“Mum, please! Can I keep a pet dog or a cat?” Andrew asked.

Mum said nothing, but the next day, she got home with a bright goldfish swimming around in a plastic bag.

“A fish. A ________ little fish. Not exactly my dream pet. It’s ________! Everyone has a pet dog,” Andrew complained. “Mum, I’ve got ________ against fish. They’re perfectly fine animals. But I want a pet that would do tricks and ________ me when I enter my room. I need a pet that would show me love, like a gentle bark or a miaow.________, I’ve got a dead-eyed fish!”

“It’s the only pet that you can keep,” Mum ________.

Andrew had no choice but to keep the goldfish. He put it in the tank and said, “I will name it Dog.” “Dog!” Andrew shouted. Suddenly, the goldfish stopped eating and swam over from the other side of the ________. It looked at Andrew, right up to the glass next to him.

Andrew was ________. “Did it know its name was Dog? Was it coming to me when I called? ________. Fish aren’t that smart. Are they?” Andrew waited for Dog to swim away again and ________ eating. Then he shouted again, “Dog!” It stopped eating at once and ________ over to Andrew. Maybe Dog wasn’t a stupid fish, after all.

Andrew started to train Dog to do tricks. After two weeks, Dog could swim in the shape of eight. After one month of practice, Dog could get back a little plastic ball by swimming under it and ________ it up to the top of the tank. Then Andrew could drop the ball ________ into the water. Dog was playing go-and-bring!

Dog did more than the tricks. Whenever Andrew walked into the room, Dog would ________ swim up and give him a happy ________. Every time Andrew smiled down at Dog, he was pretty sure it smiled right back.

9:05 a.m.

Making a deer out of paper without cutting or using glue sounds impossible. But for Du Jialei, paper can be folded (折) into anything. There is no limit to his imagination.

Du, 23, is a student from Shanghai University. He won third place at the ninth IOIO (国际折纸奥林匹克) in February this year. A total of 803 competitors from 59 countries and areas took part in this year’s event.

Du discovered his interest in folding paper in his childhood. After Du went to college in 2017, he had enough time to take the hobby seriously. He learned folding from online teachers and experts. Later he copied patterns from books. He spent almost three years improving his basic skills by making copies of other artists’ designs. Then he made his own creations.

For Du, folding paper develops his ability to pay attention to both the bigger picture and the details. He is creative as he has been challenging himself to make original (原创的) works.

Flying cars: flying high and reaching for the sky!

Traffic jam is almost every driver’s headache. So it’s not surprising to see why the idea of turning cars into flying machines has been popular for years. The flying cars can be seen in a lot of science fiction novels and films. Now the idea may become a reality in the near future.

Peter loves baseball. Last summer, he helped coach a school baseball team. When he first watched the team of 12-year-olds play baseball, his first impressions were not really positive.

One player often left as soon as they started losing. Another player paid too much attention to all their mistakes during the game. Other boys preferred to dig up the grass when they weren’t in the play. A lot of boys threw their baseball bats when they lost the catch.

While their baseball skills improved over time with more practice, there were still problems with their all-important character. The team had a long way to go. For example, some boys were hard on those who made mistakes. Instead of being supportive or encouraging, they blamed (责怪) each other.

Peter started one-on-one talks with each player to discuss things that he had noticed. Some were about skills like holding the bat up higher or opening their eyes when they were making a catch. But most were about staying positive and supporting each other.

Slowly things began to change. The boys began to take the duties for their play instead of blaming others for mistakes. They stayedoptimisticeven when losing. The team culture was improving.

Players began encouraging each other, high-fiving and supporting teammates. Peter was especially pleased to see some of the boys taking leadership roles and having their own one-on-one talks with their teammates.

Peter doesn’t think he made huge progress in teaching the boys how to throw, catch or hit better, but he was pleased that their conversations around character led to something positive. Although the team still lost games, the players had stronger characters. Next season, their characters will be tested again.

This time yesterday, Mr Zhang     51     (celebrate) his     52     (ninety) birthday at home. He said this to his family    53     (member): “Most people change houses during their lifetime, but I     54     (live) in this house since I was born. I’ve got three children and all of them were born in this house too. Most of the time it has     55     (be) a happy place. The street is very different from when I was young. At that time, there were no cars and all the children used to play in the road. Some children still do, but it’s not the same—you’ve got to be very careful nowadays with the traffic. None of the people who live in the street now are as     56     (old) as I am—many of them have died; others have moved to another area. I     57     (not go) out much now and I’m getting a bit deaf. But none of this is important. I’ve got my children and my grandchildren, and they are everything to     58     (I).”

At the end of the party, on the dinner table, Mr Zhang’s daughter laid two big bowls of noodles which     59     (eat) up in a minute by the whole family.

“Happy birthday!” Everyone said     60     (cheer) to Mr Zhang.

When people meet strangers, they often have small talks. These talks are a good way for people to s    61     hello. The talks cover many topics, such as weather, films, sports, TV shows o    62     the latest news. But we should always keep it in mind that p    63     subjects about money, age, and weight should be avoided. Besides, it’s better to ask open-ended questions. If you ask, “Do you like our city?” They may say s    64    , “Yes”. If you ask, “What do you think of our city?” They will have more freedom in answering. This type of question also shows that you are interested in them. If you seem interested in w    65     people are saying, they will feel more comfortable talking with you.

Chinese traditional painting and dance are two important parts of the art world. But what about when they meet each other?

This year, a dance drama called Poetic Dance: The Journey of a Legendary Landscape Painting (《只此青绿》) was shown on CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala. It became popular overnight.

According to CCTV, this poetic dance got the idea from the 900-year-old Chinese painting A Panorama of Rivers and Mountains (《千里江山图》). Created by Song Dynasty painter Wang Ximeng at about 18, the painting is amazing in its sweeping size, rich coloration and expressive details. It shows a Chinese blue-green landscape: “mountains and groupings of endless rise and fall between cloudless sky and rippling water”.

A The dance shows the Chinese traditional beauty of the painting. The dancers each had a different hairstyle, which looked like a mountain rock. B The clothes that they wore were shades of green and blue, which is also poetic show of the mountains and rivers. C When the dancers swayed beautifully, the audience seemed to be looking at the moving mountains and rivers. D More than a thousand years later, green mountains and rivers still wow people as they did long ago.

In recent years, more and more modern shows highlight Chinese traditional culture and have received warm welcome, especially among young people. They show _________ Chinese culture and are proud of it.

71. 你校在课后服务活动中，根据学生的需求开设了丰富多彩的课程（见下表）。你选修了其中的一门，收获颇丰。你校英文报正在组织题为“Me and my after-class course”的征文活动，请你写一篇短文投稿，内容包括：