Yuan Longping is one of China's most famous scientists. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(work) the land to do his research, he considers himself a farmer. Indeed, his sunburnt face and arms and his slim, strong body are just like those of millions of Chinese farmers, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} he has struggled for the past five decades. When he was young, he saw many people dying of {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (hungry), which was a {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(disturb) problem in many parts of the countryside. Then, he devoted all his time and energy {#blank#}5{#/blank#}searching for a way to increase rice harvests without expanding {#blank#}6{#/blank#} area of the fields. In 1973, he became the first agricultural pioneer in the world {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (grow) rice that has a high output. Now, he remains {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(circulate) his knowledge in many less developed countries to increase their rice harvests. He is quite {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(satisfy) with his life. However, he doesn't care about being famous. He feels it gives him less freedom to do his research. In his view, spending money on himself or {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (lead) a comfortable life means very little to him. He therefore gives much money to equip others for their research in agriculture.

    In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay succeeded {#blank#}1{#/blank#} climbing to the top of Mount Everest, at 11:30 am, on May 29. They were the first people {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(reach) the top of Mount Everest.

    Edmund Hilary was a New Zealand mountaineer, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (explore) and philanthropist (慈善家)，and Tenzing Norgay was a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer. Both of them were part of the ninth British expedition to Everest {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (lead) by John Hunt in 1953. For this expedition, Hunt selected a group of people who were {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (experience) in climbing mountains in the whole British Empire. In the group, Edmund Hilary{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (select) from New Zealand, and Tensing Norgay was actually recruited (招收) from India where he lived. Before climbing, the expedition had been organized and planned for months. They made nine camps on their way up, some of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} have been still used by climbers up to now.

    In fact, the first team made {#blank#}8{#/blank#} to the place which was just 300 feet below the summit, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} they left on May 26. They actually had already reached the point that no man had reached before. They were forced to leave because of the bad weather and because there were {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (problem) with their oxygen tanks.

    China is a big old country and it has a history of more than five thousand years. We are proud of{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (it) culture and part of the culture even influences the world {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (great), for example, the thought of Confucius. As Chinese economy develops very fast and plays {#blank#}3{#/blank#} important role in the world, more and more {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (foreign) learn Mandarin (普通话) in Confucius institutions. The Chinese traditional culture can be tested by the time. It unites the whole nation and no matter {#blank#}5{#/blank#} kind of disaster comes, we will fight together for the country's future. Today, many young people lose {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (faithful) in traditional culture and they are crazy {#blank#}7{#/blank#} the western culture. They follow the western fashion, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (think) we are the old style. But someday, they {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (realize) they are wrong {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (abandon) traditional culture.

    Keeping a diary in English is one of the effective ways{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (improve) our English writing ability. Compared with other forms of writing, it is{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (short) and takes less time. It can help us to develop the habit of thinking in English. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} we keep practicing, gradually we'll learn how to express{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (us) our-selves in English. In keeping a diary in English, we certainly run up against many {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (difficult). In the first place, it often happens that we have trouble {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (find) proper words and phrases to give expressing to our mind. Secondly, there are many idiomatic ways of saying things in Chinese. And it is{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (extreme) hard for us to put them into English properly.

    As far as I {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (concern), my suggestion is that we should always have a notebook and a Chinese-English dictionary within easy reach. We can also turn to our English teacher {#blank#}9{#/blank#} help, if necessary. In short, I believe that it is of great use to keep a diary in English for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} development of our writing skills.

    A computer program has beaten a human player at the ancient Chinese board game Go（围棋）. It marked an important advance for the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (develop) of artificial intelligence. The program, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (call) Alpha Go, had taught itself how to win. It beat the European player in all five games of a match in October. The developers say {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (it) learning ability may someday let computers help solve real world problems. Those could include making medical diagnoses and {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (explore) scientific research.

    Previous computers have beaten humans in other games. But among classic games, Go has long been viewed as the most challenging game for artificial intelligence to master. Therefore, many people find it {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(accept) when AlphaGo won the human player.

    Go involves two players who take turns putting markers on a checkerboard-like grid (格子).  Players obtain the opponent's pieces {#blank#}6{#/blank#} surrounding them. The rules are simple, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} playing it is not. It's {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (probable) the most complex game ever created by humans.

    Martin Mueller, a computing science professor, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (work) on Go programs for 30 years. He once said, "The new program is really a big step up from everything else that we've seen. It's a very {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (amaze) piece of work."

    Chocolate was first used as a drink over 3,500 years ago in Central America. It was very popular with the Mayans and the Aztecs. In fact, cocoa beans were very important to people there. That was {#blank#}1{#/blank#} they were used as money. In the beginning, cocoa  {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  (plant) in Ecuador, which was, for a long time, the world's number-one producer of cocoa beans. It is still one of the top {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (producer) of the beans, but nowadays more than 70 per cent of cocoa beans come from West Africa.