Yours,

Li Hua

The first “window of Chinese Books” in Europe was launched on Tuesday, with an online book donation ceremony. The online event     1     (hold) at the Central Public Library in Floriana, Malta. More than 200 books were donated from China’s Jinling Library to Malta Libraries,     2     cover fields such as ancient Chinese literature and art, history, culture, and food.

Books are important for the     3     (culture) exchange between two countries.     4     (hopeful), the donated books will open a new window of understanding of Chinese culture, history and social development for the Maltese people.

The books     5     (give) on Tuesday not only provide a chance of     6     (promote) Chinese culture and tourism, but also are     7     precious gift of friendship from the people of Nanjing to the Maltese people.

Jinling Library has always focused on using books     8     a bridge to understanding of Chinese culture for global     9     (citizen). Jinling Library, founded in 1927, established its first “Window of Chinese Books” overseas in Nigeria in 2013. There will be     10     (many) in the future.

4 . John, 69, wanted to retire from running his small-town grocery store: However, he didn’t want to leave his local community without a grocery store to shop at. He was facing a(n) _______ .

John’s parents opened the store in 1940，and John _______ it over in 1985. When the store first opened, it was one of four grocery stores in town. Now, it’s the last one _______. Since there was no one in his family who could continue running it, John _______ selling it and put the store on the _______ three years ago. Although he got some attention, no _______ came in. _______ he pulled the store off the market, as he worried that whoever bought the building might not continue the grocery store, which would make life harder for people in the community — especially those without _______ to a vehicle.

Then last summer, Elizabeth, who grew up in a nearby town, _______ John with an idea. She offered to raise money to buy the store, with the goal of ________ it into a sustainable social enterprise. Thus, Elizabeth turned to local residents and they ________ . Local residents, as well as people with ________ to the town，donated.

In a matter-of months, the community ________ half a million dollars, which was enough for them to purchase the property and ________ the store.

Johnm for his part is ________ that his family’s legacy (遗产) will live on, and the residents will still have a local place to shop for fresh food.

5 . Some people say he is a hero. Some people say he is stupid. Emmanuel Tulor thinks he did the _______ thing. The 18-year-old from Liberia found $50,000 on the highway. He gave it back to the _______ . Life in Liberia isn't _______ . The country went through 14 years of civil wars. Tulor dropped out of school in seventh grade and started driving a motorcycle taxi to _______ money. One day, he was _______ on the highway when he saw a bunch of money wrapped in a plastic bag. It had been _______ on the road unnoticed. There were thousands of dollars inside. “I was _______ because it was plenty.” he said, “and so I brought it home and gave it to my aunty to _______ until the owner could ask for it.”

That day, Musu Yancy, the businesswoman who had lost the money, went on the radio _______ for her money and appealing to anyone who found the money to return it. So he took it to her. Yancy gave him a(n) ________ of cash and some gifts, which was worth about $1, 500 in all. Yancy celebrated with Tulor.

Tulor said that while many Liberians are praising his actions, others couldn't ________ him. They said it might be a better ________ for him to save the money; they said Tulor should let the money help himself.”

Tulor ________ thinks he made the right choice. He thinks people should ________ lost things and the cash they find. Tulor planned to ________ the gifts with some people who were with him when he found the cash. “But the cash I got will be given to my grandma.” he said.

7 . “Fire! Fire!” What terrible words to hear when one ______ in a strange house in the middle of night! It was a large, old ______ house — the sort that burns easily, and my room was on the top floor. I jumped out of bed, ______ the door and stepped out into the passage. It was full of thick smoke.

I began to ______ , but as I was still only half-awake, instead of going towards the stairs I went in the opposite direction. The smoke grew thicker and I found it hard to ______ . The floor became ______ under my bare feet. I ran into another room and tried to reach the ______ for fresh air. But before I could reach it, one of my feet got caught in something soft and I fell down. The thing I had fell over felt like a bundle of clothes, and I picked it up to protect my ______ from the smoke and heat. Just then the door ______ under me and I dashed to the floor below with pieces of ______ wood all around me.

______ , there was a doorway in front, so I put the package over my face and ran. My feet were terribly burned, but I got through. As I reached the cold air outside, my bundle of clothes gave a thin ______ . I nearly dropped it in my ______ . Then I saw many people gathered in the street. A woman dressed in night clothes screamed as she saw me and came running ______ .

“My baby! My baby!” She cried. The crowd ______ loudly as she took the smoke-blackened bundle out of my arms. I almost failed to see who she was — my boss wife. I had saved her baby, and became a hero.

8 . Each year, the world loses about 10 million hectares of forest—at area about the size of Iceland — because of cutting down trees. At that rate, some scientists predict the world’s forests could disappear in 100 to 200 years. To handle it, now researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have pioneered a technique to generate wood-like plant materials sin a lab. This makes it possible to “grow” a wooden product without cutting down trees.

In the lab, the researchers first take cells from the leaves of a young plant. These cells are cultured in liquid medium for two days, then moved to another medium which contains nutrients and two different hormones (激素). By adjusting the bormone levels, the researchers can tune the physical and mechanical qualities of the cells: New the researchers use a 3D printer to shape the cell-based material, and let the shaped material grow in the dark for three months. Finally, the researchers dehydrate (使脱水) the material, and then evaluate its qualities.

They found that lower bormone levels lead to plant materials with more rounded, open cells of lower density (密度), while higher hormone levels contribute to the growth of plant materials with smaller but denser cell structures. Lower or higher density of cell structures makes the plant materials softer or more rigid, helping the materials grow with different wood-like characteristics. What’s more, it’s to be noted that the research process is about 100 times faster than the time it takes for a tree to grow to maturity!

Research of this kind is ground-breaking. “This work demonstrates the great power of a technology,” says lead researcher, Jeffrey Berenstab. “The real opportunity here is to be at its best with what you use and how you use it. This technology can be tuned to meet the requirements you give about shapes, sizes, rigidity, and forms. It enables us to grow’ any wooden product in a way that traditional agricultural methods can’t achieve.”