In 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, only white people were {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to sit in the first four rows of public buses. African-American people had to use the seats towards the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} of the bus.

    If someone {#blank#}3{#/blank#} was African-American sat in the white part, he or she would be asked to move.

    One day, an African-American named Rosa Parks was {#blank#}4{#/blank#} in a “whites only” part of the bus.

    The bus was {#blank#}5{#/blank#} and some white people needed a seat, so the driver asked Rosa Parks to give {#blank#}6{#/blank#} her seat.

    But she refused. She was {#blank#}7{#/blank#} after a long day working in a store and she felt she should have the right to sit {#blank#}8{#/blank#} she wanted, so she told the driver “no”.

    For that, she was arrested (逮捕). She was tried for just 30 minutes and fined (罚款) $10—a lot of money in those days.

    She also {#blank#}9{#/blank#} her job because of that.

    Today, in the United States, December 1 is a {#blank#}10{#/blank#} called Rosa Parks Day. Rosa Parks is celebrated for her action and bravery.

    Alice was born with a strange disease. She was taken to many hospitals. None of the {#blank#}1{#/blank#} knew the cause of the disease. They told her parents she would go blind and deaf.

    Now Alice is fifteen years old. Her eyesight and hearing are so poor that she can't see or hear {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. But she is a bright and happy girl. She says to {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, "Whatever happens, I will never give up. " She {#blank#}4{#/blank#} to enjoy her life. With her {#blank#}5{#/blank#} help, she is travelling as much as she can. She is also {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the interesting things she experiences along the way.

    She also wants to help people like her. Her dream is to help researchers {#blank#}7{#/blank#} a method for her disease. If she can get {#blank#}8{#/blank#}, people who have the same disease may also be cured (治愈). In fact, she has {#blank#}9{#/blank#} money for a foundation (基金会) fighting the disease since she was in Grade Two. Until now, she has got over $150，000!

    Alice thinks helping others can make her {#blank#}10{#/blank#} than having fun alone. She is doing her best to live her life without any regret.

    How can we practice our spoken English?

    The first and the most {#blank#}1{#/blank#} thing is to believe yourself. You should always be full of confidence, or you will never be able to improve your English. You should often encourage {#blank#}2{#/blank#}.

    "Come on, don't be afraid."

    You should never lose heart and never {#blank#}3{#/blank#}.

    Maybe you are afraid of {#blank#}4{#/blank#} face, but you should think since we are students and we are learning, there is no need to worry about{#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

    You must always be active in practice. There is no problem that your pronunciation and intonation (语调) can't be as good as the native people because we are {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, and we don't have chances to live in foreign countries and talk with the people there. But you must know that the main way to study English is to make ourselves {#blank#}7{#/blank#}other people. You should believe that native speakers will not laugh at you, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} they will encourage you. So if you are brave {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, you will certainly make rapid progress in your spoken English.

Don't be shy or afraid! Just have {#blank#}10{#/blank#} try.

    One evening Nasreddin heard a noise in his garden and looked out of the window. A white ox had got into the garden and was eating his vegetables. Nasreddin at once took his{#blank#}1{#/blank#}, ran out and chased the ox, but he was too old to catch it. When he got back to his garden, he found that the ox had ruined(毁坏)most of his precious vegetables.

    The next morning, while he was walking in the street near his house, he saw cart(运货车)with two white oxen which{#blank#}2{#/blank#}the one that had eaten his vegetables very much. He was carrying his stick with him, so he at once began to beat the two oxen with it. As neither of them looked more like the ox that had eaten his vegetables than the other, he beat{#blank#}3{#/blank#}of them equally hard. The owner of the oxen and the cart was drinking coffee in a nearby coffee-house. When he saw what Nasreddin was doing to his animals, he{#blank#}4{#/blank#}out and shouted, "What are you doing? What have those poor animals done to you for you to beat them like that?" "You keep out of this!" Nasreddin shouted back. This is a matter between me and one of these two oxen. He knows very well why I am beating him!"