There once was a man who played the piano in a bar. He was a good pianist. People went there just to hear him play. But one night, a customer ________ told him he didn’t want to hear him just play any more. He ________ to sing a song by the customer. “I can’t sing,” the man said.

The customer said to the boss, “I’m ________ of just listening to the piano. I want that guy to sing.” “Hey, buddy!” The boss ________ across the room. “ ________ you want to get paid, sing a song! The customer is asking you to sing!” And other customers were waiting ________ what would happen. So he did. He sang a song. A pianist who never sang in public did so for the first time. What’s more, Na King Cole sang the song, Mona Lisa, ________ a very special way. That was the first time the song was ever sung that way.

He was so talented! He could have lived the rest of his life as a no-name piano player in a no-name bar. But because that man made ________ sing, he went on to become one of the best-known ________ in America.

You have talent and abilities, too. You may not feel as if your talent is great, but it may be ________ than you think.

Know more about the Winter Olympic Games and the mascots(吉物) for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic.

	The last Winter Olympic Games were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018. The skater Wu Dajing won the only gold medal(奖牌) for China. The Chinese delegation(代表团) won a total of nine medals, second PyeongChang 2018 only to the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Chinese players have QSS achieved the best results in history in many sports.
	The 24th Winter Olympic Games in 2022 will be held in Beijing and Zhangjiakou. Beijing is the first city to host the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics. The ice project will be held in Beijing. The image ambassador(形象大使) for this Winter Olympic Games is Shen Xue. BEIJING 2022 The first Winter Olympics China took part in was the U.S. Lake Placid Winter Olympics. Yang Yang got the first gold medal for China at the Winter Olympics.
The mascots for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic
	Name	Image	Symbol
	Bing Dwen Dwen	A panda	The mascot’s helmet(头盔) is the symbol of the snow and ice of winter sports.
	Shuey Rhon Rhon	A lantern	Harvest(丰收), warmth and light.

After an 18-month-long journey, a group of wild Asian elephants are getting close to their home. Before that, they have been travelling around southwest China’s Yunnan province.

At about 8 p. m. Sunday, August 8th, 2021, those elephants crossed the Yuanjiang River. They used the road bridge, because the water level is too high during the rainy season. It took them three minutes to cross the river. To guide them, people did a lot of work. And now they’re much closer to their home. The elephants left Xishuangbanna, a nature reserve（保护区）, near the city of Pu’er in March of 2020.

They walked more than 500 km north and even reached the outside of Kunming, the capital city of Yunnan province in early June, before turming back to the south. Along the way, two of the elephants returned home and some of the younger elephants have grown up a lot during their journey. These elephants became a hot topic（话题）online after they left their home. They are one of China’s highly protected animals. To keep them safe, the local government has done a lot of work. Luckily, no animals or humans have been hurt in the journey.

Most Chinese parents have great expectations(期望) for their children. When children are born, their parents have planned everything for them. It is common for parents to want their children to be successful. However, many children in China are unhappy. They live a planned life and are asked to fulfill their parents’ dreams.     

In my opinion, there are two sides of parents’ expectations. On the one hand, the expectations can encourage children to work harder for a better life. According to some studies, whether a child will be successful or not depends mostly on his or her parents’ expectations. But on the other hand, unrealistic(不切实际的) expectations can be harmful to children. Every child has his or her own thoughts and feelings. Parents’ expectations can take children’s freedom away. Wise parents allow their children to have some freedom. They encourage their children to do things they like to do and never only care about their grades.   

My parents’ expectations for me are to be happy, kind and healthy. They never put too much pressure on me, so I live a happy life. However, I have my own dreams. I keep working hard, though my parents do not want me to do so. I will never give up because my parents always encourage me when I am in trouble. In a word, I think parents’ expectations are necessary. However, parents should not give their children too much pressure. Instead, they should give them enough freedom. Parents must make sure their expectations for their children are realistic so that their children will not lose their self-confidence(自信).

Double Ninth Festival in China is celebrated on the ninth day of the ninth month of the Chinese lunar calendar (农历) every year. And it is also known as Chongyang Festival.

Traditionally, it’s a time when the family get together to climb hills, drink chrysanthemum wines (菊花酒), eat Chongyang cakes, and wear comels (茱萸). However, those activities are only one part of the story. The day is also seen as a chance to care for the elder.

Once upon a time, a farmer called Aniu lived by a river with his blind mother. Aniu wanted to cure (治愈) his mother’s eyes. One night, he dreamed of a beautiful girl, who told him to find white chrysanthemum in the west. She said the flower would come out on the ninth day of the ninth month and could cure his mother’s eyes. He followed his dream, found the flower and planted it in his yard. On the ninth day of the ninth month, the flowers came out. His mother could see things again.

The story is very beautiful and now the festival is still popular among Chinese. The old traditions are meaningful to people’s health.

Mountain climbing encourages people to exercise, while chrysanthemum wines are good for the eyes, liver (肝脏) and brain. Comel, with its special smell, can stop people from catching a cold. The day also reminds all people to take care of the elder.

Nowadays, the festival has also developed some new meanings. It’s the time for young adults to have a family outing with their elder parents on this day.

I really love this job because I enjoy working with small children. I also think my work is very important. But there was a time when I thought I would never have a job like this.   

I wasn’t the best student because I didn’t do much schoolwork. Just before I left school, I started thinking what I might do and found that there’s not much I could do. I thought I wasn’t that kind of person to have a job.

I then found myself a job, looking after two little girls for a family. It wasn’t difficult at first. But problems began when I agreed to live in, so that my owner could go out to work in the evenings. I got very tired because I had too many late nights and early mornings with children.

One Sunday, I was in the park with the children, and met Mary who was my classmate. I told her about my job. She said that I should get a qualification(资格证书) if I wanted to work with children. And it would help me learn more skills to look after children better without feeling too tired. Her idea made sense. I decided to take part-time lessons. So I left the family. All the lessons helped me look after children better and helped me get a job at a kindergarten(幼儿园).

Now I have a job as a teacher at a kindergarten. I should be thankful to Mary.

Holidays play an important part in our life. We work hard during the year, so we feel tired and stressed at times. We need holidays to relax, even if they only last for a few days. This is especially true for women. They could get away from their husbands, children and family for even one week in the year.

Holidays have many good results. Firstly, they can improve the economy (经济). If there were no holidays. people would have little time to spend their money. Secondly, holidays allow people to relax after working hard a whole year. During and after the holidays, people feel more relaxed and are full of energy; they then bring this energy to work when they continue working. Lastly, holidays help people learn how to enjoy life. Most people improve their relationships with their other family members during holidays.

However, holidays also have some bad sides. People couldn’t enjoy travelling because of the heavy traffic. Besides, people couldn’t have fun shopping because of too many people.     

Anyway, most people realize that they need holidays. I can’t imagine what people’s lives would be like if there were no holidays.

Good advice can help people make better decisions. When someone     74     you for advice, you should take it seriously and try your best to give good advice.

There are some     75     for you to give good advice. Listen to the person asking you for advice. Every situation is special, so     76     think you know all about a problem. Listen to the person who wants advice, and learn as much as possible about the situation.

Put     77     in others’ shoes. Think about what you will do if you are in the same situation. Don’t just     78    on your experiences to give advice.

Think about the results of taking and not taking your advice. When     79    , think twice about all the possible results. This is more important     80     really difficult problems.

Understand that the person may not take your advice. Someone asks for your advice,     81     he or she may not take it. Don’t be surprised. When you give advice, the idea is to give someone the tools to make their own decision, not to make the decision for them.