(A)

Bags of Love

       Last year, I was assigned to work at an office near my mother's house, so I stayed with her for a month. During that time, I helped out with the housework and contributed to the groceries.

      After less than a week, I started noticing that the groceries were running out pretty quickly — we were always suddenly out of something.  {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (wonder) how my mum could consume them so quickly, I began observing her daily routine for two weeks. To my surprise, I found that she would pack a paper bag full of canned goods and head out every morning at about nine. Eventually, I decided to follow her and {#blank#}2{#/blank#} happened truly amazed me. She was taking the food to the refugee camp, in {#blank#}3{#/blank#} she distributed it to children.

       I asked around and found out that my mum was very well known in the area. The kids were very friendly with her and even looked up to her as if she were their own mother. Then it hit me —why would she not want to tell me about what she {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (do)? Was she worried about how I would react or that I would stop {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (buy) the groceries if I found out?

     When she got home, I told her about my discovery. {#blank#}6{#/blank#} she could react, I gave her a big hug and told her she didn't need to keep it a secret {#blank#}7{#/blank#}me. She told me that some of the children lived with an older lady in a shelter while others slept on the streets. For years, my mum has been helping out by giving them whatever food she could spare. I was so impressed by {#blank#}8{#/blank#} selfless she was.

    Two weeks ago, we reported about developments with {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (electricity) planes and flying cars. That technology could bring change to commercial and personal travel. Last week, two {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(company), Kitty Hawk and Uber, announced their plans to bring flying cars to reality. Sooner {#blank#}3{#/blank#}you think, flying cars may appear in the skies. Imagine never {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(have) to worry about traffic, stoplights, or road construction. A flying car could get somewhere much faster than one traveling by road.

    Kitty Hawk is a start-up tech company supported by Google co-founder. Its first flying cars,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}travel at a speed of up to 40 kilometers an hour,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}expect) to go on sale by the end of 2017. Uber expects to launch flying taxis in Texas and Dubai by 2020.{#blank#}7{#/blank#}says its flying taxis could travel up to 241 kilometers an hour, with the travel time {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(reduce) from 2 hours on the road to 15 minutes in the air between San Francisco and San Jose, California. Riders could use the Uber app {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(book) a flying taxi to take them to their destinations. It is estimated that flying taxi travel will be much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (expensive) compared with road taxi travel.

    Diets have changed in China-and so too has its top crop. Since 2011,the country{#blank#}1{#/blank#}（grow）more corn than rice. Corn production has jumped nearly 125 percent over{#blank#}2{#/blank#}past 25 years, while rice has increased only 7 percent.

    A taste for meat is{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(actual) behind the change. An important part of its corn is used to feed chickens, pigs, and cattle. Another reason for corn's rise. The government encourages farmers to grow corn instead of rice{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(improve) water quality. Corn uses less water{#blank#}5{#/blank#}rice and creates less fertilizer(化肥) runoff. This switch has decreased{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(pollute) in the country's major lakes and reservoirs and made drinking water safer for people.

    According to the World Bank, China accounts for about 30 percent of total{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(globe)fertilizer consumption. The Chinese Ministry of Agriculture finds that between 2005-when the government {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (start) a soil-testing program {#blank#}9{#/blank#} gives specific fertilizer recommendations to farmers - and 2011, fertilizer use dropped by 7.7 million tons. That prevented the emission(排放) of 51.8 million tons of carbon dioxide. China's approach to protecting its environment while {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (feed) its citizens "offers useful lessons for agriculture and food policymakers worldwide." says the bank's Juergen Voegele.

    Artist Song Peilun is known{#blank#}1{#/blank#}"The Father of Yelang Valley" after spending the last two decades turning a village into an artistic village.

    Yelang was an ancient political centre first{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(describe) in the 3rd century BC, and it was centered in{#blank#}3{#/blank#}is now western Guizhou Province, China. Experts believe that many ancient{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(culture) were rooted here,{#blank#}5{#/blank#}there are unfortunately no buildings left standing in the great valley. Inspired by Crazy Horse, a mountain monument in the US slate, Chinese artist Song Peilun devoted his life to building a memorial to the artistic culture of Yelang Valley.

    It was in 1996{#blank#}6{#/blank#}Song quit his job as a professor and purchased a 200,000 square meter plot of land in a mountainous forest area. Then he began to follow his dream.

    When he first arrived in the area, most of the locals{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(mine) in the mountain and selling the stones to make ends meet，but he convinced many of them to help him instead.

    So far, Song Peilun and the villagers{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(turn) the forest land that he bought into an artistic village full of stone sculptures,{#blank#}9{#/blank#}were inspired by Chinese Nuo culture. It is now a{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(relative) popular tourist attraction.