What’s your favorite time of the year? I like different seasons for different reasons. But my favorite season is _________.

Growing up, I spent a lot of time _________ my dad and his friends on their farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. In summer, I would swim in the river, and go fishing with my dad. In winter, I’d spend hours sliding on a hill and _________ snowballs, and then come inside to _________ my feet by the fire. In spring, my grandma and I would go hunting for trees and flowers. In fall, the weather was usually perfect, warm enough to play in the river by day, cold enough at night to comfortably sit down and listen _________ my grandma or my dad was telling me stories.

But my best fall memory(记忆) _________ with rain when I was 6. We drove to the farm in a light rain. The next day, when the clouds parted, I went out to see a sight I will never forget. I shouted and my grandma came _________.

“What’s the matter?” said my grandma nervously.

“Look!” I shouted, pointing at what looked to me like flames(火焰). “The mountains are on fire!”

She looked. Then she _________.

“That’s not fire, child,” she said. “That’s _________ fall.”

I wish you could have seen it. Those leaves left their mark(印记) on my heart. Fall became my forever favorite season. Not just for its _________, but for other things, too. Books we read. Talks we shared. Good times we spent together. We did all those things in every season. _________ in fall, the days grew shorter, and _________ evenings gave us more time for things that meant the most.

That was long ago, but I still remember it _________. Some memories are gifts that stay with us forever.

When seasons change, they remind us that life keeps moving. We recall(回忆) good times passed by, give thanks for _________ and look forward to what lies ahead.

Fall will always be my favorite time of the year. But the best season to enjoy life is any _________, any place, every chance we’re given.

When the first ray of sunlight shines on the Old Town of Lijiang, Yunnan province, He Runyuan, dressed in a traditional Naxi clothes, is heading to his Center of Naxi Dongba Pictographs and Paintings.

Every day, the 43-year-old explains Dongba culture to visitors and teaches them to write Dongba characters（文字）.

Enjoying a history of over 1,000 years, Dongba characters are an old system of pictographic gluphs（象形文字）. They are seen as the “living fossil（活化石）” in writing. Because of its great importance, Dongba old books were written into the Memory of the World Register in 2003 by UNESCO.

As a member of Naxi group, he first learned Dongba characters at the age of 13. He fell in love with them at once when he first looked at them.

“These characters have pictographic drawings that look like humans, animals, plants and other natural motifs（图形）,” he said. “They are usually colorful and recognizable（可识别的）.”

Though the characters are interesting, learning them is never easy. Dongba culture is always mastered by Dongbas, the Naxi priests（祭司）, and passed down by spoken explanation. Without Dongbas in his village, He has to travel far to the Old Town, where many Dongbas live together. “In most of the time, I need to walk for more than one day to the Old Town. To get more learning time, I always set off very early when the city is still in darkness.” said He.

But the love for Dongba culture keeps him going. For the past 30 years, He has been studying these characters every day.

In 2016, he set up the Center of Naxi Dongba Pictographs and Paintings. The center pushes Dongba characters by drawing on everyday things, such as fans, glasses and even T-shirts.

As more old Dongbas passed away over time, people would slowly forget Dongba characters. He felt an urge to pass down Dongba culture and let more people know about it.

“Our life is short, but so long as everyone tries his best, and the life of a culture can last forever.” He said.

In Europe and North America, “cordon bleu” is the best cook. This highest title for cooking comes from—you’ve guessed it—the French!     66    

Bread is a very important food in France. People eat it almost every meal. Most French bread is called baguette. Baguettes have to be eaten on the same day as they are brought. They go dry very quickly.     67     They call it “lost bread”!

    68     Wine is made all over the country. In one place, people make champagne(香槟). Champagne is a white wine. People usually drink it at weddings and other parties. Although other parts of France and other countries also produce wine like champagne, they cannot call it champagne or they’ll break the law(法律)!

French people say that they have more than 365 kinds of cheese. One for every day of the year! Cheese is made from the milk.     69     For example, there are blue cheeses. There are also cheeses with very strong smells. Not everyone likes the smell!

France is also famous for some strange food. One of these is snails(蜗牛). French people eat 40,000 tons of snails every year! To make the snails delicious, you need to get everything ready.     70     Then put butter, garlic and spices on them. Snails have a lot of vitamin C in them and are healthy food.

76. Li Hua和Wang Lei从小学到初中都是同班同学，也是最好的朋友。但是Wang Lei因为没有良好的学习习惯，在学业上遇到很多困难。昨晚，他因为作业不会做，提出早上到校后要抄Li Hua的作业。Li Hua认为这样做是不对的，但是又怕直接拒绝会伤害朋友之间的友情。请你替Li Hua给Wang Lei写一封信，内容包括：

I know that you didn’t finish your homework yesterday. So you wanted to copy my homework this morning. I’m sorry I can’t give my homework to you.

I really hope things will be better for you soon!

Yours,

Li Hua