1 . Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes. Many people feel that the United States has the worst taxes in the world.

Taxes are money that people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal (联邦的), state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.

Salaried people who earn more than four to five thousand dollars per year must pay a certain part of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies for different people. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a two-level income tax, that is, 15 or 28 percent. $17,850 is the cutoff. The tax rate is 15 percent below 17,850 and 28 percent above.

The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, or any of the other forty-eight states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which people buy in the state. Some states use income tax and sales tax to raise their revenues (税收).

The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (residents who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise tax, which is collected on vehicles such as cars and trucks in a city. The cities use this money for education, police, public works, etc.

Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often say that the government misuses their tax dollars. They all believe that taxes are too high in this country.

2 . Santa Fe, the capital of New Mexico, U.S.A, is in the central part of the state, on the Santa Fe River, which flows into the Rio Grande 35 kilometers west of the city. More than two thousand meters above sea level, it lies in the Sangre De Cristo Mountains with the Ortis Mountains to the southeast.

Santa Fe was founded in 1609 by the Spanish on an old Indian village. In 1680 the Indians seized the place but only held it for twelve years before the Spanish retook it. The city remained under Spanish rule until Mexico won its independence (独立) in 1821. From then on it was a Mexican city until 1846 when it was taken over by U.S. troops.

With a population of 48,953, Santa Fe is now the second largest city in the state. Because of its sunny weather, rich history and surrounding mountains it is a good place for holiday makers. Besides hunting and skating in the mountains people enjoy shopping in the Indian and Spanish shops, which brings a large income to the city every year. In summer there is an international opera (歌剧) season when operas are shown in a partly-roofed, open-air theatre daily for people from all over the world.

3 . It is well known that the Japanese people’s love of fish is almost as strong as a bee’s interest in honey. As fish populations were becoming smaller and smaller, fishing companies were forced to fish further and further away from the shore. Then they had a big challenge — how to keep the fish fresh for longer. So they decided to keep the fish stored in freezers on the boats. But the public did not like frozen fish. So again the fishing companies had a new bigger challenge. What they decided to do was to have fish tanks on their boats. After catching fishes, they would put them in the tanks and keep them living there until they got back to shore. But in this protected environment, lacking predators (掠食者), the fish stopped moving around. The Japanese public felt these dull fish did not taste fresh, which had an unpleasant effect upon sales. Once again the fishing companies had an even bigger challenge …

Stop for a minute! Before we go any further, I would like to ask “What are your challenges? How do you handle an unexpected challenge? ” May I think it this way that you should try to attack your challenges? Conquer(征服) them with a Swiss Army knife. Take the most proper and simple tool that you can adopt to deal with your situation.

Now back to our story. How did the Japanese finally solve the fresh fish problem? Sharks! You might think the same. Sharks were caught and put into the tanks with other fishes. Don’t sharks eat fish? Well, they do eat a few fish, but they did also keep more fish active and alert (警觉的). The fish stay fresh because they are challenged.

Now, try to keep yourself fresh by finding your own shark to offer yourself a challenge in your own business and career.

4 . “I Went Skydiving at 84!”

As a young girl growing up in the 1930s, I always wanted to fly a plane, but back then it was almost unheard of a woman to do that. I got a taste of that dream in 2001, when my husband arranged for me to ride in a hot air balloon for my birthday. But the experience turned out to be very dull. Around that time, I told my husband that I wanted to skydive. So when our retirement community（社区）announced that they were having an essay competition and the topic was an experience of a lifetime that you wanted to have, I decided to write about my dream.

In the essay, I wrote about my desire to skydive, stating George Brush Sr. did it at age 80. Why not me? I was just 84 and in pretty good health. A year went by and I heard nothing. But then at a community party in late April 2009, they announced that I was one of the winners. I just couldn’t believe it.

On June 11, 2009, nearly 40 of my family and friends gathered in the area close to where I would land while I headed up in the airplane. My instructor, Jay, guided me through the experience. The plane was the noisiest one I had ever been in, but I wasn’t frightened—I was really just looking forward to the experience. When we reached 13,000 feet, Jay instructed me to throw myself out of the plane. When we first hit the air, the wind was so strong that I could hardly breathe. For a second I thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” But then everything got calmer. We were in a free fall for about a minute before Jay opened the parachute（降落伞）, then we just floated downward for about five minutes. Being up in the clouds and looking at the view below was unlike anything I have ever felt—much better than the hot air balloon. I was just enjoying it

Skydiving was really one of the greatest experiences of my life. I hope other people will look at me and realize that you don’t stop living just because you are 84 years old. If there’s something you want to experience, look into it. If it’s something that is possible, make it happen.

5 . I used to hate being called upon in class mainly because I didn’t like attention drawn to myself. And _______ otherwise assigned（指定）a seat by the teacher, I always _______ to sit at the back of the classroom.

All this _______ after I joined a sports team. It began when a teacher suggested I try out for the basketball team. At first I thought it was a crazy _________ because I didn’t have a good sense of balance, nor did I have the _______ to keep pace with the others on the team and they would tease me. But for the teacher who kept insisting on my “_______ for it”, I wouldn’t have decided to give a try.

Getting up the courage to go to the tryouts was only the _______ of it! When I first started _______ the practice sessions, I didn’t even know the rules of the game, much _______ what I was doing. Sometimes I’d get __________ and take a shot at the wrong direction—which made me feel really stupid. __________ , I wasn’t the only one “new” at the game, so I decided to __________ on learning the game, do my best at each practice session, and not be too hard on myself for the things I didn’t __________“just yet”.

I practiced and practiced. Soon I knew the ________ and the “moves”. Being part of a team was fun and motivating. Very soon the competitive ________ in me was winning over my lack of confidence. With time, I learned how to play and made friends in the __________ — friends who respect my efforts to work hard and be a team player. I never had so much fun!

With my __________ self-confidence comes more praise from teachers and classmates. I have gone from ________ in the back of the classroom and not wanting to call attention to myself, ________ raising my hand—even when I sometimes wasn’t and not 100 percent __________ I had the right answer. Now I have more self-confidence in myself.

8 . A serious attack on the fantasy story for children comes from those who do not wish children to be frightened,” writes C.S. Lewis in an essay named Three Ways of Writing for Children. Those who say that children must not be frightened mean two things. Firstly, they mean that we mustn’t do anything likely to give children fears, and secondly, they want to keep out of their minds that they are born into a world of death, violence, wounds, good and evil (邪恶). C.S. Lewis says he agrees with the first reason, but not the second.

He goes on to remark, “Since it is so likely that they will meet cruel enemies, let them at least hear of brave fighters and heroic courage. By limiting your child to perfect and nice stories of child life in which nothing alarming ever happens, they would fail to face fears and hardships.”   “It would be nice,”   he continues, “ if   no   little boy   in   bed   ever   hears   a   frightening sound. But if he is to be frightened, I think St. George, or any bright hero in armor, is a better comfort than the idea of the police.”

Bruno Bettelheim, a well-known child psychologist, also points out that fantasy stories provide children with a valuable education about good and evil. He believes that all children have many personal fantasies filled with fears and fantasy stories comfort them and offer solutions. Happy endings tell them that solutions and hope are real and model the kind of happy life children want to find.

A good fantasy suggests rather than teaches possible answers to life. It’s believed that reading fantasies quickens the ability to get and put ideas from books to reality. It’s what good literature does — it makes life larger.

_________, high school was different. In the first week, Jenna went to tryouts (选拔赛) for cheerleaders (拉拉队队员). She was competing against very talented girls, and she knew it would be _________ for her to be selected. Two hours later, the _________ read a list of the girls for a second tryout. Her heart _________ as the list ended without her name. Feeling _________, she walked home carrying her schoolbag full of homework.

Arriving home, she started with math. She had always been a good math student, but now she was _________. She moved on to English and history, and was _________ to find that she didn’t have any trouble with those subjects. Feeling better, she decided not to _________ math for the time being.

The next day Jenna went to see Mrs. Biden about being on the school __________. Mrs. Biden wasn’t as ____________ as Jenna. “I’m sorry, but we have enough ____________ for the newspaper already. Come back next year and we’ll talk then.” Jenna smiled ____________ and left. “Why is high school so ____________?” she sighed.

Later in ____________ class, Jenna devoted herself to figuring out the problems that had given her so much ____________. By the end of class, she understood how to get them right. As she gathered her books, Jenna decided she’d continue to try to ____________ her new school. She wasn’t sure if she’d succeed, but she knew she had to ____________. High school was just as her mom had said: “You will feel like a small fish in a big pond ____________ a big fish in a small pond. The challenge is to become the ____________ fish you can be.”

One evening, I was resting in a cafe. I_______a pair of newly bought white leather (皮革) shoes, which were rather expensive. Then a boy came to me.

He was in a(n)_______ shirt, looking pale and about eleven. No sooner had I begun to speak than he opened the _______in his hand and took out the tools of shoe-polishing. He _______down, took off my leather shoes, and began to shine them. He was busy doing his work_______heavy rain began to pour down. People rushed to the café for_______from the rain. More and more people crowded _______and gradually separated the boy from me.

Hours passed, and it turned _______I had no shoes on my feet and _______where the boy had been. I thought he would not ________my shoes, and I would have to go home on my bare feet.

When it was near midnight the________ended, and there were fewer and fewer people in the café.

The café was to be________ I had to move to the door, head________ just as I went to the gate, I________found that a boy of about eleven, looking very familiar, was sleeping at the ________with his head leaning against a box and his upper body being ________he held a package made of his shirt tightly in his arms. I shook him slightly and woke him up. He ________up and rubbed his eyes for a while before he recognized me. Then he opened the package________, gave me my leather shoes, and apologized to me shyly. I ________him and wrapped him with his unfit shirt, which had wrapped my leather shoes. On my way home, the________of the boy stayed in my mind.