The virus “Ebola” is named after the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. That’s     1     the virus was discovered in 1976. A person can only get Ebola through direct contact with an infected person’s body fluids, for example, sweat or spit. Additionally, the virus can get into your body     2     your eyes and mouth. That’s why health care workers are supposed to keep themselves completely     3     (cover) while treating patients.

The deadliest Ebola outbreak is spreading fast in Western Africa, taking over 900     4     (life) so far. The health systems in this area are severely lacking in resources, and health care workers may not have enough protective clothing     5     working in rural clinics. For now, all doctors can do     6     (be) to treat the symptoms and provide some care.

There are several promising drugs and vaccines (疫苗) in     7     (develop), but since Ebola is less common — and research about it is not     8     (good) carried out — there is no drug or vaccine that     9     (approve) for use in humans. Many of the other drugs and vaccines have not yet been tested in humans. The WHO (World Health Organization) is meeting next week     10     (discuss) whether experimental treatments should be used during this outbreak.

When I was growing up, I do not recall     1     (hear) the words “I love you” from my father. When your father never says     2     to you when you are a child, it gets more difficult for him     3     (say) those words as he gets older. To tell the     4    (true), I could not remember     5     I had last said those words to him either. I decided to change it and make the first move. After some hesitation (犹豫), in our next phone conversation I spoke out the words, “Dad … I love you!”

There was a silence at the     6     end and then he     7     (embarrass) replied, “Well, same back at you!”

I laughed and said, “Dad, I know you love me, and when you are ready, I know you     8     (say) what you want to say.”

A few weeks later, Dad ended our phone conversation     9     the words, “Paul, I love you.” I was at work during this conversation and the tears were falling down my face because I finally “heard” the love. As we both sat there in tears, we r    10     that this special moment had taken our father-son relationship to a new level.

My first visit to China

I was really excited when I     1     (offer) the opportunity to go to Guangzhou in China for my work and I spent a lot of time visiting schools and observing lessons. The schools I visited were all     2     (good) equipped with computers, video screens and interactive whiteboards in most of the rooms. The buildings were     3     good condition and there were spaces for the children to play badminton or basketball.

I noticed some interesting differences in the school routine. When it was time for a class to begin or end, music was played on the intercom. I thought this was a really nice idea. There were also short breaks for eye exercises with music     4     (play) on the intercom. This was something I had never seen     5     heard of before so I was very interested in it. In some of the schools I visited, the habit of     6     (take) a nap at lunchtime is something I really like. The schools made us     7     (feel) very welcome and the children took great interest in us. They were very keen to practise their English and ask us questions. The pupils seemed to be very     8    (enthusiasm) about their English classes.

I really enjoyed my 10 days in China. It was a great experience and opened my eyes to a very different culture. In some ways it was better to be there on work than as a tourist. You learn something about people’s everyday     9     (life). If you go on work I think you learn more about the real culture of a place because you can see normal people doing normal things in normal places.     10    , next time I go to China I would like to spend some time as a tourist rather than working all the time.

Jason Porter is one of my closest friends. I still remember the first time I met him. He was giving a speech in front of the whole class, with everyone bursting out    1    (laugh). I assumed that he might be    2    optimistic and popular boy in the class. My family had to move to this new small city in order to manage    3    (financial). Having lost all my old friends, I felt shy and lonely at my new school. There were 60 students in the new class, most of    4    weren’t very interested in a shy new boy. However, Jason was quite kind to me and invited me to participate in various activities,     5     we became good friends soon. Although we both had lots of    6    (shortcoming), we trusted each other and shared personal matters. We could see the important part we play    7    the lives of each other. Whenever either of us     8    (knock) down by difficulties, we cheered up each other to go on till we felt    9    (exhaust).

After graduation, we entered different colleges, but we have been keeping in touch. That’s true friendship. I will cherish    10    forever.

Good afternoon, students. We have finally made some     1    (change) to the school clothing rules. The main differences are about hair and shoes. First, I'll talk about the problem with shoes. Recently, I     2    (notice) that some of you have been wearing very expensive designer shoes to class. This has some bad influence     3     our students. We want the school to be an exciting     4     serious place to learn. So, we are keeping out all shoes     5     cost more than $100. The second issue is hairstyles. While we understand that you want to express     6     (you), we have to say no to     7     (color) hair. A little red or blue or even     8     (make) your hair blond is OK. But bright pink hair or crazy hair that has five different colors? That' s too much for the classroom. You can wait to experiment with your hair during summer vacation. During the school year, we want you     9     (keep) your minds on your work so you can do well on your tests. The exams will be     10    (hard) this year, so we have a lot more work to do!

Up to now I     1     (be) at Senior High for 2 months. However, I still remember the week before the high school I went with my mother to buy the new uniform. There were other students in the shop and we looked at each other     2     interest. Were these my new friends? They looked friendly and     3     (energy).

When the first day of school arrived, my mother dropped     4     ( I ) at the school gate. I felt a little afraid and then I saw the girl who I met a few days ago in the     5     (distant). We smiled at each other, both nervous. She walked with me to the main entrance and told me her name was Kate. To my     6     (amaze), we were in the same class!

We found our classroom together     7     then went on a tour of the main areas of the school with the rest of the class. Soon we came to the language laboratories     8     (build) in 2015. I was particularly keen to see these as I really wanted     9     (do) well in foreign language and this school had     10     best equipment and teachers. Now I feel very happy in the school.