What an interesting picture!

A Western young man, sits at a table, is ready to eat the bowl of noodles. He is holding two forks the same way for we Chinese hold chopsticks. He is trying too hard to pick up the noodles that he is sweating a lot of. At first glance, I think it is a bit fun, for we Chinese take for granted that chopsticks is the tools for eating noodles. The man in the picture is trying to copy us. Obvious he is doing it the hard way. Maybe using one fork will do a better job.

To my opinion, we don’t need copy others’ ways of thinking. Sometimes a simpler way of doing things may be a better way.

4 . If Confucius (孔子) were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of ________. He’d need a fan or a ________ to help him put them out.

While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, ________ people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even ________ the birthdays of their own ________.

But this doesn’t ________ that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a ________ that foreigners must cross if they want to ________ a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have ________ huge popularity in Western universities. ________, the Chinese government has ________ Confucius Institutes in more than 80 ________. These schools teach both Chinese ________ and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually ________ Chinese art, history and philosophy (哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the ________ of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to ________ Chinese. So they will be ________ for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about ________ to understand their Chinese customers. So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive.

Today China ________ the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not be forgotten by people in the West, even if his ________ is.

5 .     1    

When Salinger learned that a car park was to be built on the land, the middle-aged writer was shocked and quickly bought the neighboring area to protect it…    2    

J D. Salinger: A Life by Kenneth Slawenski (Random House, $27)

“You’re a smart boy.     3    . Do you think the murderer should get away with it?” The boy was staring stubbornly at his lap again.

A thought suddenly occurred to Annika, “You recognized the man in the car, didn’t you?”

The boy hesitated, twisting his fingers, “Maybe,” he said quietly.

Red Wolf by Liza Marklund (Atria Books, $25.99)

She wants to say to him what she has learned, none of it in class: Some women are born stupid, and some women are too smart for their own good. Some women are born to give, and some women only know how to take.     4    , some who they don’t want to be. Some mothers suffer, so their daughters won’t.

You Are Free by Danzy Senna (Riverhead Books, $15)

Do your kids like to have fun?     5    ! Do you like to watch your kids having fun? Bring them to Fun Times! Fun Times’s “amusement cycling” is the most fun you can have in the United States right now. Why spend thousands of dollars flying to Disney World when you can spend less than half to that within a day’s drive of most cities?

Happy: And Other Bad Thoughts by Larry Doyle (Ecco, $14.99)

8 . Welcome to one of the largest collections of footwear (鞋类) in the world that will make you green with envy. Here at the Footwear Museum you can see exhibits from all over the world. You can find out about shoes worn by everyone from the Ancient Egyptians to top stars.

9 . There was a boy who was sent by his parents to a boarding school (寄宿学校)______being sent away, this boy was the______student in his class. He was at the top in every______always with high marks.

But the boy changed after______home and attending the boarding school. His grades started ______ He hated being in a______. He was lonely all the time. And there were especially dark times when he______committing suicide (自杀). All of this was because he felt______and no one loved him.

His parents started______about the boy. But they even did not know what was______with him. So his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and______him.

They sat on the bank of the lake near the school. The father started asking him some casual questions about his classes, teachers and_______After some time his dad said, “Do you know, son, why I am here today?”

“No, no,” his dad replied. “I am here to tell you that you are the most______person for me. I want to see you_______ I don't care about grades. I care about you. I care about your happiness. YOU ARE MY LIFE.”

These words______the boy's eyes to be filled with tears. He______his dad. They didn't say anything to each other for a long time.

Now the boy had______he wanted. He knew there was someone on this earth who cared for him deeply. He______the world to someone. And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him______!