The three men were moving down a fast and rocky river. Thornton was in the boat, while Hans and Pete had to move along the river bank, holding the boat with a rope. Buck, the dog, followed them, keeping a(n) ________ eye on Thornton.

They came to a more ________ part of the river, and the boat started to go too quickly. Hans pulled on the rope to stop it, but pulled it too hard. The boat ________, and Thornton was thrown into the water.

Buck jumped in at once and swam three hundred meters until he ________ Thornton. Then Buck returned, with Thornton holding his tail. Buck swam towards the river bank. But they moved ________. Thornton knew they would not get to the bank quickly enough, so he let go of Buck, held on to a rock in the middle of the water, and ________, “Go, Buck, go!”

Buck swam as hard as he could to the bank, and Pete and Hans pulled him out.

It was hard for Thornton to hold on to his rock in that ________ water, and his friends knew they had only a few minutes to save him. They ________ their rope round Buck, who at once jumped into the river and tried to swim to Thornton. The first time, the water took him ________ the rock, and Pete and Hans had to pull him back. The second time, he swam higher up the river. ________, the water brought him down to Thornton. Thornton held on to Buck, and Hans and Pete pulled the rope as hard as they could. Man and dog disappeared under the water, ________ rocks, turning over and over, sometimes with Buck on top, sometimes Thornton. When Hans and Pete finally pulled them out, both seemed more dead than alive. But after a while their eyes opened and ________ returned. They all smiled.

The Beijing 2022 Olympics was the most gender-balanced (性别平衡的) Winter Olympic Games in history, with more than 1,300 female athletes — a record number — competing at the events, making up more than 45 percent of all athletes. Here are some female athletes whose achievements in Beijing amazed the world.

Team China’s teenage hero Gu Ailing, 18, is the youngest athlete to win three medals at a Winter Olympics. The freeski player won two gold medals and a silver in three events.

Russia’s skating silver medalist Alexandra Trusova, 17, amazed the world with five quadruple jumps (四周跳) during free skate at the Beijing Winter Olympics. No other woman has ever finished five quadruple jumps in an Olympic competition.

British women’s curling (冰壶) team won the country’s only gold medal by having a 10-3 win against Japan on the last day of the Beijing Winter Olympics. This was also the country’s first curling gold after 2002.

Almida de Val, a 24-year-old Swedish IT engineer, together with her teammate, took the third place in curling mixed doubles. She took a leave from her company to take part in the Olympics.

This is a typical(典型的) day for Yang Jinlong.

At 9 a. m. , he drives to primary schools and middle schools in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, to teach students about Shaanxi kuaiban. It is a traditional Chinese form of storytelling to the rhythm(节奏) of bamboo clappers(响板), which the art form is named after. Sometimes, he helps students prepare for competitions. Usually, his classes run until about 6. p.m. , and then he returns home to prepare classes for the next day.

On June 10, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism announced 325 national intangible cultural heritage(非物质文化遗产) items in Beijing, increasing the list to 1, 557 items. Shaanxi kuaiban, which appeared during the late Qing Dynasty, has been included. The art form has been introduced to local schools as part of their art education.

Yang has been teaching young people the art form since 2003 after graduating from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts in Beijing. He studied quyi there. Quyi is general term for Chinese folk art forms, including storytelling, crosstalk and clapper talk.

“Art education is important for students in China. Just as many students learn to play Western musical instruments like the piano and violin, there are many people learning traditional Chinese folk arts, including Shaanxi kuaiban, which I’ll work for my whole life,” he said.

Kuaiban is popular in northern China, including Beijing and Tianjin. According to Yang, Shaanxi kuaiban was influenced by the art of different areas. The art form can be played by a group of players or only one. With one or two pairs of kuaiban of different sizes in hand, the players speak in the local dialect(方言) while telling stories, which are usually about heroes. The player tells stories while playing kuaiban, and it’s easy for the watchers to remember the stories since all the lines rhym.

Thanks to artists like Yang, this traditional Chinese form of storytelling is passed on and stays alive in our country.

Researchers are using an underwater drone (无人机) to get information on carbon dioxide (CO₂) levels in the ocean. It is believed to be the first time that such a device (装置) has been used purposely to test CO₂ levels.

The device, which the team also calls a glider, is designed to go down to 1,000 meters in deep ocean areas and can operate for weeks at a time.

The purpose of the research is to provide scientists with data (数据) about how climate change is influencing the ocean’s chemistry. The self-swimming drone was placed in the Gulf of Alaska this spring. Reporters from The Associated Press recently joined researchers on a boat in Alaska’s Resurrection Bay to see the drone in action.

The team says the project could be a major step forward in measuring(测量) the environmental health of oceans. The scientists are most interested in levels of ocean acidification(酸性). This happens when CO₂ emissions(排放) in the air make their way into the ocean. Ocean acidification can harm or kill some kinds of sea life.

Scientists have connected CO₂ emissions with global(全球) warming caused by human activities.

In a way, oceans have given humans a helping hand by taking in(吸收) some of the CO₂. If there were no oceans’ uptake, there would be much more CO₂ in the air. This would trap more of the sun’s heat and further warm the Earth.

“But the problem now is that the ocean is changing its chemistry because of this uptake,” said team member Claudine Hauri.

One of the best ways to measure ocean acidification is to collect CO₂ measurements. Until now, these collections were mostly done from ships or with devices floating at the ocean surface or on the ocean floor.

Being sad or in a low mood is a normal (正常的) part of life. Many people feel down from time to time. For example, when people face challenging events in their lives, such as financial(经济的) difficulty or major changes, it’s common to feel down. But in most cases the bad feelings slowly disappear.

As for depression(抑郁症), however, the bad mood lasts for weeks, months, or even longer because it is a mental(精神的) illness. As the World Health Organization(WHO) noted, depression is a mood disorder. It shows in different ways, including loss of interest in normal activities and feelings of low self-worth. It often lasts for a long time and greatly harms a person’s ability at work or school or in the daily life. People with depression usually don’t like to talk about their problems with others. More seriously, depression may even lead to the act of killing oneself.

“Depression is not just a bout(一阵) of sadness or a sign of weakness, and you can’t just simply stop feeling depressed.” said the health news website www.mayoclinie.com.

But depression is not a person’s problem. It’s also more common than most people think. It is hurting about 280 million people around the world, according to WHO.

Though depression is worrying, we don’t have to be afraid of it. Depression can be treated by getting professional(专业的) help, taking medicine or a mixed treatment of both. In fact, when you begin to feel the danger of depression, you can try to deal with it early by yourself. Listening to music, doing some sports and drawing some pictures might help you feel better. Another useful way is talk therapy. When we are attacked by a low mood, having a conversation with others is of great help. Being honest about how we feel does not make us weak, it makes us human.

Life is full of choices and decisions. Here are some steps to help you make wise decisions.

First, it’s better to make a decision quickly than avoid it for a month because you’re afraid of choosing.     37     Also, some choices usually have time limits. So to keep our brains from getting too tired, we needn’t think about the cost of every single choice. Narrow down the list and try comparing only the best two or three.

Next, think about the value and cost of each choice.     38     Or better yet, create a scorecard,on which you give out bigger point values to what you think is more important. This way you can tell if one huge advantage is more important than a group of little disadvantages.

Then, stay calm and give yourself some space. You don’t want to delay(延迟) for weeks, but if you’re about to make a hasty(仓促的) decision, you may end up picking something you regret.     39     And it might take you a few days for major choices, like choosing your ideal high school.

    40     Why? Because it’s good to get a fresh way of thinking from others who are not as worried as you. Consider their opinions(观点) even if they are not what you want to hear. You need to take different opinions into consideration so that you will make a wise decision.

Museums play a big role in our society. They are also     41     important classroom for primary and secondary school students. During holidays, groups of young museum guides     42     (see) everywhere in Changzhou Museum. Since 2011, Changzhou Museum     43     (carry) out more than 100 public training activities for volunteer guides.

In July, 2021, I was chosen     44     (be) a volunteer guide in Changzhou Museum.     45     it was my first time to serve there, I didn’t know what to do. Luckily, the teachers there gave many interesting training classes, including “Public Places and Manners”, “Red History and Red Culture” and so on. I was deeply touched by the stories of     46     (pioneer) like Qu Qiubai and Zhang Tailei. I was impressed that they had risked     47     (lose) their lives to create a new China.

In the following month,I guided hundreds of tourists and did my job     48     (success). This experience had a great influence     49     me. I know more about my hometown and the meaning of life. I feel     50     (pride) of being a volunteer guide to help more people learn about Changzhou.

57. 某中学生英文报Your Voice栏目中有如下征文通知，请你写篇英语文章投稿，谈谈你的想法。

I want to share my ideas about the topic.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________