French artist Dufresne has turned to Chinese characters to explore art.

    His ongoing show at Yishu 8, a nonprofit and art space in Beijing, has installations (装置) on which some characters{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (paint) and visitors can play word games by moving them around to make new characters. Each Chinese character has different parts. Separating or {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (combine) these parts creates new things. For example ,the character of lin (forest), when put on the top of xi (dusk) becomes meng (dream).

    He {#blank#}3{#/blank#} ( produce) them by first asking Chinese people he met in the streets, at parks and tourist spots,{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(write) different characters with ink brushes on paper, and then painted them onto large wooden boards, trying to make the characters look {#blank#}5{#/blank#} close to their original handwritten forms as possible.

    “Each character{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (vivid) reminds me of the person who wrote it. To me, the writer and the character seem to share the same personality,” says Dufresne. He sees the characters as the human body in motion. An ancient character {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (photograph) by himself at a Chinese museum appears to him like “a person walking”.

    Christine Cayol,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} is the founder of Yishu 8, says the young artist has provided “poetic viewpoint” his work by trying to create a {#blank#}9{#/blank#} ( connect) between Chinese characters {#blank#}10{#/blank#} the human body.

    Icebreaker to the North Pole is a new book {#blank#}1{#/blank#} the well-known Chinese writer Bi Shumin. It describes her special trip to the North Pole last year.

    Longing to go to the North Pole, she always heard about it when she was young. Bi, now in her 60s, has at last realized the dream to see it for {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (she).

    “This dream was hidden in my heart by myself in the past. It gradually became dusty, but it never disappeared.{#blank#}3{#/blank#} I dreamed has finally come true.” Up to now, Bi {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (travel) to 73 countries worldwide. Besides the North Pole, she made a trip to Easter Island, which is around 3,700 kilometres off the western coast of Chile. In the same year, she went to the South Pole. And she intends {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (go) to other places in the near future.

    As a writer {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (show) a great interest in travel, Bi thinks traveling {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (be) a part of our life. She also believes it is {#blank#}8{#/blank#} only way to see different cultures and histories.

    “If the view is the same every day, we will easily become {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (bore). But if we go to a strange place, we will soon enter a condition of experiencing and thinking about different cultures. Travelling gives me much {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (free).”

    When Jack was a small boy, he was once asked to give a speech about “A Big Challenge in My Life”．To talk before the whole class, he was {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (terrible) shy the moment he thought of so many eyes {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (stare) at him. He had no other{#blank#}3{#/blank#} (choose), though. First Jack was to draft the speech, which was just a piece of cake for him because he was a good writer. But the hard part {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (lie) in his oral presentation, for it was not allowed to read from the paper. He had to give the speech {#blank#}5{#/blank#} his memory and in front of such a big audience!

    A real trial began when Jack stood on the platform with his legs trembling and his mind blank. He didn't know how much time had passed by. His listeners were still waiting patiently and without any signs of laughing. Gradually he found himself back, {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (give) out his speech without much difficulty. After what seemed to be a hundred years, he found the audience applauding. He made {#blank#}7{#/blank#}！From then on, his fear of talking before the audience disappeared. Actually with his confidence {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (build) up, Jack now turns out to be a great speaker. As we know, the greater difficulty we meet on our way to {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (succeed), the {#blank#}10{#/blank#} likely we will achieve our goals.

    After weeks of rain, a town flooded and the people {#blank#}1{#/blank#} lived there had to move to a safe place. At one house, rescue workers found {#blank#}2{#/blank#} man standing deep in water. "Come on! Get in the boat!" the rescuers shouted. The man shouted back, "No! I have faith {#blank#}3{#/blank#} God, and He will save me!" Soon the floodwaters chased the man to the second floor. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(luck), another boat came by at this point. "Get in the boat!" the rescuers urged. "No way!" the man said, stubborn in his thought {#blank#}5{#/blank#} God would save him. The floodwaters continued to rise, and the man had to climb to the roof of his house. Fortunately, a rescue helicopter came by and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (drop) a ladder for him. The pilot shouted through a megaphone, "Grab the ladder!" The man refused and shouted the same thing again.

    But the floodwaters {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (rise) above the roof. The man {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (sweep) away and drowned. When {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (arrive) at heaven, he demanded to meet with God. "God, I was certain that you would save me, but you let me die. Why? Why did you abandon me?" God replied with a {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(puzzle) look, "What do you mean? I sent you two boats and a helicopter!"

    Just now, I entered the website "Topic for Today". I feel{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(interest) in the report on middle school students' using cell-phones on campus. In fact，more students now come to school{#blank#}2{#/blank#} cell-phones. My schoolmates have different opinions. Some think{#blank#}3{#/blank#}is convenient to get in touch with others with the cell-phone,{#blank#}4{#/blank#}also makes them feel safe especially in time of trouble. Besides，it is nice to enjoy{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(variety) functions of different cell-phones.

    Others think differently. First，the cell-phone is not{#blank#}6{#/blank#}must in school，as there are some IC phones there,{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(make) it easy to call others. Second, many students often play e-games and send{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(message) with their cell-phones, even in class, which will surely have bad effects on their study. What's more, a large amount of time and money will{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(waste).In my opinion, the cell-phone is a useful tool in our daily life. But it doesn't mean we can use it {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(free) in school.

    A few months after returning the US from Germany, I took part in a college course in French. Since I had learned to speak German good in Germany, I thought that it might be interested to begin studying another language.