1 . There is something to be said for being a generalist, even if you are a specialist. Knowing a little about a lot of things that interest you can add to the richness of a whole, well-lived life.

Society pushes us to specialize, to become experts. This requires commitment to a particular occupation, branch of study or research. The drawback to being specialists is we often come to know more and more about less and less. There is a great deal of pressure to master one's field. You may pursue training, degrees, or increasing levels of responsibility at work. Then you discover the pressure of having to keep up.

Some people seem willing to work around the clock in their narrow specialty. But such commitment can also weaken a sense of freedom. These specialists could work at the office until ten each night, then look back and realize they would have loved to have gone home and enjoyed the sweetness of their family and friends, or traveled to exciting places, meeting interesting people. Mastering one thing to the exclusion （排 除）of others can hold back your true spirit.

Generalists, on the other hand, know a lot about a wide range of subjects and view the whole with all its connections. They are people of ability, talent, and enthusiasm who can bring their broad perspective （视角）into specific fields of expertise （专长）.The doctor who is also a poet and philosopher is a superior doctor, one who can give so much more to his patients than just good medical skills.

Things are connected. Let your expertise in one field fuel your passions in all related areas. Some of your interests may not appear to be connected but, once you explore their depths, you discover that they are. My editor Toni, who is also a writer, has edited several history books. She has decided to study Chinese history. Fascinated by the structural beauty of the Forbidden City as a painter, she is equally interested to learn more about Chinese philosophy. "I don't know where it will lead, but I'm excited I'm on this pursuit."

These expansions into new worlds help us by giving us new perspectives. We begin to see the interconnectedness of one thing to another in all aspects of our life, of ourselves and the universe. Develop broad, general knowledge and experience. The universe is all yours to explore and enjoy.

4 . Color is fundamental in home design—something you’ll always have in every room. A grasp of how to manage color in your spaces is one of the first steps to creating rooms you’ll love to live in. Do you want a room that’s full of life? Professional? Or are you just looking for a place to relax after a long day?     1    , color is the key to making a room feel the way you want it to feel.

Over the years, there have been a number of different techniques to help designers approach this important point.     2    , they can get a little complex. But good news is that there’re really only three kinds of decisions you need to make about color in your home: the small ones, the medium ones, and the large ones.

    3    . They’re the little spots of color like throw pillows, mirrors and baskets that most of us use to add visual interest to our rooms. Less tiring than painting your walls and less expensive than buying a colorful sofa, small color choices bring with them the significant benefit of being easily changeable.

Medium color choices are generally furniture pieces such as sofas, dinner tables or bookshelves.     4    . They require a bigger commitment than smaller ones, and they have a more powerful effect on the feeling of a space.

The large color decisions in your rooms concern the walls, ceilings, and floors. Whether you’re looking at wallpaper or paint, the time, effort and relative expense put into it are significant.     5    .

I’ve had many dreams since I was a child. Now my dream is to opens a cafe. Though it may appear simple, it required a lot of ideas and efforts. What I want is not just an ordinarily cafe but a very special one. I want my cafe have a special theme such as like “Tang Dynasty”. In the cafe, customers will enjoy yourselves in the historical environment what is created for them. If I succeed in manage one, I will open more. I wish to have a chain of cafes in many different city. Each of my cafes will have a different theme and an unique style.

7 . I’ve been farming sheep on a hillside for 54 years. I use a small tractor to get about. My dog Don always sits beside me in the passenger seat.

One morning I _______ a lost lamb when I was in the top field，near where a motorway cuts through my land. The lamb had become separated from its _______ , so I jumped out of the tractor to _______ it while Don stayed in his seat.

Lamb and mother _______ , I turned back to the tractor only to see it move suddenly away from me. This was so _______ because I had put the handbrake on when I jumped out. _______ Don had somehow made the _______move.

My heart froze in my chest as I _______ the tractor heading towards the _______ .I ran desperately but failed to __________. It crashed through a wooden fence and disappeared. The __________ thing I saw was Don’s face, looking calmly back at me.

Heart in mouth, I __________ the fence and looked over. The tractor was __________against the crash barrier in the central reservation, having miraculously(奇迹般地) crossed the __________ road with fast-flowing traffic. I couldn’t see Don, but as I __________ the tractor he jumped out onto the road, apparently __________ , and dashed back to me.

The police __________ and the motorway ran normally again. I couldn't quite believe my __________. It turned out no one got badly hurt, but the outcome could have been __________ . Don was given a special __________ that night—I didn’t want him thinking I was angry with him.

There are several reasons why school uniforms are good idea. First of all, uniforms help the school look smart. The students feel that they belong to a particular group. When every pupil in the school wears the uniform, nobody     1    (have) to worry about fashion(时尚). Everybody wears     2     same style of clothes. Uniforms can be useful in unexpected ways. A school in Ireland has introduced an interesting new uniform. On the edge of the jacket, there is a piece of cloth     3     gives off light in the dark. When the children are walking or     4    (cycle) to school on dark mornings, car drivers can     5    (easy) see them.

But can uniforms help improve school standards? The answer     6     this question is not clear. One study in America found that students’ grades     7    (improve) a little after the school introduced uniforms. But some students didn’t want     8    (wear) the uniform. Other American studies showed no     9    (connect) between uniforms and school performance.

School uniforms are     10    (tradition) in Britain, but some schools are starting to get rid of them. Some very good schools don’t have a uniform policy. However, uniforms are still popular. Pupils at about 90 percent of British secondary schools wear uniforms.

10 . Before there was the written word, there was the language of dance. Dance expresses love and hate, joy and sorrow, life and death, and everything else in between.

    1    We dance from Florida to Alaska, from north to south and sea to sea. We dance at weddings, birthdays, office parties and just to fill the time.

“I adore dancing,” says Lester Bridges, the owner of a dance studio in Iowa. “I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.” Bridges runs dance classes for all ages. “Teaching dance is wonderful.     2    It’s great to watch them. For many of them, it’s a way of meeting people and having a social life.”

    3    “I can tell you about one young couple,” says Bridges. “They’re learning to do traditional dances. They arrive at the class in low spirits and they leave with a smile.     4    ”

So, do we dance in order to make ourselves feel better, calmer, healthier? Andrea Hillier says, “Dance, like the pattern of a beating heart, is life. Even after all these years, I want to get better and better.    5     I find it hard to stop! Dancing reminds me I’m alive.”