More public high schools in the US are getting students from abroad, especially from China. Stearn High School is one of them. Next autumn, the school hopes to have     25     100 Chinese students. Why would they want more Chinese students? According to Ken Smith, the principal (校长) of Stearns, Chinese students want to go to America to     26     a better chance of going into an American university. At the same time, because Chinese students are known for high test scores, the school can get a     27     ranking (排名). Lei Huang, 16, from Shanghai, is studying in Camden Hills High School in Maine this year. “Schools in China demand (要求) long days in the classroom and long nights doing homework,” he said, “Here, the teachers     28     to students’ creativity and interests.”

The Letter That Changed a Life

A letter changed Levi Strauss’s life. In 1849 gold was discovered in California. Thousands of people rushed to California in ________ of finding gold and becoming wealthy. The people hoping to find gold were foolish and greedy. One of those who headed for California was Levi Strauss. Strauss was different. Strauss was a clever, hard-working man. He was ________ a new start in life. Up to this time, Strauss had worked for his two brothers in New York City. The brothers sold clothes and blankets and other goods. Strauss planned to set up a ________ business to his brothers’ in California.

Over the years, Strauss’s business grew. In 1872 he got a letter from one of his customers, a tailor (裁缝) in Nevada. The tailor, Jacob Davis, had an idea for making better work pants. The pockets on work pants often tore. Jacob Davis ________ metal rivets (铆钉) to the pockets. Rivets are pieces of metal used to join things together. The rivets worked well, and the miners liked them. Davis didn’t have enough money to get a patent for his invention. He also needed help making the pants. In his ________, Davis said that if they worked together, the two of them ‘‘could make a very large amount of money’’.

Strauss could see that riveted work pants were a good idea. He agreed to help Davis. The two decided to make the pants. They decided to use denim cloth because it is a strong cloth that doesn’t tear easily and is long lasting. ________, the riveted denims were called ‘‘dungarees’’. Dungarees is a word from the Hindi language of India that means “rough cloth”. Because they were tough and durable, dungarees were worn by thousands of farmers, miners, builders, and other workers. Later, dungarees came to be called “jeans”. “Jeans” is a better name for the pants than “dungarees”.

A friend of mine was fond of drawing horse. He drew the horses very well, but he always began the tail. Now it is the Western rule to begin at the head of the horse, that is why I was surprised. It struck me that it could not really make any difference w    56     the artist begins at the head or the tail or the belly (肚子) or the foot of the horse, if he really knows his business. And most great artists who really know their business do not follow other people’s rule. They make their own r    57    . Every one of them does his work in a way peculia r(奇特的) to himself; and the peculiarity means only that he f    58     it more easy to work in that way.

Now the very same thing is true to literature (文学). And the q    59    “How shall I begin?” only means that you want to begin at the head i    60     of beginning at the tail or somewhere else. That is, you are not yet experienced (有经验的) e    61     to trust to your own powers. When you become more experienced you will never ask the question, and I think that you will often begin at the tail —that is to say, you will write the e    62     of the story before you have even thought of the beginning.

I grew up in a small town in Washington, US, and I want to be like my brother, Tim. He and his friends were in a gang. They often beat up people, and they didn’t go to school much. I thought they were cool.

On my thirteenth birthday, I told my brother I wanted to be in the gang with him. He said ‘no’, but I didn’t listen. I went to ask his friends. Tim’s friends took me into the back yard. They told me that if I joined the gang, I was in for life. Then, someone hit me in the face. I fell down. But I didn’t cry. Each time I got up, they hit me again. Finally, they said I could be one of them.

Tim was angry when he heard about it. But I stayed with the gang. After a few months, I began to beat up other people with the gang. Sometimes I wouldn’t go home at night, and my mother would be worried. This went on for two years. I knew it was bad, but there nothing I could do. I was in for life.

One day, someone hit me in the head. I spent a day in the hospital. For the first time, I wanted out of the gang. One night after my fifteenth birthday, I went home. My mother was in the hospital. She had a nervous breakdown (精神崩溃) because she was so worried about me. That made me very sad. The next day, I told the gang that I wanted out. They began to beat me up, and my brother stopped them. I got up off the floor, smiled and said goodbye. But they didn’t just stop there. Every time they saw me, they beat me up. This went on for about two months. But in the end, it stopped. I’m glad I’m out of the gang now. I don’t have to be afraid all the time. I can talk to anyone I want. And most of all, I made my mum happy again.