1 . Word Banker English-Chinese is a kind of software（软件）which allows users to practice their Chinese vocabulary in several different ways. Although the program isn’t the most convenient one you’ve ever used, it can help improve your Chinese vocabulary.

The program’s interface（界面）isn’t very attractive so many people don’t like it when they first see it. Also, it can sometimes be hard to operate（操作）. Each function（功能）holds a window, but if you close the window, it will take you back to the main menu or close the program. But if you continue using the program, you will find there are several useful exercises in it. Users can read a word or phrase（词组）in English and then click（点击）on the matching word in Chinese, hear the Chinese word spoken and choose the matching English word, or see the English word written and then type（打字）the Chinese word. The program allows users to practice not only their vocabulary, but also their reading, listening and spelling skills. Once users know a word, they can save it so that it stops appearing in the exercises. The program also allows users to practice vocabulary by seeing the English and Chinese words and hearing the Chinese spoken. The “Help” provides good instructions for users to use. Nothing is perfect. Word Banker English-Chinese has many advantages and certain disadvantages as well. We can use it according to our needs.

2 . Flowers are so beautiful that people use them to express their feelings. Flowers are usually sold at high prices. Here is a list of the most beautiful flowers which are needed in markets.

	Roses are considered as the king of the flowers. They have everything a beautiful flower needs to have. One can give a rose as a gift to his loved one. A red rose shows love, a white rose is a symbol of peace and good wishes, and yellow stands for friendship and so on.
	Bleeding Hearts（荷包牡丹）appear similar to the heart shape. They are mostly red or dark pink in color. This flower has got its name from its shape. It is found in North Korea, Japan, northern China and some parts of Siberia. These beautiful flowers are often used to show love.
	Sunflowers are bright yellow and have a dark head at the center. People can get oil from the seeds（种子）and the seeds can be eaten, too. The sunflowers reprensent（代表）cheerfulness, love and happiness. America was the country of origin（起源）for the sunflower, and then it was brought to Russia and other parts of the world.

4 . Our house was across the street from a big hospital, so we rented our empty upstairs rooms to patients. One evening, there was a knock at the door. I opened it to see a truly sick-looking man.

His face looked terrible, it was swollen (肿胀的) and red. Yet his voice was pleasant. He told me that he came for treatment and that he’d been looking for a spare room since noon, but no one would give him one because of his face.

For a moment I hesitated (犹豫), but he said he would be happy to just sleep on our hallway. I agreed.

The old man had a huge heart inside his tiny body. He told me that he fished for a living to support his daughters and his disabled wife.

He didn’t complain while telling me his story. He was grateful that he didn’t feel any pain from his disease, which was seemingly a form of skin cancer (皮肤癌).

The next morning, he said, “Can I come back and stay the next time I need treatment?” I told him he was welcome to come again.

On his next trip, as a gift, he brought a big fish. In the years that he stayed with us, there was never a time that he did not bring us gifts like these.

My neighbor warned me that could lose potential (潜在的) renters by putting up the old man after he left the first morning.

Maybe we did lose renters once or twice. But if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. I know our family always will be grateful to have known him; from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with appreciation.

5 .

	Lost Blue white Persinn male cat named Lizic! Any information about Lizie. phone Peter 555-4140. $ 500 for reward!
	Help wanted Love travel? Join us as a tour guide! Full time. Must speak English! $12 per hour! E-mail: guidchr@ 126. com
	Forrent(出租) Good room for girls, 3 bedrooms, large yard! Single: $35 a week; Double: $ 185 a month; Call John 555-0698!

7 . Autism (自闭症) is disorder of the brain that happens in the first three years of life. It affects the brain’s normal development. Most autistic patients have difficulty talking with other people or doing things. However, some of the autistic people have amazing abilities. For example, some can memorize many things and some can do calculations (计算) really fast.

Raymond Babbitt in the 1988 film Rain Man is an example. The character in the film was based on Kim Peek, a man from the USA. Peek couldn’t switch on a light or put his clothes on by himself. But his memory was so amazing that he could remember almost anything. He could memorize every road, place and distance on maps. He could even remember almost every word in thousands of books. His way of reading was more amazing. Peek could read two pages at the same time in just eight to ten seconds. He read the left page with his left eye and the right page with his right eye.

Scientists still don’t know for sure why some autistic people have a special talent after they have done a lot of research. There is one possible explanation. When certain parts of the brain are damaged (毁坏) by autism, other parts of the brain might get stronger. Therefore, special abilities were born.

But not all people with autism have amazing abilities. In fact, autistic people with amazing abilities are rare and the abilities cannot be trained. According to research, only ten percent of autistic people show signs of a special talent.

10 . Jan was a window cleaner. At nine o’clock one morning, Jan was in a lift of a high building with his window cleaning tools when the building was on fire.

There were five other passengers in the lift. All of a sudden, the lift stopped. Although they didn’t know what had happened outside, they had only 100 minutes to get out of the building before it would fall into the dust.

Soon smoke began coming into the lift. The men knew that something was wrong. They tried to open the door but found a wall in front of them. The wall had the number 15 on it and they knew they were on the 15th floor. But their lift usually didn’t stop there, so there was no opening for them to escape. Jan decided they would have to make their own.

Knowing that the wall was made of a material that could be cut through, Jan took out his window cleaning tools, and began knocking a hole through the wall. When he felt tired, others helped.

Starting with one small hole, they cut through the three-inch-thick wall. Then they kicked hard at the wall. The wall cracked apart. They saw before them a tile (瓷砖) wall! Refusing to give up, they knocked a hole through the tile, then made the opening big enough to get through. Surprisingly, the fire-fighters were outside the hole, they took Jan and his partners to the nearest stairs and they ran down the stairs as quickly as possible. By 10:23, Jan and the others ran out of the building. Five minutes later, the building burned down.