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　　It was a proud moment for all Chinese when 8, 000 picture-perfect soldiers, tanks and missiles, 60 beautiful floats(花车), and 100, 000 well-trained people all passed by Tian'anmen Square and 151 planes flew over Beijing on October 1．

　　President Hu Jintao, in a Mao jacket, reviewed the thousands of soldiers．“Today a socialist China that faces the future is standing tall and firm in the East,”he announced．

　　China holds grand celebrations every 10 years to celebrate the founding of the country．But this year's parade topped those in the past．

　　Behind the celebrations is the great progress China has made．When the country was founded, it was poor, but now China has the world's third largest economy．

　　China has more Internet and mobile phone users than anywhere else and is the world's largest car market．

　　Almost all Chinese families have at least one television and, in the cities, a washing machine－rare things 30 years ago．Some 15 million families own cars, said Xinhua News Agency．

　　On the parade floats could be seen models of high-speed trains, giant computers, cars and bundles of wheat and rice．

　　“I never thought China would be able to have such a great celebration, and at a time when the world economy is slowing down．The parade showed me how powerful my country is and it makes me feel proud of it,”said Jia Yanxin, 16, from Beijing Yuying High School．

　　Despite the pride, China still has a lot of progress to make：although it is the third largest economy in the world, the average urban income(15, 781 yuan in 2008)is still low．Also, there is a widening gap between rich and poor and environmental problems．

　　However, the celebration was not just a showcase(展示)of the country's success．It was not just a parade．It was the Chinese people's march into their own future, as China Daily said．

　　“China has grown from a baby to a grown-up with responsibilities．I believe it will go much further over the next 10 years,”said Gong Chen, 16, from Beijing No．8 High School．

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　　Almost all aspects of American pop culture such as McDonald’s, American films, and blue jeans can be seen in Brazil．My father used to say that all kinds of American cultural icons(偶像)were distasteful．When I was a child ,it was forbidden to drink coke and to chew chewing gum in my house．Both actions were representative of the American dominance(主导)to my father while he had an American Ford car．

　　My father died 32 years ago, and I wonder how he would feel seeing his daughter politically centered, a diet coke addict, sometimes chewing Wrigley’s juicy fruit gum, and living in the United States．He didn’t live long enough to see this and the spread of American culture in the last decades．He would probably be convinced that American pop culture was flooding Brazil．

　　I think it is difficult to prevent American cultural hegemony(霸权)．Many years ago, there was an attempt to reduce the number of American films．In Brazil．The government passed a law that all cinemas should about a higher percentage of Brazilian movies．However, we didn’t have enough good films, or even enough films, to show．so this measure falled soon after．American music is ,of course, present in Brazil．Everybody knows about Madonna, Michael Jackson, and other icons of American music; but Brazilian music has never lost its first place in the Brazilians’ preferences．

　　I think we don’t need to be afraid of cultural free trade．People tend to be selective, and not everything that is imported is necessarily bad．Our native Brazilians also stand up against the dominance of imported culture in their lives while they wear watches and shorts and use tape recorders．We can’t avoid the process, but we could learn to be more critical and as selective as possible．

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　　“Dinning out” and “eating out” are phrases people use in Britain when they eat in a restaurant or pub(小酒馆)．Eating out is more popular in Britain today than it has ever been．In 2006, for the first time ever, British people spent more eating out than cooking for themselves and eating at home．It seems that many British people are becoming increasingly interested in how good their food tastes, and also how healthy it is．

　　However, eating out can also be expensive．As British people do not eat out every night of the week, eating in a restaurant is often seen as a special occasion．When going on a first date and wanting to impress him/her, or if celebrating an anniversary or a birthday, many people like to go to a restaurant to eat, and people often also eat in a restaurant before going to the cinema or the theater．

　　As in all cultures, there are many rules of etiquette(礼仪)surrounding food and eating．The knife and fork should be used in the correct way! It is also impolite to have your elbows(肘部)on the dinning table when you are eating．

　　Almost all British cities have a vast range of food as well as traditional British food, and all from the very cheap to the very expensive---French, Italian, Indian, Chinese, Greek, Thai, Japan and many, many more．In fact, when asked which was their favorite food, more British people said an Indian curry(咖喱菜肴)than any other dish!

　　As well as dining in a restaurant, when people are too tired to cook after work they often get a “take-away”．This means that they order from a take-out restaurant by telephone, and then go to collect it and take it home to eat．Many take-out restaurants also deliver it your house．While you can normally find a take-out restaurant for almost any food, the most popular are Italian, Indian and Chinese and then all of you have to do is to open the door, pay and eat!

完形填空

　　You may have heard of Osceola McCarty, an 88-year-old woman in Mississippi who had worked for over 75 years as a 　　1　　 woman．

　　One day after she retired, she went to the bank and discovered that her small monthly 　　2　　 had grown to over＄150,000．Then to everyone’s surprise, she turned around and 　　3　　 almost all of the money to the University of Southern Mississippi(USM)for a 　　4　　 fund for students with financial needs．Immediately, she made national 　　5　　．

　　What you have not heard is how Osceola’s gift had 　　6　　 my life．I am 19 years old and the first 　　7　　 of an Osceola McCarty Scholarship．

　　I was a 　　8　　 student, and I was determined to go to USM．But I 　　9　　 being qualified for a regular scholarship by one point on the entrance exams, and a scholarship was the 　　10　　 way I could attend．

　　One Sunday, I came across the story in the paper about Osceola McCarty and her generous 　　11　　．The next day I went to the financial aid office, and they told me there was still no money 　　12　　 for me, but if anything came up they’d call．

　　A few days later, I was going out with my mother 　　13　　 the phone rang．I was told I had been chosen to be given the first Osceola McCarty Scholarship．I was 　　14　　!

　　McCarty worked hard her whole life, washing clothes by hand．Now that she is 　　15　　, she sits most of the day and reads the Bible, that is, when she is not getting rewards．Every time I go to visit her, she has a new 　　16　　．She’s even gone to the White House．She is so happy and proud．We have tried to talk her into getting a VCR(录像机)so she can tape the programs and see 　　17　　 on TV－she just smiles．

　　McCarty gave me much more than a scholarship．She taught me about the gift of 　　18　　．Now I know there are good people in the world who do good things．She worked hard and helped others, and in turn she has inspired me to 　　19　　 when I can some day．So 　　20　　 I plan to add to her scholarship fund．