I am so tired of winter. First it was all the snow and now it's just rain, rain, rain. It {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (seem) like the cold and rain have been here so long that I can {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (hard) remember what the sun looks. It has been wet and miserable for weeks and weeks.

    All I want to do is climb into bed, crawl under the covers, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} hide from the world until spring is really here. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}official first day of spring is in less than a week, but you wouldn't know it at all from the weather.

    I have been feeling so bad lately and think it has a lot to do with the {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (depress) weather this month. March is just the {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (bad) month in my opinion.

    Today I got thoroughly wet{#blank#}7{#/blank#} my way home from work. It started to pour when I was walking to my car, which {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (park) at the end of the lot. Why do I always forget {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (bring) an umbrella with me?

    I had a hard time {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (drive) home. I was wet and the traffic was terrible. But I am home now and happy that the day is over.

    I felt upset when I was {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (tell) that I would have to leave the company. In order to find {#blank#}2{#/blank#} new job to support the family, I read almost all the newspapers {#blank#}3{#/blank#} set down almost all the telephone numbers in ads {#blank#}4{#/blank#} my notebook and tried to call almost all the companies that needed new clerks. Not until I{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (find) a job in a small town near Townsville did I calm down. My new boss, Mr. Brown, was one of my schoolmates {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I was getting along well with at school. Both of us were {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (excite) to see each other and we spent the whole afternoon {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (talk) about things and persons that we remembered at school. He asked me to give {#blank#}9{#/blank#} some advice on how to enlarge his present business and he was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (entire) happy about my advice.

    Everybody knows that the United Kingdom consists {#blank#}1{#/blank#} four countries: English, Scotland, Wales plus Northern Ireland. However, about four hundred years ago Scotland tried to break away from English {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(influent). The Scots wanted to attack England and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(decide) that France should take the place of England {#blank#}4{#/blank#} their closest friend. England,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} was unhappy when the relationship between the two countries broke down. Queen Elizabeth I did not want to be left out of any decisions {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(do) with Scotland, so she divided the Scottish lords into several groups so that they would argue with each other instead of {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(attack) England. This {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(arrange) worked well until 1603 {#blank#}9{#/blank#} Queen Elizabeth died. As King James of Scotland was her only relative, he became King of Scotland and England, and everybody was {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(delight) with the solution.

    The Forbidden City in Beijing, home to the Palace Museum, houses more than 1.8 million cultural relics and is one of the world's most visited tourist {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (attract).

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (mark) the 600th anniversary of the Forbidden City, the Palace Museum will hold a series of events throughout 2020. Over 20 exhibitions will be held, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (cover) different areas such as history, art, festivals, and so on. For the special occasion, Along the Bian River during the Qingming Festival, one of China's most {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (wide) known masterpieces, will go {#blank#}5{#/blank#} display in September 2020. For {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (it) best preservation, this treasured artwork is seldom fully exhibited. The painting {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (display) for the first time back in 2005 to celebrate the museum's 80th anniversary. Such {#blank#}8{#/blank#} rare sight is expected to draw huge crowds.  In addition, the museum will also display exhibits from other {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (country).

    During the past few years, the Palace Museum has been working hard to get the public familiar with the history and culture of the Forbidden City. And it seems that these efforts have been paying off, with its popularity reaching a new height. Over 17 million people visited the museum in 2018, of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} 40 percent were under 30 years old.

    A 90-year-old has been awarded "Woman Of The Year" for {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (be) Britain's oldest full-time employee-still working 40 hours a week. Now Irene Astbury works from 9am to 5pm daily at the pet shop in Macclesfield, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} she opened with her late husband Les. Her years of hard work have {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (final) been acknowledged after a customer nominated (提名) her to be Cheshire's "Woman Of The Year".

    Picking up her "Lifetime Achievement" award, proud Irene {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (declare) she had no plans {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (retire) from her 36-year-old business. Irene said, "I don't see any reason to give up work. I love coming here and seeing my family and all the friends I {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (make) over the years. I work not because I have to, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} because I want to."

    Granddaughter Gayle Parks, 31-who works alongside her in the family business-said it remained unknown as to who nominated Irene for the award. She said, "We don't have any idea who put grandma forward. When we got a call {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (say) she was short-listed, we thought it was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} joke. But then we got an official letter and we were blown away. We are so proud of her. It's {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (wonder)."