When I was about four years old, I was sitting around playing with some     1     (toy) on the floor and my aunt decided to put some of those giant, old school headphones around my ears so that I could listen to classical music for     2     first time. Regardless, my first experience with classical music       3     (be) magical.

As soon as she put those headphones on, I stopped everything I was doing and stared curiously out into the Universe, because I     4     (attract) by what was going on between my ears.

Thanks     5     my loving aunt, I experienced an early taste in classical music that set up my life path. I believe that her     6    (decide) to put those headphones on was an important point that created my life path today.

I started taking piano lessons,       7     helped me make my first piece of music at around the age of 9. By the time I was in high school and college, I was in a band with my best friends playing and recording music,     8     it had become a huge part of my life and identity.

Music made me feel alive — free to be myself and free     9     (express) every range of emotion. I began realizing that my music wasn’t just for me — it could heal (治愈) and help others in a     10     (meaning)way.

Winter in Quebec, Canada is very different from that in England. When I first arrived, I was     1     (slight) worried about the winter. I couldn’t imagine     2     it would be like to have 3 metres of snow, and what on earth I was going to do when the weather was so bad. However, here, life goes on as usual. Trains and buses continue, and people socialise and even better.     3     number of new sports take over.

For me, skiing means downhill skiing, in ski resorts (度假胜地), with ski lifts taking you up the mountain. Before     4     (arrive), I did not know there were in fact different     5     (type) of skiing. Imagine a sunny but cold day, and you have taken a chairlift to the top of a mountain     6     (cover) with snow. An hour seems like a few minutes, as you carve your way down a run to the bottom, and then do it all again. It is my new favourite sport.

Ice skating on a frozen (结冰的) lake is another     7     (excite) sport for me. Once I could hardly stand on a pair of ice skates, but now I am able to make laps (圈) of the 3 km route on the lake,     8     is frozen during January and February.

Indeed having 3 metres of snow was a bit frightening. School     9     (cancel) once because of a big snowstorm, but I was     10     busy enjoying all these cool sports that winter finished too soon!

Luo Yan and his wife and son have settled in a big city. The Spring Festival is coming, so they travel back for the holiday, for     1    (they) dream of “three generations under the same roof”.

    2     the big city is far away from their hometown, the high-speed train has made it much more convenient for them to go back home. During the five-hour trip, they chatted excitedly with each other, their minds full of       3     (think) about their sweet home.

    4     their arrival, they find their home has been specially decorated by his parents for the joyous occasion. Everything represents joy, luck and     5     (happy).

At five o’clock on the Eve, the dinner table is already covered with white china plates and bowls, full of all sorts of dishes: chicken, duck, pork, fish and vegetables. The three generations sit around     6     table to enjoy the delicious food happily. Indeed, the whole family could not be     7     (happy) to be together. Despite the cold outside, their happy faces fill the air with warmth while merry     8    (laugh) rings throughout the house.

After dinner, the whole family are going to stay up late on the New Year’​s Eve. They gather around the television to watch the Spring Festival Gala, while ating snacks and       9     (chat) with each other about the past, the present and the future.

As midnight     10     (approach), Luo Yan takes his parents, wife and son outside to set off firecrackers, wishing all the best.

An destination to the South Pole with the great Sir Ernest Shackleton—this is the adventure    1     I have been dreaming of. And I was ready for it. At the age of 19, I am fit and full of vigour. However, when I applied to join the expedition, Shackleton turned me down    2     he thought I was too young and wasn’t qualified. But I was so enthusiastic about the idea of going along with them that I    3    (secret) went aboard his ship, the Endurance, and hid in a small cupboard. Unfortunately, three days after we set off I was discovered. Shackleton did not want to turn back so he offered me a job.