You may be in the United States only a short time before you are invited to dinner in an American home. Your hosts may telephone you or ask you {#blank#}1{#/blank#} person, or they may send you a written {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (invite) in the mail. If you get one, you should telephone your hosts to accept.

    A dinner in an American home is most likely to be a meal {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (serve) to guests sitting at a table. If the guests {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(seat) at the table, the hosts may serve the food, or it may be passed so {#blank#}5{#/blank#} each person may help himself.

    There are some other customs you should know. You should arrive on time. When you get there, your hosts may offer you something to drink, and some light food before dinner. The meal is {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(usual ) served about half {#blank#}7{#/blank#} hour after all the guests arrive.

    Most Americans do not have maids {#blank#}8{#/blank#} other help in the house. Often the husband and wife and their children share the responsibilities of {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(prepare) the meal and cleaning up afterward. After dinner, the guests often stay with the host for another two or three hours. Then all of them enjoy {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(them).

    Ten-year-old Traci Weinstein from New York has a lot of shoes! Her interest in shoes started when she learned that every day, all around the world, many children cannot attend school and many people are {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (able) to work because they don't have shoes. Traci {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (inspire) by her grandfather to help the poor in Guatemala {#blank#}3{#/blank#} might not have shoes. So she began to collect shoes!

    To help the people, Traci worked with the non-profit {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (organize), Sole4Souls. Sole4Souls' goal is to collect shoes to help “get rid of poverty(贫困)”. They have provided millions of shoes {#blank#}5{#/blank#} people in need in over 100 countries!

    Traci set {#blank#}6{#/blank#} huge goal. She wanted to collect 25,000 shoes to benefit poor people in her birth country of Guatemala. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (amazing), in just a few months, Traci not only hit her goal {#blank#}8{#/blank#} collected over 30,000 pairs of shoes! She is {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (excite)to be making a difference in the world. Traci and her family hope {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (visit) Guatemala and give out shoes to those in person.

    The following are some greatest artists or painters in the world.

    Pablo Picasso was considered {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（be）the greatest western artist of the twentieth century,{#blank#}2{#/blank#}was a Spanish artist. Picasso and another painter, George Braque, started Cubism.

    Roy Lichtenstein was{#blank#}3{#/blank#}contemporary American artist. One of{#blank#}4{#/blank#}（he） works is a world famous example of pop art. Pop art was an important modern art movement that {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（aim） to show ordinary twentieth-century city life.

    Qi Baishi was one of China's {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（great） painters. He followed the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（tradition） Chinese style of painting. Chinese painting is known {#blank#}8{#/blank#}its brush drawings in black inks and natural colours. Qi Baishi's paintings are special because he observed the world of nature very{#blank#}9{#/blank#}（careful）.

    Xu Beihong was one of China's best-known twentieth-century{#blank#}10{#/blank#}（artist）.

    Like Qi Baishi, Xu painted in the traditional Chinese style and is most famous for his lively paintings of horses.

Testerld Nora Langdon spent many days a week at the Royal Oak Gym, training for lifting contests. She has become a(n) {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (outstand) idol to people of all ages.

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} the age of 65, Langdon was determined to live {#blank#}3{#/blank#} healthier lifestyle. In 2007, she weighed over 210 pounds and often struggled to catch her breath while {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (go) up the stairs. She knew she had to change.

"On the first day I started going to the gym, I went home that night and told {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (I) I'd never go back again {#blank#}6{#/blank#} it was too much for me," Langdon told Good Morning America. "Then I heard a voice telling me to go back. So I went back and here I'm today."

After watching her trainer {#blank#}7{#/blank#} was preparing for a powerlifting meet, she attended his competitions and decided to try it herself. She {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (begin) with the basics. It wasn't long {#blank#}9{#/blank#} she discovered lifting was her passion.

Langdon has set 19 world {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (record) and quickly became one of Michigan's best in her age range. Although Langdon has achieved a lot, she shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.