3 . The True Story of Treasure Island

It was always thought that Treasure Island was the product of Robert Louis Stevenson’s imagination. _________ , recent research has found the true story of this exciting work. Stevenson, a Scotsman, had lived _________ for many years. In 1881 he retuned to Scotland for a _________.With him were his American wife Fanny and his son _________.

Each morning Stevenson would take them out for a long _________ over the hills. They had been enjoying this for several days _________ the weather suddenly took a turn for the worse. Kept indoors by the heavy rain, Lloyd felt the days _________. To keep the boy happy, Robert asked the boy to do some _________

One morning, the boy came to Robert with a beautiful map of an island. Robert _________ that the boy had drawn a large cross in the middle of __________. “What’s that?” he asked “That’s the __________ treasure,” said the boy. Robert suddenly __________something of an adventure story in the boy’s__________. While the rain was pouring, Robert sat down by the fire to write a story. He would make the __________a twelve-year-old boy, just like Lloyd. But who would be the pirate(海盗)?

Robert had a good friend named Henley, who walked around with the __________ of a wooden leg. Robert had always wanted to __________ such a man in a story. __________ Long John Silver, the pirate with a wooden leg, was __________.

So, thanks to a __________ September in Scotland, a friend with a wooden leg, and the imagination of a twelve-year-old boy, we have one of the greatest __________ stories in the English language.

In Mark Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the friendship that forms between Huck Finn and Jim is an important theme of the book,     1     they appear to be an unlikely pair. Huck is a poor white boy whose father often beats him, while Jim is a black slave who     2     (long) to be free. One day, Huck runs away from home to an island. There he meets Jim and makes friends with him. Then they leave the island together on a raft     3     (find) on the Mississippi River. They head towards Illinois,     4     state in the north, where Jim can be free. The high point of the story comes when Huck     5     (face) with the decision of whether     6     (hand) Jim over to some slave catchers. In the end, Huck decides that Jim is a friend whom he needs and values, and refuses to give him     7    . From this story we can see that friends are people who support you     8     thick and thin. Just     9     Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, the glory of friendship is the spiritual     10     (inspire) that comes to one when he discovers that someone else believes in him and is willing to trust him.

5 . Known as “China’s most popular love comedy”, Romance of the Western Chamber is regarded as one of the best works of its time. The play was written over 700 years ago by Yuan Dynasty dramatist Wang Shifu (1260-1336).

Set in the Tang Dynasty, the play tells the secret love story between a young scholar Zhang Sheng, who is on his way to take the highest imperial exam in the capital city, and Cui Yingying, daughter of a chief minister of the Tang court.

After bandits(土匪) surround Cui at a temple, her mother promises her daughter’s hand in marriage to whoever can defeat them. Zhang manages to drive the bandits away, but Cui’s mother takes back her word because Zhang is poor. However, Zhang and Cui have already fallen in love. With the help of Cui’s maid Hong Niang, the two continue their romance and break many barriers.

The play incorporates much of the beauty of the poetry from the Tang and Song eras in Chinese history. Part of its appeal to readers is found in the style, grace and flow of the language. In fact, the play represents a high mark of achievement in romantic Chinese literature, and is quite popular. It has given rise to many sequels and rewritings, and also influenced countless plays, short stories and novels. The Peony Pavilion and Dream of the Red Chamber probably wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Wang’s classic play.

The play also inspired generations of artists across various mediums such as woodblock prints, paintings and porcelain. This fine art is still on display at places such as Freer Gallery of Art in the US and Kwun Tong’s Sun Museum in Hong Kong.

The ancient porcelain pieces depicting iconic scenes from the tale are indeed impressive. The characters are like “the superheroes from another time”, Rachel Leung, associate curator(副馆长) of Sun Museum told China Daily. “It’s exactly like the Marvel franchise.”

“This story is basically about trying to break the societal strictures. It’s about courage and perseverance to pursue true love,” Leung said. “It’s surprising to know that centuries ago our ancestors imagined a story like that. They proved that they were not rigid or passive and they could be creative enough to make things for themselves.”

Indeed, Romance of the Western Chamber is known for opposing traditional norms associated with marriage and love during a more orthodox era. It has a positive take on marriage, emphasizing that true love should prevail(占上风).

6 . Science has a lot of uses. It can uncover laws of nature, cure diseases, make bombs, and help bridges to stand up. Indeed science is so good at what it does that there’s always a temptation (诱惑) to drag it into problems where it may not be helpful. David Brooks, author of The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement, appears to be the latest in a long line of writers who have failed to resist the temptation.

Brooks gained fame for several books. His latest book The Social Animal, however, is more ambitious and serious than his earlier books. It is an attempt to deal with a set of weighty topics. The book focuses on big questions: What has science revealed about human nature? What are the sources of character? And why are some people happy and successful while others aren’t?

To answer these questions, Brooks surveys a wide range of disciplines (学科). Considering this, you might expect the book to be a dry recitation of facts. But Brooks has structured his book in an unorthodox (非常规的), and perhaps unfortunate, way. Instead of introducing scientific theories, he tells a story, within which he tries to make his points, perhaps in order to keep the reader’s attention.So as Harold and Erica, the hero and heroine in his story, live through childhood, we hear about the science of child development and as they begin to date we hear about the theory of sexual attraction. Brooks carries this through to the death of one of his characters.

On the whole,Brooks’ story is acceptable if uninspired. As one would expect, his writing is mostly clear and, to be fair, some chapters stand out above the rest. I enjoyed, for instance, the chapter in which Harold discovers how to think on his own. While Harold and Erica are certainly not strong or memorable characters, the more serious problems with The Social Animal lie elsewhere. These problems partly involve Brooks’ attempt to translate his tale into science.