A total of 17 paintings worth between 10 and 15 million euros were stolen at a museum in northern Italy, local officials said on Friday.

Three armed men with masked faces broke into the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona on Thursday night, a local newspaper reported. Located inside a castle which was built in 1354 ,the Castelvecchio Museum is one of the most important museums in the northern city.

The stolen paintings included masterworks from Andrea Mantegna, Jacopo Tintoretto, Peter Paul Rubens, Jacopo Bellini, Hans de Jode and other world-famous artists. The group controlled the only private security guard who was there and the cashier, and then forced the guard to accompany them to the rooms where they stole the paintings.

Verona Mayor Flavio Tosi, who stayed at the scene until late in the night, said that surely someone sent them, because they acted professionally, and knew what they were looking for. The paintings stolen, he added, basically  were the most valuable works on display. An investigation was opened into the theft.

The museum displays a very important collection of Italian and European art in 29 rooms including early Christian finds, Lombard gold work, sculptures from the 10th to the 14th century, medieval arms  and armor, and paintings from the 14th to the 18th century.

The museumi's director, Paola Marini, called herself shocked by the theft. The experienced art historian, who is about to leave her post after over 20years, was receiving an award in a nearby restaurant when she was informed of what had happened.

The theft came just a day after two stolen paintings recently recovered by Italian heritage police were displayed in Rome during a ceremony attended by President Sergio Mattarella and Culture Minister Dario Franceschini.

Every morning and evening, many people gather to dance in our community square, where is designed to improve living quality. Although dancing could do good to their health, but the long-time dancing and loud noise causing by the loudspeaker really brought the neighbors inconvenience. I couldn’t rest or sleep well, which made me terrible upset. I felt so sleep in class that I performed badly in study. To solve a problem, I communicated with the organizers and suggested that they should shorten the dance time and reduced the music noise. Only doing so can they have fun and let others enjoy life. To their delight, they adopted my advices.

   Everyone is affected by certain events or individuals that change their life. 【小题1】 One of them who have had a special effect on me is my volleyball coach.

When I first went to the volleyball training, I found out that my coach was seventy years old. 【小题2】 When she was seventy-three, she still warmed up with us and ran the five-kilometer cross-country races in the sports camp. I’ve never seen her being desperate, exhausted or complaining about something. In addition to this, she also has a great sense of humor and a modern world view. She is an absolutely amazing human being and a great role model. 【小题3】

The coach taught me to control my emotions. She always reminded me that I should never give up and that I needed to believe in myself. She showed that I should take advantage of any opportunity, never be nervous in difficult situations and take it easy. 【小题4】 This wonderful woman has taught us to work as a team and developed a sense of responsibility for our actions in us.

I’m thankful for everything she has taught me. Under her instructions, I became a part of a team which has won a lot of competitions. 【小题5】 She has made a great influence on the formation of my personality and character. Also she has taught me to love volleyball.

I’m still trying to come to her training classes and help her with everything that I can do. Knowing her has been one of the most wonderful parts of my life.

   The moment Aleeya opened her eyes from sleep, she knew it was Mom’s birthday. She _______ quickly and ran to the kitchen. There was no birthday _______. Then Aleeya went to the refrigerator, _______ its door and looked inside. There was no birthday cake in the refrigerator and no birthday cake _______.

She could not _______ that; she opened the door of the refrigerator again and put her head all the way in. Maybe there was a birthday cake _______ somewhere. But there was none, and she felt very _______. Just then she saw the apple butter-Mom’s ________! Aleeya took the jar of apple butter and ________ it on the table. She got a plate, a spoon, and a piece of bread. She opened the jar, took some apple butter and spread it on the bread the ________ Mom liked-not too thick, and evenly（均匀地）to the sides.

Aleeya became happy then and a gentle smile ________ over her face. It became bigger and bigger as she _____ to Mom’s room with the ________ bread. “Happy Birthday to Mom. Happy Birthday to Mom,” she _______.

Mom was ________. She took the plate and held her daughter in her arms.

“Pretend（假装）there are ________ ,” Aleeya said, “and blow them out.”

Mom closed her eyes and ________ a wish. Then she blew out the imaginary candles.

“Was it a good ________?” asked Aleeya.

“It was the best one ever in my life, my baby,”said Mom.

What to Do when You’re Falling Behind

When I was a kid, it took me longer to learn how to ride a bike. I kept using a bike with training wheels and I didn’t _______ much, so of course I didn’t learn how to balance.

One day I _______ that my sister, 2.5 years younger than me, was getting close to _______ how to ride a bike. She wasn’t quite there yet, but she was _______ much closer to balancing than I was. I couldn’t let her _______ me to it!

So I took my bike, _______ it out to the street, and decided that I was going to learn how to ride it right now. I _______ the training wheels, jumped on, and swerved (突然转向) all over the place like an out-of- control madman. I tried to stay near the grass when I could get some degree of _______, so when I fell, I’d _______ fall to the lawn instead of the street or sidewalk.

After many attempts, I finally learned how to ________ Then I rode my bike a lot that summer and have had the ________ ever since.

Up until that point, I’d been making a big deal out of the whole process. It seemed ________ and discouraging. I was afraid of falling. But once I began to face the fear and ________ the courage to risk getting hurt, I quickly showed my ________ ability on the other side with a whole new skill. From the moment of making the decision to the time I ________ to get the basic skill it probably took me less than an hour.

What finally ________ me to face the fear and take action? It was the ________ that I was falling behind. My sister was leaving me in the dust. She could ride ________ I couldn’t. I really didn’t want that to happen.

I had no idea that I could learn to ride a bike so quickly. The feeling of falling behind served as a powerful motivator (动力). ________ trying to hide the disappointment, I allowed myself to feel the weight of that pressure. I used the ________ feeling to motivate myself to take action.