My name is Billy Smith. I'm 50 years old this year. I was about 440 pounds two years ago. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(fortunate), I managed to lose weight.

    I began to gain weight when my mom developed Parkinson's disease in 1994. I soon became her caregiver, and continued to provide her {#blank#}2{#/blank#} care for over 10 years. But when the pressure of taking care of my mother and {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(keep) my job got too much for me, I began to skip meals and feed on fast food. I gained weight quickly.

    My huge weight gain caused me to develop high blood pressure. I also had {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(difficult) in breathing at times. In 2014 I went to see my doctor,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} told me that I would die within two years if I didn't lose weight. This wasn't what I expected. I wanted to see my young son grow up, and I knew it was time to make a change.

    I started to eat healthy food and work out in the gym. Finally, I {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(succeed) in losing weight. Now I weigh just 260 pounds. I had never been to my son's Parents' Meeting {#blank#}7{#/blank#} I was so ashamed and {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(scare) that my weight would lead to him being laughed at. Now ,{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (look) normal, I can do the things I have never been able to do,{#blank#}10{#/blank#}should have done as his father.

UK Schools Ban Students From Using Slang (俚语)

    Officials at Sheffield's Springs Academy has introduced a new policy to prevent students aged 11 to 18 {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (use) slangs and colloquial abbreviations (口语化的缩写) inside the school. Harris Academy Upper Norwood said it carried out the program to allow its students {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (express) themselves confidently and appropriately. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} we want to make sure of is that they are confident in using standard English. Slang doesn't really give the right impression of the person. Young people going to interviews for their first job need to make a good impression {#blank#}4{#/blank#}employers will have confidence in them.

    Donna Bowater at the Telegraph writes that short forms of words {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (become) popular with the rise of text messages and the social networking website Twitter in the past few years.

    "In addition to {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (give) students the teaching they need to succeed academically, we want them to develop the soft skills {#blank#}7{#/blank#} they will need to compete for jobs and university places," the school was quoted as saying in a statement by the BBC.

    {#blank#}8{#/blank#} the above-mentioned support, South Yorkshire MP Angela Smith said that the policy might cause a risk to dialects (方言) and accents. Some critics argued that slangs provided students with an environment {#blank#}9{#/blank#} they could feel both the history and development of languages.

    The widespread argument is making people wonder {#blank#}10{#/blank#} it is necessary to cut the use of slangs entirely or not. All in all, different opinions of the policy help us have a deeper understanding of the truth that language is always changing with the times.

    I have been learning English for the last five years and one of the things {#blank#}1{#/blank#} has helped me to improve is reading. I love reading and often read during my free time. First, I {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (start) reading easy things in English, like recipes (食谱) for cooking and short stories {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (write) especially for language learners. Then I moved onto longer stories and newspaper articles. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} first I found that reading was difficult because of the variety of vocabulary and the grammar, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} this soon became easier and I found that I could understand more and more of {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I was reading. I didn't worry if I didn't know all the words, as I could still understand the main ideas. Reading has helped improve my English in many ways. I'm not only {#blank#}7{#/blank#} better and quicker reader, but also my {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (spell), writing, grammar and vocabulary are all much better. I think I have improved faster {#blank#}9{#/blank#} some of my friends who have been learning at the same time as me. So, I would say that everyone who wants to learn a language {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (quick) should read.

    A small town in New Zealand has announced a (n) {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(usual) plan to ban domestic cats in order to protect native wildlife.

    Those {#blank#}2{#/blank#} currently own cats will not be forced to give them away, according to the plan. However, after their cats pass away, they will not be allowed {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(get) another one. The cats will need to have microchips (芯片) {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(put) just below the surface of {#blank#}5{#/blank#} skins so that they can be found at any time.

    Village officials say the plan {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(need) because domestic cats {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (attack) wild animals in the area. Because of this, the area's native wildlife is {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (rapid) disappearing.

    New Zealand has listed 150 animal species as being seriously endangered and in need of {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(protect). These animals include a kind of ant that only lives under one kind of rock, and a kind of lizard (蜥蜴) that only lives {#blank#}10{#/blank#} a certain area.