A: Hello, Kate! You look so happy. What happened?

B: Hi, Paul. I've got good news for us!

A: What is it?

B: Our teacher said she {#blank#}1{#/blank#} take us to go on a school trip tomorrow.

A: Really? Where shall we go?

B: To the lake in the south of our town.

A: Oh, no. That's not a good place for a school trip.

B: Why do you say that?

A: Because the water in the lake {#blank#}2{#/blank#} terrible. I went there last weekend.

B: I can {#blank#}3{#/blank#} believe it. It used to be a beautiful place with flowers and grass, and the water in the lake was very {#blank#}4{#/blank#}.

A: But now everything has changed. There is only rubbish {#blank#}5{#/blank#}.

B: How terrible! Let's tell our teacher about it.

A: OK. Let's go.

    A Duckling is very sad because he is the ugliest among his brothers and sisters. To his{#blank#}1{#/blank#}when he grows up, he finds{#blank#}2{#/blank#}a handsome young swan! The Ugly Duckling is one of the most popular fairy tales in the world {#blank#}3{#/blank#}by Danish writer Hans Christian Anderson.

    In fact, Andersen was an ugly duckling. In 1805, he was born in a poor family in Denmark.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} a young boy, Andersen was tall, ugly and had a very big nose. His friend always made fun of his big nose. Later, because of his father's{#blank#}5{#/blank#} little Andersen had to make a {#blank#}6{#/blank#}by himself. He once  {#blank#}7{#/blank#}as a tailor and make money in a theater.

    The {#blank#}8{#/blank#}in life help him create his fairy tales. In the Little Mermaid, he talks about the sacrifice(牺牲) , in Emperor's New Clothes, he makes jokes of  the authority(当权者). Today, Anderson is famous around the world. His fairy tales have been{#blank#}9{#/blank#}into over 100 languages. The Hans Christian Anderson Award(奖) is named after him. It is the {#blank#}10{#/blank#}award to give a writer of children's books.

English

    World language

    Once people {#blank#}1{#/blank#} a language that everybody in the world could understand. Now, for the {#blank#}2{#/blank#} time in human history, perhaps there is one -- English It is the official language in more than 50 countries and 250-300 million people {#blank#}3{#/blank#} it as a second language. Some say that half the world will be speaking it in the year 2050.

    Difficult to master?

    English is not the {#blank#}4{#/blank#} language to learn -- most of its common verbs are irregular and it has a large vocabulary -- at least 200, 000 words are in common use.

    User-friendly

    But some things make {#blank#}5{#/blank#} easy. For example, nouns don't have gender ( 性别) and the usages of verbs are simpler than other languages. There is {#blank#}6{#/blank#} one form to speak to someone directly -- "you". Adjectives don't agree {#blank#}7{#/blank#} nouns, and many nouns are often also verbs.

    English Is Everywhere

    Some other languages may have more speakers, like Chinese. But English {#blank#}8{#/blank#} in many different areas. It is the language of transport: most airline pilots and air-traffic controllers use it. At {#blank#}9{#/blank#} English is the international language of communication.

    The Future of English

    What is the future of English as a global language? Will {#blank#}10{#/blank#} language ever replace it? Many think not -- it is already too popular.

    Ever since his new movie Guardians of the Galaxy(《银河护卫队》became a hot topic at the box office, Chris Pratt has become{#blank#}1{#/blank#}around the world. But do you know that the actor comes from a poor family? His road to fame has not been easy. After{#blank#}2{#/blank#}high school, Chris attended college. However, his time as a college student was short. He dropped out(辍学) one year later. Then, he made a living with different kinds of jobs, {#blank#}3{#/blank#}a salesman and a restaurant waiter. For a short time, he was homeless and slept on the{#blank#}4{#/blank#}.