Years ago, a very rich man and his young son shared an interest in collecting art. They traveled around the world, collecting priceless works of art by famous artists like Van Gogh and Monet.

When war broke out, the son left to ________ his country. After a few weeks, the old man ________ a letter saying his son had died while taking another soldier (士兵) to a hospital. The man became very ________ and sad.

One day, a soldier visited the old man and gave him a painting—it was a portrait (画像) of his son. ________ the world would never consider it a great work, the painting was important to the man. The painting of his son became the old man’s most ________ thing. The following spring, the old man became ill and ________.

All of the old man’s paintings would be sold at an auction (拍卖). The auction began with a painting that was not on any of the buyers lists... it was the painting of the old man’s son.

“Who will open the price at $100?” the auctioneer asked. Moments passed and no one spoke or raised their hand. Someone said: “Who cares about that ________? Let’s get on to the good ones.” More voices followed in _________. “No, we must sell this one first,” replied the auctioneer. “Now, who will take the portrait of the son?”Finally, a good friend of the old man spoke: “Will you take $10 for the painting? That’s all I have.” “Will anyone go higher?” called the auctioneer. After more ________ he said: “Going once ... going twice... sold!” The auctioneer looked at the crowd and ________ that the whole auction was over. “According to the father’s will, whoever takes the son’s portrait gets the whole collection,” the auctioneer said. Because of the father’s love, whoever took the son got it all.

He was the greatest writer in the English language and is known around the world. But how much do you really know about William Shakespeare and his life?

Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, located in central England, in 1564 and died in 1616. His surviving work consists of 38 plays, 154 sonnets (十四行诗) and some other poems. He is best known for his plays, which have been translated into every major language and are performed more than those of any other playwright (剧作家) in the world.

When Shakespeare was 18 years old, he married Anne Hathaway and they had three children. Shakespeare went to London to work as an actor and a writer. In 1599, the Globe Theatre was built in London. It was in this theatre that some of Shakespeare’s plays were first performed. In 1613, the theatre was destroyed by a fire. However, a modern reconstruction (重建 ) of the theatre was built near the original site in 1997. So even today you can go to the Globe Theatre to see one of Shakespeare ‘s plays.

Shakespeare’s work is still very popular. But why do we like these old plays? Perhaps it is because they all contain fantastic stories. His characters suffer bloody battles, deaths by poison (毒药), and dramatic family battles. His plays are full of exciting story lines and lessons about morality (道德).

Hamlet, for example, is about revenge (复仇) and also about how difficult it is to take action sometimes, even when it is important to do so. Hamlet’s father is killed by another man, who then marries Hamlet’s mother. Everybody wants to see Hamlet dead. Hamlet must take revenge, but will he be able to? The famous quote (引语)To be or not to be, that is the question" comes from this play,

According to CNN, women still experience pay inequality (不平等) everywhere, whether you’re Hollywood’s top talent or you work in a retail store (零售店).”

Gender equality has improved in some areas like education. However, when females enter the workplace, they may find things are still difficult. Of the 145 countries and regions surveyed in a WEF (世界经济论坛) report, 97 have more female students than male students in universities. But only four of those countries and regions have a majority of female leaders in the workplace. Women tend to (往往会) be viewed on the basis of their performance, while men are often promoted (升职) for their potential (潜力),” the Washington Post wrote.

Old thinking about men and women is still influencing women’s careers, according to Saadia Zahidi, a WEF official. For example, many people believe boys are better at science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). And even today, women make up only a third of the students in these fields worldwide. Girls and women need to master the skills and training that are needed for the jobs of tomorrow, especially in the STEM fields, said Zahidi. The gender gap (性别差距) in the workplace is not just about less pay for women. It’s also about women making sure their pay shows their value. Actress Sandra Bullock once said, “Once we start changing how we think about women, the pay gap will take care of itself.”

So, have you ever stepped back and wondered what your voice sounds like to other people? Your friends and family can probably tell who you are just by the sound of your voice. And it turns out that it says a lot about us.

• Your voice tells how social you are

    36    . Outgoing people prefer to talk loudly, quickly, and excitedly. Introverts (内向的人) prefer to speak quietly and more slowly. So, if you’re that loud person at a party, you’ll probably find that all eyes are on you. However, introverts won’t possibly be at that party at all.

• Your voice says something about your height

This may sound strange, but if people close their eyes and hear you speak, they can probably tell if you’re tall or short.     37    , while shorter people are considered to have a higher voice. This is true for both men and women.

•     38    

If you’ve noticed a lot of changes in a person’s voice—the speed at which they talk, the tone and pitch of their (语气和音调) voice, or whether their voice has become quieter-they may have Parkinson’s disease. These changes can happen in die voice because of the tremors (震颤) that a patient would be experiencing.

• Your voice can tell how successful you are

Successful people’s voices tend to be of a lower, warmer tone. Their words come out calmly without showing too many emotions, and their vocal cords (声带) won’t be tight.     39    , but not so loudly that they’re unpleasant to listen to.

Early this year, Chinese actor Ren Jialun won the hearts of audiences for his role as an ancient “detective (侦探)” in the online showUnder the Power(《锦衣之下》). Now he has taken on a role as a spy in the TV showCicada of Autumn(《秋蝉》), which started to air on May 4.

Ren has other talents and sides to his personality that most people might not know about. He looks gentle, but he is tough (坚强的) inside. As he once said, “If you are a man, you should be a real man.”

This can be traced back to his childhood. His father is a martial arts (武侠) coach. He was required to be tough and self-disciplined (自律的) when he was a young boy. After showing skill at playing table tennis, he started to receive training at 6 and spent every evening practicing. In his words, he “had no childhood at all”.

At 9, he joined the Shandong provincial table tennis team. However, several injuries forced him to give up the sport at 16. This was a personal crisis (危机) for him. “After all, I spent 10 years on it,” he said.

After leaving table tennis, he turned to singing and dancing. He went to South Korea and joined a boy band. For three months, he did nothing except sing and dance, eat and sleep. However, his band broke up in 2014 and he decided to come back to China to be an actor.

Ren doesn’t complain about these challenges. Instead, he has accepted them. “Young people are supposed to work hard,” he said.

Most of us eat to satisfy our appetite (胃口) for delicious food. But due to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP), many Chinese people are changing their eating habits.

Because of busy work schedules, ordering simple and quick meals online used to be common for many young people in China. Zhang Xiaoyan, a 30-year-old from Nanjing, was one of them.在工作日，她通常在办公室吃外卖食品而不是在家下厨。Even on weekends, she would prefer takeout food, which demanded (需要) little time.

Now, she rolls up her sleeves(袖子) and cooks for herself. “Cooking sometimes is quite time-demanding but it helps me have a healthy eating habit.” Zhang told China Daily.

Instead of eating in the restaurant, cooking at home has become more and more popular. Some even share food videos on their We Chat Moments at meal times.这被认为是一种与朋友沟通的特殊方式。

Besides eating at home, many people also developed the good habit of using serving chopsticks and spoons. They thought it was not clean to use their own to eat dishes. They also eat separately in order not to get infected (感染).

Healthy eating habits and maintaining good order have become real problems for us. It’s related to people’s health and safety, and it’s also a personal responsibility during the pandemic (疫情) stated Guangming Daily.

The disease is still spreading, and more must be done to bring it under control. As long as these habits are good for our health, we should keep them from now on to fight against the virus.

55. 假定你是李华，学校学生会主席。你将代表学校到黄花国际机场迎接来自美国的交换生。请你写一封信给对方小组Hurst，联系机场迎接事宜。

I am Li Hua, chairman of the Students’ Union in our school. On behalf of our school, ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua