I was watching TV in the living room with my grandpa when a blinding flash of lightning flashed across the sky, followed by a deafening(震耳欲聋的) sound. _______ I knew it, a gray-white shadow(阴影) rushed in through the window and flew over my head. Bang! It hit the wall and slid(滑) off the wall to the floor. I was shaking with _______. I came closer and saw that it was a pigeon(鸽子). It looked at me in fear, too, trying to open its wing, but _______.

I felt a few drops of warmth on my hands as I _______ it. It was blood! I gently spread its wings and there were a few red feathers inside. “Don’t worry, we’ll get it out _______,” Grandpa said to me. Then he took some cotton. We dried the blood, cleaned the wound, and then put it under a hairdryer to _______. All went better, for it had no strength left to resist(抵抗). There _______ to be an empty birdcage at home, so I put it in, and added a little water and some grains.

For the next few days, as soon as I got home from school, I would run to feed the pigeon. Little by little its _______ returned. One evening, while I was drawing at the table, I found it was eating biscuits. A few days later, its wound was better; its feathers grew and it became _______. Whenever I sat at the table to eat a biscuit, it did not __________ at one side as before, but instead looked up at me for a biscuit. To my joy, I could not only feed it the biscuit, but also __________ it with my fingers. To my delight, I gently fingered its head, and it __________ pecked(啄) at me. After it completely recovered, I tied an orange rope around its leg and let it fly away.

“I would prefer no house to live in, rather than no noodles to eat.” This old Chinese saying represents the enthusiasm(热爱)of Chinese people for noodles. China is the homeland of noodles，and the earliest record of noodles in China shows they have a history of 4，000 years. Nowadays, Chinese people eat noodles as a staple food(主食), snack, or as a delicious dish in a feast(盛宴).

Because of the different methods of preparation and the use of different ingredients, there are over 1, 000 types of noodle, each with local characteristics.

Zhajiangmian

Zhajiangmian is a Beijing specialty made up of wheat noodles in soybean sauce and vegetables such as carrots and sliced cucumbers. The sauce is usually made by cooking ground pork or beef mixed with fermented soybean paste. It can be ordered in most restaurants serving Beijing-style food and snacks.

Biangbiang Noodles

Biangbiang noodles, also known as belt noodles because of their broadness and length, are a specialty of Shanxi Province. The noodles are usually topped with vegetables and herbs such as spring onions, garlic, leeks, coriander, Sichuan peppercorns, and chili.

There are two stories about the origin(起源 )of the unusual noodles: one says that the name coming from the sound of handmade noodles being stretched(拉升) and flapped(拍打), and the other one says that the word biangbiang was invented by a Chinese emperor.

Hot Dry Noodles

Hot dry noodles are a traditional Chinese dish originated from Wuhan. The noodles are cooked in a mixture of water and sesame oil, cooled, tossed and warmed in the same mixture right before serving.

The process brings in a delicious serving of noodles which are covered with a strong sesame flavor. Although commonly considered as a breakfast dish, it can also be eaten as an afternoon snack or a light dinner. This inexpensive and simple dish has been a tradition in Wuhan for about 50 years and is still considered to be the most popular dish in the area.

If a person lost an arm， how could he or she still play basketball, or even be able to dribble(运球) like Stephen Curry(斯蒂芬·库里)does? Zhang Jiacheng, 13-year-old Chinese boy, has impressed everyone by doing just that.

Recently, a few short videos have been posted online. They show Zhang playing basketball with only one hand. Both his strong will and excellent basketball skills have been spoken highly of by the public.

“It’s the power of basketball. So impressive and encouraging! ”a netizen wrote.

Zhang lost his right arm in an accident when he was only five years old. It was a tragedy (悲剧) for such a little kid. Back then, even dressing himself was hard enough for the boy. But he has never given in to his fate.

Zhang first found his love for basketball in 2018. The sport then became his love and dream

Every day, he plays basketball after school with his friends no matter what the weather is like. Within Just two years, he broke three basketballs.

Now Zhang counts a number of basketball stars among his millions of fans. Below his posts, CBA’s all-time leading scorer Yi Jianlian wort that “the heart is always the strongest part of the body”.

As a big fan of Curry, Zhang even drew the attention of his hero’s. In a message to the teenager on social media, the NBA superstar said: “Keep doing it. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t.”

The boys’ dream is big-to be a professional(职业的)basketball player. No doubt, he must have heard Many“you can’t”from people who don’t believe in the power of dreams. “Give it up,or give it a try-I choose the latter(后者),”Zhang said.

Later that evening, as Tom was out walking and enjoying the warm summer air, he met a boy, a boy, taller than Tom. He was dressed well, wearing what seemed to be new clothing. He even wore shoes.

Tom suddenly felt a little embarrassed (尴尬的) about his own clothing.

Neither boy spoke.

They simply stared (盯) at each other and began to walk in a circle, never looking away from the other’s face.

Tom felt he had to teach this boy a lesson, so he said: “I could make you cry!”

“No, you couldn’t!” “Could!” “Couldn’t” “Could!” “OK, try!”

Tom just looked at him silently for a moment and then said: “I could make you cry like a little girl.”

“Then do it! You think you're so strong!”

“I am! I’m so strong I could beat you with one hand tied behind my back!”

“I’m waiting for you to stop talking and start fighting! I think you’re afraid.”

“I’m not.” “You are!” “I’m not.” “You are!”

They began to push each other with their shoulders, again moving in a circle.

And then suddenly they were fighting on the ground, hitting and kicking each other, and pulling hair.

But soon Tom was on top of the new boy hitting him with his fists.

“Have you had enough?” he asked.

The boy tried to get away. He was crying angrily.

“Have you had enough?”

Then the new boy said, “OK, stop!”

Tom got off of him and started to walk away, but as soon as he turned, the boy threw a rock and hit Tom in the back.

The boy ran away but Tom followed him home and waited until the boys mother came out and led at Tom to go away.

When Tom arrived at his home, he had to enter through his bedroom window because he was late and he didn’t want his Aunt Polly to see him. But his aunt was waiting for him.

Sid had told her about Tom’s afternoon.

You’re walking down the street, minding your own business when a stranger passes you by. He doesn’t say anything at all, but he does give you the smallest, briefest smile. In a moment and almost unwillingly, you’re doing the same thing. You just can’t help it; no matter how you were feeling, you caught his smile.

For some unexplainable reason, when we see someone’s face light up with nothing but joy, we just can’t stop ourselves doing the same thing. In honor of World Smile Day(the first Friday in October), it’s time we got real answers to this matter. Is smiling contagious(感染性的)?

Well, according to a study in the Trends in Cognitive Sciences journal, the answer could well be yes. As part of the research, social psychologists(心理学家) Paula Niedenthal and Adrienne Wood looked into why we often copy the facial expressions of people when we talk to them.

Interestingly enough, one of the conclusions was that we“try on”the emotions(感情)of others when we are communicating with them. So, for example, when a friends tells us some good news and looks happy, we may unconsciously(无意识地) show the same emotion through our facial expression. In doing so, we have a chance to feel and understand their emotions.

So the reason we smile when someone smiles at us is that we want to feel the same way as that person.

It is through this small social act that we’re able to have a deep level of communication with the people around us.

However, this is not the case for everyone out there. During the research, the psychologists note that those with certain diseases, who can’t copy others’ expressions, often have a problem with this level of communication, although they can know when someone is smiling at them, they are not always able to offer the same expression back.