I know I`ll have to study harder as a senior high school student and get used to       1     a lot more. I`m a bit worried about     2     the other students in my advanced course, and it`ll be quite difficult to get used to all the homework.

Hi! My name is Adam and I’m a freshman at senior high school. Going from junior high school to senior high school is a really big     1    . The first week was a little     2    .

First, I had to think very carefully about which courses I wanted to take. The school adviser helped me choose the     3    ones: maths, English, chemistry, world history, and Chinese. I know that Chinese is a very difficult language, but I hope to be     4    when I graduate. My adviser     5    that I should     6    for advanced 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.     7    , 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     8    club instead. Every Wednesday, we work at a soup kitchen and hand out food to     9    people in the community.

Customs play a significant role in festivals, but sometimes they can change     1     time. With the development of modern society and the spread of new ideas, some traditions may     2     away and others may be established. One example is the     3     Chinese Spring Festival custom of lighting firecrackers to drive away the evil     4     and celebrate the new year.     5    , many big cities have given up this custom in order to     6     air pollution. Another example is Halloween, which slowly became an exciting festival for children, in spite of its     7     origins.

Festivals are becoming more and more commercial, with business     8     advantage of the celebrations. Online shopping websites and     9     media apps have made it much easier for the public to spend more on gifts for their     10     ones. Although some believe festivals should not be commercialized, others believe the increase in spending is good for the economy and public happiness.

Imagine having the     1    to sing together with hundreds of other people while you are at home alone. You can do this in a virtual choir. Virtual choir members record themselves while they    2         alone on video. These videos are uploaded     3    the Internet, and then they are put together into one video that you can see online-a virtual choir.    4    can take part in a virtual choir from anywhere-    5    you need is a video camera and an Internet connection. You do not even need a     6    . A virtual choir helps connect     7     people together. Many people do not have close friends or contacts who have the same interest in music. Many others do not have the chance to join a local choir. A virtual choir    8    them to add their voices to those of other individuals and become part of the global community. It has     9     to be a positive influence on the lives of many people. As one virtual choir member said,”Music helps me to... forget my problems. With music, I become someone     10     .”

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.

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?

Festivals and celebrations of all kinds have been held everywhere since ancient times. Most ancient festivals would    1    the end of cold weather, planting in spring and    2    in autumn.   Sometimes   celebrations would be   held after    3    had caught animals. Today’s festivals have many origins, some     4    , some seasonal, and some for special people or events. Some festivals are held to honour the dead or to     5    the ancestors, who might return either to help or to do harm. Festivals can also be held to honour famous people. The most    6     and important festivals are the ones that look forward to the end of winter and to the coming of spring.       7    the Spring Festival in China, people eat dumplings, fish and meat and may give children       8    money in red paper. People love to get together to eat, drink and have     9     with each other. Festivals let us enjoy life, be proud of our     10    and forget our work for a little while.

I am going to tell you an unbelievable thing     1    happened in my restaurant today.

This afternoon a poorly－dressed gentleman came into my restaurant. Nobody knew     2    he was. We wondered     3    he was so hungry. We were surprised     4    he finished two orders of food in a very limited time.We doubted     5    the man was able to pay the bill. The gentleman asked     6    we would mind waiting for just a few minutes. Then we were shocked to see    7    he took out of an envelope—a million pound bank note.

I asked Mr. Clements    8    it was genuine. Mr.Clements said it was true because two of this amount had been issued by the Bank of England this year. He thought     9    the gentleman showed them couldn’t be a fake.

    10    a gentleman with a million pound note was in rags and ate in our small restaurant was a big puzzle to all the people there. I really couldn’t describe how excited I was.