I felt butterflies in my stomach when I started calligraphy class ten years ago. I wondered what I was doing there. At that moment, I couldn't have known that I'd just made one of the best     1    (choose) of my life.

I sat down and listened to the teacher introducing the tools of the craft. Then     2     was the first time for me that I had tried my hand. I took up the brush, using the correct gesture,     3    (dip) it in the ink, and carefully wrote "one"     4     Chinese.

Over     5     past five years, I have learned to make versions of well-known poems. Calligraphy seemed like a bridge,     6     connected me to authors from centuries past. Stroke(笔画) by stroke, word by word, I could feel their emotions, cherished my own peace and learned     7     (appreciate) my daily life.

Now, calligraphy is not just a hobby,     8    a way to remove myself from the worries of life. Rolling out the paper, I can write for a whole day. Calligraphy     9     (able) me to balance my busy schedule and live     10     (peace).

9 . Easy Ways to Build Vocabulary

It's not all that hard to build an advanced and large vocabulary. Like many things in life, it's     1    ongoing process, and the best part of the process is that there's enough room for improvement,     2    means you'll just keep getting better and better. Of course you have to work at it. You wouldn't think that a few     3    (month) of exercise in your teens would be enough     4     the rest of your life, and that's also true for building your vocabulary--you have to keep at it daily, and pretty soon you will find that you have an excellent vocabulary.