Do you remember those times when your mother told you to avoid talking to strangers? But now you're not a child anymore. In fact, there are many advantages of talking to strangers.

    You can meet a really great person.

    Talking to a stranger is a good habit because you never know whom you may meet.{#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can also meet someone who will give you a chance to get your dream job.{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    You have some opinion about different subjects and you know your friends' and relatives' points of view about them, too. But there are millions of other people who think differently and can give you unpredictable yet smart ideas that will broaden your horizons.

    You can improve your social skills.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} Asking appropriate questions and attentive listening are two skills that many of us don't have. You can better these skills when talking to a stranger.

    You can offer someone comfort.

    The thing you'll definitely like about talking to strangers is that you can make someone's day better.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Praise people and they will think something pleasant about you. Having a sweet short dialogue is one of those perfect chances to make people cheerful.

    You can find the solutions you didn't know about.

    Talking to someone you don't know is all about finding out something you didn't know. You may have some problems that you can't solve for a long time. However, someone you suddenly meet can figure out the right solution you didn't even think about before.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. It may be a help you needed to get a long time ago.

B. You can expand your world view.

C. You can meet a person who will become your best friend in future.

D. Smile and people will smile in return.

E. Whatever social skills you have, you can make them better when talking to strangers.

F. You shouldn't miss these unexpected chances of meeting people.

G. Why not speak to someone until your turn comes?

    Today is a perfect day that can leave you with good memories you may someday share with your friends. Here's how:

    {#blank#}1{#/blank#} You can see or do something a million times, but you can only see or do it for the first time once. As a result, first time experiences usually leave a deep mark in our minds for the rest of our lives. So try to experience something different and you'll have more memories.

    Work on something that's great to you.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Life is short. Today is the day to take action. Smile and notice what's right. Everything that happens in life is neither good nor bad.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} And no matter how it turns out, it always ends up just the way it should. Either you succeed or you learn something.

    Be true to yourself. The only shoes you can wear are your own. If you aren't being yourself. You aren't truly living.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    Make a new friend. People are interesting creatures, and no two people arc exactly alike.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}Find out what makes them different. They'll likely open your eyes to wonderful ideas. And you never know, they just might change your life.

Be present. Be here now. Remember, right now is the only dear moment to you. Right now is life. Don't miss it.

A. Learn a new skill.

B. Try something new.

C. It just depends on your opinion.

D. So meet someone new today.

E. And in fact, you're only existing.

F. Pay close attention to what you're doing.

G. Make yourself busy with something meaningful.

    Steel is a hard metal that people use to make many different products. Car bodies, bridges, building frames, and containers are just a few of the things made from steel. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} But steel is better than iron in many ways. Steel is stronger but lighter than iron. Steel also lasts longer than iron.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}Then they add carbon to the liquid iron. They may also add other materials to make different types of steel. For example, steel with added chromium（铬）is called stainless steel. It will not rust（生锈）or stain. Finally, workers use machines to cool the liquid steel into bars or long sheets.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    People made the first steel as early as 1400 BC. Ancient people heated iron inside a pile of burning charcoal（木炭）. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. The result was not the same as modern steel, but it was stronger than regular iron.

    In the 1800s people began to use huge ovens to make large amounts of steel. In the late 1800s builders used steel to make some of the first skyscrapers. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}. In the 1900s new processes made steel-making easier. Today steel remains one of the most popular building materials in the world.

A. This added carbon to the iron.

B. Steel is quite different from iron.

C. The hardened steel may then be made into products.

D. Steel is basically iron mixed with a little carbon.

E. Then they will be cooled and put on the market.

F. To make steel, workers hear iron until it melts.

G. They also used steel to make large, modern bridges.

注意：每个空格只填一个单词。

    Changes are hard for many people to accept. However, what's worth keeping in mind is that life is constantly changing. We might lose our jobs, lose our loved ones, or have other life-changing things, but these changes are just part of life. We might not like how society is changing or how our community is changing, but we need to be able to deal with these changes in a positive way. Luckily, there are many ways to view changes, to deal with them and to finally accept them.

To deal with changes wisely, you should accept that feeling when a type of change is upsetting you. There's no way you'll get past it if you ignore it and don't work through it. Thus, if you've lost your job, let yourself feel mad and/or disappointed. You can even express your feelings to others, but do so in a polite way. Also you can ask yourself, "Why am I upset or worried about this change?" Then, "What is it that I believe will happen, as a result of this change?" And then, "Are these thoughts and beliefs correct and practical?" Going through these questions can help you determine if the change is really worth worrying about. What's more, even though the change can have a negative effect on your life, in most situations you can use it to turn a loss into an opportunity or a way to rediscover your enthusiasm for life.

    Of course, when it comes to dealing with changes, taking action is more important. If you're going through a period in your life when the change is negatively influencing you, make yourself busy. Making yourself busy, by working, producing something or engaging socially with others, will do more than just make you forget worries–it'll help you contribute to changing your life positively for the future. Besides, you can try something you've never done before.

    An important part of accepting changes is finding a way to move on and thinking about your future. By looking ahead, you'll be able to better deal with the past and accept it as that had to happen in order to move forward. So accept the change that makes you uncomfortable, and determine you're going to try to use your energies to make an even better world. In this way, you're using it to power what you think is a positive change.

    Do you know Australia? Australia is the largest island in the world. It is a little smaller than China. It is in the south of the earth. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}The population of Australia is nearly as large as that of Shanghai. The cities in Australia have got little air or water pollution. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} You can clearly see fish swimming in the rivers. Plants grow very well.

    Last month we visited Perth, the biggest city in Western Australia, and went to a wild flowers' exhibition. There we saw a large number of wild flowers we had never seen before. We had a wonderful time. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} In spring every year Perth has the wild flowers' exhibition.

    After visiting Perth, we spent the day in the countryside. We sat down and had a rest near a path at the foot of a hill. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Suddenly we heard bells ringing at the top of the hill. What we saw made us pick up all our things and run back to the car as quickly as we could. There were about three hundred sheep coming towards us down the path. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} After a short drive from any town, you will find yourself in the middle of white sheep. Sheep, sheep, everywhere are sheep.

A. The people of Australia are very hard-working.

B. Australia is the sixth largest country in the world.

C. Australia is famous for its sheep and kangaroos.

D. Australia is big, but its population is not large.

E. Perth is famous for its beautiful wild flowers.

F. The sky is blue and the water is clean.

G. It was quiet and we enjoyed ourselves.

    The environmental group Heal the Bay organized a beach clean-up. And I was one of the volunteers. We went to Venice Beach to clean up the trash.

    At first glance, the beach didn't look dirty at all. But then I saw a Styrofoam(泡沫)cup half buried in the sand on the beach. I pulled hard and finally got it out. As we moved farther, we found pieces of Styrofoam spread all over the sand. The Heal the Bay representative had told us that these little pieces of Styrofoam and other small pieces of plastic are what actually harm sea life most. Sea animals eat the plastic. After eating it, they think they are full. As a result, they can die of starvation as they are cheated by their feeling and don't think they need to eat any food.

    We kept on picking up the trash. Then I saw someone with a full Heal the Bay trash bag and I went to see what was inside. When I opened the trash bag, I found everything from a pair of old jeans and a brown belt to headphones and some plastic bags. It made me very angry with the people who left their things behind without thinking what effects they might have on the ocean.

    It is really important to protect the ocean. The ocean covers 70 percent of the Earth's surface. A clean ocean not only helps animals in the ocean survive but also helps us survive.

    By noon, the sun was shining and the temperature was rising. The volunteers that had spread out across Venice Beach were coming back to throw the trash they had collected into the truck. I could not believe how much trash there was. All together we collected more than 135 bags of trash. I do hope that next time people go to the beach, they will stop littering.