When Mark left school, he did not really know what he wanted to do. He 36  worked in an office but he found that it was very boring. He did the   37  things day after day. This was also the trouble with his second   38  in a car factory. He then decided he would like to work out of doors and got a job  39  a gardener working in one of London’s    40 .
He now works much harder than he   41  in the office or at the factory, but his work is quite different. There are, in all,   42  seasons in a year and each has its own special jobs for a   43  . He works harder in the autumn and winter keeping the park tidy and   44  for the spring and summer. In the summer he can relax(休息) and feel proud(自豪的) that he has helped to   45  the park so beautiful. Many people   46  the park then and he is always pleased   47  he hears them say how lovely it looks.
Mark has made a lot of friends during his four   48  at the park. Many office workers come every  49 to eat their lunchtime sandwiches and feed the ducks. They often have talks with him and are  50  to find that he once worked in an office.

What is the hottest English word of 2013? It’s “selfie”, according to Oxford dictionaries. Selfie is a photo that one takes of oneself, according to the Oxford online dictionary. People usually take selfies with a smart phone(智能手机) and send them to a social media website.
The word was first used in 2002. In the past 12 months, its frequency (出现频率) in the English language has increased by 17,000 percent, said Oxford dictionaries. Now, almost everybody knows it.
“Almost every day, I take a photo of myself at school, and save it in my Qzone (QQ空间),” said Huang Xu, 13, from Hunan. These photos record her happy and sad moments.
Pop stars also take a lot of selfies. Li Chunping, 14, from Harbin, is a big fan of Yang Mi. “She has used many selfies to tell us what’s going on in her personal life,” said Li.
What makes people love selfies? Some people say it’s narcissism (自恋). “The rise of the selfie is a perfect symbol for our narcissistic culture. We’re crying out: Look at me!” said US psychiatrist(精神科医生) Carole Lieberman.
Young people are using selfies to make friends online, Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian. “The usual purpose of taking a selfie is to share online. They express a human need to connect with others,” wrote Freedland.
Huang Xu agrees with that. “During summer vacation, my classmates and I shared many selfies online. Hair or clothes were not our interests. Through these photos, we got to know each other’s holidays and feelings,” said Huang Xu.

【小题1】According to the story, a “selfie” is _______.

What is the hottest English word of 2013? It’s “selfie”, according to Oxford dictionaries. Selfie is a photo that one takes of oneself, according to the Oxford online dictionary. People usually take selfies with a smartphone(智能手机) and send them to a social media website.
The word was first used in 2002. In the past 12 months, its frequency (出现频率) in the English language has increased by 17,000 percent, said Oxford dictionaries. Now, almost everybody knows it.
“Almost every day, I take a photo of myself at school, and save it in my Qzone (QQ空间),” said Huang Xu, 13, from Hunan. These photos record her happy and sad moments.
Pop stars also take a lot of selfies. Li Chunping, 14, from Harbin, is a big fan of Yang Mi. “She has used many selfies to tell us what’s going on in her personal life,” said Li.
What makes people love selfies? Some people say it’s narcissism (自恋). “The rise of the selfie is a perfect symbol for our narcissistic culture. We’re crying out: Look at me!” said US psychiatrist(精神科医生) Carole Lieberman.
Young people are using selfies to make friends online, Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian. “The usual purpose of taking a selfie is to share online. They express a human need to connect with others,” wrote Freedland.
Huang Xu agrees with that. “During summer vacation, my classmates and I shared many selfies online. Hair or clothes were not our interests. Through these photos, we got to know each other’s holidays and feelings,” said Huang Xu.
【小题1】According to the story, a “selfie” is _____.