Smith is my friend. He is not a cook, but he likes cooking. He is     1    . Guess, what does he do? Oh, he is     2     worker from Cuba. He can speak Chinese     3    . Now he lives in Chongqing, China. At first, he meets a     4    . He can’t have the hot (辣的) food there when he eats out     5     his friends. They     6     like hot food a lot. Smith likes vegetables, fish, bread, chocolate and     7    . Many of his friends tell     8     that hotpot(火锅) is very nice,     9     he often tries hot food at home now and     10     hot food himself. He thinks it is very delicious(美味的) .

Nobody knows when people     1     controlling fire. We do know that people have been using fire for millions of years. Its many uses helped them to survive.

In the beginning, people probably used fire for three purposes: to stay warm, to keep wild animals away, and to have light in the darkness. People built fires and stayed     2     to them because bears and wolves would stay away from the flames. They slept near the fire for warmth, as well.

Eventually, people discovered that roasted meat tasted good. Soon they were cooking their meat and fish. Cooking kills germs. As a result, people became sick less often.

Early people thought of more     3     for fire. Using smoky torches, humans forced bees to leave their hive. This resulted in the people getting honey. They discovered that fire could be used for hunting, too.

Over time, people figured out that they could grow seed-bearing grass such as wheat. They needed a way to clear a field quickly so that they could plant what they wanted. It was much easier to burn a field than to cut down every bush and tree.

    4     people had farms, they also built houses. Each home had a fireplace. Even 150 years ago a fire was always burning in most homes so that people could make soup and hot drinks at any time.

Today small fires burn in our homes in our gas furnaces, water heaters, stoves, dryers, and fireplaces. Thus, fire continues to help us thrive.

February 29th is a special day. It comes     1     in a leap year (闰年). Some people think it is a good time to do some special things, like having a party or     2     married. The year with a February 29th in it is called a leap year and the year is 366 days long. Normally, February has 28     3    , but in a leap year, it has 29 days. Leap Day     4     on the 29th of February. So why do we need it? The Earth takes a year to go around the Sun     5    . The total time is 365 days, 5 hours, 48 minutes and 46 seconds. That is     6     six hours every year. That’s     7     we have the leap year. It helps keep our calendar in line with the seasons. It     8     the Earth’s trip around the Sun. Without leap years, our calendars would not connect the seasons     9    . 700 years from now, our summer would begin in     10     and winter in June. They keep our calendar right.