As a student, I was most afraid to answer questions in class, and I found that the students around were just like me. At the beginning of each class, when the teacher asked a question, I always lowered my head because I was afraid that the teacher would see me.

One day, in a foreign language class, Mr. Black gave us a lesson. He wanted us to be active in class, so he asked us some questions, but no one answered. “Let me tell you a story first,” he said. “When I came to the United States to study, the university often invited famous people to make speeches. Before the beginning of every speech, I found an interesting thing. The students around me always took a card folded（折叠的）in half, wrote their names in bold（粗体）with the most eye-catching color, and then placed the cardboard on the seat. So when the speaker needed the answers from the students, he could see and call a listener’s name directly.”

“I couldn’t understand that. My classmate told me the speakers were all top people, who meant chances. When your answer was to his surprise, it meant he might give you more chances. In fact, I really saw a few students got great chances because of that.”

After listening to the story, I understood that the chance will not find you itself. You must show yourself all the time so that you can find a chance on the card.

As a small kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? Like most of the children, you may let your imagination run wild. Maybe you dreamed（梦想）of flying into space or being a famous writer. Then perhaps over the years, your dreams became more realistic. Or you might have given up all your dreams.

It’s important to have a dream because dreams can give us the energy to succeed in life. Dreams can inspire（激励）us. The great thing about dreams is that there’s no pressure to finish them at once. They might take a few years or they might take a lifetime to reach. The important thing is that you’re always working for your dream. And the best way to do that is by setting goals（目标）.

What is the difference between a dream and a goal? It’s said that dreams are the final destination（目的）; goals are the small stops along the way. Dreams can be very general. But the steps you take to reach them should be very clear. Your dreams mean what you want, but goals tell how you’ll get there. That makes goal setting a necessary step in reaching your dreams.

Many successful people have spoken about dreams. Former US Secretary of State Colin Powell stressed the importance of working for your dreams. “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes determination and hard work.” Writer Les Brown told us that dreams have no age limit, “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

If you’ve been dreaming about doing something for years, start today. Write down your dream, and set your goals. Then you’ll be on your way to making your dreams come true.

Each year on Feb 21, UNESCO holds an International Mother Language Day (IMLD). The event is to help people to pay attention to the disappearance（消失）of the world’s languages; many of them are disappearing each year. UNESCO sees this as a terrible fact.

What happens when a language dies out? Something great is lost—not just sounds and marks, but also the way that people understand the world and communicate with each other. We keep different cultures and traditions through languages. When a language is killed, all these are killed too.

Through IMLD, more and more people come to realize the terrible situation and try to stop it. Google’s 2018 Endangered（濒临灭绝的）Languages Project is a good example. Many speakers and protectors of endangered languages upload（上传）texts and videos to the project website. They want to introduce the way that people communicate and express themselves around the world.

The Mymiami Project is the same. kind of effort to revive（复活）the language spoken by the Miami tribes（部落）of the United States. Project members work to encourage people to study and communicate with this language, which died out in the 1960s.

These activities give life to those endangered languages. People who work to keep languages alive are not limited to the past. Many young people design new apps and use social media to support their activities. They “spread the word” to save the world.

We all have a special feeling of our mother language. This is why we should remember the wise words of late president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela: “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to a man in his own language, that goes to his heart.”

Wang Shunjin, a 64-year-old man from Xiamen, has begun planning his next cycling trip after taking a 94-day bike tour in the USA in September.

His friends and he started cycling in June and went a    96     the USA from the east to the west. “Our bike tour covered 4, 300 kilometers in A    97     so that we saw many amazing natural wonders,” Wang said.

However, they also met with many d    98     on their way. The hardest part was that they don’t know w    99     to spend the nights. Most of the time, they stayed in their tents on the streets. Besides, they had to c    100     all their equipment （装备）—about 25 kilograms—on their bikes. What’s worse, one of them l    101     her bike and bags during the tour. But l    102     for her, a kind-hearted young man gave her a bike. With the help of the friendly people, she f    103     the cycling trip at last.

“Though the trip was a hard time for us, we were happy and e    104    . It was a meaningful cycling tour and we all e    105     ourselves.” Wang said.

When Jason’s parents saw him for the first time, they were shocked(震惊). This lovely little baby was born disabled(残疾的). But soon the young couple accepted this fact. Jason’s arms are just half without hands and his legs aren’t fully grown either.

At the age of six, he told his mother he wanted to get down from the prosthetics(假肢)and play with other kids. This was the last time Jason had worn them. He now has an electric wheelchair(轮椅), but he never uses it at home or when it is easy for him to move using only his body.

Jason learned handwriting and coloring at school, holding the pen between the ends of his arms. He also learned to eat with forks at home. When he was ten, he fell in love with football. He never had a pair of shoes in his life because of the shape of his feet. He only wore socks on the football field. He never won a match, but he refused to give up. His strong arms and body, as well as some fantastic ways made him a respected(受尊重的)player on the school team. He went to a famous university after high school.

Now Jason still faces many hardships in life, but he will make you believe that you can do what he has done. “Never be afraid of any difficulty”, Jason often encourages others in his speeches.

111. 上周五，你们班就“过去和现在”生活方式的变化进行了一次热烈的讨论。请根据下表内容提示，以Past and present为题写一篇短文。

Past and present

Last Friday, we had a discussion about life’s changes in the past and at present. Here are some of the changes. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________