People eat rice all over the world

    Rice {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (believe) to have been first grown in China or possibly somewhere else in eastern Asia around 10,000 years ago. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} earliest evidence of rice farming comes from a 7,000-year-old site near the lower Yangtze River village of Hemudu in Zhejiang province in China.

    Rice is a kind of food which requires much labor. In developed countries, the planting and harvesting is done {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(most) with machines. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}, in much of the world, these things are still largely done by hand. It takes one farmer 1,000 to 2,000 working hours {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(raise)a rice crop on 2.5 acres of land. The fact that rice needs so much labor means{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(keep)a lot of the population on the land.

    Rice is also a crop {#blank#}7{#/blank#} need of lots of water. The wet rice grown in most of Asia needs hot weather after a period of rain and conditions provided by the rainy seasons affect many of the places {#blank#}8{#/blank#} rice is grown.

    Rice straws(稻杆）{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(leave)in the fields add nutrients(营养物)to the soil after rice is harvested(收割). For the next crop, rice farmers can often enjoy a good harvest by adding little {#blank#}10{#/blank#} no fertilizer.(肥料)

Dear Dad,

    On this date of your 50th birthday, Mom gave me the letter you wrote me when I was born 18 years ago. In your letter, you {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(wish) me to be strong-minded and successful. You were looking forward to {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(see) me fight for my future bravely and do well for {#blank#}3{#/blank#} and others.

    After reading this letter, I feel quite {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(shock) at your{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(expect) on me. I also feel shamed {#blank#}6{#/blank#}not having performed well to meet your demand. I still remember when I was in primary school, I failed to apply myself to studying. I was addicted to computer games. As a consequence, I soon became the last one in my class. You didn't abuse me at all. {#blank#}7{#/blank#}the contrary, you taught me that studying was the most important object at the moment and encouraged me to study hard. Only {#blank#}8{#/blank#}I read your letter did I realize that I behaved so badly at that time and you were so sad to see I didn't do well for myself.

    I can't help expressing my gratitude and sending my best wishes to you. Wish you{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(health) and happy. I promise that I will spare no effort to satisfy your demand of being {#blank#}10{#/blank#}brave and successful person.

    My mom was a nurse and often took me along to visit the {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（family） she was caring for, including one who had a series of strokes （中风） and was bedridden. One afternoon Mom told me that we needed to visit the woman {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（give）her medications, and that we would stop at a store {#blank#}3{#/blank#} the way. I thought we would stop at a drugstore, but we pulled up to a shopping mall.

    My mom {#blank#}4{#/blank#}（head） to the perfume（香水）counter and bought the most expensive bottle they offered. She also bought a beautiful nightdress. When I asked her who they were for, she said they were for her patient. She {#blank#}5{#/blank#}（far） explained although this woman was old and bedridden, she was still a lady, and {#blank#}6{#/blank#} old deserved to be treated with respect and grace. When {#blank#}7{#/blank#} （care） for someone, we should look past the disability or the illness and look into the soul of the human, so we can connect them with sympathy. I soon realized that my mom's greatest {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（strong）was taking care of those who cannot advocate for {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（they） and need trustworthy care providers. That's {#blank#}10{#/blank#} I wanted to become a doctor.