1 . “I pray about everything,” I told my new colleague, Rae, as we sat outside our classrooms. It was the _________ of the school day, and the students had gone home. That was when Rae and I _________ to sit and talk about everything.

I had just moved to Ridgway where I got a（n）_________ at the elementary school. Rae’s classroom was next to mine, and we immediately felt _________ with each other, like old friends. That day, our conversation had turned to our _________. “I learned when I was little that God hears us and _________ prayer.” I explained why I believed this without _________.

“I learned from the nightly news that a Pennsylvania family _________ their home in a fire,” I began. “A gas leak（泄露）had _________ an explosion. __________ no one was hurt, but their home was seriously __________. I wanted to do something, but as a child, all I could do was pray. So every night I asked God to __________ the family.”

“A year later, I asked God to let me know whether I had helped. God __________ answered in a few weeks,” I told Rae. “In the Sunday magazine there was a story about the __________ family for whom I had been praying and how they had made a complete __________.” I sat back quietly, still __________ at what had happened.

“Describe the __________ of the magazine,” Rae said.

“It was a photo of the father with his son sitting on his lap.”

Rae remembered the cover __________. “That was my father and brother,” she said. “You were praying for us.”

Over 50 years have passed since Rae and I formed our __________ friendship, a friendship that began with prayer long before we ever __________.

2 . One thing that sets humans apart from other members of the animal kingdom is our tendency to develop customs and traditions. Here are some astonishing customs from around the world.

An odd custom associated with the United States is its complicated tipping culture. Unlike many other countries that don’t tip at all or that only tip in small amounts when the food is particularly good, tipping is actually mandatory at most restaurants in the US. To put it another way, customers have a duty to leave between 10-20 percent of the bill in tips. Wait staff rely on these tips for a living because legal wages for waiters are low. Furthermore, there are rules for tipping bartenders, delivery people and other service personnel. While some criticize this practice as irrational, there’s no doubt that tipping culture in the US gives an incentive for waiters and waitresses to provide better service.

Some countries find the act of pointing with the index finger to be rude. While members of most cultures would probably agree that pointing fingers, both literally and figuratively, isn’t exactly the nicest thing in the world, in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia, this gesture can be seen as incredibly offensive. Instead, it is customary to gesture towards things with the thumb as this is seen as a more polite option. In many countries in Africa, pointing is reserved for inanimate objects only, not people.

Most societies around the world have rules about table manners. For western cultures, noisily consuming food is considered rude. In Japan, however, making slurping(啧啧响的)sounds while eating has an entirely different meaning. This might have something to do with the fact that in western countries, noodles are properly consumed by twirling(缠绕)them on a spoon before putting them in the mouth. Meanwhile, the Japanese simply slurp up their noodles without contorting them first, an act that is naturally noisier than the former. Making slurping sounds when eating noodles in Japan is a way of indicating that you’re rely enjoying them. Some scientists even argue slurping invites air into the mouth and actually enhances the noodles’ flavor.

3 . The Biggest Stadiums in the World

People have been pouring into stadiums since the days of ancient Greece. In around 80 A.D., the Romans built the Colosseum, which remains the world’s best known stadium and continues to inform contemporary design. Rome’s Colosseum was 157 feet tall and had 80 entrances, seating 50,000 people. However, that was small fry compared with the city’s Circus Maximus, which accommodated around 250,000 people.

These days, safety regulations-not to mention the modern sports fan’s desire for a good view and comfortable seat — tend to keep stadium capacities (容量) slightly lower. Even soccer fans tend to have a seat each; gone are the days of thousands standing to watch the match.

For the biggest stadiums in the world, we have used data supplied by the World Atlas list so far, which ranks them by their stated permanent capacity, as well as updated information from official stadium websites.

All these stadiums are still functional, still open and still hosting the biggest events in world sport.

·Rungrado 1st of May Stadium, Pyongyang D.P.R. Korea. Capacity: 150,000. Opened: May 1,1989.

·Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan, U. S. Capacity: 107,601. Opened: October 1, 1927.

·Beaver Stadium, State College, Pennsylvania, U. S. Capacity: 106,572. Opened: September 17, 1960.

·Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio, U. S. Capacity: 104,944. Opened: October 7,1922.

·Kyle Field, College Station, Texas, U. S. Capacity: 102,512. Opened: September 24, 1927.