Mother: Hi,honey. Do you have anything exciting 1 . (report) today?

Mary: The big news is that George won. He actually 2. (come) in first in the spelling bee today.

Mother: Well,that's quite 3. achievement,and he should be proud 4. himself.

So,what was the winning word?

Miary: Mayonnaise(蛋黃醬) .Can you believe it? I guess it's a lot 5. (hard) to spell than you think.

Mother: M-A-Y-O-N …Is it one “n” or two?

Mary: See what I mean?

Mother: You know,I can remember when George’s parents and his teachers were really 6. (worry) about his spelling.That was just a couple of years ago. He sure has come a long way. So what happens next?

Mary: There is a play-off against the 7.(win) from Central High next week,and then the districts,and after that the state. Who knows,maybe we 8. (be) neighbours to the next national champ.

Mother: Maybe. 9. (speak) of mayonnaise,could you get me the jar from the fridge?

Mary: Only if you can spell it 10. (correct) .

Li: Hi,Rob!I've heard that you have financial problems 1. (recent) . What has hap- pened?

Rob: I had to get my car 2. (fix) , I received a huge tax bill and then to make matters worse,I 3. (lose) my wallet yesterday —I’m doing my best to keep the wolf from the door.

Li: You really have got problems if you’ve got to keep a wolf out 4.  your house!

Rob: Not a real wolf. When people say they,re trying to keep the wolf from the door they mean 5. they have only just got enough money to survive.

Li: Oh I see!So you just have enough money to eat and live?

Rob: Yes,it's not 6. good position to be in.

Li: I get it. With all your 7. (bill) to pay you really are struggling to keep the wolf from the door — so 8. are you going to do?

Rob: I need to ask a good friend 9. (lend) me some money. A really good friend — like you Li? I know you have some spare cash.

Li: Sorry Rob,V ve just spent that on a(n) 10.(amaze) holiday. Can you wait until next week?

   One evening last week,my wife and I were sitting 1. (quiet) at home. All of a sudden,we heard a loud bang. I supposed that the old lady in the flat 2. ours was moving the furniture about. My wife was afraid 3. the noise would wake the baby. She turned down the television and a moment 4. we heard someone calling for help.

   I ran upstairs. The old lady’s door was shut,but I could see smoke under the door,and could smell 5. burning.

   “The flat is on fire,” I shouted and banged on the door,but the old lady 6. (take) a long time to answer. I was turning over in my mind the idea of breaking the door down 7. she finally appeared.

   “I was having a bath ,” she said ,“when the water heater in the kitchen blew up."

   “8. didn’t you open the door?” I asked her.

   “I was getting dressed when you knocked,” she said,looking 9. (embarrass) .

   I took her downstairs to our flat. Then I ran back to the old lady's flat and turned the gas off 10. (prevent) another explosion. Just then I heard a fire engine arriving outside.

   Can animals be made 1. (work) for us? Some scientists think that one day animals may be trained to do a number of simple jobs that 2. (be) now done by human beings.

   They point 3. that at a circus,for example,we may see elephants,monkeys,dogs and other animals doing quite skillful things. Perhaps you have seen them on the television or in a film. If you watch 4. (close) , you may notice that the trainer always gives the animal a piece of candy or a piece of fruit 5. a reward. The scientists say that many 6. (differ) animals may be trained to do a number of simple jobs if they know they will get a reward for 7. (do) them.

   Of course,as we know,dogs can be used to guard a house,and soldiers in both old and modem times have used geese to give 8. (warn) by making a lot of noise when a stranger or an enemy comes near. And 9. may be possible to train animals to work in factories. In Russia,for example,pigeons,10. are birds with good eyesight,are being used to watch out for faults in small steel balls that are being made in one factory.

   For thousands of years,kites have been made and flowaby people of all ages.

   A simple kite can be made with two crossed pieces of light wood 1. (glue) to a sheet of paper or plastic. Then all 2. is needed is a cloth tail for balance and a ball of cord(繩子) .

   Most kite fans fly their kites just 3.fun,but serious kite fliers enter contests and tournaments. These events are conducted under the 4.(rule) of the International Kitefliers,Association. Kites are used for practical purposes,too. The US Weather Bureau uses kites 5.(gather) information about winds and weather. Some of the kites used in this work cany scientific instruments and fly 6. (high) than 20,000 feet.

   The flat kite 7. (be) the simplest and most popular kite,and the box kite is another popular type. Another favorite kite looks something like a bird.

   To launch a kite,it's 8. (usual) necessary to run into the wind for a few feet. As the kite begins to rise,let out more line and give 9. . some short tugs(猛拉) .

   Do not fly a kite near trees or power lines. Also,you should not fly a kite in an area 10. there are low-flying aircraft.

   Two or three times a week,Miss Martha had a customer in 1. she began to take an interest.He was a middle-aged man 2. glasses and a brown beard. He spoke English with a strong German accent. His clothes were worn,but he looked neat and had very good manners. He always 3.(buy) two loaves of stale bread. He never asked for anything but stale bread; it cost a lot 4.(little) than fresh bread. Once Miss Martha noticed a red and brown stain on 5. (he) finger. She was sure that he was an artist and very poor.

   Often when having her evening meal,Miss Martha would sigh and wish the artist might share her food instead of 6. (eat) his dry bread. One day the customer came in as usual and asked for his stale bread. As a sudden noise made him hurry to the door,Miss Martha inserted 7. generous quantity of butter into the loaves and put them into a paper bag.

   It turned out 8. the stale bread was used to rub out the pencil 9. (line) in the man's drawing of a new city hall. And Miss Martha’s kindness 10. (complete) ruined the artist's work.

   One evening,long after most people had gone to bed,a friend and I were making our way home. We’d  been to a musical,and were talking about the people we 1. (see) in it.

   “That show made the hero a star overnight,”said my friend. “He was 2. (total) unknown before. And now thousands of teenagers send him love letters."

   “I thought 3. quite good,” I said ,“but not worth thousands of love letters. In fact,one of his songs caused me pain."

   “4. was that?” my friend asked. “Sing it to me."

   I burst into a辦(滑稽表演) of the song.

   “Be quiet,” said my friend with a(n) 5.(astonish) look. “You’ 11 wake people up for miles around. And then we’ 11 have a policeman after us."

   “I don't care." And I went on singing him the latest tunes 6. the top of my voice.

   Several minutes 7. (late) , a policeman was standing in front of me,his notebook open,a determined look on his face.

   “Excuse me,sir,” he said. “I'd like to find someone 8. can give*my daughter singing lessons. Would you be kind enough 9. (tell) me your name and address? Then my wife or I can discuss 10. matter with you."

   When Pheidippides left school,he was proud 1. (serve) in the Athenian army. A famous battle was fought on the plain of Marathon. Finally their enemy knew 2. their arrows were not strong enough and they ran back to their ships. The Greeks won 3. battle.

   The soldiers were very happy,and they wanted to tell their people about the battle. 4.(sudden) Pheidippides decided that he must carry the good news to the people in Athens. So he 5.(start) running towards the city.

   He seemed to have wings on his feet. He was running 6. (fast) than ever before in his life.He never stopped to think about the distance to Athens,7. was over 20 miles away from Marathon. The brave soldier didn’t stop 8.(run) until he reached the market place in Athens.9. his last breath he shouted,uThe battle is over and Greece is safe!” and he fell dead.

   Pheidippides had run the longest race and he became a Greek hero. Even today,the longest distance run in the Olympic Games 10.(call) the Marathon.

   For the first time,at least 1. (official) , the NASA astronauts on board the International Space Station have tasted the product,lettuce (萵苣) , of their work.

   The experiment,2. (call) Veg-01,is being used by NASA to study the on-orbit function and performance of the Veggie plant growth facility and its rooting “pillows,” 3. contain the seeds. The pillows grew for 33 days before 4. (harvest) .

   NASA is developing Veggie as part of 5. (it) efforts to provide future astronauts with a sustainable(可持續(xù)的) food supply. Scientists believe that the 6. (addition) fresh food grown on the station will make the crew generally happier and healthier.

   The Veggie unit features a flat panel light bank that includes red,blue and green LED lights. Blue and red wavelengths 7.(be) the minimum needed to get good plant 8. (grow) . The green LED lights help make the plants look like common food rather 9. strange purple plants.

   In 10. future,Veggie could be used to harvest other fruits,vegetables and plants.

   Sleep is crucial for good mental and physical health,yet it's often overlooked in discussions about 1. individuals can do to improve people’s health.

   A latest survey has found that Americans get 2. too little sleep or sleep that is of very poor quality. In fact,within any 24-hour period,a third of Americans report having not received the 3. (recommend) minimum of seven hours of sleep.

   Lack 4. sleep is associated with an increased risk of several diseases,including type 2 diabetes,heart disease and depression. And it also contributes to traffic accidents,5. (industry) accidents and medical errors. That's 6. the

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has declared it a public health epidemic(流行病) .

   According to Dr. Michael Howell,7.assistant professor of neurology(神經(jīng)學(xué)) at the University of Minnesota,good sleep habits,like ones for exercise and diet,need 8. (practise) over the long term. Besides the amount of sleep you need,when you get it also 9. (matter) .Eight hours of poorly timed sleep is not 10.(particular) satisfying.