Whether you want to go to high school,work for CCTV,or seek more advanced education in the United States,a strong writing ability in English is 1. (great) desirable. It would not only help you serve the country better,2. create many more opportunities in today's exciting social,cultural,and economic life.

   Almost all American colleges and universities require 3. least one term of a writing program,4. is usually reading and writing and expects a lot from the students. Most colleges also require students 5. (take) one or two more advanced reading and writing courses. Besides English,almost all social science courses include a considerable amount of writing,in 6. form of term papers,research projects,or essay exams.Many 7. (nature) science professors also like to have a writing part in 8. (they) course requirements. It’s reasonable to say that writing often 9. (decide) the grade a student will get from a course; it sometimes makes the 10.(different) between A or B. pass or fail. 

   Maybe you can't call the far side of the moon “the dark side” anymore. The Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite,1. is equipped with NASA* s camera,is orbiting between the earth and the sun at a distance 2.1 million miles.

   The camera on DSCOVR shot a(n) 3.(attract) view of the moon crossing in front of the earth. The image clearly shows the moon's far side 4. (light) up by the sun — though even in full sunlight,the earth is far brighter. aIt is surprising how much brighter the earth is than the moon ,” DSCOVR project scientist Adam Szabo said. “Our planet is a(n) 5. (true) brilliant object in dark space compared to the lunar surface.”

   Though the moon's so-called dark side can't be seen from the earth 一 thanks to the moon always presenting the same side to 6. (it) neigh- bor —it's far from the first time we’ve seen it.

   In 1959,the Soviet Union sent a probe(航天探测器) 7. (photograph) the far side,and it 8. (follow) up with another probe in 1965.Astronauts from Apollo 8 ,in 1968,were the first 9. (human) to view it,and most other Apollo missions also viewed it.

   “The back side looks like a sand pile my kids have played in. It's just a lot of bumps and holes,” noted Apollo 8's William Anders. “It’s not a(n) 10. (inspire) sight."

   Manhattan is a small island that is one part of New York City. New York City is actually made up of five sections 1. (call) boroughs(区) .These boroughs are Manhattan,Queens,Brooklyn,Staten Island,and the Bronx. Manhattan has the most people of all the boroughs,about 1. 5 million,even though it is the 2. (small) borough by size.If you send a letter to someone who lives on Manhattan,don't write Manhattan 3. the envelope. You should write “New York,New York”.

   The island is so small 4. most people live and work in tall buildings. Some of these buildings are called skyscrapers because it looks like they are touching the sky. Manhattan 5.(connect) to the other boroughs by 6.series of bridges and tunnels The most famous bridge may be the Brooklyn Bridge because of 7. (it) brick arches. The New York City subway,a massive mass transit system that 8. (most) runs underground,also connects the island to the rest of the boroughs.

   Manhattan,like the other boroughs,has many different neighborhoods,many of 9. are named for the communities that first 10.(live) there. Some of these neighborhoods include Little Italy,Little Germany,Little Brazil,Chinatown,and Koreatown.

   While driving alone through the countryside,Linda saw an old woman by the side of the road,reaching out her hand. 1. was getting dark and raining. “I can't leave her out in this weather,” Linda said to herself,so she stopped the car.

   “Shall I offer you 2. lift?” Linda asked. The old woman nodded and climbed into the car. After a while Linda asked, “Have you waited for long?” The old woman shook her head. 3.(strange) enough,the old woman didn't say a single word all the way. Her only 4. (respond) was always a nod of the head or something eke like that.

   Then Linda saw the lady’s hands,5.were very large and covered with thick hair. She realized 6. the lady was a man!After 7. (stop) the car,Linda said, “I can't see that mirror. Would you mind cleaning it 8.me?”The lady nodded and opened the door. As soon as the “lady” was 6ut of the car,Linda drove off quickly.

   When Linda arrived home,she found that the old lady 9. (leave) a handbag on the backseat. She opened it and let out a deep breath.Inside it 10.(be) two sharp knives!

   Yoga is a kind of sport that is very popular around the world now. Everyone,1. young or old,men or women,can do yoga. It’s 2.(benefit) to people's health,both physically and 3. (mental) .

   Why do people like yoga? There's a short answer and a long aliswer to that question. The short answer is 4. yoga helps you feel better and makes you healthier in body,mind and spirit. If you are interested,read on.

   Yoga began in India about 5 ,000 years ago. At that time,people wanted to be free,healthy and live 5. long life,so this kind of exercise was bom. The early yoga was part of a religion. Usually yoga 6. (teach) one to one then 一 one teacher with one student. Yoga is an Indian word 7. (mean) “to join together”. There are three parts of yoga altogether: exercise,breathing and meditation(冥想）. In the past,more attention was paid 8. the spirit. The idea behind the exercise was to unite the mind,body and spirit. Yoga can help you feel 9. (relax) and have fewer worries and 10. (ill) .

  Car chases in the Los Angeles area are a(n) 1. (fair) regular occurrence. People like watching car chases. A viewer never knows 2. will happen next. Does the driver have a weapon? 3. the driver get into an accident?Many channels see their ratings increase quickly when they air car chases.

   Police are not always happy 4. the media covering car chases live on the air. Police worry that people 5. (try) to escape enjoy the attention. Police feel that broadcasting car chases encourages people 6. (escape) . Police also worry that the attention 7. (bring) innocent bystanders to the street. Someone could get hurt. The media insists they have the right to show car chases. They feel they are informing 8. public.

   Car chases happen for many reasons.Sometimes police will chase someone 9.stole a car. Other times the police may try to do a routine traffic stop. However,the driver with the 10.(break) taillight may have to be arrested,so off he drives.

   Some of the most impressive landscape views in California are the great California Redwood and Sequoia trees,1.can be seen up close at Sequoia National Park in the southern Sierra Nevada mountain range.

   The park 2. (sit) side by side with King’s Canyon National Park in the beautiful San Joaquin Valley. Sequoia National Park 3.(establish) as a national park in the 1890s. The most popular attractions are its forests. The ancient trees are some of the 4. (old) living plants on earth,and draw millions of. 5.(visit) worldwide. Redwood trees can reach heights of more than 375 feet. They are closely related 6.the Giant Sequoia trees,and are often mistaken for each other. They both are uniquely Californian,as they do not grow 7. (natural) in any other region in the world.

   Redwood trees live up to 2,000 years. The Giant Sequoia trees can live up to a(n) 8.(astonish) 3,000 years. Both trees have dark brown bark,9. look very similar,but the Redwood likes coastal climate,while the Sequoia exists in more mountainous areas. In either case,they are 10. must-see California attraction.

   Your high school years will undoubtedly bring some struggles and tough days. Here are three ways ta smile more.

   Acknowledge 1. simplest of simple things.

   I’m talking about the things that happen every day,having the door 2. (hold) open for you when your arms are full,or being praised 3.whatever reason. We are so used to them 4.we have forgotten their significance.

   Listen to good music.

   It’s an age-old question,but why do we feel like 5. (listen) to sad music when we? re feeling down? We just want the feeling of sadness to go away. Music can lift our mood 6. (quick) than a lot of other methods. Listening to music can really pump you up and get you 7. (excite) .

   Walk with a purpose.

   When walking,most of us are looking down at 8. (we) phones or putting in headphones.For a day,put away all the things that 9.(normal) close yourself off to others and just watch nature,other people,and day-to-day life. You may realize you’ve been blinded for a while to seeing these simple pleasures 10. add up and bring so many people joy.

   In the 18th century,a small number 1.Chinese sailors moved to Limhouse,a place in the east of London. Then other Chinese came to this area and Limhouse became known as “Chinatown”.However London,s Chinese community 2.(remain) very small for many years: at the start of the 20th century,there were just- 545 Chinese people 3. (live) in Britain.

   In the 1950s,the Chinese found it difficult 6. (get) jobs. Then a small Chinese restaurant opened in London,7. became popular almost overnight. Many British people visited it and said Chinese food 8. (serve) there was wonderful!Soon Chinese restaurants started opening in every part of the city. Many Chinese worked there as cooks,managers or waiters.

   As time went by,London's Chinese community became very successful. The sons and daughters of the 9. (origin) restaurant workers studied and worked hard. And most went on to get highly paid jobs. Many Chinese families left Chinatown and moved to more expensive districts. Chinatown,however,is still 10.   lively as ever.

    If you’ve always felt that you look 1.(attractive) in videos than you do in photographs,you,re not alone. A recent study 2. (do) by researchers at UC Davis and Harvard has found this to be true. It turns out that looking attractive in photos isn’t easy due to 3. the researchers are calling the “frozen face effect."

    In the study,university 4. (volunteer) were asked to watch 20 videos of various faces,after 5. they were given 20 stills pulled from the videos they had just watched. When they were then asked to rank the imagery based 6.attractiveness,the videos consistently ranked higher than the corresponding stills. The researchers even

7. (try) giving the subjects a series of photos shown as a group,but regardless,the video ranked higher — 8. (apparent) we humans like moving faces.

    Maybe a portrait(人像) photographer's most prized skill has to do with bringing out 9.best in people or Photoshop; but in reality it may just be the ability 10.(overcome) the “frozen face effect."