One day after school Mr. Tillman found Philo Farnsworth making drawings on the blackboard in the school-room.
“What are you doing?” Mr. Tillman asked with interest. “ What are these drawings?”

“I want to invent things,” Philo answered, “and these are drawings of my first inventions.”
Mr. Tillman smiled to himself, “What is your invention?”
“I have an idea for a way of sending pictures through the air,” The boy answered. “Please just let me tell you about it. You are the only person who can understand what I have done.”
In 1922, even radio was new. The United States had fewer than 30 radio stations. But in 1922, a boy of 16 showed his teacher drawings for television!
In 1926, Philo worked as an office boy in Salt Lake City. Many important businessmen came into the office where he worked. One of these, George Everson , was from San Francisco. Like Mr. Tillman, Everson soon became interested in Philo. The shy, hard-working boy was like other office boys who Everson had known.
One evening Everson asked Philo to have dinner with him. After the meal, Philo began talking about his idea for Television. At first, Everson was not much interested in the invention. He listened only to be polite.
Many years later, Everson wrote a book telling about that evening with Philo. “As Farnsworth talked, he seemed to change,” Everson wrote, “His eyes lighted up , and he was no longer shy.” Talking freely about his invention, Philo Farnsworth was no longer an office boy--he was a scientist.
At the end of the evening, Everson was more interested than ever in Philo. And he was also interested in Philo's idea for television.
After talking with Philo , Everson returned to San Francisco. There he brought together a number of important businessmen . Philo told them about his invention. The men became so interested in the young inventor that they gave $25,000 to help him work on his idea. Philo was only 20 years old, but here was his chance.

    Twenty-two-year-old Timothy Doner from New York City has been able to speak 23 different languages, including some rare African ones.

    Timothy began his foreign language education at the age of 13. Attracted by in Israeli(以色列) musical band. Timothy listened to their album every morning. A month Later, he kept about 20 of their songs in his mind, though he didn't know what the Hebrew(希伯来语) words mean. But once he learned the translation. it was like he had a dictionary in his head.

    Then Timothy moved on to Arabic (阿拉伯语) which he studied every morning by reading newspapers with a dictionary and by talking to street vendors (小贩). After that he learned Persian, then Russian, then Mandarin... and about twenty others and developed a crazy low for languages.

    Now, Timothy is still teaching himself new languages. With the help of language books and word-learning Apps on his iPhone. He can master a language in a few weeks or months.

    What has Timothy got from learning so many languages? "By learning languages, you are learning a lot more. You are learning about culture, everything from cooking to TV，poetry and whatever it may be. That helps you better understand the language,” he said.

(注：可适当发挥）

I am sitting in an empty football field after my last high school football game finished a few hours ago. I'm the midfield player(中场球员) in my team. But in fact that's not 1 now. I was the midfield player because, as I said, this was my 2 game. That's a good way to end a high school football career(生涯), especially if you win, but even though you don't , it's good to3 at a high point. 

I was eight when I first started playing football. My dad 4 football, and he used to practice with me at home — passing, catching, running. We used to 5 almost every evening until it got too dark. He tried to teach me 6 he knew about the game. " Just remember: Don't ever 7 . "" Stay in the game. Don't lose your concentration(专注). "" Go out there and give 110 percent every time. " Well, that was a long time ago, but I still hear his words 8 in my ears. 

I had a lot in my mind before the game today. I don't like things to 9 , I guess, and this was the last game. I was talking to myself and 10 myself about what to do and not to do. I didn't sleep at all yesterday, and when the sun came up this morning, I reached the point where11 just wanted it all to be over. But then when the game started, my mind became empty. 

I just lived in this game this moment. I didn't 12 the crowd; I didn't feel the cold or the pain;I never felt tired. I just kept my eyes on the ball, and it was just me and the ball and, inside, a soft, white light 13 me the way to the goal. It was a beautiful, empty 14 . 

It's all over now, and it's really getting cold here. It's starting to snow. The sun's almost gone, and I 15 see the goal. Now it's dark and I'm sitting here all alone. Well, I guess it's time to say good- bye and move on. 

China is a great country with more than 5, 000 years of history. There are many places of interest. They attract millions of tourists from all over the world every year. 

Many mountains, such as Mount Tai, Mount Emei, Mount Hua are very famous. People like go to Mount Tai to 1 the sun rise. 

There are many rivers in China. The Yangtze River is the longest one and the second 2 one is the Yellow River. They are the 3 of Chinese culture because Chinese ancestors (祖先) were born in the areas. 4 the rivers in China, there are also a great number of lakes. One of the most famous lakes is the West Lake. Have you heard of the story about Xu Xian and White Snake? It is said that the story 5 on the West Lake. The West Lake is the best place that I have every visited. It lies in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The scenery is so attractive that visitors often lose 6 in it. The West Lake has become famous 7 not only its special scenery but some beautiful poems. The great poets Bai Juyi and Su Dongpo 8 plenty of plenty of poems. 9 the surround- ing (周边) area of the West Lake is the home of the famous Dragon Well Tea. The tea is good for people's health. 

Have you ever been to the West Lake? If not, look for a 10 to go to the fantastic place!

Many years ago, a Spanish officer named Coronado he ard the story of seven great cities. "The walls of these cities are made of gold, " his friends told him. "The people eat meat from golden plates and wear 1  clothes, " they said. They called these cities the Seven Cities of Gold. Coronado believed what his friends said 2 . 

Coronado thought to 3 , "The things in these cities must be worth a lot of money. " So he decided to 4  the Seven Cities of Gold. He brought some men, horses, and food, then they headed west. Coronado and his men 5  for many days. Then they saw some cities. "We found the Seven Cities of Gold!" his men shouted, 6  Coronado wasn't happy. He had a different 7 , "These can't be the Seven Cities of Gold. They're made of dirt!"

Coronado was 8 . The cities were dirty and brown. The people ate food from 9  bowls. Their clothes were also very common. Coronado saw the cities as old places. "What 10  to the cities of gold?" he thought. "Did someone 11  come and take the gold?"

That night, the people of the cities entertained(款待) Coronado and his men and served them food. They 12  Coronado to go home. "There is no gold here, " they told him. Coronado was angry. Did his friends lie(撒谎) to him?

Coronado 13  the next morning when the sun rose. He looked back 14  the city one more time. The sun sh one on the dirty houses. Coronado thought he saw a bit of gold. Were his friends right after all?"No, " he told himself. "It's just the 15 . " Then he turned away and went home.