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.

   Many years ago, when I was in high school and working weekends to pay for the extras that my family couldn’t really afford, I lost my wallet.

My old car needed gassing up in the back. I prepaid and then put my wallet on the bumper(保险杠), and drove off. I hadn’t even had time to miss it when my phone rang and a man asked me if I had lost my wallet. I checked my pocket and to my surprise, I didn’t find my wallet. He asked me to tell him how much money was in it. He then told me where to pick up my wallet.

As I pulled into his driveway, I noticed his handicapped van(残疾人车) and the ramp(斜坡) going up to the house. I was thinking that this man must have had difficulty in getting out of his van and getting my wallet off the street. He had to pull over, get in his wheelchair, lower the lift, and then pick it up. I was just surprised. I felt grateful.

I knocked on the door and he told me to come in. I thanked him about 10 times for finding my wallet. I was stuck, though. While I didn’t want to insult him by offering money, I really felt like offering something. So I asked him if there was anything I could do to repay his kindness, and he said, “Just pass it on.” I said I would be certain to do that. I was raised to be honest in any circumstance and I would have done so, without promising this fellow I would, but I wanted to repay his kindness, so I willingly promised I would.

Last week, I have the honor of experiencing teaching. Our school asked some volunteer to teach some kids which lived in the countryside.

I treasured this chance so much and joined in the team. When I met those kids, they were so happily to see me and listened to me carefully. Given the warmest welcome by them, I enjoyed being their teacher. However, I tried my best to teach them and play games with them.

Back to school, I missed our students so much. They liked me a lot but some of them even kept in the touch with me. I felt so proud being a teacher. This precious experience helped me make up my mind to realizing my dream.

For 26 years，Tess Heidelberger's wedding dress was sitting in a dusty box in her basement next to her Christmas decorations. She felt it was 【小题1】 waste of money，and then thought of her plain Christmas tree skirt on the top of the Christmas decorations. So she came up 【小题2】 an idea of putting the two of 【小题3】（they）together，and wanted to turn part of her wedding dress into a tree skirt.

Tess，【小题4】（live）in Mauldin，bought the wedding dress in 1989，【小题5】 had all the features（特色）of 80s bridal style. She got married the following year. Her daughters had no interest in wearing it as they felt it was 【小题6】（complete）out-of-date. So Tess made a 【小题7】（decide）to make the dress an art project.

She got a pair of scissors and a bottle of glue and got to work. All she needed to buy were some pretty ribbons to cover the glue, because she prepared 【小题8】 (put) the plain Christmas tree skirt under the wedding dress. When everything was ready she pinned the wedding dress skirt on the plain Christmas tree skirt until it was the way she liked. Then she 【小题9】 (decorate) the dress skirt.

In all, Tess only spent an hour completing it. She was very pleased with the 【小题10】 (finish) product.

   Suffering the bone-weakening disease, Gary Rosheisen was a wheelchair-bound man living alone.His house felt_________and he brought home Tommy, an orange cat that soon became his best_________.

Because of his significant___________problem including seizures（疾病的突然发作）, Gary always kept the___________in the living room on the floor, and it had a speed-dial button_________to call 911. Gary trained Tommy in how to_________that button whenever he felt better___________there were any emergencies.

Then one day, while in his bedroom, Gary had a seizure which_________him to fall out of his wheelchair and onto the floor. Once the seizure_________, Gary soon realized he was unable to   _____. What made him feel terrible was that he__________to put his cell phone on the bed. So he lay there,__________and desperate.

Meanwhile, the police received a call from Gary's  _______. No one said anything. The line was__________，and then disconnected. And the dispatcher（调度员）__________, hoping to get an answer. When the phone just rang and rang, police were sent to______________.

Officer Patrick Daugherty entered the home and found Gary and his__________cat, Tommy. Tommy was lying next to the phone, while Gary was_________on the floor in his bedroom， And so, the only_________was that Tommy's training had been far more_________than Gary thought.

Thanks to the call made to the police! Both he and the police considered Tommy a hero.