Disposing(处理) of waste has been a problem since humans started producing it. As more and more people choose to live close together in cities, the waste disposal problem becomes {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(increase) difficult.

    During the eighteenth century, it was usual for several neighboring towns to get together to select a faraway spot{#blank#}2{#/blank#}a dump site(垃圾场). People {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (transport) household rubbish, rotted wood, and old possessions to the site. Regularly some of the trash was burned and the rest was buried. The {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (pleasant) sights and smells caused no problem because nobody lived close by. Factories mills (制造厂), and other industrial sites also had waste to be disposed of. Those located on rivers often just dumped the unwanted {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (remaining) into the water. Others built huge burners with chimneys to deal with the problem.

    Several facts make these choices {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (accept) to modern society. The first problem is space. Dumps,{#blank#}7{#/blank#}are now called landfills, are most needed in heavily populated areas. Such areas rarely have empty land suitable for this purpose. The land is either too expensive or too close to residential neighborhoods. A long distance dump has been a common practice,{#blank#}8{#/blank#} once farm areas are refusing to accept rubbish from elsewhere, cheap land within trucking distance of major city areas is nonexistent.{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (aware) of pollution dangers has resulted in more strict rules of waste disposal. Pollution of rivers, ground water, land and air is a price people can no longer pay to get rid of waste. The amount of waste, however, continues to grow.

    {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (recycle) efforts have become commonplace, and many towns require their people to take part. Even the most efficient recycling programs, however, can hope to deal with only about 50 percent of a city's reusable waste.

    The word Nushu literally means “women's writing” in Chinese: As the name suggests, Nushu is created and specially used by women.

    Often {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（call） “the world's only surviving characters for women”, these slim words were developed from standard written Chinese. In the old days, Nushu {#blank#}2{#/blank#}（teach）by elderly women to girls at home because female children weren't allowed {#blank#}3{#/blank#}（attend）formal school. During gatherings in villages, women used the characters to .write poems or song lyrics to express their emotions {#blank#}4{#/blank#} were hidden from men. The words were full {#blank#}5{#/blank#} encouragement and positive energy, and showed an uncommon open-mindedness among women at that time.

    Ji Xianlin once said that Nushu is a feminist（女权主义者）symbol. “It's {#blank#}6{#/blank#} unique writing system created by {#blank#}7{#/blank#}（talent）women who were deprived（剥夺）of the right to education,” he wrote in an article. “It has significance in various {#blank#}8{#/blank#}（field）and represents Chinese people's strong spirit.”

    Nushu was made as a national cultural heritage in 2006. However, it is not {#blank#}9{#/blank#}（wide）used in daily life today. In fact, it is a dying language. Now linguists are taking action to prevent this incredible cultural heritage from{#blank#}10{#/blank#}（disappear）.

    In Canada and the United States, people enjoy entertaining(请客) at home. They often invite friends over{#blank#}1{#/blank#}a meal, a party, or just for coffee and conversation.

    Here are the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (kind) of things people say when they invite someone to their home:

    "Would you like to come over for dinner Saturday night?" "Hey, we {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(have) a party on Friday. Can you come?" {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(reply) to an invitation, either say thank you and accept, or say you're sorry and give an excuse: "Thanks, I'd love to. What time would you like me to come?" {#blank#}5{#/blank#} "Oh, sorry. I've tickets for a movie."

    Sometimes, {#blank#}6{#/blank#}, people use expressions that sound like invitations but which are not real invitations. For example: "Please come over for a drink sometime." "Why not get together for {#blank#}7{#/blank#} party sometime?" "Why don't you come over and see us sometime soon?"

    They are really just polite ways of {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (end) a conversation. They are not real invitations because they don't mention a specific(确定的) time or date. They just show that the person is trying to be {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (friend). To reply to expressions like these, people just say "Sure, that would be great!" or "OK. Yes, thanks."

    So next time when you hear {#blank#}10{#/blank#} sounds like an invitation, listen carefully. Is it a real invitation or is the person just being friendly?

    Once there lived a rich man{#blank#}1{#/blank#}wanted to do something for the people of his town.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} first he wanted to find out whether they deserved his help.

    In the centre of the main road into the town, he placed{#blank#}3{#/blank#}very large stone. Then he {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(hide) behind a tree and waited. Soon an old man came along with his cow.

    “Who put this stone in the centre of the road?” said the old man, but he did not try to remove the stone. Instead, with some difficulty he passed around the stone and continued on his way{#blank#}5{#/blank#}man came along and did the same thing; then another came, and another. All of them complained about the stone but not tried to remove {#blank#}6{#/blank#}. Late in the afternoon a young man came along. He saw the stone,{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(say) to himself: “The night{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(be) very dark. Some neighbors will come along later in the dark and will fall against the stone.”

    Then he began to move the stone. He pushed and pulled with all his {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(strong) to move it. How great was his surprise at last!{#blank#}10{#/blank#} the stone, he found a bag of money.

    To me, the most beautiful thing is the ocean. It is beautiful because it has a calming effect. When {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (listen) to the sound of the waves, I feel peaceful. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the age of 10, I went to the beach for the first time. With my feet in the water, I felt totally relaxed, and the sound of the ocean really {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (comfort) me. From then on, I often dream of floating in the ocean, feeling carefree.