There is nothing more i{#blank#}1{#/blank#} to life than the sun. W{#blank#}2{#/blank#} the sun, all living things on the earth would die. The sun is a star. In the sky there are t{#blank#}3{#/blank#} of stars like the sun. They are as large as the sun and as hot as the sun. At night you can see many stars, but in the day you can o{#blank#}4{#/blank#} see one star-- the sun.

      The sun is much n{#blank#}5{#/blank#} to us than any other star. That is w{#blank#}6{#/blank#} it looks the biggest and brightest of all the stars. The distance (距离) of the sun from the earth is as m{#blank#}7{#/blank#} as 150,000,000 kilometers. Most stars are thousands of light-years a{#blank#}8{#/blank#}from the earth.

      Do you know what a light-year is? N{#blank#}9{#/blank#} in the world travels faster than light. It travels 300,000 kilometers per second. And one light-year is the distance that light can travel in one y{#blank#}10{#/blank#}.

Hello, I'm Li Ming. I have studied in the UK for nearly two years now. But I {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(remember) my first few weeks of living in a different country forever.

The Food

I'll never forget the first food that I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (taste) at school in England. We had this soup and it tasted of nothing at all. In China, our food is salty, but we like it because the salt {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (make) it taste nice. A friend advised me {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(try) some cheese. It was really sour.

Customs

In China when you meet someone for the first time, you shake hands. I was so {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(surprise) when my friend's mother gave me a kiss when I left his house. I felt so embarrassed and my face {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (go) red.

Transport

When I want to go anywhere in China, I just take my bicycle. Here in England, I have to get a bus everywhere. The buses {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (not stop) automatically like they do in Beijing. You have to put your hand out, ring the bell or press the signal button.

Socialising(社交)

I remember when I went around to a friend's house. In China, we often {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (give) people cakes as presents. The boy's mother stared at the cake. She was trying to be polite but I knew from her face that I {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (take) something wrong. In England, a cake is more often {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (give) on someone's birthday.

    Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday of N{#blank#}1{#/blank#}. It's one of the most i{#blank#}2{#/blank#} American festivals .In my family, we always go to my grandmother's house on Thanksgiving Day. All my aunts, uncles and cousins come t{#blank#}3{#/blank#}. We sometimes i{#blank#}4{#/blank#} some friends to join us. Everyone is glad to meet o{#blank#}5{#/blank#} people. The w{#blank#}6{#/blank#}are busy helping my grandmother cook. The men sit down to watch football m{#blank#}7{#/blank#}on TV. At about four o'clock we have d{#blank#}8{#/blank#}. After that, we talk or play games until it is t{#blank#}9{#/blank#}to go home. We don't want to 1eave because Thanksgiving Day is one of the few days of the year when all the family m{#blank#}10{#/blank#} see each other.

    One day when Nasreddin was having a bath, he began to s{#blank#}1{#/blank#} . The bathroom was small with a stone floor. His song was very b{#blank#}2{#/blank#} , he thought.

    “Oh”,he said, “I sing very well. I will sing to o{#blank#}3{#/blank#} people, too, and maybe I'll be a famous s{#blank#}4{#/blank#} , and most people will want to hear me.”

    So after his bath Nasreddin went up onto the roof (屋顶) of the house and began to sing his song very l{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    A man was w{#blank#}6{#/blank#} in front of the house and he h{#blank#}7{#/blank#} Nasreddin, he said, “What are you doing? You are m{#blank#}8{#/blank#} a terrible noise. Nobody wants to hear it.”

    “Oh, you think so, don't you?” answered Nasreddin, “Well, I r{#blank#}9{#/blank#} sing very beautifully. Come to my bathroom and you'll hear h{#blank#}10{#/blank#} beautiful I can sing.”

    Mrs．Patrick  was  a piano teacher．She{#blank#}1{#/blank#}hundreds of students．At age 69，Mrs．Patrick had a stroke (中风)．She couldn't move or speak．As the days passed，she got better, but her right hand was still very {#blank#}2{#/blank#} ．She couldn't play the piano anymore．She was very sad．

    A few months after her stroke，Mrs．Patrick went to a senior citizens' center(老年活动中心)．There were a lot of{#blank#}3{#/blank#}at the center．The director(负责人)was showing her around the center when Mrs．Patrick{#blank#}4{#/blank#} a piano．She looked sadly at the piano．“Is anything wrong?”the director asked．“No．”Mrs．Patrick answered．”The piano brings back my memories(回忆)．{#blank#}5{#/blank#}my stroke．I played the piano．”The director looked at Mrs．Patrick's weak right hand and  said．“{#blank#}6{#/blank#}here．I'll be right back．”A few minutes later the director came back {#blank#}7{#/blank#}Mrs．Eisenberg．“Margaret Patrick,” the director said，“meet Ruth Eisenberg．Before her stroke she{#blank#}8{#/blank#}played the piano．She has a good right

hand，and you have a good left hand．I think you two can do something{#blank#}9{#/blank#} together．”The two women sat down at me piano and began to play．The music {#blank#}10{#/blank#}good．They were not sad anymore．

    I packed, and was ready to leave for my two-day trip. I had been busy with my work. I had made preparations for the t{#blank#}1{#/blank#} for the last few days, and I expected to get r{#blank#}2{#/blank#} for several days.

    As I got into the car to leave, my mind flew to my kids.

    How to keep in touch with your kids when you' re busy or far away is a dilemma (两难的问题) many fathers have. Men like to focus special attention on one thing for a long period, but this can lead to trouble. Moving from work to family isn't always an easy thing. And if you don' t s{#blank#}3{#/blank#} your kids that you're thinking about them, they may think that you don' t care.

    As I started down the road, I suddenly stopped to t{#blank#}4{#/blank#} back to my house and wrote a short message on a c{#blank#}5{#/blank#} of cards to each of my children. I put each in a "secret" place where I knew they'd find it.

    When I called the next night, they both said excitedly," Daddy, I got your card. When did you do that?"

    I was moved when I heard these words. What I had never thought was that a small thing had a big influence on my kids. It proved(证明) that they were in my h{#blank#}6{#/blank#}. And distance (距离) couldn't separate them from their f{#blank#}7{#/blank#}. To my satisfaction, they feel "love" of their father. This v{#blank#}8{#/blank#} experience encouraged me to continue to do the small things to be a responsible father.

    As fathers get much busier and have to work longer hours, they usually pay l{#blank#}9{#/blank#} attention to the small things. Don't miss the good chances to let your kids see how important they are.

    Take a moment to do a small thing for your kids. It won' t s{#blank#}10{#/blank#} small to them.