Yuan Longping, born and {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (bring) up in China, is a leading figure in the rice-growing world. When he was a boy, he {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (educate) in many schools, and was given the nickname, “the student {#blank#}3{#/blank#}asks questions.”

    He was interested in plants from an early age, and he studied agriculture in college. As a young teacher, he began {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(experiment) in crop breeding. He thought there was only one way {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (have) more rice quickly. That was to cross different species of rice plant. Then he began his search for a {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (specially) type of rice plant. It had to be male and sterile. When the naturally sterile male rice plant was discovered in 1970, it was {#blank#}7{#/blank#} breakthrough. As a result, China's rice production rose{#blank#}8{#/blank#} 47.5% in the 1990's. And 50 thousand square kilometers of rice fields were converted to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (grow) vegetables and other cash crops. {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(follow) this, Yuan Longping's rice was exported to some other countries.

    The history of Chinese currency covers more than 3,000 years. Currency of some type has been used in China since the Neolithic age (新石器时代), {#blank#}1{#/blank#} can be traced back to between 3,000 and 4,500 years ago. Cowry shells (贝壳) are believed to have been the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (early) form of currency used in Central China, and were used during the Neolithic period. The use of shell money is confirmed in the Chinese writing system. The traditional {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (character) for “goods”, “buy” and “sell”, in addition to other {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (vary) words relating to exchange, all contain the “shell”.

    Around 210 BC, the first emperor of China Qin Shi Huang (260 — 210 BC) abolished all other forms of local currency and introduced{#blank#}5{#/blank#} uniform copper coin. Although paper money {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (invent) in China in the 9th century, the base unit of currency remained the copper coin. Copper coins were used{#blank#}7{#/blank#} the chief currency in China until the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (introduce) of yuan in the late 19th century.

    Currently, the RMB is the official currency of China. With over 1.3 billion people {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (use) RMB every day, it is one of the most commonly used currencies in the world. Nowadays, online payment is taking a large share in the market. Will paper money disappear one day like shells or copper coins {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (replace) by a new way of payment? Only time can tell.

    Once, three men got {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (lose) in the forest. They decided they would stay in the forest until they found {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(they) way. The next morning, one man went to find some food. Soon, the other two men were {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(astonish) to find him back with a deer and asked how he got the deer. The man replied, "I found tracks, I followed the tracks, and I got a deer." They both were {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (slight) confused because he had no weapons. A few days {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (late), the second guy went in search {#blank#}6{#/blank#} food and soon came back with a deer too. The other two asked how he managed {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (get) the deer. His reply was {#blank#}8{#/blank#} same as the first man's. Then it was the turn of the third guy to search for food. Many hours passed, and the third man {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (hold) nothing in his hands came back, with blood on his face. The other two asked him {#blank#}10{#/blank#} had happened. He looked at them and replied, "I found tracks, I followed the tracks, and I got hit by a train."

    The Great Wall {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(think) highly of by the human race as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It lies in North China, with over 6,000 kilometers in {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(long) and 7—8 meters in height. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(build) mainly with earth, brick and stone, the Great Wall was designed {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(protect) people in ancient China from invaders. However, it is now {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(universal) regarded as one of the most important tourist spots in our country. Every year, it is visited by thousands of people from all over the world. The Great Wall has become a symbol of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} Chinese nation and its culture.

    The Great Wall is wide enough for five horses or ten men to walk side {#blank#}7{#/blank#} side. Along the wall are watch towers, where soldiers used to watch.

    It was very difficult to build such a wall in ancient times without any modern {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(machine). The condition was {#blank#}9{#/blank#} terrible that all the work was done by hand. To be honest, the Great Wall was made not only of stone {#blank#}10{#/blank#} earth, but of the flesh and blood of millions of men.

    Household garbage sorting and recycling has become a hot topic in Shanghai because of China's first compulsive garbage-separation law {#blank#}1{#/blank#} every household and institution shall classify waste into four {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(category). Those who fail to sort garbage may {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(fine) up to 200 yuan.

    Previously, everything went into one bin, so this change has made many people very {#blank#}4{#/blank#}  (worry), who said they were struggling to master the details quickly.

    Now thanks to the efforts of {#blank#}5{#/blank#} number of young programmers, discovering the proper classification for each piece of household waste has become as simple as taking a photo {#blank#}6{#/blank#} calling someone using your smartphone.

    They have applied speech and image recognition technologies {#blank#}7{#/blank#} apps and other smartphone services to guide Shanghai residents through the garbage-separation rules.

    Most of the apps and services, which {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (begin) springing up last month in app stores, on messaging tool WeChat and mobile payment service Alipay, allow users to type in the name of waste {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(identify) which category it belongs to. Many apps also use speech and image recognition to make the process much easier, but their creators say they will disappear in time with the Chinese {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(become) more accustomed to the rules.