When I met Larry, my husband-to-be, he came with an eighteen-month-old daughter, Mckenna, and a four-year-old son, Lorin. I quickly {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (fall) in love with Lorin and Mckenna, {#blank#}2{#/blank#} the children's mother, Dia, was a different story.

    There was a feeling of hostility（敌意）between us. Sometimes I wished that she would simply disappear. Then the children could stay with us— {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (true) be mine—and we could be a “real” family.

    Years {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (pass) by, something changed. I began to enjoy talking to Dia about the Kids. And she realized that there were very few people in the world {#blank#}5{#/blank#} were as interested in her children {#blank#}6{#/blank#} I was. One year, Dia sent me a Mother's Day card thanking me for “co-mothering” her children.

    Thank you, Dia, for being kind enough {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (share) your children with me. Thank you for making Christmas morning {#blank#}8{#/blank#} exciting and warm time, so the children never had to feel sad on these important days. We all could sit around the tree. There {#blank#}9{#/blank#} were, you and your husband, Larry and me, the kids ... and {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (surprise), I felt at home.

    In much of Asia, especially the so-called “rice bowl” cultures of China, Japan, Korea, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Vietnam, food is usually eaten with chopsticks.

    Chopsticks are usually two long, thin pieces of wood or bamboo. They can also be made of plastic, animal bone or metal. Sometimes chopsticks are quite artistic. Truly elegant chopsticks might {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (make) of gold and silver with Chinese characters. Skilled workers also combine various hardwoods and metal {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (create) special designs.

    The Chinese have used chopsticks for five thousand years. People probably cooked their food in large pots, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (use) twigs（树枝）to remove it. Over time, {#blank#}5{#/blank#} the population grew, people began cutting food into small pieces so it would cook more quickly. Food in small pieces could be eaten easily with twigs which {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (gradual) turned into chopsticks.

    Some people think that the great Chinese scholar Confucius, {#blank#}7{#/blank#} lived from roughly 551 to 479 B.C., influenced the {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (develop) of chopsticks. Confucius believed knives would remind people of killings and {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (be) too violent for use at the table.

    Chopsticks are not used everywhere in Asia. In India, for example, most people traditionally eat {#blank#}10{#/blank#} their hands.

    The Spring Festival, also known as the Lunar New Year, is the most important {#blank#}1{#/blank#}(tradition) festival in China, which falls in late January or early February.

    The historical reason for beginning the New Year in such a time is{#blank#}2{#/blank#} it is the time between autumn harvest and spring plowing and planting. In other words, it is the time for rest, relaxation and celebration after a year's hard work.

    Except this practical reason for celebrating the Spring Festival, a popular Chinese legend offers another {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (explain), which is {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (general) accepted in China. In ancient times, a devil called “Nian” that lived under the sea would attack people once a year on the eve of the New Year. It jumped out from the sea and attacked villages{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (eat) people, animals and plants. As they could no longer bear Nian's cruel persecution（迫害）, the villagers gathered {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (discuss) how to deal with Nian and some people suggested that the devil was afraid of loud noises, red color and flame. So people {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (light) firecrackers and fireworks, put up red couplets on{#blank#}8{#/blank#} (they) gates and beat drums to drive Nian away. The idea worked{#blank#}9{#/blank#}Nian ran away.

    Since ever, the custom and tradition of celebrating the Spring Festival has formed and the practices of putting up red couplets on gates, setting {#blank#}10{#/blank#} firecrackers and fireworks, etc. have been passed down.

    For thousands of years, fishes {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (feed) the people of Peru. It was only when the industrial fishing boats got started in {#blank#}2{#/blank#}1950s that people lost interest in the fish. Modern fishery turned most of its catch into fishmeal(鱼饲料) for feeding other animals. In fact, most of the fish {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (catch) yearly around the world are for use other than eating, and 90% of them are {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (perfect) good to eat.

    White is a researcher at the University of British Columbia and he spent years {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (research) into fishery catches around the world. According {#blank#}6{#/blank#} his study, about 27% of ocean fish which were caught became fishmeal or fish oil. Those products were used to feed farmed fish or used in agriculture.

    "There could be a {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (good) use of these fish," says White. Instead of feeding fish to fish, the fish could feed people, especially those {#blank#}8{#/blank#} need high-quality protein. But the reason why that doesn't happen is a {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (combine) of economics and regulations(法规). In many places, a fisherman can get more money if he sells his catch for fishmeal than if he sells it to the locals for {#blank#}10{#/blank#} meals. And in Peru, a change in how fishes are handled could both satisfy the need to feed the people and supply the fishmeal industry.