Six months ago, 19-year-old Xie Lei said goodbye to her family and friends and     1     a plane for London. It was the first time that she had left China. “I was very     2     but also quite     3    . I didn’t know what to expect,”Xie Lei     4    .

Xie Lei is studying for a business     5     at a university in China and has come to our university on a year-long     6     programme.“I     7     the exchange programme because I wanted to learn about     8     business and improve my English. My     9     is to set up a business in China after     10    ,”she explained.

An expedition to the South Pole with the great Sir Ernest Shackleton — this is the adventure that I have been d    1     of. And I was ready for it. At the age of 19, I am fit and full of v    2    . However when I a    3     to join the expedition, Shackleton turned me d    4     because he thought I was too young and wasn’t q    5    . But I was so e    6     about the idea of going along with them that secretly went a    7     his ship, the Endurance, and hid in a small cupboard. U    8    , three days after we set off I was discovered. Shackleton did not want to turn back so he offered me a job, but only after he p    9     me, “If anyone has to be eaten, then you will be the first!” He a    10     me to be a steward, and I now serve meals for twenty-eight men three times a day.

Though Lin Qiaozhi never married, she was known as the “mother of ten thousand babies”,     1     50,000 babies in her lifetime. Dr Lin did not retire until the day she died, 22 April 1983. Since she had no children of her own, she     2     and a fund for new doctor. And     3    , her final thoughts were for others ......

Historically, Chinese immigrants settled in the area during the     4    . What     5     for Chinese immigrants then turned into a centre for Chinese culture ......

PERU is a country on the Pacific coast of South America with three main areas:     1    , dry, flat land running along the coast, the Andes Mountains and the Amazon rainforest.

In the 1400s and 1500s, Peru was the centre of the     2     ancient Inca Empire. The Inca emperor lived in the now-famous     3     Machu Picchu. Spain took control     4     Peru in the 16th century and ruled until 1821. It is for this reason that Spanish is the main     5     language of Peru.

This four-day walking tour will take you on amazing     6     through the Andes Mountains on the way to the city of Machu Picchu. After reaching your     7    , you will have a day to     8     and be amazed by this ancient city. Especially amazing is the Inca’s dry stone method of building. Inca builders cut stones to     9     sizes so that nothing was needed to hold walls together other than the     10     fit of the stones.

The story of Chinese fashion began in 2011 when Feiyue and Huili, both Chinese sneaker brands (品牌), suddenly gained international attention. Their products     1    (see) on models all over the world then. Last year, Chinese sportswear brand LI-NING was at the New York, Fashion Week in September with new designs decorated with Chinese     2    (character). Now the Chinese brands are impressive and ambitious and can go head to head with foreign brands. And this ambition may be due to the fact that China's young people are now more     3     about their own culture.

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.

I     1     understand how you feel. I also had a friend whom I trusted a lot. When I found out that I was     2     by him, I was really hurt and let go of our friendships. I know you value your friendship and want your friend to value it     3     .

(1) Exploring space has already     1    in the fight against world hunger. It has directly resulted in the many satellites that now orbit Earth. A number of the satellites     2     data on land and weather patterns. Then the data     3     (transmit) to scientists on Earth. After careful     4    , the scientists can provide useful     5     and advice for farmers. As a result, space-based science has helped farming in its efforts to grow enough food to feed Earth’s increasing population.

(2) To the public, he was seen as a slightly     6     but kind and funny man. He had a thick moustache and long white hair, which sometimes stood on end     7    he had just received an electric shock. Although he was a     8    , he sometimes forgot things, like his friends’ birthdays. But     9     his peculiarities, he was loved by his friends and neighbours. There is even a story about how he helped a little girl who knocked on his door and asked for help with her homework. In fact, Einstein often     10     people on the street who would stop him and ask him to help explain things.