One day, Nick invited his friends to supper. He was cooking some delicious food in the kitchen. Suddenly, he     1     ( find ) that he had run out of salt. So Nick called to his son, “Go to the village and buy some salt, but pay a fair price for it; neither too much     2     too little.” His son looked     3     ( surprise ). “I can understand why I shouldn’t pay too much, Father, but if I can pay less, why not save a bit of money?” “That would be a very     4     ( reason ) thing to do in a big city, but it could destroy a small village like ours,” Nick said. Nick’s guests,     5     had heard their conversation, asked why they should not buy salt more cheaply if they could. Nick replied, “The only reason a man would sell salt     6     a lower price would be because he was desperate for money. And anyone who took advantage of that situation would be showing a lack of respect for the sweat and struggle of the man who worked very hard     7     ( produce ) it.” “But such a small thing couldn’t     8     ( possible ) destroy a village.” “In the beginning, there was only     9     very small amount of unfairness in the world, but everyone added a little, always     10     ( think ) that it was only small and not very important, and look where we have ended up today.”

As the monitor as well as one of the top students in my class, I am always a proud boy. Sometimes I rely so much on     1    (me) that I won’t follow others’ suggestions. And it was because of my blind pride that I made     2     stupid mistake in a physics competition     3     needed not only personal ability     4     also teamwork.

During the competition, I thought I performed     5    (well) than my partners and it was I that won the applause of the audience. So I forgot     6    (work) together with them. When our group were preparing for the last question, one of my     7    (partner) told me that there was something wrong with our last question’s answer and suggested     8    (check) it out. But I was so proud that I didn’t take his advice.     9     my surprise, our answer was wrong and we     10    (fail). If I had taken his advice at that moment, we would not have failed.

Having experienced the failure, I realize that it is important to listen to others’ opinions.

One day a young man     1     (walk) along the road when he heard a cry. It seemed to be coming from underneath a bridge. As he approached the bridge, the sound got     2     (loud) and then he saw     3     pitiful sight. There, lying in the muddy riverbed was a little dog about two months old,     4     front legs were tightly tied with ropes. It had wounds on its head and     5     (cover) with mud.

The young man wanted to help the dog,     6     as he approached, the dog started to bark. The young man did not give up. He sat down and started     7     (gentle) talking to the dog. It took a long time but eventually the dog     8     (stop) barking and the man was able to touch it. The young man carried the dog home, cared for its wounds, and gave it food and water. Even with all of this, the dog was still     9     (friend) every time the young man approached. But the young man did not give up. Weeks went by and the man continued attending to the dog. Then one day, as the young man approached, the dog wagged its tail.

It was consistent love and kindness    10     won a lifelong friendship of loyalty.

Once there were two mice, a city mouse and a country mouse. They were distant relatives. One day the city mouse,     1     lived in a big house wrote a letter to the country mouse inviting him for a visit.

Delighted, the country mouse accepted the     2     (invite) and came to the city mouse's house. He was greeted by the city mouse     3     (cheerful). The country mouse was     4     (surprise) how big the house was. The city mouse was pleased and led the country mouse to the kitchen. When    5     climbed up the table, there was a large piece of bread, fruit and cheese     6     it. But just as they began to eat, they heard a great noise. The city mouse cried, "Run! Run! The cat     7     (come)!” They ran away quickly and hid,     8     (breath) heavily after hiding in the mouse-hole, the country mouse said to the city mouse, "I should go back to my house in the country. Even if I eat nothing but beans, I can live     9     (peace).Why don't you come with me to the country? It is     10     (nice) to be poor and happy than to be rich and afraid."

On our way to the house, it was raining    1     hard that we couldn't help wondering how long it would take    2    (get) there. It was in the middle of Pearl City.

We were first greeted with the barking by a pack    3    dogs, seven to be exact. They were well trained by their masters    4    had great experience with caring for these animals. Our hosts shared many of their experiences and    5    (suggest) wonderful places to eat, shop, and visit. For breakfast, we were able to eat papaya (木瓜) and other fruits from their trees in the backyard.

When they were free from work, they invited us to local events and let us know of an interesting    6    (compete) to watch, together with the story behind it. They also shared with us many    7    (tradition) stories about Hawaii that were    8    (huge) popular with tourists. On the last day of our week-long stay, we    9    (invite) to attend a private concert on a be    10    (listen) to musicians and meeting interesting locals.

Because of Richard Sears' enthusiasm for    1     (tradition) Chinese culture, he began learning Chinese in 1972.     2     (attract) by the ancient language, Sears often went back and forth between China and America. In 1994, after his recovery from a severe heart attack, he made a    3     ( decide) to make the ancient Chinese characters, Jiaguwen, available online.

From then on, Sears started programming and building a database （数据库）of Jiaguwen.     4     took him seven years to scan the characters in Chinese ancient books. In 2002, the Jiaguwen enthusiast's website    5    （create) though with only a few page views per day in the beginning. It    6     (rise) to 600 , 000 per day in 2011 after a blogger recommended the site on Chinese social media platform. "I became famous    7     ( instant) and was given a nickname “Uncle Hanzi”， Sears said with a smile. Up till now, the website has been continuously updated，    8     gives lovers of the ancient language from all over the world free access to browsing (浏览) in their free time.

At present, the70-year-old American has made his home in China.   Apart from    9     (take)part in some social    10     (activity),Sears devotes all his efforts to the study of Chinese characters.