The school adviser helped me choose the     1    ones: maths, English, chemistry, world history, and Chinese. I know that Chinese is a very difficult language, but I hope to be fluent when I     2    . My adviser recommended that I should sign up for     3     literature because I like English and I’m good at it.I had to choose extra — curricular activities, too. I tried to join the school football team, but the coach told me that I didn’t play well enough.     4     , I was unhappy, but I won’t quit. I’ll find a way to improve on my own so that I can make the team next year. I joined a     5    club instead.

As a player, Lang Ping brought     6     and glory to her country. When the Chinese team was preparing for the 2015 World Cup, her     7     was tested. The team that Lang Ping had built was falling apart. One of the best players had been     8    , and the team captain had to leave because of heart problems. Losing two important players was a big     9    , but Lang Ping didn’t lose heart. Two weeks later, they were world     10    ! Then in 2016, Lang Ping led her volleyball team to Olympic gold in Brazil.

As Victor Hugo once said, “Laughter is the sun that     1    winter from the human face”, and up to now nobody has been able to do this better than Charlie Chaplin. He    2    the lives of Americans and British through two world wars and the hard years in between.   He made people laugh at a time when they felt     3    , so they could feel more content with their lives.

Not that Charlie’s own life was easy! He was born in a poor family in 1889. His parents were both poor music hall     4    . You may find     5    astonishing that Charlie was taught to sing as soon as he could speak and dance as soon as he could walk. Such training was common in acting families at this time, especially    6    the family income was often uncertain.     7     his father died,     8    the family even worse off, so Charlie spent his childhood looking after his sick mother and his brother. By his teens, Charlie had,     9     his humor, become one of the most popular child actors in England. He could mime and act the fool doing     10    everyday tasks. No one was ever bored watching him-his subtle acting made everything entertaining.

My name is Wang Kun. Ever since middle school, my sister Wang Wei and I have     1     about taking a great bike trip. Two years ago she bought     2     expensive mountain bike and then she     3    me to buy one. Last year, she visited our     4    , Dao Wei and Yu Hang at their college in Kunming. They are Dai and     5    up in western Yunnan Province near the Lancang River, the Chinese part of the river     6     is called the Mekong River in other countries. Wang Wei soon got them     7    in cycling too. After graduating from college, we     8     got the chance to take a bike trip. I asked my sister, "Where are we going?"     9     was my sister who first had the idea to cycle     10     the entire Mekong River from where it begins to where it ends. Now she is planning our schedule for the trip.

At the time they were created, the Impressionist paintings were    1    , but today they are accepted as the beginning of    2    we call “modern art’. This is because the Impressionists     3    artists to look at their environment in new ways. There are scores of modern art styles, but     4    the Impressionists, many of these painting styles might not exist. On the one hand, some modern art is abstract; that is, the painter doesn’t     5    to paint objects as we see them with our eyes,     6    instead concentrates on certain qualities of the object,     7    color, line and shape to represent them. On the    8    hand, some paintings of modern art are so     9     that they look photographs. These styles are so different. Who can    10    what painting styles there will be in the future?

So why has English changed over time?    1     all languages change and develop when cultures meet and communicate with each other. At first the English     2     in England between about AD 450 and 1150 was very different from the English spoken today. It was     3     more on German than the English we speak at present. Then     4     between about AD 800 and 1150, English became     5     like German because those who ruled England spoke first Danish and later French. These new settlers     6    the English language and especially its vocabulary. So    7    the 1600’s Shakespeare was able to make use of a wider vocabulary than ever before. In 1620 some British settlers moved to America. Later in the 18th century some British people were taken to     8    too. English began to be spoken in both countries. Finally by the 19th century the language was     9    . At that time two big changes in English spelling happened: first Samuel Johnson wrote his dictionary and later Noah Webster wrote The American Dictionary of the English language. The latter gave a separate     10     to American English spelling.

The most     1     and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and the coming of spring.     2     the Spring Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and meat and may     3    children lucky money in red paper. There are dragon dances and carnivals, and families celebrate the Lunar New Year     4     .Some Western countries have very exciting carnivals,    5     take place forty days before Easter, usually in February. These carnivals might include parades,     6     in the streets day and night, loud music and colourful     7     of all kinds. Easter is an important religious and social festival for     8    around the world. It celebrates the return of Jesus from the dead and the coming of spring and new life. Japan’s Cherry Blossom Festival     9     a little later. The country, covered with cherry tree flowers, looks as though     10    is covered with pink snow.

Dollywood, in the beautiful Smoky Mountains in the southeastern USA, is one of the most     1    theme parks in the world. Dollywood shows and celebrates America’s traditional southeastern culture.     2    Dollywood has rides, the park’s main attraction is its culture. Famous country music groups     3     there all year in indoor and outdoor theatres. People come from all over America to see     4     and other craftsmen make wood, glass and iron objects     5     the old-fashioned way. Visit the candy shop     6     try the same kind of candy that American southerners     7     150 years ago, or take a ride on the only steam-engine train still working in the southeast USA, You can     8    see beautiful bald eagles in the world’s largest bald eagle preserve. And for those     9     like rides, Dollywood has one of the best old wooden roller coasters, Thunderhead. It is world-famous for having the most length in the smallest space. Come to Dollywood to have fun     10     all about America’s historical southeastern culture!