Charlie was a poor college student. He lived in a tiny, _____ apartment above a restaurant which is well-known for its noodles. One evening, his friends came to visit him. A delicious smell came in through the window. This made them feel _____. “What’s that delicious smell?” a friend asked. “It’s _____ the restaurant below. It’s very expensive to eat there, but we can do the next best thing,” answered Charlie. Then he boiled some noodles and offered them to his friends. “Let’s sit next to the _____. Can’t you taste the famous cook Mario’s noodle sauce（酱汁） as you eat? And it’s free!” said Charlie.

The boss of the restaurant, Mario overheard（偶然听到）that Charlie was “stealing” his smells. When the restaurant closed that night, he knocked on Charlie’s door and asked him to pay. But Charlie _____ to pay for it. Mario decided to sue（起诉）Charlie.

On the day of the case, Mario brought a pot of delicious sauce to the judge（法官）. “I spend ten hours a _____ cooking my noodles and my sauce! Charlie never eats at my restaurant. He never pays me, but he enjoys his meals because of the delicious cooking in my kitchen!” he said _____.

The judge took a deep breath, and then he said to Mario, “If you ask Charlie to pay, I have to pay you as well, _____ I am sitting here right now smelling your wonderful sauce. How much should I pay you?” Just then Mario remembered his mother’s words: “You are talented in cooking. Use your talent to feed everyone.” He suddenly realized he’d been selfish, and hung his head with _____.

“I don’t want you or Charlie to pay. I want everyone to be able to enjoy my food. From now on, I’ll sell my food at _____ prices,” said Mario.

An elderly man visited a doctor and asked, “Could you take a look at my wife? Her hearing is getting worse.”

The doctor said, “I’m glad to help. But I don’t know how bad her hearing is. Could you go home and do a little test for me? Make sure your wife’s back is turned to you and ask her a question. If she doesn’t answer, walk closer and ask her again. Keep doing this until she answers you.”

The man went home. He saw his wife making dinner with her back to him. The man asked, “What’s for dinner?”.

His wife didn’t answer, so he walked closer and asked again, “What’s for dinner?” Still, she didn’t answer.

This time, he walked up just behind her and asked once again, “What’s for dinner?”

His wife turned around and said very loudly, “For the third time, we’re having chicken soup!”

With the Year of the Rat coming up, I remember going out for Chinese food when I was a kid in the US. In Chinese restaurants, there are always plates with pictures of the zodiac animals (十二生肖). For most people in the US, this might be the deepest impression of Chinese culture. One time, we started to laugh after we learned that my aunt is a rat.

We laughed because in our culture, rats are animals of very low position. They eat rubbish and cary diseases, so we think they are dirty. Because rats are sneaky (鬼鬼祟祟的), we think of them as untrustworthy. Calling semeone a rat is very rude. It means we cannot trust him or her easily, or we will be cheated.

As a kid, this caused me to feel bad for people born in the Year of the Rat. I wondered whether they would be looked down upon by others. I did some research and found that although Chinese people also see rats as dirty animals, they added them to the zodiac for some reasons.

Rats are thought to be animals that can bring people wealth. They are also able to give birth to lots of babies, which makes them a symbol of good luck—traditionally, Chinese people prefer to have large families with many children. Rats are believed to have intelligence as well. It is believed that sneaky animals must be clever.

So now, I’m entering the new year with a fresh way of looking at rats. Perhaps I need to find a new understanding for other things—-animals, ideas or even people!

Thousands of years ago, Chinese poet Qu Yuan wrote the poem Tianwen, in which he came up with many questions about the sky, stars, nature and the world around us. The poem showed his doubts about traditional ideas and the spirit of finding the truth.

Inspired by the great poet, China has named its next planetary exploration tasks (行星探测任务) after the poem. The first one—a Mars (火星) exploration task—has been named Tianwen 1.This shows China’s strong wish to explore space and discover its secrets.

Up to now, China has been making great progress in space exploration. As early as 1970, China sent its first man-made Earth satellite (卫星) into space, becoming the fifth country in the world. Since 2003, China has carried out six Shenzhou tasks and sent two space labs into Earth’s orbit (轨道). In December 2018, China became the first country to send the probe (探测器) Chang’e 4 to the moon’s far side, which people can never see from Earth.

In the future, the Tianwen will follow the Shenzhou and Chang’e and move further into space. The first step is to send a Mars probe this year, which will mark the start of China’s exploration of the Mars. The probe is expected to move around, land on and explore Mars in one task. If it sueceeds, it will be the first to complete all of these in one task.

After this task, China plans to visit Mars again in 2028, in order to collect soil from the surface and bring it to Earth. Around 2030, China will explore Jupiter. There is no doubt that China’s space exploration will have a bright future.

A．	B．
C．	D．

A．	B．
C．	D．

There are many holidays and festivals. Dads have Father’s Day. Mums have Mother’s Day. But do our grandparents have a special festival? Yes, they do!

The Double Ninth Festival is a special day for older people in China. It started long ago. The festival is on lunar September 9th. On this day, people show love and respect for their grandparents.

Respecting older people is a tradition in China. That’s because the Chinese know that older people have much knowledge and experience that young people can learn. There are many ways in which Chinese people express their respect. When an older person enters a room, everyone should stand up. Also, people are introduced from the oldest to the youngest. When we present a book to an older person, two hands are used. And young people always offer their seats to older people on a crowded subway or bus.

In Western countries, however, older people have different lifestyles from those in China. Western seniors don’t often live with their children—they live alone. They’d rather do everything themselves than get help from others. They even don’t want to be offered seats by others. Besides after retirement（退休）, they would like to take up new hobbies, do part-time jobs and join in different kinds of activities.

Westerners still respect their older people. For holidays, families usually get together at the grandparents’ homes, and a great smile and a warm hug for their parents are enough for grown children to show their respect. What’s more, seniors usually don’t have to buy tickets for trains and buses. They are given discounts（折扣） in stores and restaurants as well.

Everyone wants to be happy, but life isn’t like what we expect. In fact, everyone     54     sometimes.

How do you deal with your worries? Whether your worries are big or     55     you can take these three steps to deal with them.

Try to find out what you’re worried about.

Sometimes, you know what you’re worried about. Other times, you may not. Try to find it out first; if you can’t, you can ask     56     help.

Think of ways to make it better.

There is always something you can do to help you feel     57     worried. Sitting there worrying is useless and it will not     58     your problems.

If your worry is a fight you had with a     59     , you might write down all the things you could do: Write a note to him or her; invite him or her to a basketball game; say     60     to him or her etc. Once you have a list of things you could do, you can choose one that gets your friend back.

Ask for help.

When you’re worried, it can help to find someone to     61     to. You can ask your parents, friends or teachers for help.

62. 在初中三年一起走过的日子里，我们曾放声欢笑，也曾难过哭泣。是父母、老师和同学陪伴我们一起成长。在即将毕业之际，总有一些难忘的人或事萦绕在心头，所以校报英文专栏组织初三学子开展了“写出你心中的故事”专栏，请你写一篇文章分享你曾经历过的最难忘的人或事，并谈谈你的感受。

How time flies! My junior high school life is coming to an end.

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