As the first woman Chancellor (总理) in German's history, Angela MM topped Forbes magazine's list of “The World's 100 Most Powerful Women” in 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009. She has even been compared to Margaret Thatcher and many people called her “Iron Lady”.

    Merkel was born in Hamburg, West Germany, on July 17, 1954. Six weeks after she was born, her family moved to Templin. As a small child, Merkel quickly learned to speak but took longer to walk. “I was a stupid person when it comes to moving,” Merkel said. “A normal person could do something naturally, but I had to think about it in my mind and practice.” As a teenager, she was a top student and graduated from high school with perfect marks. In 1973, Merkel went to the University of Leipzig, where she studied physics. At 32, she got her doctor's degree in Physics.

    She stepped into politics in 1989. In her first big political job as Minister for the Environment in 1994, her scientific background and strong will proved very useful. In 2005, she became Germany's Chancellor. She has been re-elected to a second term as German Chancellor on September 27, 2009.

    Through her political career, Merkel's persistence (坚持) and patience helped her a lot. “She's bright and open-minded,'' said Hubert Merkel. “She is the person who wants to know exactly what is going on, and how never giving up will influence our society and future.”

    It's a classroom. Instead of being told to sit quietly and listen, you are encouraged to stand up, jump around, imagine and act out. It's a class full of laughter and applause (鼓掌), emotion and energy. Welcome to drama class, one of my favorite classes at high school.

    In drama class we used to play a lot of “drama games”. We would improvise (即兴表演), copy and above all use our imagination.

    My favorite game was called “Spotto”. One person stood in the front of the class and performed a scene, completely out of their imagination. When one audience member yelled “Spotto!”, the performer had to freeze. Then the person who had yelled Spotto had to get up and improvise a new scenario (剧情) based on the position the first performer froze in. This went on as more and more people were added to the scene. Eventually the entire class would have joined the scene. Then the performers would start to leave in reverse (颠倒的) order.

    It was a lot of fun, and a good test of everyone's imagination to see what they would come up with. Drama class at my school often involved a big performance at the end of the term as well. We would work on a production throughout the term and put on a show for our parents and the school community.

    It was a great experience to perform on stage in front of a large audience. Drama class can help shy children, like me, to come out of their shells. It helped them become more confident and developed their public speaking skills. Drama class is also a great place to express oneself, and a way for children to use up some of their energy.

    On October 17, 2016 the Shenzhou-11 manned spaceship was sent into space from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu. Two days later the spaceship successfully connected with the space laboratory Tiangong-2. It meant China got closer to its plan of building a space station in 2020.

    The spaceship took two Chinese astronauts to space this time. Jing Haipeng was an experienced astronaut who flew on Shenzhou-7 in 2008 and Shenzhou-9 in 2012. But it was Chen Dong's first space flight.

    Jing and Chen were given a 30-day task on Tiangong-2. They tested new technology and did experiments to prepare for future space station tasks. The astronauts themselves were also the subject (对象) of those experiments. The life support devices (设备) they used and how they lived inside the space laboratory were studied. No Chinese astronaut had stayed in space for that long before.

A month-long space task was not easy, so Chinese scientists and engineers had come up with lots of new technologies to allow astronauts to stay more safely and more comfortably in space. One of the new technologies tested during this task was a device called "space hospital". The space hospital was two little silver boxes tied around the two astronauts, legs. Through the "space hospital", scientists and doctors on the Earth could watch the astronauts, heart rate and temperature. When the astronauts felt tired, the "space hospital" could even massage (为…按摩) them.

    After this task, China was expected to send an unmanned cargo spaceship (无人货运飞船) in mid-April the next year. It docked with Tiangong-2 and took new fuel to the space laboratory.

    There are so many expressions in American English that sound pleasant but are not.

    “Face the music” is a good example. When someone says they have to face the music, it does not mean they are going to a musical performance or concert. To face the music means to accept the unpleasant results of an action.

    Imagine a friend asks you to take care of her beautiful red sports car. She gives you the keys and says, “Thanks so much for watching my car while I'm away. But please do not drive it. It is an extremely fast car and you are not on the insurance (保险).”

    But you do not listen. You want to show off to some friends and pretend the car is yours. So, you drive it around town one night. As bad luck would have it, you lose control of the car and drive it into a stop sign. The damage is severe. When your friend returns you must tell her what you have done and “face the music”.

    The “music” here is the consequence or result of your actions. It could be losing her friendship or paying for repairs to her sports car or both. Whatever the music is, you must face it.

    There are other American expressions that mean the same as “face the music”.

    To “take your medicine” means to accept the results from something bad you have done. And if someone says, “You made your bed. Now lie in it.” He means you created a bad situation and now you will experience the results, or as we say in American spoken English, you must deal with it!

    “Pay the piper” also means the same as “face the music”. But, that expression has its own very interesting beginning. We will talk about that on another Words and Their Stories.

    A lot of kids and adults say they get nervous during social situations. Maybe it's speaking up in class or making a phone call or just trying something new. You might feel butterflies in your stomach, or your heart may beat faster or you get suddenly sweaty.  And if fear of being embarrassed or making a mistake is getting in your way, there are some things you can try on your own to help.

    Experts agree that avoiding situations that make us anxious can actually make things worse in the long run. Getting out of something you didn't want to do might make you feel better in the moment, but you will still feel anxious the next time you're asked to do it.

    Push yourself.

    While leaving your comfort zone isn't easy, it can be very good for you. That's because anxiety tends to go away when you start doing the things that make you anxious.You might find you have the skills to handle it. And next time you're in that situation you might feel less self-conscious.

    Practice a lot.

    As an experiment, try doing something that makes you nervous. Whatever you do, you'll find that it gets easier over time. That's because by practicing the things that make you nervous you are actually improving your ability to easily handle them.

    Relax yourself.

    Instead of trying to relax by watching television or visiting a website, try a deep relaxation practice that has a physical effect on the mind.

A. Don't avoid something.

B. Being nervous is uncommon.

C. Pay no attention to your original thoughts.

D. Those things are your body's reaction to fear.

E. Start with little things like answering questions in class.

F. So try to face your anxiety and fear and see what happens.

G. For example, doing things like yoga can also help you stay calm.

    If your father never says to you “I love you” when you are a child, it 1 to be more and more difficult for him to say the words as he grows2.

    I do not 3 hearing the words from my father when I was growing up.4, I could not recall (回忆) when I had 5 said those words to him either.

    One day, I decided to 6 the ice and make the first 7. So in our next phone conversation I gathered all my 8 and let out the words in a low voice,” Dad… I love you!”

    There was a 9at the other end and he awkwardly 10, “Well, same back at you!”

    I was unexpectedly 11and my voice was raised,” Dad, I know you love me, and I know when you are ready, you will say what you want to say.”

    Fifteen minutes later my mother called and 12 asked, “Paul, is everything okay?”

    A few weeks later, Dad 13 our phone conversation with the words, “Paul, I love you.” I was so moved that tears were rolling down my cheeks as I finally “14” the love.

    As I sat there in tears I realized that this 15 moment had taken our father-and-son relationship to a new 16. Shortly afterwards, my father narrowly 17death following heart surgery (外科手术). Many times 18, I have 19 if I had not taken the first step and Dad not 20 the surgery, I would have never “heard” the love.

    “Traveling to China seems like traveling to another world. Its many famous scenic attractions impressed me  (great),”an American said. The following is  he wrote on his website.

    My friends and I had a family visit in Xi'an, old city with a long history in China. The hosts were retired or stayed at home without a job, and they were friendly to  (visit) from different countries coming their homes.

    We (taste) the true home-cooked dishes in the home of the family that we visited. For in-homing dinner, the host would prepare a list of menus in advance (提前). Our tour guide asked  (we) for advice about the food, so the host would try to cook what we wanted  (eat) at his home. We just enjoyed the locally cooked dishes. It was quite a different and exciting experience.

    Many foreigners enjoy  (learn) how to make Chinese dumplings. We were also  (offer) a general cooking class in the local family. The host taught us to make dumplings step by step with lots of patience. And we didn't need to pay any money this. Travel China Guide offers this kind of service free of charge.

    The family visit in Xi'an was a good chance for us to get to know Chinese people's daily life.

增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；2．只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。

    I'm so exciting that our drama club won the first prize in this competition. Participating in this club help us to learn more about drama, but develop our self-confidence and cultural qualities as well. Besides, thanks for the club, I have known many friends who share the same interest with myself. There we communicate and learn from each other. Before the competition we keep on practicing for long time. Luckily, our efforts were paid off, what is beyond our expectation.

    Finally, I'd like to express my thanks to all of our teachers who directed us, friends who helped us, and partners who worked hardly. Thank you for all your kindness.

提示：1）校园很美,老师和同学都很友好；

2）英语在中国很受欢迎，大家认为学习英语很重要；

3）中国菜很好吃；但天气太热，不是很会说汉语，交流有点困难；

4）补充一两句观点。

注意：1）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

2）词数70词左右。（开头和结尾已写好，但不计入总词数）

Dear Mike,

    How nice to hear from you again! I've been in Xi'an for half a year.

    Looking forward to meeting you soon.

Yours,

Jim