Nowadays, studying abroad is becoming more and more popular in China. Many parents send their children abroad instead of letting them receive e    1     at home.

There are many advantages for people to attend school abroad．Firstly, he can use     2     foreign language in his everyday life     3     (以便于) his ability in the second language may be greatly i    4    . While studying in a foreign county, he will meet many students     5     abroad and it is much easier to make     6     with them. Also, he can get familiar with the latest knowledge in different fields.     7     (以这种方式), there is every chance that he is     8    to widen his horizon (眼界) and b    9     his mind.

Of course, attending schools abroad may bring a lot of problems. The most serious one is language barrier (障碍). Most of the students who go abroad don’t have     10     ( [ɪˈnʌf] )   skills in the language spoken there.     11     (结果), on arriving there, they will find it difficult to u    12     what the teachers say. Moreover, they don’t know the customs of local people very     13    , and they may have trouble     14     (处理) some situations.

Therefore, one must think of both sides carefully before     15     (做决定). The place where you study is not very important, but the desire (渴望) to learn matters the most.

A Carpenter’s Story

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire (退休). He told his boss of his plan to l    1     the house-building business to live a more pleasant life with his wife and family.

The boss was sorry to see his skillful worker go. He asked if he could build just one m    2     house as a personal favor. The carpenter s    3     yes, but over time it was easy to see that his heart was not in his work. He used shoddy workmanship (粗糙手艺) and low-quality materials. It was an unlucky way to e    4     his perfect career (职业).

When the carpenter finished his work, his boss came to inspect the house. Then he handed the front-door key to the carpenter, “This is your house... my g    5     to you.”

The carpenter was shocked!

What a s    6    ! If I had only known he wanted me to build my own house, I would have done it all d    7     …” The carpenter thought.

So it is w    8     us. We build our lives, a day at a time, often putting less than our best into the building. Then, with a shock we understand we have to live in the house we have built. If we could do it again, we would not do it in the same way.

But, you cannot go back. Someone o    9     said, “Life is a do-it-yourself project.” Your attitude (态度) and your c    10     today help build the “house” you will live in tomorrow. Therefore, build wisely!

What do you like best about being at home? Maybe you like to play with your brothers and sisters. Maybe you enjoy staying with your mom and dad. Maybe you have a pet you like     1     play with. Spending time with your family     2     one thing that makes being at home special.

Your bedroom is another thing that makes home special. Your toys, your books and your favorite things are in your bedroom. Consider     3     you like best about your room. Is it how it looks? Is it your comfortable bed that you sleep on? Maybe you like to have     4     quiet place to read a book or to think about your day.

Mealtime can be a special time at home. Families sit around the table to eat the food mom     5     dad has prepared. It is a time to share your stories about your day.

【推荐2】It was a Saturday afternoon. The weather was sunny and nobody wanted to stay at home. Timmy decided     1     (go) swimming in the river. His little brother Bob wanted to go with him.

“    2     (take) him with you, Timmy,” said their father, “and you     3     (look) after him well.”

When they got to the river, they saw a lot of people     4     (swim) in it. Some people had great fun     5     (play) in the water. Timmy told Bob     6     (stay) on the bank (岸上), and then he jumped into the water. About an hour later, Timmy     7     (swim) back to the bank with a fish in his hand, Bob was very happy. He found a bottle and put the fish into it. Then they went home.

Bob didn't do anything else that evening. He just watched the fish in his own room. Suddenly (突然) Timmy heard Bob     8     (cry) in the room. He ran to him and asked, “What     9     (be) wrong with you, Bob?” “The fish died,” Bob said. “I thought it was tired, so I took it out of the bottle and put it on the chair. I only wanted it     10     (have) a good rest.”

Yesterday was Wednesday. Jack got up early in the morning.     1     he washed his face, Jack had a quick breakfast. Then he went to school by bike.

While Jack     2     listening to music on his way to school, he met his classmate, Frank. They began to talk about uniforms. Jack said it was necessary for students     3     wear school uniforms. But Frank didn’t agree     4     him. He thought school uniforms looked ugly on them.

Then when they came into the classroom, the bell for class rang. After class, their teacher told them they could design the school uniforms by themselves! Everyone was     5     glad that they couldn’t help jumping and singing. Frank was also looking forward to his new uniform.

These days we live a fast life. You’ve heard it before that everything has to be fast. Fast food, fast Internet, f    1     roads, fast money, fast, fast, fast. I’m all about having a sense of urgency (紧急) and getting things done quickly, but there are some moments when you have to s    2     down and enjoy life. We are always busy every day. I work 8.5 to 9 hours a day at my full-time job. When I get home, I make an effort to write s    3     on my blog. I try to find a bit of time for m    4    . I seldom work or write on the weekend. Those are my days to try to recharge and reduce the stress from my work. I sleep on the sofa a bit d    5     the day, drink a few beers in the open air or go out for a picnic if the weather permits (许可). What I’m trying to say is this: if you don’t take some time to slow down once in a while and enjoy life, it will pass you by. You can be u    6     both mentally and physically if you don’t take the time to relax. So this weekend, don’t m    7     any plans. Just get up on Saturday morning when your b    8     says it’s time to get up. Make some coffee, step outside and b    9     some fresh morning air, turn on the r    10     and prepare yourself for nothing.