English Around the World

    There are more than 3,000 languages {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（speak）in the world. Of all these languages, English is the most {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(wide) used. Recent {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(survey) show that more than 500 million people speak English as their mother tongue.

    From its roots in England, the language was spread around the world {#blank#}4{#/blank#}English traders and English governments in new lands. One of these new lands {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(become) the United States of America. The population of the United States is 309 million,{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (make) it the country with the {#blank#}7{#/blank#}large) number of native English speakers.

    About 300 million people speak English as their second language. There are even more people, like some in Europe as well as in China and Japan,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} study English as a foreign language.

    English has become the base language for international business, for the world's airlines and even for the Internet. Whatever language people speak, they need  {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(know) some English if they work in these fields.{#blank#}10{#/blank#} is clear that the English language is becoming more important.

    Beijing Opera roles require performers to paint {#blank#}1{#/blank#}( they) faces in patterns and colours to suggest different character types and{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(quality).

    In Beijing Opera, facial painting can be quite complex(复杂的). However, in the {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(begin), only three colours{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(use)-red, white and black. Now, many other colours, such {#blank#}5{#/blank#}yellow, purple, blue and green, are used for facial painting.

    Red is a colour for{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(brave) and loyalty. Guan Yu, a general from the Three Kingdoms Period(AD 220-280) is a good example of this kind of character. He is famous {#blank#}7{#/blank#}being very loyal to his emperor, Liu bei.

    White means all{#blank#}8{#/blank#}is bad in human nature. One of the typical white-faced characters is Cao Cao, a{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (power) and cruel prime minister from the Three Kingdoms Period.

    Black face paint is {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(usual) used for someone who is fierce and violent. One typical example is General Zhang Fei from the classic novel, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

    All these different colours are used in Beijing Opera facial painting to show a clear picture of each character.

    Few people I know seem to have much desire or time to cook. Making Chinese{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(dish) is seen as especially troublesome. Many westerners {#blank#}2{#/blank#} come to China cook much less than in their own countries once they realize how cheap {#blank#}3{#/blank#}can be to eat out. I still remember{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(visit) a friend who'd lived here for five years and I{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(shock) when I learnt she hadn't cooked once in all that time.

    While regularly eating out seems to{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(become) common for many young people in recent years, it's not without a cost. The obvious one is money; eating out once or twice a week may be{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(afford) but doing this most days adds up. There could be an even{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(high) cost on your health. Researchers have found that there is a direct link between the increase in food eaten outside the home and the rise in {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(weigh) problems.

    If you are not going to suffer this problem, then I suggest that the next time you go to your mum's home {#blank#}10{#/blank#}dinner, get a few cooking tips from her. Cooking food can be fun. You might also begin to notice the effects not only on your health but in your pocket.

    Stan Lee, who dreamed up Spider-Man, Iron Man, the Hulk and other Marvel Comics (漫威漫画) superheroes that became highly successful at the movie box office, died at the age of 95, his daughter said on Monday.

    "{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (know) as a writer and editor, he felt a duty to his fans to keep creating," his daughter J. C. Lee said in a {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (state). "He loved his life and he loved {#blank#}3{#/blank#} he did for a living. His family and his fans loved him. He was irreplaceable." Lee was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (wide) credited with adding a new layer of humanity to superheroes. His characters were not made of stone. They had love and money worries and suffered terrible shortcomings or feelings of insecurity.

    "I felt {#blank#}5{#/blank#} would be fun to show that they are human as well as super," Lee said in 2010. Many of Marvel Comics movies Lee created were produced in the first decades of the 21^st century, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (add) up to over $20 billion at theaters worldwide, according to box office analysts.

    In 2008, Lee {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (award) the National Medal of Arts, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} highest government award for creative {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (artist). His greatest contribution will be not only the co-creation of his characters but the way he helped to build the culture that comics have become, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} is a pretty significant one," said Robert Thompson, a pop culture expen at Syracuse University.

    Around the world people play numerous different ball games. It is not certain how a lot of these games were created, but we do know the history of one of {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    Basketball started in the United States, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} it was created by a Canadian, James Naismith, in 1891. While teaching P.E. at Springfield College in Massachusetts, Naismith got the idea for the game. During the winter, students could rarely exercise outdoors. Seeing this, Naismith got two large baskets and {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (hang) them on opposite walls of the school gym, about three meters above the floor. He divided students {#blank#}4{#/blank#} two teams. The object of the game was to throw a ball into the basket. Players soon got tired of taking the ball out of the baskets, so Naismith cut holes in the bottoms of them. Many people liked the game and, in 1936, basketball became {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Olympic sport.