On April 1,2017, China announced that it would build the Xiongan New Area in Hebei province. This will be{#blank#}1{#/blank#}(great) important to China.

    The New Area, about 100 km southwest of downtown Beijing, will cover three counties{#blank#}2{#/blank#}sit at the center of the triangular area formed by Beijing, Tianjin, and Hebei's provincial capital Shijiazhuang.

    “The Xiongan New Area has great potential for{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(grow),” reported People's Daily. It had a broad space{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(develop) and will expand to cover 2,000 square kilometers . The transportation of the area is convenient, with only one hour's drive to Beijing and Tianjin.

    The New Area also has{#blank#}5{#/blank#}sound natural environment. It is home to Baiyangdian, one of the{#blank#}6{#/blank#}(large) freshwater wetlands in North China. With more than 140 lakes, the wetland is known{#blank#}7{#/blank#}the “pearl” of the North China Plain.

    Once{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(build),the area will reduce the heavy burdens of Beijing. For example, many companies , universities and scientific research{#blank#}9{#/blank#}(centre) will move from Beijing to the area.

    “International experts and media also think highly of this new area , saying that it {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(set) an example to developing countries,” noted Xinhua.

    He was a professor. At the age of 90, he still worked eight hours every day regardless{#blank#}1{#/blank#}the weather.

    His secretary said, “He was extremely old, but he forced himself to walk from his living place to the office through two blocks{#blank#}2{#/blank#}would lake him an hour to do so but he insisted because it made him get a sense of{#blank#}3{#/blank#}(succeed) .”

    One day, a university student{#blank#}4{#/blank#}(step) out of his office with a pile of books. He complained. “He always answers my questions with just a yes or no. However, he always gives me dozens of books and suggests me{#blank#}5{#/blank#} (find) the answer on my own.”

    By chance, the professor knew{#blank#}6{#/blank#}the student complained about. He explained to him with a smile, “This is the method I have learnt—the{#blank#}7{#/blank#}(hard) you work independently, the better solutions you will find. If you can make full use of the books, you will{#blank#}8{#/blank#}(probable) become a good lawyer in the future.”

    This 90-year-old man was Pound{#blank#}9{#/blank#}was the president of Law College of Law College of Harvard. He believed “all slopes are easy{#blank#}10{#/blank#} (go)”, of which he often reminded his students.

    “Why do we have to learn about these useless things?” This is what teachers have heard students complain about most {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (common). In such cases, we may tell the students such {#blank#}2{#/blank#} story:

    One night, a group of herdsmen（牧民）were about to leave the campsite when there appeared a flash of bright light. They knew that God would be there, so they looked forward to {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(get) wishes from God. God {#blank#}4{#/blank#}(begin)to speak: “You have to collect along the way a number of stones. Tomorrow night, you may be very happy, but you may be very regretful.” Then God disappeared.

    The herdsmen were very {#blank#}5{#/blank#}(disappoint), because they would look forward to God to bring them untold wealth or treasure, but they did not expect that God had told them to do all these meaningful things. However, in any case, after all, that was God's will. Although there {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (be) some dissatisfaction, they were still picking over some stones. {#blank#}7{#/blank#} this way, they took a day. When night fell, they stopped. All of a sudden, they found that all the stones they picked had turned into {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (diamond). They were happy, {#blank#}9{#/blank#} at the same time, they felt very sorry, and they regretted that they had not collected more stones.

    Now we feel that knowledge is as useless as stones, {#blank#}10{#/blank#} may become endless wealth in the future.

    Before the invention of the postage stamp, it was difficult to send a letter to another country. The sender paid for the letter {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (travel) in his or her own country. Then the person in the other country paid for that part of the trip.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} a letter crossed several countries, the problem was {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (bad).

    Rowland Hill, a British teacher, had the idea of a postage stamp with glue on the back. The British post office made the first stamps {#blank#}4{#/blank#} 1840.They were the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue. A person {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (buy) a stamp and stuck it on a letter. The post office delivered {#blank#}6{#/blank#} letter. When people received letters, they didn't have to pay anything. The letters were prepaid.

    Postage stamps became popular in Great Britain {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (immediate).Other countries started making {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (they) own postage stamps very quickly. Today, post offices in every country sell beautiful stamps.{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (collect) stamps is one of the most popular {#blank#}10{#/blank#} (hobby) in the world, and every stamp collector knows about the Penny Black and the Twopence Blue.

    If you go out to the fields at night in spring or summer, you can hear frogs singing {#blank#}1{#/blank#}（joy） here and there. It seems as if they were performing a field symphony.

    The frog is a good and useful creature that benefits human beings. They can catch fast-moving insects. Each frog eats a large number of pests that are harmful{#blank#}2{#/blank#}crops. This little creature is regarded{#blank#}3{#/blank#}the natural enemy of pests".

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}now frogs are getting fewer and fewer. This is because they are killed and put on the table as a delicious dish by their chief enemy, human beings. It is {#blank#}5{#/blank#}shameless and cruel act, isn't it?{#blank#}6{#/blank#}cause responsible for the rapid reduction of frogs is that farmers use insecticides （杀虫剂）to kill pests and frogs get killed as a result of drinking poisoned water{#blank#}7{#/blank#}eating poison-killed insects.

    Something must be done without delay{#blank#}8{#/blank#}（save）frogs. If we don't punish those{#blank#}9{#/blank#}sell and kill frogs to make money, then one day all of us {#blank#}10{#/blank#}（punish） by nature for failing to keep the balance of nature.

    "If you're talking to me in a noisy restaurant and my nerve system is good at locking onto the sound of your voice, I {#blank#}1{#/blank#} understand what you say better."

    The research at Northwestern University shows that {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (play) a musical instrument is good for your brain. And the brain remembers how to "lock onto" the important sounds, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}, our ears may not work as well as we age, and that helps us to hear better.

    A scientist, living in France twenty years ago, {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (write) about what he called the "Mozart Effect". He said that {#blank#}5{#/blank#} could be helpful to the brain when listening to the classical music of Mozart. Some researchers said that Mozart's music would make you much {#blank#}6{#/blank#} (smart), or even have some health disorders {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (cure). Others said that there was nothing special about Mozart's music. Any kind of high energy music would work. So if the cost of a musical instrument or music lessons is too costly, can we get {#blank#}8{#/blank#} same brain experience just by listening?

    Usually people have teachers, or they can teach themselves music. {#blank#}9{#/blank#}, the point is that they're actively playing a musical instrument and engaging in making music instead {#blank#}10{#/blank#} listening to music passively.