Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961), an American writer of novels and short stories, is well thought of for his unique writing style. He is extremely good at describing the adventures of tough men who he believes “can be destroyed but not     1     (defeat). The Old Man and the Sea, one of his most important novels, tells the story of a fisherman named Santiago. After coming in empty-handed for eighty-four days, Santiago attempts       2     (catch) a huge fish.

The fish was coming in on his circle now calm and beautiful looking and only his great tail moving. The old man pulled on him all that he could to bring him closer. For just a moment the fish turned a little on his side. Then he     3     (straight) himself and began another circle.

“I moved him,” the old man said. “I moved him then.”

He felt faint again now but he held on the great fish all the strain that he could. I moved him, he thought. Maybe this time I can get him over. Pull, hands, he thought. Hold up, legs. Last for me, head. Last for me. You never went. This time I’ll pull him over.

But when he put all of his effort on, starting it well out before the fish came alongside and pulling with all his     4     (strong), the fish pulled part way over and then righted himself and swam away.

“Fish,” the old man said. “Fish, you are going to have to die anyway. Do you have to kill me too?”

That way nothing     5     (accomplish), he thought. His mouth was too dry to speak but he could not reach for the water now. I must get him alongside this time, he thought. I am not good for many more turns. Yes you are, he told himself. You’re good for ever.

On the next turn, he nearly had him. But again the fish righted himself and swam slowly away.

You are killing me, fish, the old man thought. But you have a right to. Never have I     6     (see) a greater, or more beautiful, or a calmer or more noble thing than you, brother. Come on and kill me. I do not care who kills who.

Now you are getting     7     (confuse) in the head, he thought. You must keep your head clear. Keep your head clear and know how to suffer like a man. Or a fish, he thought.

“Clear up, head,” he said in     8     voice he could hardly hear. “Clear up.”

Twice more it was the same on the turns.

I do not know, the old man thought. He had been on the point     9     feeling himself go each time. I do not know. But I will try it once more.

He tried it once more and he felt himself going when he turned the fish. The fish righted himself and swam off again slowly with the great tail weaving in the air.

I’ll try it again, the old man promised, although his hands were mushy now and he could only see well in flashes.

He tried it again and it was the same. So he thought, and he felt himself going     10     he started . I will try it once again.

3 . “Charlieeeeeeee, do your homework now!” his mother was shouting.

Charlie thought, “Well she doesn’t have to do it.” and he spent hours with his books, hoping that time would pass and it would soon be time for supper. As usual, he was lying on his bed, busy staring at the ceiling, daydreaming. Suddenly some little elves (精灵), no more than a centimetre tall, appeared by the window.

One of the elves asked Charlie politely to give them his homework so they can play with it.

Charlie agreed and watched his guests, and was so surprised to see what they did. In less than a minute, they had formed teams and were busy playing with the pen, the eraser, the book, and the pad of paper. Very strange stuff they were getting up to. Like with the sums, instead of moving the pen across the paper, they would hold the pen still and move the paper instead. Or like how they had races to see who could do the sums fastest. They also used well-known songs to learn the words to them.When they had done that they put on a big concert to sing those songs.

Charlie really enjoyed watching those little students. He even joined in with the singing.

“Aww, this is so much fun...”

“Of course, it’s fun! Why don’t you try it for a few days yourself? We’ll all come back to see you again from time to time.”

“Deal!” agreed Charlie.

So, every evening, Charlie started playing with his homework, inventing new and crazier ways to make it more fun. He would sing loads of songs and do all manner of other things too. Now and again, his elf friends would turn up.

Neither Charlie’s parents, nor his teachers, nor anyone in the whole school could understand the great change in him. From that day on, not only did he spend a lot more time doing homework, he did it perfectly. He was very happy, and was always singing. His mother told him how proud she was at seeing him work so hard.

But Charlie said to himself, “Well, she doesn’t have to do it. It’s fun!”

4 . Who was it on the top floor?

The lamp lit up a man’s face. Pip didn’t recognize it, but the expression showed that its owner was pleased to see Pip.

Suddenly Pip knew who he was when he sat down in a chair near the fire! The convict in the churchyard years ago!

“You helped me, Pip,” said the man. “I have never forgotten it.”

Pip felt none for him, saying, “If you’ve come here to thank me, it isn’t necessary. You must understand... But you are tired. Would you like something to drink before you go?”

“Thank you. I know, you are no longer what you used to be. It doesn’t hurt to ask how you managed to live such a life as a gentleman.”

“I have a benefactor,” Pip replied, embarrassed.

“Could I guess your income?” said the convict, smiling. “Is the first figure five?”

Pip’s heart started to beat very fast.

“And do you have a guardian whose name begins with the letter J?”

Suddenly Pip understood why the man was there. He stood up and held the back of a chair. The man took Pip’s hands and kissed them. But Pip still remembered that this man was a criminal.

“You’re like a son of me, Pip. I was working for you in Australia,” the man went on. “I’m happy you are spending my money.”

Pip smiled and listened weakly.

“It wasn’t easy for me to see you and stay with you here. I was sent away for life. If they find me back in London, they’ll hang me.”

Feeling even worse and too confused, Pip just said, “You are tired. You need a good sleep. Good night.”

After an hour or two, something started to become clear to Pip. Miss Havisham had no interest in his future or plans for him and Estella. She was using them to take her revenge on men!

6 . Charlotte Grainger explains that it was her primary school teacher who first speculated that she might write a novel. “I thought the height of achievement would be to write a book because it seemed such a challenge and anyway I didn’t know what other teenagers were doing, like being in the Olympics, for example. When I turned 13, I thought I may be as well attempt this now. Recently I told my ex-teacher about it and she was astonished. She told me she’d meant I’d do it when I was 30 or 40. That had never occurred to me — I couldn’t understand why I’d be expected to put something on hold that I had a chance of being good at.”

It’s a winter afternoon, in the offices of Charlette’s publishers. The public relations representative for the book is keeping us company in case Charlotte might need defending. But she needs neither parental nor professional support. She’s her own person: spirited, with an alert face and great intelligence, but also a steadiness that prevents any overconfidence she could be forgiven for feeling.

She has a theory about teenagers and the way they are “betrayed” by the fiction that is specifically aimed at them. There are, she maintains, three types of teenagers depicted in novels. “There’s the outsider who becomes acceptable to society, the naive teenager who knows nothing about the big wide world, and the awkward teenage character who is socially skilled. The overall impression teenagers can get from some writers is teenagers can’t possibly know who they are because they are not experienced enough to know the truth. And when that is being pushed onto them by writers, it can undermine their self-belief. ”

Charlotte has always been a keen reader of famous fantasy writers, some of whom you might suppose she’d be grateful to, but in fact they almost put her off writing entirely. “Books by my favorite fantasy writers explore deep things about psychology and about life. I was asking myself: is this seriously what I have to be doing to write a good book and am I really up to it?” She does, however, praise the influence of a book called “How Not to Write a Novel. “It tells you that if the reader starts to guess what’s going to happen, the suspense has probably gone. ”

In Western high schools, poetry is seldom taught because it is considered old-fashioned and not     1     (association) with the life of today's students. Poetry is the     2     (forget) child of literature.

In China, poetry is still an important part of the curriculum (课程) Firstly, poetry is a(n)     3     (essence) part of learning traditional Chinese culture. It is a path to     4     (learn) about history and society. It is also the key to understanding the thoughts and feelings that are common to everyone but that we may be unable to express.

Everyone has feelings of joy, love, loneliness, and even anger, and a good poem can put those feelings     5     words and bring us self - understanding. Poems can also express beauty. In a few short lines, something common can become beautiful. Here     6     (be) a poem by Carl Sandberg; The fog comes/on little cat feet. Yes, fog does move     7     (silence) like a cat, and Sandberg catches that feeling and image,     8     (make) it beautiful.

The American poet Robert Frost said, “Poetry is     9     an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found world.” Poetry is a song without music and it has to     10     (read) aloud. Most ancient poetry, like China's Book of Songs (《诗经》), was spoken for hundreds of years before it was written.