2 . Last week, 84-year-old Janet Fein received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. Fein has had a full life. She has raised five children and then had a career as a secretary until she retired at age 77. But even then, she was not ready to take it easy and rest. She said she decided to major in sociology because she felt it was very important.

Fein grew up in the Bronx area of New York City. She just wanted to get a job in high school. After graduating at the age of 16, she went to work as a secretary. After getting married, she spent 18 years staying home with her children. She held several jobs throughout her life,including 20 years as a secretary at a hospital. She also worked for 20 years on earning an associate degree. But Fein also wanted to earn a bachelor’s degree “with all of my heart”. Even with all of her life experiences, she still enjoyed reading,writing papers and learning new things.

Health experts say continuing with education later in life is one way to keep fit. Carmel Dyer, director of the UTHealth Consortium on Aging at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,says keeping active and giving yourself something to look forward to “is just a really positive move”.

Fein kept going to class even as her health conditions worsened. During her studies,it became necessary for her to use a walker to get around and she required oxygen. She also developed knee problems. Therefore, Fein took online classes to finish the last part of her degree requirements. Her college advisor Sheila Rollerson said Fein never showed signs of giving up even with all of her difficulties. “She just kept plugging along,“ Rollerson said.

After eating a diet of bread, hamburgers and spaghetti for three, straight     1     (month), I began to miss Chinese cuisine. Luckily, in     2     international city like Sydney, I have little difficulty     3    (find) a Chinese restaurant or Chinese takeaway. However, the Chinese food, which the locals consider     4     their favorite, is not exactly the Chinese food I enjoy in Beijing. I can always find such so-called “Chinese food” as honey chicken on the menu,     5     I actually have never even heard of it before.

One day, I went to an Aussie Chinese restaurant with my local friends. After the meal, each of us     6    (give) a dumpling-shaped cookie. Once I bit into it, I realized something not quite     right. After I spat (吐) it out, I found a piece of paper with a message     7    (print) on it that read: “This fortune’s no good, try another.” At first I thought it must be a trick of the restaurant. When I told this to my friends, they burst into     8    (laugh) and asked: “Are you really from   China?”

But it doesn’t mean there is no place in Sydney where I can comfort my stomach. I always head to China Town when I     9    (extreme) miss the cuisines of my homeland. Following the hot and spicy smell, I can always find the most typical Chinese food     10     excites me in the city.

“Traveling to China seems like traveling to another world. Its many famous scenic attractions impressed me     1     (great),”an American said. The following is     2     he wrote on his website.

My friends and I had a family visit in Xi’an,     3     old city with a long history in China. The hosts were retired or stayed at home without a job, and they were friendly to     4     (visit) from different countries coming their homes.

We     5     (taste) the true home-cooked dishes in the home of the family that we visited. For in-homing dinner, the host would prepare a list of menus in advance (提前). Our tour guide asked     6     (we) for advice about the food, so the host would try to cook what we wanted     7     (eat) at his home. We just enjoyed the locally cooked dishes. It was quite a different and exciting experience.

Many foreigners enjoy     8     (learn) how to make Chinese dumplings. We were also     9     (offer) a general cooking class in the local family. The host taught us to make dumplings step by step with lots of patience. And we didn’t need to pay any money     10     this. Travel China Guide offers this kind of service free of charge.

The family visit in Xi’an was a good chance for us to get to know Chinese people’s daily life.

It’s almost a common belief that the best food you can find in a place is not in the fancy restaurants,     1     in the backstreets. These spots are usually away from popular tourist attractions, which means that to find them you’ll need the spirit of an explorer.

That’s     2     I came across roujiamo when I was exploring Beijing. I found     3     restaurant that sold dishes from Xi’an when I explored the area around     4     (I) office one day. I decided to try it out.

My roujiamo     5     (make) fresh, so the bread was still warm. It was soft when I bit into it, and the meat inside was delicious and tender. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I ordered more to take home with me. Though it’s just a snack, it’s still quite filling and can     6     (easy) satisfy your appetite.

There are a     7     (various) of things you can put inside the “mo”, as the bread is called. For example, in certain areas in Xi’an, the meat     8     (use) is usually beef, but in Gansu Province, lamb is more common. And the first roujiamo that I tried was made     9     pork. However it’s made, it’s still a tasty snack. And for an American like me who grew up     10     (eat) hamburgers, it’s a perfect combination of East and West.

7 . After graduation, I decided to take the gym seriously. Accompanied by a friend, I _________ a routine of walking on the treadmill(跑步机). I was _________ with our routine in the gym. My friend, however, became bored.

One day, he suggested that we _________ an outdoor sport. I was an uncoordinated (动作不协调的)person, so I _________ his proposal.

But several weeks later, he managed to _________ me to step onto an outdoor racquetball (美式壁球)court. When I hit the ball, I sent it flying in every direction except the direction that I had _________. Still, somehow, I tried hard to learn it and became _________ after constantly practicing.

“We’re not getting enough _________ on the treadmill. Why not play tennis to build up our body?” suggested my friend.

“Tennis? I can’t play tennis! That _________ real skills!” I firmly resisted his new __________.

Nevertheless, weeks later, I started playing tennis. After several months of painful practice, one day, as the ball came flying towards me, my racket and the ball met in what tennis players __________ as the “sweet spot”. I had __________learned how to play tennis properly!

I learned an extremely valuable __________ from these experiences: I can do whatever I set my mind on. I just need to put in efforts, and the results will __________. And I become quite __________ about trying new things and I’m always filled with a sense of excitement.

8 . Lewis B. Smedes once said, “To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” For years Tom Anderson’s life was withered up(枯萎) by the memory of his ________ in an adventure that ________ the death of one of his classmates. He and his wife ________ after six years of marriage. Then the news about Tom changed. His wife Betty came back; he ________ a fine position.

One day he told me what had changed his life, “I used to think nothing could ________ what I had done. The thought of my ________ would stop me in the middle of a smile. It put a ________ between my wife and me. Then I had an________ visit from the person I dreaded(恐惧)most to see - the mother of the college classmate who died. ‘Unless you forgive, you cannot love.’ She said, ‘And without love, life has no ________.’ She paused, and then said ________, ‘You are the one person who hasn’t forgiven Tom Anderson.’ I found there in her eye ________ to be the person I might have been if her boy had lived. For the first time in my life I felt ________ to love and be loved.”

Forgiveness is truly the ________ grace(慈悲)，through which we gain the freedom to learn from experience. But forgiving our shortcomings doesn’t mean ________ that they exist. On the contrary, it means facing them ________.

10 . Are you a tea drinker? If so, you’re not alone. Every day around the world millions of cups of this popular brew are drunk, and it’s been that way for thousands of years. The oldest discovered tea is from the Han Dynasty, dating from 206BC to 220AD. But it’s thought that the tea trend really took off during the Tang Dynasty in the 8th Century, when it became China’s national drink. Now, Turkey, the Republic of Ireland and the UK are believed to be the biggest tea—drinking nations, per capita.

Tea is consumed in many ways-slurped, sipped or glugged. It can be poured from pots, infused or brewed in the cup using tea bags—and it’s this latter process that is causing concern. Research last year found some premium tea bags might be leaving billions of microscopic plastic particles in the cup. Scientists from McGill University in Montreal found that some ‘plastic’ tea bags shed high levels of micro plastics into water. However, The World Health Organization says such particles in drinking water do not appear to pose a risk.

Most tea bags are made from paper, with a small amount of plastic used to seal them shut— made from oil. This has led to debate about whether they can be recycled, but many are still composted. However, gardener Mike Armitage has told the BBC that the plastic contained in the soil could be washed into streams and rivers and ultimately out to sea.

Unilever, the owners of the tea brand PG Tips, said their tea bags are made with a small amount of plastic—used to seal them—and that they are suitable for composting. And the brand Yorkshire Tea said their bags do contain 25% polypropylene, but they were “actively developing plant—based and biodegradable alternatives”.

While tea bag manufacturers might be doing their bit to reduce plastic pollution, it could be a good time to switch your favourite beverage to coffee, or if that isn’t your cup of tea then try using loose-leaf tea, which can have a better flavour.