Paul Frederic Simon is a famous musician, singer and songwriter. He was born {#blank#}1{#/blank#}October 13, 1941 in the USA.  It's been more than half a century since he wrote his famous song The Sound of silence with his partner Art Garfunkel. They also adapted the old English folk song Scarborough Fair, {#blank#}2{#/blank#}is still popular all over the world now.

    Recently Paul Simon released his latest album Stranger to Stranger and received excellent reviews. And Wristband, which is one of the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (song) from the album, is often played on college radio.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, Simon is ready to hang up his guitar and stop {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (make) music. “Show business doesn't hold any interest for me,” said the 74-year-old man.

    Simon is planning {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (begin) a month-long tour of Europe on October 17, shortly after his 75^th birthday. After that, he's going to travel for a year, perhaps with his wife. “It's {#blank#}7{#/blank#} act of courage to let go,” said Simon. “I am going to see{#blank#}8{#/blank#} will happen if I let go. Then I'm going to see who I am.”

    If he does quit music, Simon {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (bring) a great career to a close, which has spanned sixty years. He has won more than a dozen Grammys and produced a lot of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (amaze) songs. Paul Fredric Simon has been named by Time Magazine one of the “100 People Who Shaped the World”.

    An American in Beijing lives his Chinese dream

Gao Tianrui walks along streets in Beijing's Xicheng district as{#blank#}1{#/blank#}public security volunteer.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} (wear) his bright red armband (红袖章) and speaking fluent Mandarin, 62-year-old Gao Tianrui could {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(take) for any regular Chinese man. But on {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(close) inspection, things are not quite{#blank#}5{#/blank#}they seem: Gao's real name is Terry Crossman and he is from the United States. He is now a member of "Xicheng Dama", that is, volunteers, usually women in late middle-age,{#blank#}6{#/blank#}walk along the streets of downtown Beijing's Xicheng district. Terry said that, at first, he saw the group as busybodies, but {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(gradual) he saw that it was a good thing for retired seniors{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(help) others.

He is often seen giving tourists{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(direction), getting water for a baby and even helping a neighbor sell yogurt. "I like helping others," he said, "I live in the hutong and my neighbors and I usually help each other ... This is where I live, where my friends are and where I call home." Crossman {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(become) interested in Chinese culture as a teenager when he read Tao Te Ching by Laozi.

    Hua Mulan was a brave girl in the Northern Wei dynasty. She disguised (假扮){#blank#}1{#/blank#} (her) as a man, and joined the army in place of her father. Mulan's father, once{#blank#}2{#/blank#} soldier, taught his daughter military (军事的) skills{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(include)horse riding and how to fight. Hua Mulan also read her father's books{#blank#}4{#/blank#} military science.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(drive) away the Rouran nomads (游牧民族), the {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(rule) of Northern Wei ordered that every family should send a man off to war against them. Mulan's old father, as well as her young brother, was not able to go and fight. So Mulan {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(decide) to join the army instead of her father. Mulan fought for 12 years{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (successful) without her true identity being discovered.  Mulan became a hero{#blank#}9{#/blank#} bravery moved people greatly, and she{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(offer) a high position, but she refused it.

    Even though her story might be no more than a legend, Hua Mulan has been respected as a filial (孝顺的) daughter by Chinese people for hundreds of years.

    Last October, while tending her garden in Mora, Sweden, Lena Pahlsson pulled out a handful of small {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(carrot) and was about to throw them away. But something made her look closer, and she noticed a {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(shine) object. Yes, there beneath the leafy top of one tiny carrot was her long-lost wedding ring.

    Pahlsson screamed {#blank#}3{#/blank#} loudly that her daughter came running from the house. "She thought I had hurt {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(I)," says Pahlsson.

    Sixteen years {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (early), Pahlsson had removed the diamond ring {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (cook) a meal. When she wanted to put the ring back on later, it was gone. She suspected that one of her three daughters — then ten, eight, and six—had picked it up, but the girls said they hadn't. Pahlsson and her husband {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (search) the kitchen, checking every corner, but turned up nothing. "I gave up hope of finding my ring again," she says. She never replaced it.

    Pahlsson and her husband now think the ring probably got {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sweep) into a pile of kitchen rubbish and was spread over the garden, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} it remained until the carrot's leafy top accidentally sprouted (生长) through it. For Pahlsson, its return was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} wonder.

    When an important holiday comes, I usually think of what gifts to buy or prepare for my family members. It is the act itself rather than the thing you buy that {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(matter). Either a small present, a text message or a phone call can mean a lot to the receivers. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, I had never got anything from my son, who is a university student. Parents never forget to celebrate their children's birthday, but their children seem to be very {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (forget). They seldom do something in return.

    Life is unpredictable, and you never know what will happen tomorrow. When my son came back during the summer vacation, my wife and I, as usual, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (meet) him at the station. On arriving home, much {#blank#}5{#/blank#} my surprise, my son took out a wrist watch and gave it to me, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (say) it was a birthday gift for me. It is a very fashionable watch, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} shows not only hours, minutes and seconds but days as well. You can imagine how surprised and excited I was at that moment.

    Some people say children get too much care and love from their parents and just take them for granted. It is natural for people to have such concerns and {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(worry), but things may not turn out as badly as{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (expect). We need to look more at the positive side of life, as a famous writer once said, "Life is {#blank#}10{#/blank#}best classroom one can never get."