The day was growing darker and the rain was falling heavily.

There wasn’t a ray of light（光线）in the room, or rather the whole city. I had to stay in Zhengzhou on my own ______ my grandpa’s sudden illness. This was the first time I had stayed at home by ______ for a few days. Unexpectedly, the heavy rainstorm made the situation（形势）even worse.

I lay on the bed, lonely and fearfully. The only sound I could ______ was the horns（喇叭）of the cars’ and the rain ______ . It felt as if the end of the world were coming. What a night! I could ______ see anything.

Suddenly, the ringing of the ______ broke the atmosphere（气氛）of fear. It was my mom. When I heard ______ warm voice coming from the other side of the phone, I practically burst into tears. She did not feel relaxed until she knew I was ______ . If there is any voice that can give you the comfort from the bottom of your heart, that must be the ______ of your mom.

It was raining harder and harder. It ______ that it didn’t mean to stop at all.

Finally, I gradually fell asleep against the rain. I ______ that I could see the sun through the dark clouds, and I also hoped that everybody could be ______.

Thankfully, it was the ______ into my room through the curtains that woke me up the next day.

______ is not frightening（可怕的）. It is fearful that people can’t keep up after that and become frightened and confused. But just as the saying goes, “A party in trouble, assistance comes from all sides!（一方有难八方支援）” I’m ______ that we Henanese will be even stronger after this rainstorm.

It’s the most special English activity I’ve ever taken part in, and I learned many writing skills.

On Nov 24, an activity at our school led to a heated discussion among students. Organized by Affiliated High School of Peking University and newspaper, the activity allowed students to get a deeper understanding of English newswriting and learn more about the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Editor Sun Yiping shared with us her opinions on how to write a good news report. If it’s a big topic, it’s better to start with someone’s interesting stories—perhaps someone you interviewed instead of just empty talk. People always love stories. She also pointed out the importance of details. Show, don’t tell. Don’t tell me it’s a large dog, but show me it’s a 20-kilogram huskie（哈士奇）. With many examples, students learned useful skills for writing an attractive story,

The next task for us was to provide news topics about our school. Students were active and shared lots of topics. They included a chemical experiment（实验）to make fertilizer（化肥）, a basketball game, an English drama competition and many more.

After learning, we were asked to think about how to write a news report on the Beijing Winter Olympics. Some students said they wanted to interview the athletes and ask about how they prepared for competitions. Some wanted to focus on the volunteers, who devoted lots of time and hard work to the event. Others said they could write about middle school students who fell in love with winter sports. It seems that we all have some good stories to tell now.

One plus one equals（等于）two. There are 60 seconds in one minute. Sixty minutes equals one hour. There are 24 hours in one day. One year includes 365 days. These are all basic（基本的）facts that we know by heart. But have you ever stopped to think how numbers came into being（产生）and how they developed?

It’s safe to say that our society would never developed without numbers. However, the development of numbers is still a puzzle to us. That’s because when ancient people developed simple ways of counting, they didn’t leave any records behind.

It’s not difficult to guess that numbers and counting began with the number “1”, though ancient people probably didn’t call it “one”. They likely counted by ones and recorded by carving（刻）lines on a bone.

The earliest evidence（证据）of this is the Ishango Bone（伊尚戈骨）, which was found in 1960 in Africa. The bone is believed to be more than 20,000 years old. It has many lines on it. The lines look like what we would call “tally marks”（以5为单位的计数方法）today. Scientists think those lines show how ancient people used numbers.

For hundreds of years, Hans Christian Andersen’s（安徒生）magical tales have made children happy with stories of icy queens, lonely mermaids and foolish emperors（愚蠢的皇帝）. In many stories, Andersen uses ordinary situations and magical settings to teach life lessons to young readers. A tiny girl grows from a flower, a butterfly tries to marry a flower and many more stories,

Many of the stories in Andersen’s Fairy Tales（1835）are about appearances. Whether it’s a proud emperor and his clothes that can’t be seen, an ugly duckling（丑小鸭）trying to fit in with others that look different or a mermaid that wants to fit in with humans on land, the meaning of appearance plays a large role in many of Andersen’s tales. Too much pride in one’s appearance doesn’t turn out well for most of Andersen’s characters.

In this excerpt（节选）from The Little Mermaid, the witch（巫师）takes away the mermaid’s voice in exchange for a human body.

The following is excerpt from the book:

“I am willing to help you, but are you willing to suffer（受苦）all this?”

“Yes”. The little mermaid said in a trembling voice, as she thought of the Prince and of gaining a human heart.

“Remember!” said the witch. “Once you have taken human form, you can never be a mermaid again. You can never come back through the waters to your sisters or to your father’s palace.”

“I shall take that risk（险）,” said the little mermaid, but she turned as pale as death.

“But you must also pay me!” the witch said, “and what I am asking for is not expensive. You have the loveliest voice of all those here on the sea-bed and you hope to entrant（使着迷）him with it, but that voice you must give to me. I must have the best thing you own for my precious drink! I must give you of my own blood for the drink, so that it can be as sharp as a double-edged sword（双刃剑）!”

“But if you take my voice,” the little mermaid said. “what am I left with?”

“Your lovely form,” the witch told her, “your gliding movements and your eloquent（会说话的）eyes. With these you can easily enchant a human heart.

……

Ways to Make a Homey Home

When things around you make you feel good, it is easy for you to feel at home.     46    

    47     It’s difficult to be completely relaxed and happy in a place when it is dirty or messy（杂乱的）.

Research has told us about the benefits（好处）of art. Looking at art can reduce stress（减压）and make you feel better.     48     What’s more, it tells others about your interests and style.

Keeping a pet makes us happier and healthier. Your animal friend will always be excited to welcome you back home. Just imagine a cute dog or cat waiting by the door when you get home after a tiring day.     49    

Just like art and animals, plants and flowers can also cheer you up.     50     By bringing greenery and fresh flowers into your home, you can feel closer to nature.

People may have different kinds of hobbies, such as     61     (read), painting and looking after pets. Some hobbies are relaxing and others are     62     (create).

Tony has some hobbies, and they have brought     63     (he) much enjoyment and     64     (succeed). For example, one of his     65     (invent) by hand takes up most of his free time, but finally he     66     (win) the first prize in a competition last year. He is the     67     (proud) of his family.

David likes writing mystery stories very much. Now he is used to writing one story once a month. Because David is very talented, he     68     (choose) as monitor of his class this term.

We may feel     69     (amaze) at many people and things in our daily life, so everyone should try     70     (do) something new or different.

October 1, 2021 was the 72nd birthday of our motherland (祖国). With the first ray sunshine in the morning, the five-star red flag was rising slowly. We each were celebrating the birthday of our motherland in different ways.

The 2021 CCTV National Day Party was broadcast on the evening of the National Day, without inviting any idols (偶像), but full of excellent actors and singers. It was a prerecorded evening, with no guest presenters (客座主持人). One program by one program, it was a fast-paced evening.

I finally got my favorite actor Hu Ge. Unlike the other programs, Hu Ge didn’t perform on stage, but appeared in a micro film “Dream of Brave Hearts, Love for Our Motherland.” He played five roles in the film, and the five roles live in different times. They all have a common dream, that is, to work hard for the prosperity (繁荣) of our country!

How lucky to be born in today’s China. Here people have faith, the country has strength, and the nation has hope. I love China. Happy Birthday, My Motherland!

In s    76     China, there is a beautiful city called Guilin. It l    77     on the two sides of the Lijiang River. Tourists enjoy t    78     a boat trip along it. It is great fun. It’s also popular to h    79     a bicycle and ride around the countryside.

All around the city of Guilin, mountains s    80     in different shapes. Many visitors like to visit Guilin because it has f    81     landscape.

The Reed Flute Cave is an u    82     cave. In this cave, you can see many rocks in unusual s    83     . Some rocks hang down. Others p    84     upwards. It’s amazing. The cave is praised a    85     the “Art Palace of Nature”.

86. “双减（double reduction）"意在减轻学生过重的学业负担，并非降低学习质量。相反，对“自律（self-discipline）”提出了更高要求。假如你是第一中学九年级学生张凯，请根据以下提示，写一篇短文关于“双减”后学习上发生的变化以及这些变化带来的结果。

提示如下：

要求：1.内容须包含以上全部要点，语句通顺，意思连贯；

2.词数90个左右；

3.表达中请勿提及真实校名及姓名。

My name is Zhang Kai. I’m a student in Grade 9, No. 1 Middle School.

“Double reduction” policy hopes to reduce students’ learning burden by reducing homework and after-school classes. After “double reduction”, great changes have taken place in our study.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________