) especially low for the high quality of the food. The duck came in whole or half, along with all the little decorations that you know if you've ever eaten Peking duck—a little tortilla (玉米饼) to put the sliced duck and vegetables in chopped onion, sauce.

    Anyway, I ended up ordering a whole duck and thought I'd just take the rest back to my hotel{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(eat) later if I couldn't finish it. Unbelievably, in the end there was none of the whole duck{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(leave) on the plate. Umm, yummy!

A: Hi, Lily! How about {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(go) to see a film together?

B: What time?

A: This Saturday evening.

B: I'm afraid I {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(can) go with you. So you'd better go there {#blank#}3{#/blank#}yourself.

A: Why? I {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(buy) two tickets already. This film is said to be very {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(interest). I had a lot of trouble in getting these two tickets.

B: I'm really sorry but I had made an{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (appoint) already. I'm going to see my former professor Lee at university this Saturday afternoon.

A: But can't you find some other time to see{#blank#}7{#/blank#}?

B: No, I can't. He is now {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (serious) ill in hospital.

A: Your teacher will be very happy {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (see) you.

B: I'm sure he will. He used to be very kind to us students {#blank#}10{#/blank#}we were at university. How about next Saturday? I will be free the whole day.

A: OK, let's make it next Saturday.

    We think that life in Chinese high school is an adventure in which we have to survive mountains of homework and exams. Yet would it be {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (surprise) if I tell you that high school life in the US is almost as stressful and demanding as it is in China?

    In US high school, everything {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (record) and graded, including your grades on quizzes, tests and final examinations. Failing {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (turn) in your homework on time will directly affect your grade for a certain course. Perhaps contrary to {#blank#}4{#/blank#} we used to think of the US high school students, they pay great attention to their {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (academy) performance to try to get into distinguished universities.{#blank#}6{#/blank#},they'll be disappointed after graduation from high school.

    Like university students, US high school students have the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (free) to choose the courses that most interest {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (they).Even a 9th-grader can sit {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the same classroom as 12th-graders.But this also means he or she has to work very hard, because the teacher will not treat him or her differently just because he or she is a few years {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (young).

    Before we left, Li Yanping explained to me that the force of gravity would change three times on our journey and{#blank#}1{#/blank#}the first change would be the most powerful. Then we were off. As the rocket rose into the air, we{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(pull) back into our seats because we were trying to escape the pull of the earth's gravity. It was so {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(strength) that we could not say anything to each other. Gradually the weight lessened and I was able to talk to{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(he). "Why is the spaceship not falling back to the earth? On the earth if I fall from{#blank#}5{#/blank#}tree I will fall to the ground." I asked. "We are too far {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the earth now to feel its pull," he{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(explain), "so we feel as if no gravity at all. When we get  {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (close) to the moon little by little, we shall feel its gravity pulling us, but it will not be as powerful a pull as the earth's." I cheered up immediately and floated{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(weightless) around in our spaceship cabin {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (watch) the earth become smaller and the moon larger.