Once upon a time, in a small town lived a man     1     couldn’t see. Yet, he carried a Lighted lamp wherever he went at night. One night, he came     2     a group of travelers. One of them asked, “Hey, man! You can’t see anything! Why do you carry a lighted lamp then?” The blind man replied, “Yes, unfortunately, I am blind but the lighted lamp I am carrying is for people like you who can see. You may not see me coming and end up     3     (knock) into me. That is why I carry a lighted lamp.”

As you can see, the reason     1     I’m here to tell the story is that I made the right decision. Some time after I left the boat, with my brother in it, it was pulled into the bottom of the whirlpool. Soon after that, the whirlpool became less wild. Then the sky was clear, the wind calmer, and the moon was shining. Still I     2     (tie) to the barrel and the waves soon carried me to an area     3     the other fishermen were. In the end, a boat picked me up. I was very tired. The fishermen were my old friends, but they were unable to recognize me.

Yu Rong, a Chinese artist, thinks of a new way to introduce     1     ancient story of Hua Mulan in her picture book. In the book, I Am Hua Mulan, she tells the story by     2     (combine) Chinese paper-cutting with international artistic styles. She places Shaanxi papercuts over western-style pencil sketches (素描)    3     (create) typical presentation of Chineseelements (要素), which turns out to be a     4     (success) and impressive breakthrough.

Hua Mulan,     5     story has been told by generations in China, was a fighter from the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534). As a devoted daughter, she dressed herself as a man to serve in the army     6     place of her father. Mulan’s character, such as courage, kindness and a disinterested attitude towards fame and fortune, made     7     (she) one of the most respected historical Chinese heroines. Mulan’s story has been adapted     8     (frequent) in modern media. For example, in 1998, Disney produced a film named Mulan, which     9     (consider) a great success by critics and the public right after its release.

To better tell the story, Yu Rong takes inspiration from her several     10     (visit) to sites of ancient battles and Henan Province’s Yu Opera. After years of preparation she finally makes this extraordinary work.

The Scream was painted by Edvard Munch in 1893. What makes     1     striking is that it shows a thin figure     2     an expression of fear——the figure’s mouth is wide open and letting out a     3    (power) scream. The figure covers his or her ears and looks    4    (direct)at the viewer. This figure is     5    (set) on a bridge above a dark, stormy sea, and    6     a burning orange-red sky. In his diary, Munch talked about     7     inspired him. “I was walking down the road with two friends when the sun set; suddenly the sky turned as red as blood. I stood there     8     (shake). Then I heard the scream of nature.” Many experts say that The Scream is connected to Munch’s     9     ( mentally ) health problems,     10     caused him a lot of pain.

It’s well known that pound notes show the face of Queen Elizabeth Ⅱ.However,something     1     (interest) about British money is that there are also faces on the back of the notes.Did you know that the picture changes every few     2     (year) to show a different famous person from British history?

At the moment,we can find the face of Charles Darwin on the ￡10 note.He is a(n)     3     (science),famous for his theories about evolution (进化).From 1992 to 2003,Charles Dickens     4     (be) on the banknote.He is one of the country’s favourite authors,     5     novels like Oliver Twist and David Copperfield were voted as some of Britain’s best works of literature.     6     (recent),it was announced that Jane Austen would replace Darwin on the ￡10 note.She is one of my favourite authors,     7     (remember) for books like Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility.People think     8     a very good choice to put Jane Austen on a banknote because most of the people on British money are men.

In addition to writers,other people such     9     inventors and social reformers have also been on banknotes.By     10     (put) their faces on banknotes,the UK shows that it is very proud of all these historical figures!

During the summer vacation, I took part in     1     16th Natural English Contest, in which I was listed in the top 10 and     2    (gain) valuable experience.

I never expected     3    (go) that far. And I had never thought about standing that high on the stage.    4     at that moment, I set out for the long ride. All I had to do was try.

Preparing for the contest, practicing a 3­minute speech, and overcoming stage fright, I spared no effort to take part in the competition.

One of my     5    (teammate), my good friend in my school, gave me lots of encouragement and advice during the contest. Her ideas were new and     6     (power) and she stayed quite calm when she was fighting against her competitors. She was like my coach,    7     showed me how to search for related materials online and how to express my own view     8     (clear).

Thanks     9     the contest and the help of my friend, I now feel more relaxed on stage and more confident when     10    (talk). I’m really appreciative of her timely help.