For a long time Gabriel didn't want to be involved in music at all. In his first years of high school, Gabriel would look pityingly at the music students, 1 across the campus with their heavy instrument cases, 2at school for practice hours 3 anyone else had to be there .He swore to himself to 4music, as he hated getting to school extra early.
5 ， one day, in the music class that was 6 of his school's standard curriculum, he was playing idly (随意地) on the piano and found it7 to pick out tunes. With a sinking feeling, he realized that he actually8 doing it. He tried to hide his 9 pleasure from the music teacher，who had 10 over to listen. He might not have done this particularly well,11 the teacher told Gabriel that he had a good 12 and suggested that Gabriel go into the music storeroom to see if any of the instruments there 13him. There he decided to give the cello (大提琴) a 14.When he began practicing，he took it very 15. But he quickly found that he loved playing this instrument, and was 16 to practicing it so that within a couple of months he was playing reasonably well.
This 17 ， of course, that he arrived at school early in the morning，18 his heavy instrument case across the campus to the 19 looks of the non musicians he had left 20.
Chengdu has dozens of new millionaires, Asia's biggest building, and new fancy hotels. But for tourists like me, pandas are its top (attract)．
So it was a great honor to be invited backstage at the not for profit Panda Base, where ticket money helps pay for research. I (allow) to get close to these cute animals at the 600acre center. From tomorrow, I will be their UK ambassador. The title will be (official) given to me at a ceremony in London. But my connection with pandas goes back my days on a TV show in the mid1980s, I was the first Western TV reporter (permit) to film a special unit caring for pandas rescued from starvation in the wild. My ambassadorial duties will include (introduce) British visitors to the 120plus pandas at Chengdu and others at a research in the misty mountains of Bifengxia.
On my recent visit, I held a lively threemonthold twin that had been rejected by (it) mother. The nursery team switches him every few (day) with his sister so that while one is being bottle fed, other is with mom—she never suspects.
You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below，who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?
Jane Addams (1860－1935)
Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need. In 1931，Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
Rachel Carson (1907－1964)
If it weren't for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book SilentSpring raised awareness of the danger of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world's lakes and oceans.
Sandra Day O'Connor (1930－present)
When Sandra Day O'Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and，in 1981, the first woman to join the U．S. Supreme Court. O'Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.
Rosa Parks (1913－2005)
On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in，”said Parks.
