Six months ago Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends in China and     1    (board) a plane for London. She is studying in a university in England on an exchange programme. But     2    (study) here is quite different from studying in China. “You have to get     3    (use) to a whole new way of life. When I got lost and had to ask a passer-by for directions, I didn’t always understand. They     4    (usual) speak too fast. ”Xie Lei said.

Xie Lei lives with a host family who give her lots of good advice. Living with a host family gives her the chance     5    (learn) more about the new culture.

The academic     6    (requirement) of a western university are different. The tutor wanted to know     7     she thought, not others’ ideas. He advised that she should read lots of different texts that contain different opinions     8     analyze what she read.

She feels much more     9     home in England now, and what seemed very strange before now     10    (appear) quite normal. She also spends much time for social activities and joins a few clubs. She is fitting very well in England.

Unluckily, the farmers have suffered a heavy drought this year. They have to struggle     1     (为……而努力) a living. They are struggling     2    (与……抗争) the bad weather for a better harvest. Anyway, they are struggling     3     (increase) their income. However, the financial crisis adds to their difficulties. As a result, they have to face the struggle for existence.

Li Daiyu and her cousin Liu Qian went to Canada to visit their c    1     in Halifax on the Atlantic coast. Rather than travel b    2     commercial airline all the way, they decided to f    3     to Vancouver and then take the train. For both of them, the thought of crossing the whole c    4     by rail was exciting.

B    5     starting out, they spent a couple of days in Vancouver, seeing the sights. During their first day, as is typical of Vancouver, it r    6    . Despite the weather they were able to take a boat ride out into the bay, and later v    7     an Island that had wonderful shops selling crafts and antiques. The next day was clear and mild, and they were p    8     to see the beautiful mountains looking out over the city. Later they took a pleasant h    9     in a forest just a short d    10     away.

The first group, the Romans, came in the first century. Some of their great     1     included building towns and roads. The Vikings came in the eighth century, left behind lots of new vocabulary, and also the names of many     2     across the UK. The last group were the Normans. They conquered England after the well-known Battle of Hastings in the 11^th century. They had castles built all around England, and made changes to the     3     system.

    1    , they find Luo’s parents eagerly waiting for them. Their home has been     2     for the joyous occasion. From the    3    of the paper-cuttings on the windows, to the Spring Festival    4    on the door, and to the New Year paintings on the wall, everything    5    joy, luck and happiness.

The whole family are going to    6    on the Chinese New Year’s Eve. They    7    around the television to watch the Spring Festival Gala, while    8    , chatting with each other and making dumplings that they will eat at the    9    of the new year. In the    10    of the room, Luo Yan talks about his plan for the future.

When it comes to the     1     (运动员) I admire most, it must be the swimmer, Fu Yuanhui, who is always     2     (积极的) and never     3     (失去信心). She was weak in her childhood, so in order to build up her     4     (体力), she     5     (跟随) with her friends to work out and     6     (掌握) swimming skills. In common with other swimmers, she wanted to     7     (竞争) in the Olympics and bring

    8     (荣誉) and glory to China. By training hard, she    9     (获得成功) to the Olympics which was    10     (主办) by Brazil and won a medal. Actually, it was her     11     (决心) and lovely expressions     12     (而不是) her     13     (优雅的) moves in the water that impressed millions of audience in China. When she was interviewed, she said that she sweated her way to the medal and tried hard to avoid errors and getting     14     (受伤)．

    15     (与……比较) pop stars, she is not     16     (苗条的) but she has     17     (树立好榜样) me. As for fitness, she thinks     18     (停止) unhealthy food from our diet and     19     (慢跑) can surely     20     (起作用). From her, I have learned that even if we face     21     (失败), it will     22     (有道理) to keep calm and do not be     23     (有压力的) or     24     (崩溃). Besides, never     25     (假装) to have known what you do not know, which means     26     (欺骗) yourself.