Otters（水獭）are cute water animals. These days, keeping otters as pets is getting popular. In Japan, some “otter cafés（咖啡馆）” are open for business. People can pay to play with the otters there and to take photos with them. In Indonesia, people go swimming with their pet otters and take funny videos. These photos and videos posted online have interested more people to buy otters as pets.

However, these enjoyable photos and videos hide the damage（损害）that the online trade is doing to otters. In fact, wild otters are facing many threats—they have long been hunted（猎杀）for their coats; in some places, fishermen have been killing otters in order to stop them from eating fish; and now, the online pet trade has become another big problem for otters.

In the wild, baby otters usually stay with their mothers during their first year of life. According to a report, 70% of the otters sold online are under one year old. These baby otters have been stolen from their mothers. When they are kept as pets by humans, they do not live full and natural lives.

Otters are very social. They live in family groups of up to 15 in the wild. Keeping an otter as a pet can make it very sad and lonely. These animals also need enough space to swim. Their owners’ bathtubs（浴缸）or pools are nowhere near as large as the bodies of water in the wild.

On the other hand, otters simply don’t make good pets. They have a very special fishy smell. If they are kept indoors, they will leave a lot of waste around the house. This would make the smell even more unpleasant. Besides, when otters are unhappy, they will make loud noises and even attack（攻击）people. If a person is hurt by an otter, he or she needs to go to hospital at once.

I went to Beijing to study Chinese last year. I was ________ about all the chances to better my language skills, walk on the Great Wall, and most of all, eat real Chinese food! I ________ remember my first jianbing, jiaozi and Peking duck. Each of them was amazing in its own way.

I knew that real Chinese food would be different from the Chinese food I had eaten in the USA. I couldn’t wait to try all the ________ dishes that came up in my research about Chinese food. One of my favorites turned out to be hotpot（火锅）.

My first-ever hotpot experience in Old Beijing was ________. As a first-timer, I was moved by the waiters’________ and their warmth of welcome. They tried their best to introduce all of the oils and spices（调味香料）to me.

Looking around, I found that everyone had their own favorite sauce combinations（酱料组合）, ingredients and styles（食材和风格）. Some would carefully ________ their ingredients into the hotpot one after another. Others would impatiently put whole plates into the bubbling（冒泡的）oil. You can learn a lot from the ________ people eat hotpot.

When I went back to the USA, I ________ to prepare a hotpot meal for my family. It allowed me to not only share the culture that I had learned about, but also offer others a chance to ________ China like I had. It’s amazing that ________ could bring so much to life!

The Netherlands needs thousands of new houses because the country     56     (have) a growing population. Anyway, it may not have to build all those houses. Some of     57     (they) can be printed.

    58     (recent), the government has been working together with a university and some building companies(公司) to build houses that are fully 3D-printed. As volunteers, an old couple has become the first people in Europe to move into such     59     house.

With two     60     (bedroom) and a big living room, the house was built layer(层) by layer, using a huge 3D printer and special cement(水泥). After being printed out, the house     61     (carry) by a truck to the building site, and a roof (屋顶) and windows were later added. It took around 120 hours     62     (finish) this 3D-printed house. Usually, it takes about one or two years to build a house in the     63     (tradition) way.

The couple will live     64     this house for six months, with a monthly pay of 800 euros(欧元). The cost seems a little bit high, but they think it is much cheaper     65     living in the hotel.

When people say Chinese culture, we often think of paper cutting. 1. Paper cutting is an art form with a long history in China. Traditional paper-cuts were first put on windows for decoration（装饰）. That is why paper-cuts are also called “window flowers”. Most paper-cuts are made of red paper, because red means good luck in Chinese culture. Today, people use paper-cuts to decorate not only windows, but also doors and other furniture（家具）. 2. Sometimes, people use them as gifts.

Paper-cuts are popular because of their expressions of good wishes and hopes. During the Spring Festival, for example, many people put up paper-cuts of the Chinese character（汉字） “Fu” upside down on the door. 3. 他们希望这会给他们带来好运。 At wedding ceremonies（婚礼）, you can always see paper-cuts of the character “Xi”. It means that the new couple can enjoy happiness together.

Paper cutting has developed into different styles in different parts of China. 4. Paper-cuts from the north of China usually have interesting shapes. In southern China, people prefer paper-cuts with the themes（主题）of flowers, fruit, birds and fish.

5. 学习剪纸非常容易。 With a piece of paper and a knife or a pair of scissors, you can try to make your own paper-cuts. Although paper cutting is easy to start with, you need a lot of practice and imagination to become really good at it.

71. 新学期来了，学生社团又要招新啦！假如你是社团招新工作负责人，请根据以下内容和要求写一篇短文，为同学们介绍社团的情况（包括名称、活动及目的）。

1. Public Speakers Activities: practice speaking in public and give speeches; … Purposes: to voice opinions clearly and confidently; to overcome fear and shyness; …

2. Cool Cooks Activities: design（设计）healthy menus and learn how to cook; … Purposes: to have balanced（均衡的）and healthy eating; to enjoy life; …

3. ____Sports____ Activities: choose your own favourite sports and do exercise with friends;… Purposes: to keep fit and lose weight; to make more friends;…

Clubs Are Calling!

The new term is here. Are you ready for an interesting and colorful school life? Now I’d like to introduce some of our clubs.

In the club of Public Speakers, ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________