Tibetan antelopes live on the plains of Tibet     1     the air is thin     2     (watch) them move slowly across the green grass, I’m struck by their beauty. But the 1980s and 1990s were bad times for the Tibetan antelopes when they were     3     (illegal) hunted for their valuable fur. Their habitats became smaller because new roads and railways     4     (build).As a result, the population of the Tibetan antelopes dropped by more than 50 percent. In order to prevent this species from extinction, the Chinese government took     5     (effect) measures to place it under national     6     (protect).Luckily, the antelope population has recovered. However, the government does not intend     7     (stop) the protection programmes, since the     8     (threat) to the Tibetan antelope have not yet disappeared. Only when we learn to exist in harmony     9     nature can we stop being     10     threat to wildlife and to our planet.

3 . “Humans can develop certain abilities we aren’t born with by practicing animals’ movements,” the traditional Chinese Wushu lovers believed in the past — and still do today.

Chinese Five-Animal Exercises, also known as Wuqinxi, are the first complete set of qigong exercises following the movements of animals: monkeys, deer ( 鹿 ), birds, bears and tigers. They were created by one of the greatest doctors in Chinese history, Hua Tuo, more than 1,800 years ago.

The Five-Animal Exercises are well-designed to help blood circulation (循环), and let the energy go smoothly in the body so as to improve the health.

“ The bear movements are good for the stomach. The tiger movements can reduce the pain in the back. The deer movements help reduce the fat around the waist (腰). The bird movements can help keep our knees healthy and the monkey movements can be good for the heart.” said Hua Yi, the 59th inheritor (继承人) of Wuqinxi.

For those new learners, the first few exercises might not go well. You may find it hard to focus. Wear comfortable clothes, keep peaceful in your mind, try to move slowly... Little by little, you’ll feel more and more harmonious with nature. You may even feel you become a tiger or a deer, walking in the forest freely.

These exercises need no tools. You can search online for the videos and practice them at any time when you feel like relaxing your body and mind. Because it’s fun to practice and good for health, Five-Animal Exercises are becoming more and more popular in recent years, not only in China, but also in many other places of the world.

4 . Would you like to travel? Here is some advice for you.

Kingsway Hall Hotel

We offer quality service in Kingsway Hall Hotel. This location puts guests in easy reach of many places, such as the British Museum and Piccadilly Circus. Our hotel also has modern Western food, and offers a perfect dining environment. The lounge bar is a comfortable place to enjoy a drink while watching the tourists. There are hundreds of dining choices within walking distance. Non-smoking rooms are ready for guests.

Hilton Docklands Riverside

Located on the bank of the Thames, our hotel is about two miles east of Tower Bridge and 36 miles from London Heathrow Airport. Our hotel has a beauty salon, a flower shop and a swimming pool. The hotel also offers laundry(洗衣店) services, babysitting, shining shoes, and local area transportation.

Windermere Hotel

Located in the center of London, our hotel puts guests within easy reach of London’s well-known buildings. Buckingham Palace and the Royal Parks are just a short walk away. Within 1.5 miles you can visit Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. The theatres, Harrods shopping centre, and the designer shops of Sloane Square and Knightsbridge are all only a short walk away or a taxi ride away.

Just like     1     (speak) language, body language varies from culture    2    culture. For example, making eye contact in some countries is a way    3     (display) interest, while men and women are not     4     (social) permitted to make eye contact in many Middle Eastern countries. Also, you should avoid    5     (make) a gesture of “OK” in Brazil and Germany as it is not considered polite.

In many countries, shaking one’s head means “no” and    6     (nod) one’s head means “yes”. By comparison, the gestures have     7     opposite meaning in Bulgaria and southern Albania.

Smiling has many different uses. A smile can help us get    8     difficult situations, find friends in a world of strangers or break down barriers.     9    we’re feeling down or lonely, there’s nothing    10     (good) than seeing the smiling face of a good friend.

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . To grow sugary dates in the sand, Siwa’s farmers must first make the desert suitable for farming. As an oasis (绿洲) in Egypt, Siwa has been home to humans for thousands of years. Since ancient times, the oasis has had farms producing some of the most valuable dates in Egypt, and sugary dates have appeared on Egyptians, tables.

The desert environment in Siwa is not quite fit for plant, to grow. For example, the water there contains much salt. However, with local people’s efforts, the Siwa oasis contains complex agricultural (农业的) fields, where date trees, crops and other plants grow in harmony (和谐). That impressed me a lot during my visit to the oasis. To make a new piece of field, farmers first move away the top soil and replace it with a mixture of sand and waste matter from animals. The first plants are medicinal plants. Then, farmers plant date trees and olive trees. These farming skills are passed down from generation to generation.

To grow date trees is demanding. And it takes 10 years for a new date tree to grow up, but once it does, the tree produces generous fruit: around 110 pounds of dates per year. Each farmer picks dates with the skilled hands. They climb the trees using nothing more than a belt. In total, Siwa gets more than 25,000 tons of dates from 280,000 trees per year.

The dates can be eaten fresh, or made dry. Every part of the date tree is important in Siwa, from leaves made into beds and boxes to wood used to build houses. And then, of course, there’s the fruit itself. The dates can be cooked with goat meat or mixed with eggs for breakfast. They can also be mixed with flour, water, and olive oil, and boiled slowly to make a local dessert.

Local farmers once developed many unique date varieties, which their camels carried to Cairo. But later many of those varieties perished. And today only several major varieties remain and some have become quite rare and been at risk. The construction of a road in the oasis made the survival of local agricultural tradition even harder.