（C）

    This year 2,300 teenagers from all over the world will spend about ten months in US homes. They will attend US schools, meet US teenagers, and form impressions of America.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#} They will learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George's family. In turn, George's son Mike spent a year in Fred's home in America.

    Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months' study, the language began to come to him. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Students rose respectfully when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}The father's word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than one of the members. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.

    “Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.

    Meanwhile, in America, Mike, a German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize (批 评) American schools,” he said. “It is far too easy by our level. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There should be some middle ground between the two.”

    People who are scared of heights should try not to drive over a new bridge in Guizhou. The new bridge, called the Beipanjiang Bridge, is the highest one in the world. Located near Bijie in Guizhou Province, the bridge stands 565 meters above a deep river. It connects the mountainous provinces of Guizhou and Yunnan. Just how high is the new bridge? Think of a 200-storey(层) building.

    Guizhou Province is already home to seven of the ten highest bridges in China. The Beipanjiang Bridge has just overtaken (超过t ) the Sidu River Bridge in Hubei Province to become the world's highest。

    The building of the Beipanjiang Bridge started in 2012 and it was opened to traffic (通车) on December 29 ,2016. It cost about 100 million yuan.

    The Beipanjiang Bridge is part of a highway（高速公路) connecting Hangzhou City in Zhejiang Province and Ruili City in Yunnan Province. The bridge is 1, 341 4 meters long and it cuts the travel time from Liupanshui in Guizhou to Xuanwei in Yunnan from around five hours to just over an hour。

    China is no stranger to record-breaking bridges. The second- and third-highest bridges in the world are also locateed in the country. The Beipanjiang Bridge is five meters higher than the previous（先前的）record holder.

Where: the world's third-heighest bridge, {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    The Spring Festival is Chinese people's festival. There are different names for each Chinese year. We call it the Year of the Rooster, the Year of Gog…And this year is the Year of Pig.

    Before the festival, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On the eve, there is a big family dinner. After dinner, all the family stay up late to welcome the New Year.

    On the Spring Festival, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their relatives and friends. They say "Happy New Year" and some other greetings to each other. People have a good time during the festival.

    Qu Juanru is the official inheritor(官方传承人)of Jiaxing City Tongxiang flower—drum opera. She began to be on the stage when she was a teenager." My mother died when I was 14. I've lived with my father since then. In the old days, women were not allowed to perform opera. However, my father always supported me when I tried to sing." Qu said.

    Qu started performing in the local troupe(剧团)called Aimin Flower—Drum Opera. Later, the troupe was disbanded (解散), and she went back to farming.

    After that, the young girl tried to set up the troupe several times but failed. She really lived a hard life at that time. But she didn't give up.

    In 2001, some developers planned to rebuild Wuzhen. They thought a place which has no culture is of little significance(意义).So they wanted to bring back local customs, including the Tongxiang flower—drum opera. Qu was their only hope.

    Knowing she could sing again, Qu was so excited. Whether it's cold or hot. Qu always gives her everything on stage in Wuzhen. She has six rounds(场)of performing every day and each round lasts 30 minutes. In 2017, she was badly ill, yet it didn't stop her.

    "I can still sing and perform. I'd love to be here." Qu said. In her opinion，opera life is a wonderful dream that can't be missed.

    A mouse was surprised to discover that the farmer and his wife had a mousetrap(老鼠夹)in the house. It ran to warn everyone, "There is a mousetrap in the house!"

    A hen raised its head and said, "Mr. Mouse, this mousetrap is only for you. I won't be worried about it. "The mouse turned to a pig." I am sorry, Mr. Mouse, but the mousetrap has nothing to do with me, either! "the pig said. Then the mouse turned to a cow. "It sounds like you have a problem, not me," the cow said. The mouse returned to the house with its head down and it was very sad because no one would help.

    That night the farmer's wife heard a loud sound and she rushed to see what was caught. In the darkness she could not see that it was a snake. The snake bit(咬)the farmer's wife. The wife caught a bad fever and the farmer thought the best way to treat a fever was having chicken soup. So the farmer killed the hen for the soup. The wife got worse and her friend came to visit her. The farmer had to kill the pig to feed them. But the wife didn't get better and died. Her friends came and the farmer had to kill the cow to feed all of them.

    So remember when any one of us is in trouble, we may be in trouble.