Science fiction doesn’t always get the respect it deserves. My friend Ryan calls    1     “brain candy”. My sister says science fiction novels are fairy tales for teenagers. I    2     you ask me, I think people should take science fiction     3     (serious) though it’s so much fun to read.

Yes, science fiction is fun, but it’s also “real” literature. After all, some of     4     great masters of literature—Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov and Ursula Le Guin—have written science fiction.

Not only     5     science fiction books often examples of great literature, but the predictions made by science fiction writers help spark people’s imagination and lay the groundwork for       6     (invent) of the future.

One accurate example by a science fiction writer is the invention of the automatic sliding door,       7     H.G. Wells wrote about in When the Sleeper Wakes in 1899. The f    8     automatic doors were invented in 1954. I wonder if the inventors got the idea from H.G. Wells?

Okay, so maybe we could survive without automatic doors, but in the short story From the London Times of 1904 (published in 1898), Mark Twain described a m    9     significant invention — the Internet (specifically, video blogging) ! Imagine what the world       10     (will) be like without the Internet. Thank you, Mr. Twain. Thank you, science fiction!

Confucius once said: “Studying and guiding my students will never tire me.” He would be more than glad to know that 2,500 years later his ideas     1    (spread) worldwide and even been translated into other languages.

Ben Giaimo,     2     is an international student from Chicago, is now pursuing a master’s degree at Shaanxi Normal University. Majoring in ancient Chinese philosophy and literature, he     3    (attract) by ancient Chinese culture, especially Lunyu, a book by Confucius,     4     ancient Chinese educator and philosopher.

While     5    (read) the book Lunyu, Ben found that Confucius is like one of his old friends, Santa Claus.

“Confucius brings wisdom, and he brings wisdom to everyone who is a     6    (true) good person. And Santa brings presents to everyone who is nice and respectful,” Ben explained.

“So I took this whole book     7     translated all of it into English, into words that people can understand,” he said. From time to time, Ben would turn to his Chinese roommate to discuss whether he had made a proper     8    (translate).

“America and China are two big     9    (power) in the world now. They need to work together and better understand each other     10    (benefit) from each other,” said Ben. “It’ll be a really big impact on the whole world.”