Once upon a time, there was a man from the State of Chu who loved his sword very much. One day, he was sitting in a boat preparing {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(cross) a river, when he accidentally {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(drop) his sword into the water. The people on board reminded him that he should go into the water to find his beloved sword back. The man felt {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(anxiety), too.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}, he turned a deaf ear to that. And instead, he {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(immediate) took out a knife and made a notch(刻痕) on the side of the boat {#blank#}6{#/blank#}his dear sword fell. The people wondered why he did so. He said proudly the notch could help get his sword back. Shortly after the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(arrive) at the shore, he entered the water just beneath the notch he made. After rather a long time, he returned empty-handed. Without doubt, he was laughed at in public and his story became {#blank#}8{#/blank#}well-known joke in China.

    Today the idiom {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(relate) to the story is used to describe a person who stick {#blank#}10{#/blank#}strict rules without considering a changing environment.

    Everyone has a childhood. And childhood {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (experience) are often very funny. Children often make us laugh. It's true that children brighten up a home. They never turn off the lights.

    I often recall my childhood, the years {#blank#}2{#/blank#} many interesting things happened. When I was a two-year-old child, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} my parents were always very busy with their work. My mother worked {#blank#}4{#/blank#} a sales manager in a company {#blank#}5{#/blank#} my father served in the army. So I lived with my grandma in a village. I was always waiting for my parents at home. Once my father sent us a photo of his {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (dress) in a soldier's uniform {#blank#}7{#/blank#} was posted on the table reminding me of him.

    Once my mother came to see me and we went {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(shop) together. On the way we saw a group of soldiers. And when I saw them, I became{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (excite). I said in a ringing voice pointing to {#blank#}10{#/blank#}, “This is my father, and this is my father, and that is my father, too!”

    My mother said she would remember that moment all her life.

     Siva, the wise father of Ganesh,once called his two sons and suggested a small contest.

    “I will give this sweet to{#blank#}1{#/blank#}goes around the world faster,” he said, holding out a large,delicious milk sweet. Murugan,Ganesh's brother,glowed with pride knowing the prize would soon be{#blank#}2{#/blank#},for he could fly{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(swift) in his chariot（敞篷双轮马车）,circle the earth,and be back in only hours,while his big,clumsy brother Ganesh would take so much{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(long) to do the same.

Bidding farewell to his parents,Murugan set off happily.Ganesh thought for a moment,then smiled and{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (begin) to move.His large elephant with its heavy trunk did slow him down,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}he did not have far to go.For he simply walked carefully{#blank#}7{#/blank#}both of his parents.In a few minutes he had circled them,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (stand) respectfully in front of his father once again.

    “Father, please give me the prize,”he said.

    “Why? You did not go around the world.You stayed right here,”replied Siva.

    “But Father,” argued Ganesh, “I have just gone around the world.You see, my parents are indeed the{#blank#}9{#/blank#}world to me.”His parents smiled, well pleased.

    Much later, a tired Murugan returned home.{#blank#}10{#/blank#}, the prize was already eaten up.And now you know who won it and why.

    In my opinion, we should try our best {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(realize) our goals even though {#blank#}2{#/blank#}is little hope. The efforts seem to be the lights in the darkness, leading the way to hope and success. I used to be {#blank#}3{#/blank#}shy girl in my primary school. I was weak in English at that time, especially for {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(speak) English. So I was afraid to answer the teacher's questions during English classes. After I entered my dream middle school. Something {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(change). I started to read many {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(interest) English stories and my English teacher was patient to help me a lot. I studied hard in class and practiced by watching English films and listening to English songs in my free time. Little {#blank#}7{#/blank#}little, I found {#blank#}8{#/blank#} more and more interesting to learn English. I could even talk with my classmates {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(fluent) in English and I was not shy any more. At last, I got high grades in English and I had {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(confident) to do it better in the future.

    The annual Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is Harbin's main tourist highlight. It is the world's biggest winter festival. The {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(bitter) cold winters are just right for this festival.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}sets the Harbin festival apart is the scale and size of the sculptures and the{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(beauty) lighting. It is bigger than {#blank#}4{#/blank#} ones in Sapporo, Norway, and Quebec.

    At first, mainly Chinese{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(participate), but in the last decade, it has become an international festival and {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(compete). As the festival grows in international participation, and as China's economy grows, the size of the snow sculptures and ice architecture exhibits keeps {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(grow) The work going into making these exhibits is astounding, and their size and beauty is amazing.

    The lightning {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(effect)on the huge ice sculptures in the Ice and Snow World are technologically complex.

    Officially the festival {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(hold) from the end of December through February. Opening dates keep changing, and ending dates partly depends {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the weather.

    The Sun Island Scenic Area will be opened from Dec. 21 to Feb. 28.

Logan Wells, a high school student in Massachusetts, developed an app that makes it easier for people to care for loved ones with dementia(痴呆).

Logan was 15 when his grandmother was diagnosed with dementia. "You can't imagine{#blank#}1{#/blank#} terrible its effect was, not only on my grandmother, but on my parents and other family members," Logan said. "It became really hard to stay on{#blank#}2{#/blank#}same page, because we had to have multiple group chats."

So, he came up{#blank#}3{#/blank#}the idea for CareZare, which enables caregivers to work as a team through a communication website. Logan did the coding{#blank#}4{#/blank#} (entire) by himself while his father assisted him in creating the original design and undertook the marketing.

The free app allows users{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (create) a profile(档案)centered around the individual with dementia and invite other people to join and receive{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (message). With the app, you can schedule events, confirm completed tasks, and even add a "heads up" such as the current mood of the patient or poor weather conditions.

       The app is currently being used by over 600 families and they enjoy{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (share) their opinions about it.{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(please) with that, Logan is hoping it will grow.

       "So far our users{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(be) great about giving us feedback so we can tailor(定做)the app to their needs," he said. "Caregiving is such an important issue for them because it's sovl {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(person) for them, just as it is for me."