Ever since I was a child, my mouth has caused me trouble. I’m not a bad person but I have a hard time learning when to keep my ________ closed.

My mom has told ________ again and again, “Robert, your bad words are hurting me. If you continue to be rude (粗鲁的) like this, you will get into big trouble.” It’s been a problem at school several times, too. One day, in an English class I began working on my homework until I heard a classmate ________ behind me. It was Nathaniel, chatting with his partner as usual.

I said nicely, “Nathaniel, would you be quiet?”

Nathaniel didn’t stop talking, and he continued. I ________ shouted, “Nathaniel, shut up!”

For the next five minutes, we threw hurtful words at each other. “Maybe I’m a fool, but at ________, I don’t have an ugly eye like you!” I cried out.

I knew this would make him ________. It would hurt his feelings and shut him up.

What I said filled him with anger. He tried to reach over my seat and catch me as he shouted.

________ his reaction (反应), I sat back. I had never seen Nathaniel act like this before.

Later on, we were taken to our teachers’ office.

There, Mr. Black told us to discuss the matter. It wasn’t until then that I finally found that ________ I hurt someone’s body, he finally gets healthy again. But if I hurt someone with my ________, sometimes the pain will never go away.

At the end of the discussion, I said sorry to Nathaniel.

When I headed back to my mom, I began to think about how often my bad words ________ others. Later on, I always remember what Mom said to me and learn when to stop saying bad words to others.

What happened when I was a 9-year-old boy would be in my memory forever.

I stood outside in my T-shirt, watching the house where I grew up burned to the ground. My grandma’s bedroom was just next to mine and my brother’s. A fire broke out there and woke her up. Hearing her shouting, my elder brother had jumped and run from room to room quickly to wake everyone up in the house. The house, over 50 years old, was made of wood. Before we could do anything, the fire had been in every room in the house.

I stood there shivering(发抖) while the fire was burning my books, clothes and toys. I watched helplessly while my mom cried and my dad sighed (叹气). I wanted to know what was going to happen to us.

As I looked around, I realized something for the first time. I saw my elder brother running to help. I saw my grandma and dad hugging each other and my mom was holding our little dog. I realized that we were all alive at the moment. Everything important had survived(存活) in the fire. We could survive without the things that were burning. We would all be around to love each other for many years to come.

I still think of that fire in the night. It helped me to become who I am today. It showed me that the love we share is far more than the things we have. Live your life for the things that matter, not for the things you own. Love others. Let the “fire” inside of you make this world a warmer place.

Many scientists believe our love of sugar may actually be an addiction (上瘾). When we eat or drink sugary food, the sugar enters our blood and influences parts of our brain that make us feel good. Then the good feeling goes away, leaving us wanting more. All tasty foods do this, but sugar has a stronger effect (影响).

“It seems like every time I study an illness, I find my way back to sugar,” says Richard Johnson, a famous scientist. One-third of adults in his country have high blood pressure, and up to 347 million have diabetes (糖尿病). Why? “Sugar, we believe, is one of the main reasons,” says Johnson.

Our bodies are designed to live on very little sugar. Early humans often had little food, so the bodies learned to keep sugar as fat. In this way, we had energy when there was no food. But today, most people have more than enough. So the very important thing that once saved us may now be killing us.

It’s clear that we need to eat less sugar. The trouble is, in today’s world, it’s very difficult to avoid sugar because our foods are increasingly filled with it. In most advertisements, some manufactures even use sugar to take the place of the fat in foods. As a result, the fat in the foods is less. This may make the food appear healthier, but much sugar is often added.

But there are those who are fighting back against sugar. Many schools are offering more fruit instead of desserts. Other schools are building places for students to do exercise. The battle (战斗) has not yet been lost.

Visiting the Louvre (卢浮宫) is a special experience. But you should know it’s huge and you can’t hope to see everything in a day. What you need to know first is where to start.     46    

You can’t visit the Louvre and not see the Mona Lisa (《蒙娜丽莎》). My advice would be to see it first. Remember:     47     There are always so many visitors. When you’ve done that, use the map to look for the galleries (画廊) that sound most interesting to you, and spend the morning visiting them, when you have plenty of energy. Then you can have some lunch at one of the cafes, and spend the afternoon relaxing and finding surprises without looking at your map.     48    

You can pay to borrow an audio (声音的) guide. It is very useful and worth the money. You have to leave a credit (信用) card or passport. There are several places offering audio guides.     49     Because you must return it to the same one to get your credit card or passport back. The Louvre is made up of many “wings” with names.     50    

The easiest way to enter the Louvre is from the underground entrance. Usually, the lines there are shorter than those from the street.

I had been playing hockey (冰上曲棍球) for about 10 years. I was always the one sitting outside and seldom got into a game. I went to all the practices and showed up even when it was so cold that my breath froze. Maybe it was worth     61     my best. But I felt I couldn’t keep on doing that and     62     giving up.

I finally decided to tell the news to my mom that I would leave the team. My mom was a tiny and quiet lady, but after     63     my words, she said, “Remember, a quitter (半途而废者) never wins and a winner never gives up. Your mother doesn’t raise a loser, so think in a positive way and see yourself as a winner.” Then I worked     64     than ever at getting better shape, improving my shot skills and changing my attitude.

Once in a match, we lost our     65     game. What’s worse, one of our best players got hurt. I was sitting at my usual place when the coach came over and told me I was going in. I was     66     but nervous at the same time. The competing team was fast and I had to say I was a little worried. Then my mom’s words came into my mind. Instead of being afraid, I felt that I had been waiting for that moment for many     67    . I was as fast as any other skater on the ice, and I seemed to get the chance to score. The crowd went quiet. All the time I had spent on the ice was for this moment. Won! I won!

Now whenever I face a challenge or whenever I don’t believe in     68    , the saying comes into my mind. A quitter never wins and a winner never gives up.

Many of you have probably had this experience: You get on a train and are ready to take a nap (小睡) or read a book, only to find that the passenger in front of you is watching a TV show on his mobile phone without earphones. The child next to you won’t stop crying. And the old lady behind you talks on her phone during the whole trip.

Wish the train could be less noisy? There might be a solution (解决办法) for you. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, one of China’s busiest high-speed rail lines, will have “quiet” carriages (车厢) starting from next year.

In quiet carriages, train videos will be muted (静音) and announcements will be made at a lower volume (音量). Doors at the ends of the carriage will be kept closed to reduce noise from other carriages. Train attendants (乘务员) will be responsible for keeping passengers quiet. And they will also be responsible for making passengers follow the rules.

People who are willing to follow the rules can choose the quiet carriages when booking their tickets.

Some people have pointed out that they should offer this kind of quiet environment in all carriages. But some people say that having quiet carriages might bring some problems. How quiet should travelers be in quiet carriages? How noisy can travelers be in non-quiet carriages?

Anyway, the experience of a train trip is developing.

China was known as “the kingdom of bicycle” about 30 years ago. And these days many people choose to drive cars and use the public transportation, but bike rental (租赁) services are bringing bikes back. Now an increasing number of people are choosing riding instead of driving. The online bike rental services lead to the development of bikes in China.

To use a shared bike, you just need a smartphone. All bikes have GPS, so you can find a bike through your smartphone easily. When you find a bike, you just need to scan a QR code (扫二维码) on the bike, and then you can use it. And you can park it anywhere in public for the next user. Shared bikes help you to work out “last-mile” problems in cities. For example, many people find it difficult to get to the hotel when they get off trains or to travel around the city. Shared bikes provide them with a good choice. Going green seems to be a fashion for more and more people.

Online rental services are making biking more convenient, but it’s still not easy to ride bikes in Chinese cities. Cars often take up bicycle lanes (车道). Bikers have to ride next to cars in car lanes, which can cause safety problems. Also online rental services have led to some problems like wrong parking and vandalism (故意破坏).

Now, the government and bike-sharing companies are trying to deal with these problems. Beijing plans to build more than 3,200 km of new bike lanes. Drivers who drive in bike lanes will be punished. Traffic signs will be put up to protect bikers better. Mobike, the biggest bike-sharing company, sets a 100-point credit (信用) score for each user. The points will be taken if the user behave badly. Once the score drops below 80, bike rental will be increased from 1 yuan to 100 yuan per 30 minutes.

80. 生命在于运动。作为一名九年级学生，你将代表学校的英语社团进行一次名为“Sports”的演讲。请你根据以下信息写一篇英语演讲稿，号召中学生坚持运动健身。

Sports

Good morning, everyone!

Thank you for being here. It’s my great honor to stand here and give a speech. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for listening.