Directions: Complete the following passage by filling in each blank with one word that best fits the context．

You are mistaken if you think all Chinese people speak in the same way. Have you ever seen a person from Shanghai try talking to someone  48  Guangzhou?  49  is quite likely that both of them may feel puzzled! The Chinese language, as a whole, uses the same set of character,  50    even the same characters can have different pronunciations. That is   51  

it is difficult for people to understand each other. Luckily, the widespread use of Putonghua in China has made a great contribution    52   people’s communication, though people from different areas tend to speak with various accents.

People in Northern Europe are    53   luckier. Even though people from Sweden , Denmark and Norway have their own official languages, it is very convenient    54   them to communicate with one another. Do you know why? That is because their languages are quite similar, though not without small distinctions.   55  , they can communicate easily in their mother tongues.

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D．Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context．

There once was a happy monkey in the jungle. He was wandering all days, eating delicious fruit when hungry and    36   when tired. One day he came upon a house, where he saw a bowl of the most beautiful   37  . He took one in each hand and ran back into the forest.

The monkey tried to eat them, but hurt his teeth. The apples were made of wood, but they were beautiful, and when the other monkeys said that they  38  them, he held onto them even tighter.

The monkey admired his new possessions proudly as he wandered the jungle. The two apples glistened (闪亮) red in the    39  , and seemed perfect to him. He became so attached to them that he didn’t even notice his    40   at first.

A fruit tree reminded him, but he felt the apples in his hands. He couldn’t bear to set them down to reach for the fruit. In fact, he couldn’t    41  , either, if he was to defend his apples. This proud, but less happy monkey continued to walk along the forest trails (小路).

The apples became    42  , and the poor little monkey thought about leaving them behind. He was tired and hungry; he couldn’t climb trees or collect fruit with his hands    43  . What if he just let go (释放)?

Letting go of such    44   things seemed crazy, but what else could he do? He was so tired. Seeing the next fruit tree and smelling its fruit, the monkey stopped. He   45   the wooden apples and reached up for his meal. He was happy again.

Like that little monkey, we    46   carry things that seem too valuable. Letting go of them seems crazy. But    47  : only with open hands can we receive something else.

_______ snacks and drinks, but they brought cards for entertainment when they had a picnic in South Bank Parklands.

It was about 600 years ago _______ the first clock with a face and an hour hand was made.

You didn’t let me drive. If we _______ in turn, you _______ so tired.

It’s obvious that the Beijing Olympic Games _______ a great success．

The information on the Internet gets around much more rapidly than ______ in the newspaper.

My sister met him at the Grand Theater yesterday afternoon, so he _______ your lecture.

The reason_______ he didn’t come was _______ he was injured.

Michael put up a picture of Yao Ming beside the bed to keep himself _______ of his own

dreams.