When I called{#blank#}1{#/blank#}my mother, she told me snakes came near the house now and then. Here was a chance for me to distinguish {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(my)by inventing something merciful that would seize snakes but not harm them. I tried to find some products{#blank#}3{#/blank#}might help me, but there only seemed to be{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(powder) designed to kill snakes. I set about{#blank#}5{#/blank#}(research) the habits of snakes. Prepared with some research findings, I{#blank#}6{#/blank#} (decide) on three possible approaches. I chose the most practical one to cool the snakes with frozen bowl and ice-cream so that they would become sleepy{#blank#}7{#/blank#}could be easily caught. My third attempt was{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(success). I carried in my hand a small net in the expectation that the snakes would bite again. But {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (monitor) carefully, the snakes proved to be no trouble. I collected the passive snakes and the next day and{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(merry) released them all back into the wild.

    Itzhak Perlman, a famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert. He was stricken with polio（小儿麻痹症）as a child, so getting on stage is no small {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (achieve).

    The audience sat quietly while he made his way across the stage {#blank#}2{#/blank#} his chair and began his play. But this time,{#blank#}3{#/blank#} went wrong. Just as he finished the first part, one of the strings on his violin {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(break). We thought that he would have to stop the concert. But he didn't.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again.

    {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(power) and pure, his performance attracted all the attention.

    Of course, anyone believes {#blank#}7{#/blank#}impossible to play a harmonious work with just three strings. I know that, and you know that, but that night Itzhak Perlman refused {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (know) that.

    When he finished, people rose and cheered.

    {#blank#}9{#/blank#} (smile), he wiped the sweat and said, “You know, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can still make with {#blank#}10{#/blank#}you have left.”

    Beijing was once a city of bikes, known as the Bicycle Kingdom{#blank#}1{#/blank#} cars were reserved for official business and the politically powerful. However, decades of economic {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (grow) led to a huge flowing of cars in the city. Owning one became not just a marker of reaching the middle class but also a requirement for marriage. As the economy developed, autos pushed bikes off the roads{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(create) heavy pollution and miserable traffic.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (fortunate), now Beijing may be returning to its roots. Thanks to about 20 technology companies, brightly colored shared bikes {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (flood) into Beijing in the last two years. Many local residents welcome the shared bikes {#blank#}6{#/blank#}the flexibility and freedom they offer. They pick up the bikes and then ride and drop{#blank#}7{#/blank#} off anywhere they like, locking the back wheel, with no need to find a fixed place.

    Analyses in China say it is three factors that contribute to bikes {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (increase) rapidly: a lot of cash looking for a home, a good idea and government support. “As the city's population grew, traffic jams got{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(bad).” Cai, the Ofo spokeswoman, said, “Shared bikes could solve the 'last mile' problem in{#blank#}10{#/blank#} environmentally friendly way.”

    One night last February, a seventeen-year-old Duffy drove home along a winding road, he saw a strange light thrown against the tree. “I knew it wasn't the moon”, he said. “I drive this road all {#blank#}1{#/blank#}time and I notice little things out of place.”

    Duffy stopped his car and got out {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(examine). Below him far down in the deep valley lay a broken car with its headlights on. Thirty minutes earlier, a man had driven off the edge of the road, which has no guardrail(护栏). His car fell and rolled end over end, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(land) on its top more than two hundred feet below.

    Duffy rushed to call for help, then returned and got down to reach the driver {#blank#}4{#/blank#}was badly injured. Snow covered the valley {#blank#}5{#/blank#}the temperature was below freezing. After struggling back up the cliff, Duffy took off his jacket and shirt and wrapped the man in time, along {#blank#}6{#/blank#} the blankets from his car.

    Life-saving {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(deed) are starting to become usual action for Duffy, the oldest of seven children. When he was 12, he saved his ten-year-old brother from drowning. Two years ago, his three-year-old sister {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(eat) rat poison, and Duffy {#blank#}9{#/blank#}(instant) cleaned out her mouth, make her drink milk to protect her stomach and called doctors.

    “We personal belief is that it is{#blank#}10{#/blank#}(meaning) for us to teach the children good values, and it looks like we have got some reward for it.” his father says.

    Charlie Chaplin was born in a poor family of music hall performers in 1889. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} astonished us was that Charlie {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(teach) to sing as soon as he could speak and dance as soon as he could walk. Such training was common in acting families at that time, {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (especial) when the family income was often uncertain. Unfortunately his father died, leaving the family even worse off. By his teens, Charlie had become one of the most popular child actors in England. No one was ever bored {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(watch) him—his subtle acting made everything {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(entertain). As time went by, he began making films. His film character, the little tramp, was a social {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(fail) but was loved for his optimism and determination {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(overcome) all difficulties.

    Charlie wrote, directed and produced the films he {#blank#}8{#/blank#}(star) in. In 1972 he was given {#blank#}9{#/blank#}special Oscar for his outstanding work. He lived in England and the USA but spent his last years in Switzerland, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} he was buried in 1977. He is loved and remembered as a great actor who could inspire people with great confidence.

    Inserting needles through the skin may sound scary, but acupuncncture and moxa-moxibustion, two key components of {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (tradition) Chinese medicine (TCM), are said to improve the patient's health and well-being.

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (add) to UNESCO's representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010, acupuncture and moxibustion are {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (wide) practiced in China. Their format and practice have distinctive regional characteristics and they have a precious heritage based {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Chinese culture and science.

    The theory of Chinese medicine believes the human body is a small universe with {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (it) own circulatory system, in this system, there are acupoints (穴位) connecting the channels. By stimulating these acupoints, the self-regulating functions of the human body can {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (promote). Acupuncture refers to the practice of inserting needles into the body of a patient at a certain angle and using {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (technique) such as twisting and lifting the needles to excite acupoints {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (treat) diseases. Moxa-moxibustion normally refers to placing moxa (艾) directly on acupoints or holding moxa sticks at {#blank#}9{#/blank#} distance to warm the body.

    In 1995, the World Health Organization published {#blank#}10{#/blank#} can be treated by acupuncture and moxibustion. TCM has become more and more accepted by other countries in the world.