The bicycle is one of the simplest and most useful inventions in the world. What is the ________ surprising is that it was not invented earlier, although the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci had drawn pictures for bicycles, flying machines and some other things. Those things were not ________ until long after he died.

A person riding a bicycle uses ________ energy (能量) to make the bicycle move and there is no pollution at all. Even so, in developed ________, most people don’t go to work by bicycle. It is not because bicycles are expensive or people feel ________ if they ride to work. It’s because ________ cars on the roads becomes larger. It certainly becomes ________ to ride a bicycle. As a result, more people put their bicycles away and go to work ________ their cars and in this way, the situation becomes more serious. ________ the best way to make riding safer and more popular is to create paths (路) only for bicycles and to make ________ difficult and expensive for drivers to take their cars into the city.

   Mr and Mrs Smith got married when he was twenty-three, and she was twenty. Twenty-five years later, they had a big party, a photographer came and took some photos for them. Then the photographer gave Mrs Smith a card and said, “They’ll be ready next Wednesday. You can get them from my room.” “No,” Mrs Smith said, “please send them to us.”

The photos arrived a week later, but Mrs Smith was not pleased when she saw them. She got into her car and drove to the photographer’s room. She went inside and said angrily, “You took some photos for me and my husband last week, but I’m not going to pay for them.”

“Oh, why not?” the photographer asked.

“Because my husband looks like a monkey,” Mrs Smith said.

“Well,” the photographer answered, “that isn’t my fault (过错). Why didn’t you think that you married him?”

A lot of people play sports, but very few people become sports professionals(专业人员). If sports aren’t going to be your future, then why should you play them?

There are actually a lot of good reasons to play sports. First of all, sports are a great way to exercise. Exercising keeps you healthy and strong. It also helps you stay in a good state. When you exercise, your body produces endorphins(内啡肽). Endorphins give you more energy and make you feel happier.

Sports are important for everyone, but they are especially important for young people. They teach young people about winning and losing. Also, they teach young people how to communicate and work as a team. For example, when you play football, you must learn how to communicate with your teammates and work together. Sports teach young people to respect their coaches, teammates, and people they fight against as well.

Many reports say that sports help young people stay out of trouble. If a young person plays sports, he or she is less likely to have problems. This is because sports teach people about rules. They also teach people that if they work hard, they might succeed.

Another good way of sports is that they make people leave their houses. These days, a lot of people spend too much time watching television and playing video games. When you play sports, you go outside and exercise in the sun. You take in fresh air. All of these things are important.

You’re probably not going to become a sports professional, but that doesn’t matter. Sports will help you become a better and happier person. Sports will help you make friends and stay healthy. Here is another good reason to play sports: Sports are fun.

As a well-known Chinese TV hostess (主持人), Dong Qing is now hosting two cultural shows, Chinese Poetry Conference and Readers. The two shows are encouraging people to love traditional culture and find the beauty of life.

Dong was born in a highly educated family in 1973. She had a great love for traditional literature (文学) from an early age. In 2015 when she was about to study in the U.S.A, Dong received an invitation from the director of Chinese Poetry Conference asking her to be the hostess. Because of the passion for traditional literature, Dong accepted the job.

“The contest interests me very much. Hosting it is a process of learning about poetry and performing,” said Dong. To her great joy, the show has become more and more popular.

Under the slogan (口号) “Reading touches people’s hearts”, the new TV show Readers has become a success. It invites famous guests from all walks of life to read something. Dong works as a hostess and producer.

Readers became a turning point in Dong’s 21 years of hosting. She said it brought her “quite a huge challenge”.

“There is no shortcut (捷径) in this world. If you want to be a good host, you need to make thorough (充分的) preparations,” said Dong. “The charm of life lies in its unknown, so we just have to try and keep going.”