Night after night, she'd lean down and push my long hair out of the way, then kiss my forehead. I don't remember {#blank#}1{#/blank#} it first started annoying me —her hands pushing my hair that way. But it did annoy me, for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} felt work-worn and rough against my young skin. Finally, one night, I shouted {#blank#}3{#/blank#} her, “Don't do that any more— your hands are too rough!” she didn't say anything in reply. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} never again did my mother close out my day with that familiar expression of love. Now, my own children are {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(grow) and gone. It was late on Thanksgiving Eve, as I slept in the bedroom of my youth, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} familiar hand hesitantly run across my face to brush the hair from my forehead. Then a kiss {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(gentle) touched my brow. In my memory, for the thousandth time, I recalled the night my young voice complained, “Don't do that any more — your hands are too rough!” {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(catch) Mom's hand in hand, I blurted out {#blank#}9{#/blank#} sorry I was for that night. I thought she'd remember as I did. But mom didn't know what I {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (talk) about. She had forgotten — and forgiven — long ago. That night, I fell asleep with a new appreciation for my gentle mother and her caring hands.

    On December 24th, 1971, 17-year-old Juliane got on a plane with her mother in Peru to fly to meet her father.

    Over the Amazon jungle, there was a thunderstorm. The rain fell heavily and there was a strong wind. Unexpectedly, lightning hit the plane at 3,000 metres and it {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (explode). Juliane fell quickly through the air and hit the trees hard. She was unconscious (昏迷的) for{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (hour). When she woke up, she found her right arm was cut, her shoulders hurt badly {#blank#}3{#/blank#} she couldn't see in one eye.

    Juliane's was a biologist and when she was small, he taught her how {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (survive) in the jungle. She found a small river and walked slowly along it. “If I follow the river,” she thought, “I {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (find) people.” The river also gave her clean water to drink. It was{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(extreme) hot, but the river water kept her cool. Sometimes she had to swim in the river because it was too deep to walk in. There were crocodiles (鳄鱼) in the water, but they didn't attack her! There was fruit on sonic trees, hut she didn't eat it — she knew it was too dangerous.

    Juliane walked for ten days.{#blank#}7{#/blank#}night she stopped to sleep because it was too dark to walk. Ten days after the crash, she found a small shelter by the river, in {#blank#}8{#/blank#} there were some woodcutters. They cleaned her cuts carefully and the next day, they carried her down the river, and she{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (take) back safely to Pucallpa by a plane. She was the only person who survived the plane crash. The other 91 people,{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (include) her mother, all died.

    The film director, Werner Herzog, had a ticket to travel on the plane but missed it. Thirty years later, he made a film called “Wings of Hope” about Juliane and her unbelievable story.

    Small talk is the short conversations we have at parties, while we wait in line at the store, at family events or work. Sometimes we make small talk with people we already know but not well. Often we have to make small talk with complete strangers. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}. Here are some tips to improve your small-talking ability.

    ⒈{#blank#}2{#/blank#}

    If you have seen a really good movie or have read a really good book, you can talk about that.

   When you are sharing the same experience with someone, it's easy to start a conversation. You simply notice and comment on what's going on around you. For example, if you are at a party and a song comes on that you like or that reminds you of something, you can talk about that.

    ⒉Ask open-ended questions

    These types of questions require more thought and more than a simple one-word answer. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, the conversation will go on longer.

    ⒊Become a student

    Nobody knows everything. So, as someone is answering one of your open-ended questions, they bring up something about which you know nothing. So, tell them! This lets the other person become the teacher. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. It's a win-win situation.

    Like anything, getting good at making small talk takes practice. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}, you might become happier. If you are making small talk using English, you will most definitely improve your speaking and listening skills.

A. Have some conversation starters ready

B. If you make small talk in your native language

C. However, some people are not good at small talk

D. If you ask questions that need more details to answer

E. You can talk about something that you recently learned

F. Many people find these small conversations about random topics easy

G. They feel good about sharing their knowledge and you get to learn something

    Just up the road from my home is a field，with two horses in it. From a distance，each horse looks like any other horse. But if you get a{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(close)look, you will notice one of them is blind. Instead of abandoning him, his owner has made him a safe and comfortable barn to live in. And if you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (come) from{#blank#}3{#/blank#} smaller horse. Attached to{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(it) halter is a small, copper-colored bell assisting the blind friend to follow him.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} you watch them，you'll find the horse with the bell always checking on the blind one，and that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to {#blank#}6{#/blank#}the other one is，{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(trust ) he will not {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (lead) astray (歧路). When the horse with the bell returns to the barn each evening，he will stop {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(frequent) to look back，making sure that the other isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

    Life does not throw us away just because we are not perfect {#blank#}10{#/blank#}because we have problems or challenges. Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of our acquaintances；at other times we are the guide horse，who helps others to find their way.

    In Hebei Province lies a vast forest called Saihanba. This green Great Wall, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} at its peak during the Qing Dynasty covered thousands of hectares, had by the 1950s {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（virtual）disappeared. This allowed sand to blow into Beijing from the northern deserts.

    Saihanba is a combination of Chinese and Mongolian, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（mean）“beautiful highlands". Until the Qing Dynasty, it was a royal hunting land because of its cool summer weather and beautiful surroundings. However, most of the area had turned into a desert by the end of the Qing Dynasty.

    In fact 56 years ago there was only one tree left. But without that tree, there {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（be）no miracle of Saihanba today. In the early 1960s, over 350 foresters {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（send）to this area to fight the desert. They were required {#blank#}6{#/blank#}（rebuild）the forest in Saihanba. Few people, including the foresters themselves, believed they would succeed.

Their doubt disappeared, however, when they found the 200-year-old tree, swaying alone in {#blank#}7{#/blank#} wind. If one tree could survive here, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} could millions of trees, they thought.

    After decades of hard work, three generations of the foresters have restored almost 80% of the original Saihanba forest. Recently, they were awarded the {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（high）environmental honor from the United Nations for their great {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（contribute）to creating a greener world.