Mangroves, known as “red forest” in China, grow between land and sea, characterised by their complex roots. When     1    (see) from afar, the mangrove forests appear more splendid.

Mangroves can help soften waves and protect     2    (city) from coastal winds. For these reasons, they are praised as “coastal guardians”. Up to now, China     3    (establish) a number of protected areas with mangroves.

Every culture is riddled with unwritten rules, such as ones on punctuality (守时). I’m British. Soon after moving to Switzerland, I     1    (throw) a house-warming party and was greatly surprised when all 30 guests showed up     2    (exact) on time. Years later, having moved to France. I turned up at the appointed hour for a dinner, only to find that no other guest    3    (arrive) and my hostess was still in her sleeping suit.

3 . I was always timid (羞怯的). Being new to the school made me even ________ , so it was surprising I’d ________ to anyone around me. Now I was paying the price — to write a five-page essay on “Why I Should Not Talk in Class”. That would take all night!

After I got home, though. I took my time petting the cat-postponing the pain.

When I finally sat down to ________, I began with the reasons Ms. Black would want to hear.

Talking kept me and my neighbours from ________. One paragraph down; now what? I chewed on my pencil. Aha! What if talking were the first step towards life as a criminal? Without the education I was throwing away, I’d turn to theft and go to prison. When I got out, people would say, “She used to talk in class.” The pages began ________.

But when mum got home from work, I was still ________, “Five pages! That’s impossible!”

“Well, you’d better get back to work,” she said. “and I want to read it when you’re through.”

Soon after dinner, I handed the essay to mum. I half expected a________— at least an “I hope you’ve learned your lesson”. ________, mum laughed and laughed as she read.

The next day, when Ms. Black read the essay to the class, everyone laughed. I could ________ they weren’t making fun of me: they laughed because I had the power to tell a funny story. My________ still needed some nudging (激发), but I did learn I wasn’t shy in print.