A young man and an old man were waiting for a bus. They sat next to each other. “What’s that in your bag?” asked the young man. “Gold.” answered the old man. The young man could not believe his own ears. Then he began to think about how     1     (get) the money. The old man was very tired and     2     seemed that he could hardly keep his eyes open. After a while the old man     3    (lie) down on the chair and fell     4    (sleep). The young man took     5     big bag quietly. But when he was just about to run away, he found a corner of his fur coat was under the man’s body. Several times he tried to pull it out,     6     he couldn’t make it. At last he took off his coat,     7    (think) that the gold in the bag must cost far more than his fur coat. Then the young man ran out of the station     8    (quick), until he reached a place     9     he thought the old man could not find him. He opened the bag but he just found many small stones in it. Then he ran back to the station only to find that the old man was     10    (go).

My wife Laura and I were walking on the beach     1     three of our children when we saw a bear. Just a few minutes later, I     2     (hear) my daughter shouting, “Dad! The bear is right behind us!” A bear will usually rush forward to frighten away its enemy but would suddenly stop at the last minute. This one, however, behaved abnormally,     3     (probable) because of hunger.

The bear rushed into me. Its huge head was level with my chest and shoulders, and I found     4     (I) supporting its weight. I knew I would not be able to hold it for long. However, I was all that stood between the bear and my family,     5     would stand little chance of running faster than a brown bear. I grasped its fur, trying to push it away. Then, as suddenly as it had begun, the fight ended. The bear moved back toward the forest. Clearly     6     (satisfy) that we caused no further threat, the bear moved off,     7     (destroy)a fence as it went. My arm     8     (injure), but the result for us could hardly have been     9     (good).I’m proud that my family remained clear-headed when fear could have led     10     a very different result.

Once upon a time, there was a poor young man    1     (call) Ma Liang. He helped a rich man to tend cattle. He liked drawing and drew pictures everywhere. One night, he dreamed that an old man gave him a magic paintbrush. When he woke up, he was amazed     2     (find) the magic paintbrush on his desk.

When he saw that people had no water to use for the fields, he drew a river and the river came to life. When he saw     3     was difficult for people to till lands, he drew a cow and the cow came to life. The rich man whom Ma Liang helped heard that the magic paint brush could turn everything to life. He     4     (seek) Ma Liang and took him to the prison. He got the magic paintbrush and felt very happy. He drew a lot of pictures, which could not become real. He was filled with anger and asked some people to get Ma Liang.

When Ma Liang came, the rich man felt happy and said, “I want a golden mountain.” “    5     (definite)!” Ma Liang drew a sea first. Then the young man drew a golden mountain     6     was far away from the sea. The bad man saw that and felt very happy. Ma Liang was reminded     7     a big ship quickly. It was     8     (horror) to see the rich man jump into the ship. When the ship sailed to the middle of the sea, the young man drew a large wave and the ship     9     (destroy). So the rich man met his death.

After that, the young man lived with his family happily     10     kept on helping the poor. So the magic paintbrush was known by everyone.

My love for Chinese can date back to my childhood.     1     the fact that there are various Chinese     2     (character), I have been struggling     3     (learn) it well. However, with confusing dialects, it was really     4     struggle for me to understand what the natives of Chinese said. However,     5     no means did I give up. Whenever I come across a new character, I always refer     6     the dictionary. Gradually, I am equal to     7     (work) as a qualified interpreter.

In my view, though one may have trouble learning a foreign language, one needs to think positively. Additionally, the harder one works, the     8     (well) one will learn it.

Have you ever asked yourself why people often have trouble     1     (learn) English? I hadn’t, until one day my five-year-old son asked me     2     there was ham in a hamburger. This got me thinking how English can be     3     crazy language to learn.

Even the smallest words can be     4     (confuse). You also have to    5     (wonder)at the unique madness of a language in which a house can burn up as it burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out, and in which an alarm is only heard once it goes     6    !

English     7     (invent) by people, not computers, and it reflects the     8     (creative) of the human race. That is why when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are     9     (visible). And that is why when I wind up my watch, it starts, but when I wind up this passage, it     10     (end).

While we are learning English, we should first pay more attention to listening and speaking. It is important because it is the basic work of reading and writing. Make sure to open your mouth and speak English loudly and     1    (confident). Don’t be afraid of     2    (make) some mistakes. You should also develop the habit of keeping     3    (diary) in English. That’s     4     best way I can think of to improve your written English. If it is possible, ask some others to go through     5     you have written and tell you where there is a mistake. Many mistakes in your speaking will be easily     6    (find) once you write them down.

Through correcting some unnecessary mistakes, you can do better     7     learning English than ever before. At the same time, you are supposed    8    (choose) some proper reading materials for yourselves, which I think should be     9     too difficult nor too easy. While you are reading, don’t stop to look up the words in the dictionary. If you refer to the dictionary too often, most probably you will get     10    (bore) and stop reading in no time.