Jean Little who was born in Taiwan, China, has been living in Canada since the age of seven. In spit of the challenge of{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(she) blindness. Jean began writing as a child and has never stopped. despite{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(limit) vision, she attended regular school {#blank#}3{#/blank#}graduated in 1955 from the University of Toronto with an Honors Degree in English. She taught special need children until 1962. That year, her first book, Mine for Keeps, {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(win)the Little Brown Children's Book Award and since then Jean has written 50 books, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (include)novels, picture books, autobiography, poetry and short stories, among {#blank#}6{#/blank#}are some of Canada's best-loved works for children, such as Dancing Through the Snow, Mama's Going to Buy You a Mockingbird, Listen for the Singing. Her books {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(translate) into a dozen languages so far and have won many awards.

    In addition {#blank#}8{#/blank#}all her awards, she has received six honorary degrees and is a member of the Order of Canada for her outstanding {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(contribute) Canadian children's literature, and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(recent) she won the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal.

    Swedish businessman Nile Bergqvist is delighted with his new hotel, the world's first igloo(冰屋) hotel.

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(build) in a small town, it has been attracting lots of visitors but soon the fun will be over. In two weeks' time Bergqvist's ice creation {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(be) nothing more than a pool of water. “ We don't see it as a big problem,” he says. “ We just look forward to replacing it.”

    Bergqvist built his first igloo in 1991 for an art exhibition. It was {#blank#}3{#/blank#}successful that he designed the present one,{#blank#}4{#/blank#} measures roughly 200 square meters. Six workmen spent more than eight weeks {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(put)1, 000 tons of snow onto a wooden base；when the snow froze, the base {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(remove).

After their stay, all visitors receive {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(congratulate) and a survival certificate recording their success.{#blank#}8{#/blank#} no windows, nowhere to hang clothes and temperatures below 0℃, it may seem more like a survival test {#blank#}9{#/blank#}a relaxing hotel break. “It's great fun,” Bergqvist explains, “As well as a good start in survival training.”

    The popularity of the igloo is beyond doubt：it is now attracting tourists from all over the world. At least 800 people have stayed at the igloo this season even {#blank#}10{#/blank#} there are only 10 rooms.

    “What's the matter, Mum?”

    As soon as I entered the door, I found that my mother was not{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (please). It was unusual — she usually{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (open) the door and welcomes me with a smile!

    “She's dying,” Mum said{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (sad). I knew what she said. The tulip (郁金香), my mother's favorite, is dying.

    A month ago, we moved into our new house and Mum{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (buy) a very beautiful tulip in a flower shop. Mum liked it very much. Whenever she was free, she would sit in her armchair beside the tulip and enjoy {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (it) beautiful colour and nice smell.

    She regarded the tulip as a baby and looked after it carefully. She put the tulip by the window and moved it from one place to another{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(give) enough sunshine to it. The first thing she did{#blank#}7{#/blank#} she got up every morning was to water the tulip. Mum also fertilized it many times.

    She hoped that{#blank#}8{#/blank#} great care, the tulip would become more and more beautiful{#blank#}9{#/blank#} the tulip was dying because of too much sunshine, water and fertilizer.

    It's true that mother loved the tulip. But this kind of love must be {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(harm).

    Too much love can sometimes kill what you love.

    “USA? Britain? Which country is{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(good) to study in?” We often hear such discussion. As China opens its door, it is a dream for many Chinese students to study abroad. They want to learn about the outside world.

    It's true that studying abroad can help students develop{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(they). Their foreign language skills will{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (improve) and it may be easier to find jobs.

    But there are problems{#blank#}4{#/blank#} should be considered. Language is the first. Students must spend a lot of time{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (learn) another language.

    Students must also learn{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (live) without parents' care and deal with all kinds of things they didn't have to do before, like looking after themselves. There are {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (report) about Chinese students abroad running into an ocean of difficulties{#blank#}8{#/blank#} giving up in the end. When they have to take care {#blank#}9{#/blank#} themselves, it is hard for students to study well.

    Finally, studying abroad brings a heavy burden to the family. For most Chinese parents, the cost of studying abroad{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (be) very high. But is it worth it?

People eat rice all over the world

    Rice {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (believe) to have been first grown in China or possibly somewhere else in eastern Asia around 10,000 years ago. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} earliest evidence of rice farming comes from a 7,000-year-old site near the lower Yangtze River village of Hemudu in Zhejiang province in China.

    Rice is a kind of food which requires much labor. In developed countries, the planting and harvesting is done {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(most) with machines. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, in much of the world, these things are still largely done by hand. It takes one farmer 1,000 to 2,000 working hours {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(raise)a rice crop on 2.5 acres of land. The fact that rice needs so much labor means{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(keep)a lot of the population on the land.

    Rice is also a crop {#blank#}7{#/blank#} need of lots of water. The wet rice grown in most of Asia needs hot weather after a period of rain and conditions provided by the rainy seasons affect many of the places {#blank#}8{#/blank#} rice is grown.

    Rice straws(稻杆）{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(leave)in the fields add nutrients(营养物)to the soil after rice is harvested(收割). For the next crop, rice farmers can often enjoy a good harvest by adding little {#blank#}10{#/blank#} no fertilizer.(肥料)

    The way you walk may be determined by your daily schedule, and it may also reflect your personality. The {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (choose) you make can tell something about your inner thoughts. At least, that's{#blank#}2{#/blank#} science has proved. Lately, researchers{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (observe) the way that people walk and how it relates to their personalities. Available online via Sage Journals, the study examines both the walking styles and personalities of 15,000 adults aged from 25 to 50. According to the study, when {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (face) with the new challenges, fast walkers are more likely to be active while quiet people tend to walk more slowly. Meanwhile, the study has also found{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (power) evidence that walking speed in adulthood reflects the individual's personality. However, speeding up your walking pace can't {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (instant) make you the life of the party, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} means that you needn't change your personality. Actually, there are {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (hide) strengths of being a quiet person as well as an active one. Make the most of your strengths, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} you can be successful regardless of which type you fall into and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} fast or slowly you walk.