I was on a train in Switzerland. The train came to a ________ and the conductor’s voice over the loudspeaker delivered a message in German, Italian, and French. I’d made the mistake of not learning any of those languages ________ my vacation.

Everyone started ________ the train and an old woman saw that I was confused and stressed. She could speak some English and told me that a(n) ________ had happened on the tracks(轨道). She asked me where I was trying to get to, then went and talked to some workers, and ________ to tell me that we’d have to hop trains three or four times to get there.

I was really glad she was heading the ________ way because it would have been impossible for me to figure it out on my own. So we went from one train station to the next, getting to ________ each other along the way.

She was really the sweetest woman. It was a 2.5-hour ________ in total, and when we made it to the final destination, we got off and said ________ to each other. I had made ________ just in time to catch my train to Rome. She told me she had a train to catch ________. I asked her how much ________ she had to go and it turned out that her home was two hours back the other way.

She had jumped from train to train and traveled the whole way just to make sure that I made it. To my ________, a woman ________ her whole day sitting on trains and taking her hours away from her home just to help out a confused tourist visiting her country.

No matter how many ________ I visit, I’ll always say the most beautiful country in the world is Switzerland.

①. The beginnings of life provide scientists with some of the most difficult questions of modern science. Our knowledge of the development of cells, from which all forms of life are made, is not complete because we do not understand very well the conditions on our planet four billion years ago. Why and how did cells first appear? Was this very probable to happen under the conditions then? Might this happen in other places in the universe?

②. A group of scientists at University College London are trying to answer these questions. They started by studying the ways in which the first cells on the Earth might have been formed. Next they will use a powerful new telescope to look at places far away in the universe. The scientists hope that the results will improve our understanding of the development of life on the Earth and help us to find similar conditions for life development on other planets.

③. Dr. Nick Lane, who is in charge of(负责) the University College London team, has suggested that 4 billion years ago warm water springs(泉) on the floor of the Earth’s ocean might have helped to create life. Each spring consists of tiny connected holes that water passes through. The team has created models of these springs with these holes in their lab. They have found that they encourage chemical reactions between hydrogen(氢) in the liquids that come out of them and the carbon dioxide in the sea water.

④. These building blocks are not living themselves, but when there are enough of them joined together in the right way, they can make living things. Water in the system of springs moves the building blocks around until there are a lot of them in a small area. Things that look very much like real living cells can be made in this way.

The Long March 5 Y3 is China's strongest rocket. China's biggest and most powerful rocket rose into space on Dec 27, 2019. The Long March 5 finished its task at the Wenchang Space Launch Center in Hainan.

The 57-meter-tall rocket, known as the Long March 5 Y3, is the tallest, strongest and most technologically sophisticated (技术复杂的) rocket in China. Since it is much bigger than China's other Long March rockets, people call it "Fat 5". The rocket is able to carry spacecraft (航天器) weighing up to 25 tons—about the weight of 16 midsize cars—into low-Earth orbit (近地轨道), China Daily reported. This payload capacity (有效载荷) is about 2.5 times greater than that of any other Chinese rocket. During December, the Long March 5 successfully sent the Shijiao 20 experimental satellite (卫星) into orbit. At more than 8 tons, it is the heaviest and most advanced communications satellite built by China.   

The task also tested key technologies that will be used to take the Chang'e 5 probe (探测器) to the moon, according to the China National Space Administration.

The success of the Long March 5 was hard-earned. The rockets first sending was carried out in November 2016 at the Wenchang center. A second task took place in July 2017 at the same site, but failed to send a satellite into orbit. According to project leaders, in the two years since that failure, the rocket's research team held more than 600 meetings and carried out at least 1,000 experiments and tests.

"Compared with the Long March 5 Y2 that was used in the failed second task, the new one has about 200 technical improvements, including changes to the engine design." Li Dong, the rocket's designer, said to China Daily.

The future tasks of the Long March 5 will include a trip to Mars, taking back moon samples (样本), and placing parts of a manned space station into orbit.

When night comes, they stop under a big tree. The Tin Woodman cuts some wood and makes a fire for Dorothy. Dorothy and Toto eat some bread and the Lion goes into the forest to find something for his dinner. The Scarecrow collects some nuts for Dorothy’s breakfast. Then all of them lie down and sleep until morning.

The next day they set off again very early. They walk a few miles and then come to a big ditch(沟渠). It’s very wide and very deep. There are a lot of sharp rocks at the bottom of it.

“How can we cross the ditch?” Dorothy asks her friends.

“We can’t fly over it,” the Scarecrow says. “And we can’t jump over it. So we must stay here. ”

The Lion looks at the ditch and says, “I can jump over it.”

“Can you?” the Scarecrow says. “That’s good. You can take us across on your back, one by one.”

“Who wants to go first?” the Lion says.

“Me!” the Scarecrow says and he gets on the Lion’s back. The Lion jumps across the ditch easily. Then he jumps back and takes Dorothy and Toto. Finally he takes the Tin Woodman across the ditch.

Later in the afternoon, they come to a wide river.

“How can we cross the river?” Dorothy asks.

“Easy!” the Scarecrow replies. “The Tin Woodman can cut down some trees and build a raft. We can cross the river on that.”

“That’s a good idea,” the Lion says to the Scarecrow, “One would believe you had brains in your head, instead of straw!”

But it takes time to make a raft, and it’s very late when the Tin Woodman finishes it. So they find a cozy place under the trees where they sleep well until the morning. That night, Dorothy dreams of flying to the Emerald City and finding the good Wizard Oz, who would soon send her back to Kansas.

(Adapted from The Wizard of Oz)

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Are you looking for good books to read? You’re in the right place. Here     46    . I believe that books are changing our lives. But first, I want you to think about reading in a different context (语境). You can not just read for fun. Instead, think of reading as a tool for solving problems, a tool you can use to get valuable knowledge from experts all over the world.

How many times have you found you have no idea to solve a problem? Whether     47     or how to become a better acting of yourself, you just can’t seem to come up with a good solution. If you’re anything like me, you start asking yourself, “How do the experts deal with this?” Well,     48     and the answer is very easy to get. You can find the answers to most things by reading a book.

In my Better Habits Guide, one of the ten daily habits I suggest is reading. In Fear of Failure? I note that     49     in the effort to learn from the tests and mistakes of others. All in all, reading is good.

Although I said a lot, I still believe     50     than others. These good books are the ones that have had a wonderful influence on my journey to be a better person.

There was a lion. He grew so old that he was u    66     to kill any animals for his food. So, he said to h    67    , “I must do something to get some food, or I will die of hunger.”

He k    68     thinking and thinking and at last he had an idea. He decided to lie down in the cave pretending(假装) to be ill. And then someone would come to ask about his h    69    , so they would become his food. The old lion put his plan into practice and it started w    70    . Many of his well-wishers got killed.

One day, a fox came to visit the lion. As f    71     are clever by nature, the fox stood at the mouth of the cave and looked around. His sixth s    72     worked. So he shouted from outside the cave, “How are you, sir?” The lion a    73    , “I am not feeling well. But why don’t you come i    74    ?” The fox replied, “I would love to, sir! But on seeing all the footprints(脚印) going to your cave and n    75     coming out, I think nobody is alive. ” Saying so, the fox went to warn other animals. Finally, the old lion couldn’t get food any more.

I’m glad that we both have a wonderful school life these years. I want to tell you about my school life as well.

Tell me if there’s anything else you want to know. Hope to hear from you soon.

Yours,

Li Hua