1 . BBC: Top 4 Wonderful English Novels

3 . It happens every spring. Flowers suddenly come out everywhere on the same day, as if they made an appointment with one another. But how exactly do plants “know” when to flower?

It is a question that has puzzled biologists for years. But according to Science Daily, a US research group may have finally answered it —the secret lies in a protein (蛋白质) called FKF1. This allows plants to sense the differences in day lengths so that they can tell the seasons are changing.

Researchers discovered the FKFI protein when they were studying a plant called Arabidopsis. They found that the FKFI protein is a photoreceptor (感光器). This means it is sensitive to, and can be activated by sunlight.

“Plants produce this protein every day in the late afternoon throughout the year. If there is no light at this time, for example, in winter when the sun goes down early, the protein won’t be activated,” explained Takato Imaizumi, the leader of the study. “But when spring comes and the days get longer, the FKF1 protein can be activated by daylight and the plants ‘know’ it is time to flower.”

Although researchers have only studied how the FKF1 protein works in the Arabidopsis, they believe that the process is similar in other plants, including crops like rice and wheat. This could be useful to the agricultural industry in the world.

5 . Last week, 84-year-old Janet Fein received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Dallas. Fein has had a full life. She has raised five children and then had a career as a secretary until she retired at age 77. But even then, she was not ready to take it easy and rest. She said she decided to major in sociology because she felt it was very important.

Fein grew up in the Bronx area of New York City. She just wanted to get a job in high school. After graduating at the age of 16, she went to work as a secretary. After getting married, she spent 18 years staying home with her children. She held several jobs throughout her life,including 20 years as a secretary at a hospital. She also worked for 20 years on earning an associate degree. But Fein also wanted to earn a bachelor’s degree “with all of my heart”. Even with all of her life experiences, she still enjoyed reading,writing papers and learning new things.

Health experts say continuing with education later in life is one way to keep fit. Carmel Dyer, director of the UTHealth Consortium on Aging at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston,says keeping active and giving yourself something to look forward to “is just a really positive move”.

Fein kept going to class even as her health conditions worsened. During her studies,it became necessary for her to use a walker to get around and she required oxygen. She also developed knee problems. Therefore, Fein took online classes to finish the last part of her degree requirements. Her college advisor Sheila Rollerson said Fein never showed signs of giving up even with all of her difficulties. “She just kept plugging along,“ Rollerson said.

“Traveling to China seems like traveling to another world. Its many famous scenic attractions impressed me     1     (great),”an American said. The following is     2     he wrote on his website.

My friends and I had a family visit in Xi’an,     3     old city with a long history in China. The hosts were retired or stayed at home without a job, and they were friendly to     4     (visit) from different countries coming their homes.

We     5     (taste) the true home-cooked dishes in the home of the family that we visited. For in-homing dinner, the host would prepare a list of menus in advance (提前). Our tour guide asked     6     (we) for advice about the food, so the host would try to cook what we wanted     7     (eat) at his home. We just enjoyed the locally cooked dishes. It was quite a different and exciting experience.

Many foreigners enjoy     8     (learn) how to make Chinese dumplings. We were also     9     (offer) a general cooking class in the local family. The host taught us to make dumplings step by step with lots of patience. And we didn’t need to pay any money     10     this. Travel China Guide offers this kind of service free of charge.

The family visit in Xi’an was a good chance for us to get to know Chinese people’s daily life.

9 . Entering the drama room I am immediately surrounded by the familiar sights, smells and sounds. Streaks (条纹；线条) of light cast by the blinds of the tall _________ send shafts (杆状物) of light through the dusty air. I take a deep breath and the concrete and paint _________ tickle my nose. I _________ everything about this room.

Some of the best times of my life have been spent here. It’s ironic (讽刺的), but the _________ is the only place where I feel that I don’t have to _________ to be someone I’m not. Like many teenagers, I almost _________ think that people are judging me, but when I act, that feeling disappears. People only look at your acting ability, not your clothing, money, choice of friends, or any of the other ways people are usually ___________.

When I’m on stage, everything else vanishes (消失). All the worries and   _________ of the outside world are put on hold. Nervousness is still present, but it’s the excited and tingly kind, not the queasy (不稳定的) ___________ of being different and alone.

I __________ love to work backstage and on lighting. I __________ you could find another girl who would work on a ladder __________ her elbows in cables and dust and love every second of it. It makes me unique and gives me a sense of __________ to know that I succeed in an area where few others — and virtually (事实上) no girls — do.

High school is a difficult atmosphere, to put it __________. Like others, I’m often insecure (不安的), not __________ who I am or where I’m going in life. Wherever that may be, I will always have the confidence I get from theater.

“Du Fu: China’s Greatest Poet”, a 58-minute documentary released recently on BBC, introduces Du Fu to the Western world for the first time    1     the form of documentary. In the film, Michael Wood, one of BBC’s most popular hosts, visited a number of Chinese    2     (city) to retrace Du’s steps. The documentary invited well-known British actor Ian McKellen,     3     played Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings movies,     4     (read)15 of Du’s poems that have been translated into English.

Born in 712, Du Fu lived through the violent fall of China’s brilliant Tang Dynasty. He had the desire to serve his country, but his life    5    (destroy) by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755. Of all     6     poems he wrote, 500 have been preserved over the ages. For generations he     7     (be) the guardian of the moral conscience (良知) of the nation.

The documentary compared Du to Shakespeare to help audiences     8    (well) understand the poet’s great achievements in literature. It also highlighted Chinese poetry, noting that its 3000-year-old history makes     9    the oldest living tradition in the world.

During an interview, the director even quoted a line from Du to encourage the people    10     (suffer) from pandemics (流行病).