Mexico, the largest nation in the region, is a good example of life in Middle America．Although Mexico is a large country, 1 12 percent of its land is good for farming． 2 40 percent is good grassland．The rest of the land is hills and mountains, 3 plateaus(高原), or wet coastal regions．
The mountains are too 4 to farm．The high plateau in the middle of Mexico would be good farmland if it had more 5 ．The coastal areas receive so much 6 that the land 7 becomes waterlogged(浸满水的)．For all of these 8 , Mexicans must 9 the good farmland they have． 10 good farming has not always been 11 in Mexico．For many 12 , Mexican farmers had 13 traditional crops．These 14 corn, beans, and squash(南瓜)． 15 , when the Spanish arrived in the 1500’s, they tried to 16 new ideas．They thought new 17 such as onions, turnips, sugarcane, and bananas would 18 well in warm tropical(热带的) 19 ．But the Mexicans wished to continue with their old 20 ．
As my wife greeted me one evening, her voice came through the door,“Guess what?”
I always take a deep 1 on this very leading question．“What?”I asked．
“I just won a sales contest at work and the 2 is dinner for two at the new fancy restaurant down by the river-front!”
She was so 3 ．We knew the restaurant was extremely good．“See?I told you there would be a 4 for me to wear my new spring outfit,”she shyly reminded me．
“ 5 can play at that game,”I responded．“I will wear my gray suit, my Borsalino imported straw hat and a new silk tie．We will be well 6 ．”
It was early 7 and nearing dusk as the waiter took us to a table by a window, with a(n) 8 of the river．And the table was 9 set, with a smoke-gray tablecloth and bright colored napkins．
A delicious meal 10 in such an atmosphere should be remembered a long time．As it 11 , this will probably never be forgotten．
As the shadows lengthened, the 12 rocking by the riverbank, I murmured,“Why not take a walk?”
Hand in hand, we walked by the stores．People smiled and nodded．“I 13 realized there were so many 14 people as we have seen this evening, dear,”I observed．
“Probably your new straw hat or your 15 ,”she said．
After receiving many smiles, we 16 ourselves back at the restaurant, looking at ourselves in the 17 ．It was then that I saw the 18 for all the smiles．
Caught in the fly of my trousers and 19 down for all to see was a bright red 20 from the restaurant!
When I was a little girl, every Sunday my family of six would put on our best clothes and go to Sunday School and then church．The 1 in elementary school would all meet together to sing songs, and then later divide into 2 based on their ages．
One Easter Sunday, all the kids 3 with big eyes and big 4 about what the Easter Bunny(复活节小兔)had brought． 5 all of the kids shared their stories with 6 , one young boy , whom I shall call Bobby, sat 7 ．One of the teachers , noticing this, said to him, “And what did the Easter Bunny 8 you?”He replied, “My mom 9 the door by accident so the Easter Bunny couldn't get 10 because he hadn't got a key．”
This sounded like a 11 idea to all of us kids, so we kept on going with the stories．My mom knew the true story, 12 ．Bobby's mom was a single parent , and she suspected(怀疑)that they just couldn't 13 the Easter Bunny．
After Sunday School was over, everyone went off to 14 ．But my mom announced that we were going home 15 ．At home, she explained that to make Bobby feel 16 , we were going to pretend(假装)to be the Easter Bunny , make a basket of our candies for him and 17 it at church．We all donated(捐赠)some to the basket, and 18 back to church．There, mom hung the basket over the hanger(挂钩)and attached(附上)a(n) 19 ：
Dear Bobby,
I'm sorry I 20 your house last night．Happy Easter．
