British people are working to an older age. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} number of working 70-74-year-olds has doubled in recent years. Around 10% of people in {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (they) early 70s now work. This is the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(high) figure on record. An important reason {#blank#}4{#/blank#} the British work in their old age is that retirement pensions are becoming more difficult to live on. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(consequence) many older people have to work in order to survive.

    Britain {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (see) great changes in the labor market during the last decade, {#blank#}7{#/blank#}far more people working beyond their retirement age. While there are plenty who enjoy remaining in work, many need to earn extra cash because they can not afford {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(retire) early. Older people need decent(体面地) jobs and pensions so that they can make a proper {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(choose) about whether they remain in work. Now they are deciding on a career change later in life and are starting up their own businesses, {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(devote) to something they may have dreamed of doing for years.

    I felt upset when I was {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (tell) that I would have to leave the company. In order to find {#blank#}2{#/blank#} new job to support the family, I read almost all the newspapers {#blank#}3{#/blank#} set down almost all the telephone numbers in ads {#blank#}4{#/blank#} my notebook and tried to call almost all the companies that needed new clerks. Not until I{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (find) a job in a small town near Townsville did I calm down. My new boss, Mr. Brown, was one of my schoolmates {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I was getting along well with at school. Both of us were {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (excite) to see each other and we spent the whole afternoon {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (talk) about things and persons that we remembered at school. He asked me to give {#blank#}9{#/blank#} some advice on how to enlarge his present business and he was {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (entire) happy about my advice.

    We all know that the Friday after Thanksgiving means a mad dash to the shopping centre for ridiculous sales. But how did this bargain shopping get {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(it) start?

    In fact, the first Black Friday had nothing {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (do) with Thanksgiving or shopping. The origin of Black Friday as we know it today started in Philadelphia during the 1950s and 1960s. Crowds of people would come to town the day after Thanksgiving for the annual Army­Navy football game to be held the {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (follow) Saturday. Streets and {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (store) were always crowded, which was great for business but made easy­pickings for shoplifters (行窃者). Local police called this “Black Friday”. Not only did they have to deal with extra traffic {#blank#}5{#/blank#} shoplifting, but they had to work extra hours and couldn't request the day off.

    The term didn't go national {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the late 1980s, but the {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (explain) changed. While shopkeepers {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (general) suffered financial losses most of the year, the increase of holiday shoppers marked the first day of real profit. In traditional accounting (会计) practices a few years ago, losses {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (record) in red ink, and profits in black ink. So the day after Thanksgiving, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} companies go “into the black” and make a profit, became Black Friday.

    As a saying goes, he who doesn't reach the Great Wall is not a true man. The Great Wall in China {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (impress) everyone who sees for the first time {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the general tourists to scholars. The vastness of the structure helps children grasp the great {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (achieve) in human history and can help inspire them {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (learn) more about human success over one thousand years.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (construct) over a period of 2,000 years, the stone solider {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (actual) consists of many great walls, some of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} date back to the fifth century B.C. The first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (order) these earlier long wall sections linked and extended with watchtowers to protect the new empire from northern tribes. Succeeding emperors and dynasties continued the construction.{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (spread) westward into the Gobi desert to guard {#blank#}10{#/blank#} Silk Road. All together, the walls may have stretched more than 30,000 miles.

    As my father had been offered a job in London, our family moved there. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(lose) all my old friends, I felt shy and lonely at my new school. Luckily for me, I met Roy {#blank#}2{#/blank#} was a popular boy, helping me to get to know people. Roy and I became good friends and we {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (trust) each other. However, five years later, Roy's father was knocked {#blank#}4{#/blank#} by a car and it was his father's death that changed him {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (complete). He became silent and moody, losing interest in his work. Worse still, 3 months ago, I found Roy {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (go) through the pockets of people's coats. And then, small {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (amount) of money started to disappear from students' lockers. Last week, the 500 pounds {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (raise) for a charity was stolen. I wondered {#blank#}9{#/blank#} the thief was Roy so I decided to ask him about the theft. To my surprise, I found a lot of paper notes in Roy's jacket. Should I keep {#blank#}10{#/blank#}a secret or tell the truth?