As we all know, Columbus was a great explorer. He left Spain in September 1492,{#blank#}1{#/blank#} (look) for gold. Native Americans greeted him, offering gifts of corn. Columbus found little gold on that trip, but he collected many {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (plant), including corn, to bring back to Spain.

    Columbus didn't know it, but the corn was much {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (valuable) than gold. Farmers from Europe to Asia accepted it {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (immediate). They grew it on cold mountainsides and in rainforests. So it {#blank#}5{#/blank#} (feed) millions of people all over the world today.

    On his second trip, Columbus brought back a few chocolate beans to make chocolate. Europeans and Asians loved this new drink, and soon they were paying a great deal of money for the beans. Chocolate beans became so valuable in Central America {#blank#}6{#/blank#} they {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (use)as cash for 200 years.

    Tomatoes and potatoes took some time to become popular. Eventually, {#blank#}8{#/blank#}, they became the basis of a lot of popular foods. {#blank#}9{#/blank#} is hard to imagine life without fried potatoes or chocolate. Thanks{#blank#}10{#/blank#} native American culture, many people are able to enjoy lots of tasty food.

    We use flowers as messengers to say something we might have trouble {#blank#}1{#/blank#} (say) directly ourselves. Over time flowers have come to symbolize the most {#blank#}2{#/blank#} (power) human experiences: beauty, love, hope, and rebirth. Sweet flowers alone can say what one {#blank#}3{#/blank#} (fear) expressing. We've listed some of the most famous flowers that have an important meaning. In Mao Zedong's poem Ode to Plum Blossom《咏梅》, the plum blossom was used {#blank#}4{#/blank#} (praise) soldiers who sacrificed their lives for Chinese people. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} great Chinese poet Li Bai from the Tang Dynasty once compared Yang Yuhuan's beautiful face {#blank#}6{#/blank#} blooming peonies (牡丹). Flowering in May, peonies' large petals and strong colors are linked to prosperity (成功) and richness. The orchid (兰花) is well known because {#blank#}7{#/blank#} (it) delicate smell attracts lots of people. Beautiful articles and poems {#blank#}8{#/blank#} (call) “lanzhang” by Chinese people in traditional Chinese culture. Roses, of course, have the most colorful meaning among all the flowers. Red roses mean “I love you.” A red rose, rather than yellow roses, acts as the traditional romantic gift{#blank#}9{#/blank#} (give) to your love on Valentine's Day. Sending yellow roses can be risky, as they represent either friendship {#blank#}10{#/blank#} envy.

    The music industry is never short of teen pop stars with wonderful looks, {#blank#}1{#/blank#} it doesn't often find one like US singer Taylor Swift. "Beneath Taylor Swift's not-a-girl, not-yet-a-woman sweetness hides a very {#blank#}2{#/blank#}(skill)songwriting technique (技巧)," writes Leah Greenblatt with Entertainment Weekly.

    Songwriting, the country singer explains, is "how I deal with problems. I am used to {#blank#}3{#/blank#}(write) about things that really influences me most." So in her songs, there is always {#blank#}4{#/blank#} true and honest. They seem like stories from {#blank#}5{#/blank#} diary and that certainly helps Swift attract her audience.

    She {#blank#}6{#/blank#}(sell) more than 13 million copies worldwide of her first two albums, 2006's self-titled debut (首张专辑) and 2008's Fearless. She's the youngest artist ever to {#blank#}7{#/blank#}(name) Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Not surprisingly, there were great expectations for her third album, Speak Now, {#blank#}8{#/blank#} came out late last month, where she again returned {#blank#}9{#/blank#} her own life for material. "The 14 songs are all about the last two years... when life was a little bit bigger and {#blank#}10{#/blank#}(crazy)," says Swift. "So I've written about the lessons and confusion and heartbreak and all the different things that go along with being 18, 19 and 20."