1 . You throw a flying disc (飞盘). Your friend catches it. Well done!

Flying discs are fun toys. They are becoming popular in China. On the Internet, there are more than thousands of posts about disc games, talking about things like rules and dress codes.

Flying discs are very beginner-friendly. It is easy for anyone to throw a disc almost anywhere they want to, from a field to a beach. No special skills are needed. Boys and girls can also play together, making it a good activity to socialize.     1    

For those who want to compete, there are many choices. They can try the team disc sport called “ultimate”.     2     There are no judges. You must overcome your desire to cheat. Put simply, it makes us better people. In another game called “disc golf”, players try to hit faraway targets with a disc. Like in golf, the lowest number of throws wins.

    3     They started with pie tins (烤盘), which inspired the birth of the toy. After enjoying the pies, some university students soon found that the empty pie tins could be tossed (扔)around. They had great fun with them in the 1930s. In 1948, a man named Walter made a plastic disc with his partner Warren.     4     The discs quickly became popular.

3 . Henry remembers the day well. It was a day that would change his life. He was sitting at the kitchen table, watching his ten-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, do her homework. She had asked him a question about history and was now _________ him with big brown eyes, waiting for an answer. Henry looked at the kettle and then out of the kitchen window. Henry can still hear himself say, “I’m sorry, my dear. I don’t know.”

Henry had spent forty years working as a librarian in a school. He was now _________ and spent his days looking after Sophia. However, he felt that he should be doing more with his life, though he was in his seventies with grey hair and _________ wrinkles in his forehead (额头). As Sophia continued her homework, he read an article in the newspaper about the health _________ of older people going back to university. The article said that it kept the brain _________ and helped prevent loneliness. He made the _________ there and then. The next morning, he would go to Birkbeck, University of London and take a _________ in history.

After four years, Henry got his degree in history. “_________ the course has given me such a sense of achievement,” he says. “It has also made me _________ about doing all the other things that I’ve never had the courage to try before. It’s __________ too old to learn.”

Chinese calligraphy is called the art of lines. Practicing calligraphy helps a person to achieve relaxation and inner peace. In the past, children     1     (train) at an early age to practice writing. Great attention is paid     2     calligraphy today with exhibitions and competitions among both the young and the old.     3     (learn) calligraphy, one will need a brush, ink, paper, and ink stone, which     4     (be) commonly recognized as the Four Treasures of Study. As Chinese culture spreads throughout the world nowadays, calligraphy is enjoying     5     (great) popularity than ever before. Many foreigners are practising it now.     6     calligraphy uses Chinese characters (汉字) as a way of expression, one does not have to know Chinese to admire its beauty.

8 . Once upon a time, there was a shepherd (牧羊人). He _________ dozens of sheep. He tended (照料) the sheep in the daytime, and kept them in the sheepfold (羊圈) at night.

One morning, the shepherd found that one sheep was _________. His neighbor helped him check the sheepfold. “There is a hole in the wall of your sheepfold. A wolf went in through the hole, and took the sheep away at night. You should _________ the sheepfold quickly and fill up the hole,” the neighbor said.

However, the shepherd was _________ to the neighbor’s advice. He replied, “I have already lost the sheep. It is no _________ repairing the sheepfold.” The next morning, the shepherd found that another sheep was gone.

The neighbor said, “If you had _________ my advice, you wouldn’t have made the same mistake. Aren’t you going to take action right now?”

The shepherd filled up the hole _________ at once. After that, _________ of his sheep was taken away by the wolf.

If there is a mistake, we should _________ it as soon as possible. In this way, we can avoid more __________.

10 . Monkfish are low in calories and they are easy to cook. They can be cut into pieces, mixed with egg whites, cornflour and salt, and then put into boiling water for a few minutes. There is only one problem with monkfish: they are ugly. With their eyes sticking out and wide mouths full of sharp teeth, they are frightening.

In the Netherlands, fishermen who caught them used to throw them back. They are still usually sold without their heads, but the days of throwing them away are long gone. Japanese diners love the fatty liver; while Italians may still call them toad tails, that doesn’t stop them from eating the fish. People have been encouraged to eat more monkfish, as well as other unattractive creatures — in order to ensure the biodiversity of the ocean environment.

There are more examples for sea animals going from “purposely avoided” to “willingly consumed”. In America, lobsters used to be fed to prisoners — a result of their abundance but also, no doubt, because they are difficult to eat and look frightening. Not until the late 19th century did they become fantastic dish. Today they are so desirable that Maine, where most American lobsters are caught, has the images of these creatures printed on many of its vehicles.

Sometimes fashion goes the other way. Turtles were plentiful in early America, but in the 19th century they became fashionable: few foods were more recommended than turtle soup. Americans ate some species of turtle nearly to extinction. Yet today turtle-eating is more closely associated with remote and uncultured areas.

Among cooking choices, people prefer the rare and the beautiful one than the unattractive one. But such narrow-minded food choices can have bad results: some species may not survive human preference for them. Better to stare into monkfish’s eyes than to contribute to the permanent loss of a species.