Cats

Cats of all kinds are present in the legends, religion, mythology, and history of (1) ... different
cultures. Cave paintings created by early humans display different types of wild cats (2) ... are
now extinct, or no longer around. Many of these great beasts saw humans as food, but were
hunted by humans in return. Cats similar (3) ... the ones kept as pets today started showing up
in artwork thousands of years ago. For example, the ancient Egyptians believed cats were the
sacred, or special, animal of a goddess named Bast. They believed that Bast often appeared as
a cat, so many ancient Egyptians respected and honoured cats and kittens. (4) ..., other
cultures feared cats or thought that they brought illnesses and bad luck. Today, with millions
kept as pets in homes around the world, cats have become important members of many
families. No one knows for sure when or (5) ... cats became very popular household pets. It's
possible that people noticed how cats hunted mice and rats, (6) ... they set food and milk out
to keep the cats near their homes. This helped to prevent (7) ... many of these rodents (8) ...
coming into homes and eating people's food or spreading sickness.

Copernicus

Nicolaus Copernicus (1473 - 1543) was born in Poland. He came from a wealthy family, and
was (1) ... to attend the University of Cracow, where he studied Maths and astronomy.
He (2) ... advised by his uncle, a bishop, to go into the church. (3) ... waiting for a vacancy, he
went to Italy, where he studied law and medicine, as (4) ... as continuing his studies of
astronomy. He returned to Cracow in 1503 and worked for his uncle, (5) ... as a church
administrator, and as a doctor.
Meanwhile, he continued his private research, and eventually made public his revolutionary
theory. (6) ... Galileo, a century later, he kept a low profile, and manage to avoid (7) ...
destroyed by the church, though the few scientists (8) ... read his work knew how massive a
change it was.

How to speak and write

It is very easy to learn how to speak and write correctly, (1) ... for all purposes of ordinary
conversation and communication, only about 2,000 different words are required. The mastery
of just twenty hundred words, the knowing where to place them, (2) ... make us not masters of
the English language, but masters of correct speaking and writing. Small number, you will say,
compared (3) ... what is in the dictionary!

But nobody (4) ... uses all the words in the dictionary or could use them did he live to be the
age of Methuselah, and there is (5) ... necessity for using (6) ... .There (7) ... upwards of
200,000 words in (8) ... recent editions of the large dictionaries, but the one-hundredth part of
this number will suffice for all your wants. Of course you may think not, and you may not be
content to call things by their common names.
What is success?
It has (1) ... said that "Nothing Succeeds Like Success." (2) ... is Success? If we consult the
dictionaries, they will give us the etymology of this (3) ... used word, and (4) ... general terms
the meaning will be "the accomplishment of a purpose." But (5) ... the objects in nearly every
life differ, so success cannot mean the same thing to (6) ... men. The artist's idea of success is
very different (7) ... that of the businessman, and the scientist differs from both, as does the
statesman from all three.

We read of successful gamblers, burglars or freebooters, but no true success was ever won or
ever can be won that sets at defiance the laws of God and man. To win, so (8) ... we ourselves
and the world shall be the better for our having lived, we must begin the struggle, with a high
purpose, keeping ever before our minds the characters and methods of the noble men that
have succeeded along the same lines.

Barcelona
'Barcelona: Where a city unlike the country, captures the essence of Spain'. (1) ... it is one of
Spain's most dynamic cities, Barcelona is really not Spanish (2) ... all. As the capital of cultural
hub of the region of Catalonia, the city has a long and glorious history all its own. Catalonia
was a leading trading power (3) ... the Mediterranean (4) ... the 14th and 15th centuries, with
enterprising merchants and bankers, and (5) ... feudal remnants whatsoever.

United (6) ... the Kingdom of Aragon in the 12th century, the region became part of Spain in
1469 with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. Most of the centuries-old Catalan
institutions and privileges were then suppressed (7) ... cultural resurgence in the 19th century.
The Catalan language (8) ... banned by General Franco's regime in 1939, and was only revived
in 1975. King Juan Carlos spoke Catalan to address Parliament in 1978, and again to open the
1992 Olympics, making him a very popular monarch.

Ski Resorts in Europe

In many European countries skiing is (1) ... of the most popular leisure-activities, especially
during the winter months. Alpine skiing (2) ... a long tradition in the Alpine regions of Austria,
Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Germany and France. (3) ..., in these countries there is a very large
interest (4) ... skiing, (5) ... is only beaten by swimming or cycling.

During the decades skiing has become popular also in (6) ... other European countries (7) ... the
geographic or climatic conditions are not really good for skiing. Skiing has increased
thanks (8) ... the growing number of high-tech cable cars and skilifts. Another reason for the
growth of skisport are the new technologies of skis themselves. Carving-skis make it easier to
learn how to ski and therefore the number of people that want to go to the mountains for
holidays is rising steadily. Especially for younger children and teenagers winter is one of the
most exciting seasons.
Motivation
Welcome (1) ... the world of student success. If you're ready to succeed in school, you're (2) ...
the right place. If you're ready to learn to read better, read faster, study (3) ... efficiently, and
stay focused, keep reading --- you're on the right path. But, what (4) ... you have tried to reach
these goals before, but couldn't seem to maintain your motivation long (5) ... to accomplish
them? What do you do about that? There is an answer.

And you may be surprised to learn where you'll find it. The secret of motivation is (6) ... your
ears. That's right; it's your brain. Surprisingly, your brain is far more capable (7) ... you might
think. (8) ... it weighs just three pounds, it consumes twenty five percent of your body's
energy. It's storage capacity seems almost unlimited. It has about 100 billion cells that can be
communicate with each other, making the potential connections for learning far into the
trillions.

Built for Sea and Land

Why don't penguins fly? The answer lies in the way penguins evolved, or changed slowly (1) ...
thousands of years. Birds generally fly to find food, to avoid danger, and to reach safe places
for building nests and raising their young. But as ancient penguins evolved, they filled niches,
or special roles in their habitat, (2) ... none of these reasons applied. As seabirds, penguins find
their food by swimming and diving, rather (3) ... flying. Their cold, isolated home in Antarctica
and (4) ... distant places have few dangerous animals to avoid.

And most penguins nest near the seashore, so they don't need to fly to raise their young. As a
result of these circumstances, penguins evolved (5) ... flightless birds. (6) ... penguins are
frequent swimmers, it's (7) ... surprise that they evolved strong abilities in this area. Penguins
have (8) ... adaptations, or special features that help animals live in their environment, for
living in water, especially cold water.

APPLE AD, 1977

"APPLE II WILL CHANGE THE WAY YOU THINK about computers," read a 1977 ad for a new
"personal" computer – and (1) ... proved to be true. Personal computing wasn't just a matter
of making computers small and cheap (2) ... for individuals to buy. That had (3) ... been
achieved in 1975 by the Altair 8800, a build-your-own computer kit selling for $397 that
launched a craze among hobbyists. But the Altair computer (4) ... a keyboard or monitor,
required (5) ... programs to be entered laboriously through switches on the front panel.

It displayed the results with sequences of flashing lights. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak,
Apple's founders, realised that computers could find a wider audience if they (6) ... presented
in a self-contained unit, with a keyboard, monitor, and storage device. Their first computer,
the Apple, had been a crude device that they assembled (7) ... hand in Jobs' parents' garage,
and they sold only about 200 of them. But the Apple II, launched in 1977 (8) ... the help of a
$250,000 bank loan, was the user-friendly package they had envisioned.
The Scottish people
By world standards - (1) ... by the standards of Europe and North America - Scots are a very
well-educated people. And although the location of Scotland, tucked away in a distant corner
of Europe, might have once kept Scots (2) ... of touch with the rest of the world, they have
had, (3) ... the 18th century, a distinctly global outlook. Generations of Scottish emigration
means that (4) ... Scots are without relatives in countries (5) ... New Zealand, Australia, Canada,
South Africa, or America.

The Scots view of (6) ... is often quite difficult for visitors to understand. That view tends to be
a mixture of outrageous pride and incredible cynicism. It's a complex mixture. The complete
Scottish patriot is a far rarer person than would be found in (7) ... countries such as America.
And yet, any Scot (8) ... completely writes off Scotland will be intensely disliked.

Variation in English
When foreign learners of English first come to the British Isles, they are usually surprised, and
often dismayed, to discover (1) ... little they understand of the English they hear. For (2) ...
thing, people seem to speak faster (3) ... expected. Also, the English that most British or Irish
people speak seems to be different in (4) ... ways from the English the visitor has learnt. While
it is probably differences of pronunciation that (5) ... immediately strike them, learners may
also notice differences of grammar and vocabulary.

Their reactions (6) ... this experience will vary. They may conclude that most of the English,
Welsh, Scottish and Irish people that they hear do not – or even cannot – speak English
correctly. In this they would find that many native speakers agree (7) ... them. They might even
be told that, since learners of English (8) ... a foreign or second language have usually studied
English in a formal way, they should know better than would native speakers what is 'correct'.