Some people live in the world for body while {#blank#}1{#/blank#} for dignity(尊严).

    I once took a walk along the street on a Saturday dusk, with a Pepsi can in my hand. An old woman in ragged clothes, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}was living on collecting {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (use) cans, jars and tins, moved slowly towards me, with a bag on the back! {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (walk) nearer, she looked up at me and then fixed her eyes on my can. At that time, I hadn't finished my cola, so I gave {#blank#}5{#/blank#} several coins instead.

    She stared at me for a few seconds {#blank#}6{#/blank#} handed back the money. Quite confused, I asked: “Why not? Isn't that {#blank#}7{#/blank#} you want?” “I am not a beggar,” she said {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (serious), word by word.

    Instantly, I felt so sorry. I had intended to help her, completely misunderstanding her. Thus I hurt her. What I could do at that moment was only to drink up the cola and handed her {#blank#}9{#/blank#} emptied can. This time, she gave me a smile {#blank#}10{#/blank#} satisfaction and gratitude in her eyes. The woman is poor in material life but is so respectable as a man. I am not only moved but also have learned a good lesson.

    Polar bears are suffering in a {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (warm) world.

    Polar bears live in environments too cold for most animals. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} much of the year, they live and hunt on the frozen Arctic sea ice. Nature has prepared {#blank#}3{#/blank#} for the cold conditions. But nothing has prepared the bears for the danger that {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (threat)the only home they know.

    The polar bears' world is melting. Studies show that the polar ice has reduced by 9.8% every 10 years {#blank#}5{#/blank#} 1978. Now about 20,000 to 25,000 polar bears live in the Arctic. Polar bears depend on the sea ice for their {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (survive). “The sea ice is more than just this platform that the bears walk over,” says Andrew Derocher, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} scientist who studies North American polar bear populations. “{#blank#}8{#/blank#} it, they can't exist.”

    Some melting and refreezing of the polar ice is natural. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} in a warmer world, these cycles speed up, and bears have less time to hunt. Normally, they have three months in the spring when they gain more weight. The extra fat is used later, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the bears are not actively hunting.

    Last summer holiday, I took part in a teaching project and volunteered{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(teach) in a countryside primary school for two weeks.

    When we arrived at the school, though shocked by the poor living conditions, we quickly adapted {#blank#}2{#/blank#} to the life there. My good friend Tom and I were in charge of the third year students, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(consist) of just 18 boys and girls. We not only taught them English and maths, but also organized some after-school {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(activity) for them. Gradually, I found that many of the students were actually quite 6{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(talent). But some had to leave school early, which is{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(large) because their families were under heavy financial pressure, and they had to find a job to support the family.

    As well as giving lessons, we also helped set up a reading room in the school {#blank#}7{#/blank#} students hardly had any access{#blank#}8{#/blank#} good reading materials except textbooks. With the help of school staff and students, we cleaned out an abandoned classroom. When we placed the books students and teachers in my high school {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(donate) onto the shelves, I found the students were more than excited and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(dive) into reading there.

    Two weeks quickly passed and we had to leave. I did not know how much we had actually taught them, but for me I learned a great deal—cherish what I possess and study harder.

    Charles Richard Drew {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(be) a famous African — American doctor and scientist. His work on blood banks helped save thousands of{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(life) during World War II.

    Charles Richard Drew {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(bear) in 1904 in Washington D.C. His main interest was in sports when he was young. He won many medals for {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(swim). Later, he turned to basketball and football. During college, Charles became interested in medicine. He attended Medical School at McGill University in Canada. In 1933, he received {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(he) doctor of Medicine Degree.

    As a doctor and a researcher, Charles was absorbed in research on blood transfusions（输血）. Through his experiments, he found that blood plasma（血浆）could be {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(success) used instead of whole blood. He {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(write) up the results in a published report.

    During World War II, Charles worked with the British. He helped them develop the blood bank. He organized the collection{#blank#}8{#/blank#} processing of blood plasma from different hospitals. These life-saving plasmas cured wounded people in the war. He also helped the American Red Cross develop a blood bank.

    Charles died in 1950 as {#blank#}9{#/blank#} result of a car accident. After his passing away, he received many honors. Many schools and institutions were named {#blank#}10{#/blank#} him.

    It seems that Chinese people have always loved to discuss {#blank#}1{#/blank#} differences between northerners and southerners. Now, another difference has drawn wide attention: the way northerners and southerners shop {#blank#}2{#/blank#} food at markets.

    People from southern China normally buy what they need for just one or two meals at a time. It's normal for {#blank#}3{#/blank#}to buy just half a Chinese cabbage, two {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (potato) and 25 grams of beef at a time. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, a person may be laughed at {#blank#}6{#/blank#} they do this in the north. Instead, buying enough vegetables and meat for a week {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (be) normal.

    The difference could be because of the different climates. Food can {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (keep) for a long time in the north, as it's {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (usual) cold and dry there. Many northerners have the habit of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (store) food for a long time. But due to the hot and wet weather in the south, southern Chinese people prefer to buy just enough food for one meal or one day. Otherwise, the food may go bad.

    Maybe these debates about different customs help us to understand each other better.

    He's an old cobbler (修鞋匠) with a shop in a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he told me, "I haven't time. Take them to {#blank#}1{#/blank#} other fellow on the main street.

    Just looking at his bench {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(load) with tools and pieces of leather, I knew the craftsman (手艺人) was rather {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(skill). "No," I replied, "the other fellow can't do it well."

    "The fellow he mentioned" is one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(careless), and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带), you might as well just throw away the pair. The reason {#blank#}5{#/blank#} I wanted to have my shoes repaired in the shop is that the man works very carefully.

    The man {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(have) me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, "Come back tomorrow."

    I was about to leave {#blank#}7{#/blank#} he took a pair of soft leather {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(boot) off a shelf.

    "See what I can do?" he said with pride. "Only three {#blank#}9{#/blank#} us in Paris can do this kind of work."

    The cobbler was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty hat, his funny accent and, above all, his pride in his craft.

    In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(satisfy) from pride in a job well done.