I was once a fat girl. I weighed 336 pounds and looked as big as my fridge. I was never _______ it. But one day I had a medical examination（体检）. The _______ told me that I was having heart trouble. It _______ me up. I began to feel nervous. Then I decided to do something!

In a year and five months, I _______ 104 pounds. What a great thing I did! I didn’t have any expensive food, medical treatment（治疗）or camp-style（训练营式的）exercise. What was the secret to my _______?

First I looked through the Internet for do-it-yourself _______ that people could follow on losing weight. Of course I saw countless ads which try to get me to buy their products. But I bought nothing. The only thing I did was to change my bad _______. The following are what I have done. You can try these. Stop drinking something with too much sugar in it. _______sweet cakes. Eat green vegetables. Use only vegetable oil. Never eat after 6:30 pm. Also, do light exercise for 15 to 20 minutes five days a week.

Then I kept doing what I should do. People sometimes say, “You don’t need to tell me _______ to do. I know it already!” But the fact is that knowing what to do and doing what you know are totally ________. The important thing is to know what to do and then just keep doing it.

Kevin Durant is one of the best basketball players in the world. He is the NBA’s Most Valuable Player.

Kevin grew up in Washington, D.C. His father left his family when he was very young. So his mother had to take care of him by herself. They moved from place to place. And because he was very tall, Kevin was different in other people’s eyes. Sometimes, his classmates even made fun of him.

The life was tough, but there was always a lot of love and support in his family. His mom wrote a card on Kevin’s bed: “Always believe that anything is possible.”

Kevin liked basketball. When he was about 10 years old, he told his mom that he dreamed of being an NBA player. His mother did everything she could to help him. Kevin worked very hard and practiced playing basketball for 8 hours a day!

But it was not just hard work that made him become a famous man. From his mother, he also learned to always be kind. Kevin got so much success in playing basketball. And he also spends a lot of his time in giving back. His foundation (基金会) is to help homeless people, build basketball fields in poor places and help poor children return to school.

A city without cars would be very strange, right? But Venice is such a city.

Venice is in the northeast of Italy. It wasn't built on land like Beijing or Shanghai, but on more than 110 islands. Seawater is everywhere around the city.

Even so, travel isn't difficult. The water ways have always been the best way to get around. There are 177 canals and more than 400 bridges that can guide you to where you want to go. People in Venice move from place to place by boat. They like to enjoy the scenery and cool summer nights while taking boat trips. They can talk to other people as they go along.

Venice grew out of small islands in saltwater lakes when some Italians escaped from a war over 1,500 years ago, and built homes there.

Water makes the city special, but it is also a big problem. Sometimes tourists will have such strange experiences. One moment they walk across the Rialto Bridge, and there's nothing special. But when they come back to the bridge an hour later, it's underwater and everyone is wearing rain shoes.

Once, people used too much underground water. This made the city get lower little by little. Now the city has gone down by about 23 centimetres. Another problem is the rising seawater. The temperature has risen over the years. This has made the ice of the Arctic Ocean(北冰洋) melt(融化) .

Every year, high water hits the city in autumn and winter. When a lot of water comes, more than half of the city is underwater.

Scientists are trying different ways to stop the city from getting even lower. The Italian government has asked some of Italy's biggest companies to build the MOST project, which is planned to be built under the seawater to stop the rising water. Anyway, this project is helping solve the problem.

In Thailand, people do not eat with chopsticks, like in China, Japan and Korea. They use spoons and forks.     31     Most food is already cut. If you need to cut things, use the side of your spoon first and then use your fork.     32     If you are right handed, keep the spoon in your right hand and the fork in your left hand.     33     The rice is not on the same plate with the other food. It is not necessary to finish all your rice or all your food. It is good to leave a little on your plate. If you eat anything, it means you want more.     34     The host (主人) will ask you two or three times if you want more food. It is the same with whatever you are drinking. During the meal, never empty your cup or glasses. When it is less than half full, your host or neighbor will fill it again.     35     Always refill (再加满) your neighbor’s glasses. This means that you must keep an eye on your neighbor’s glass all through the meal.