W: What {#blank#}1{#/blank#} wonderful place!

M: I wanted the best restaurant {#blank#}2{#/blank#} your birthday. And I know you like French food. Let's begin with a cocktail(鸡尾酒) and then look at the menu.

W: I don't want to look at it because {#blank#}3{#/blank#} always takes me a year to make up my mind. Any suggestions?

M: I've never been here before, but everything {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (suppose) to be excellent.

W: They have snails(蜗牛)! But I wouldn't dare eat them. They might make me sick.

M: I feel the same way about snails. I think I'll have roast duck(烤鸭). It comes with vegetables and potatoes.

W: {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (sound) good. But {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I like seafood, I'd like {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (begin) with some seafood. And let's have the salad after the main course.

M: Fine. We should have white wine with dinner and champagne(香槟)with dessert since this is {#blank#}8{#/blank#}celebration.

W: Oh, don't forget the cheese. There's nothing like real French cheese.

M: I can see already this {#blank#}9{#/blank#} going to be an {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (enjoy) and delicious dinner.     

    The First World War postcard has{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(final) been sent after many years. It is a very old postcard. This postcard was from a 19-year old soldier, Alfred, during the First World War. He{#blank#}2{#/blank#}(write) this postcard and sent it to his lovely sister Nell{#blank#}3{#/blank#}January 1916. The postcard is dated 1916 and{#blank#}4{#/blank#}is a cartoon picture of a new solider on the front.

    Alfred has written to his sister, “Dear Nell, just{#blank#}5{#/blank#}postcard to let you know I have not forgotten you. On the other side you will see our orders for next week. I will need your pity. Write to me, your brother Alfred.” Sadly, Alfred{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(kill) in a flight in 1918 before the card arrived.{#blank#}7{#/blank#} (year) later, his sister died in 1964.

    The postcard is marked 1916 and again September 2010 when it was stamped to arrive. But the postman couldn't find the{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(receive) any more. The post office said it was out of the question that the card was with{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(they) all the time. They regularly cleaned out their offices and post boxes. The{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(postcard) history for the last 94 years is still a mystery.

    Chris is not a traditional explorer— he usually {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (work) in an office for a large organization. However, Chris' job can be just {#blank#}2{#/blank#} exciting and dangerous as being an explorer.

    Chris is a doctor from France and he works for MSF,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} is also known as Doctors Without Borders. MSF sends its doctors all over the world {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(help) people after a war or a disaster. The organization received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1999.

    At the moment, there are over 27,000 trained doctors taking part in MSF projects and tasks. This year, more than 2300 international doctors will join {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (they) to provide medical help around the world. All kinds of doctors can volunteer for MSF. They need to be {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (prepare) to go almost anywhere and, of course, they should expect difficult conditions. When MSF accepts a doctor for a task, he has to go for {#blank#}7{#/blank#} least six months.

    When {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (ask) why he left a comfortable life and a good salary to join MSF, Chris said, “The experience I gain is a great help in my career. More {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (important), it is great to know at the end of each task that I have made a real {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (different) to people's lives.”

    Chinese brush calligraphy or “shufa” in Chinese is one of{#blank#}1{#/blank#} most important art forms in China. Many Asian cultures have originated their own calligraphy styles, but China's is unequaled because of {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(it) beauty, grace (优雅), and history.

    The {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (origin) of Chinese brush calligraphy are unknown, but local tales say it goes back over 4,000 years to the time of the legendary (传说的) Yellow Emperor (2698-2598 B.C.). At that time characters were carved on animal bones or tortoise shells. Only after Emperor Qin Shi Huang united China under his rule {#blank#}4{#/blank#} one country did it really gain popularity as a common art form.

    He simplified Chinese characters and regular rules were set,{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (make) it easier for people to learn and master. This Chinese art form continued to progress and during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) a new type of cursive script (草书) was formed and standardized. It is written {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(free), but it's not as easy to read.

    Today Chinese calligraphy is once again a subject in schools and an art form highly {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(appreciate) across the world. Anyone can practice it and{#blank#}8{#/blank#} is required is a simple set including: brush, ink, and paper. It's fun for amateurs to try, but to become good at it, not only years of practice but natural talent {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (need). Practising this art consistently can develop personal character and is of {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (benefit) to health.

    No one thought that young Albert Einstein would grow up to change the world. He was so slow in learning to speak that he was considered a bit {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(fool).

    Albert Einstein was never happy in school. He answered slowly because he was very thoughtful, and he asked difficult questions, which made {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(he) teachers think that he was trying {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(make) trouble. The strict discipline(纪律)of a German school made him very unhappy.

    However, young Einstein {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(do) learn what interested him, and he was interested in what lay below the surface of  {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(thing). For instance, his father once gave him a compass(指南针). This made Albert curious {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the unseen forces that could keep a compass needle always pointing north. In his teens he read deep in science. He had already started to wonder about the mysteries of {#blank#}7{#/blank#} universe.

    At 17, Einstein entered the Polytechnic Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} he studied mathematics and physics. He stayed away from many lectures and did not impress his professors, but he was {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(actual) studying very hard all the time. When he graduated in 1900, he asked to be appointed as an assistant in the physics department but {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(refuse).