An old woman lost her only son. The sad woman went to a wise man and asked, “Is there any way I can throw away my ________?”

The wise man said to her, “Go and bring me a seed (种子) from a home that has never known sadness. I will ________ it to drive the sadness out of your life.” The woman went ________ at once to look for that magical seed.

First, she came to a beautiful house, knocked at the door, and asked politely, “Excuse me, I’m looking for a home that has never known sadness. Is this such a ________? It’s very important to me.”

They told her, “You’ve certainly come to the ________ place,” and began to describe all the sad things that had recently happened to ________.

The woman said to herself, “Who is able to ________ these people that have had such sadness like me?” She stayed to cheer them up ________ she went on looking for a home that had never known sadness.

But wherever she went, whether in the homes of the poor or the rich, she found one sad story after another. She became so busy helping other people that she ________ about looking for a seed that would magically end her own sadness. She even ________ realized that helping others had driven the sadness out of her life.

A man hated his wife’s cat and he decided to get rid of (丢弃) it. He drove five miles away from home and dropped it there. But the cat was walking in the yard when he got home.

The next day, he decided to drop the cat ten miles away but the same thing happened. The cat kept on coming home before him. At last he decided to drive a long way, turn right, then left, pass the bridge, then turn left again and another left. In the end, he reached a place which he thought was perfect and dropped the cat there.

Seven hours later, the man called his wife and asked her, “Dear, is the cat there?” “Yes, why do you ask?” answered his wife. Frustrated (沮丧的), the man said, “Put the cat on the phone. I’m lost and need direction.”

Animals grow up in different ways. Some newborn animals are helpless but their mothers protect them. A newborn kangaroo is very small. It is only a few centimeters long. It closes its eyes and doesn’t have hair. It stays safe in its mother’s pouch (育儿袋) for a long time. A newborn monkey can’t walk. Its mother carries it everywhere.

Other baby animals can walk soon after they’re born. They learn to run with their mothers when danger is near. A baby zebra can run an hour after it is born.

Some baby animals are born in a place that is safe. Baby wolves are usually born in big holes with little light. Other baby animals are born in the open. A baby elephant is often born on open land.

Animals that drink their mothers’ milk are called mammals (哺乳动物) . A mother bear’s milk is rich. Baby bears have milk for a few months. This is the same with baby zebras. As baby animals grow, they need solid food. Baby lions eat what their mother can catch.

Here is a story: A man sees a butterfly (蝴蝶). The butterfly tries to get out of its chrysalis (蛹). Feeling sorry for it, the man decides to help. He cuts the chrysalis and the butterfly comes out easily. Surprisingly enough, the butterfly is unable to fly. If the butterfly doesn’t struggle (挣扎，奋斗) to leave the chrysalis, it can’t fly! The struggle develops the energy in the butterfly which makes it fly. Similarly, the challenges (挑战) of life bring out the best in young people and make them fly.

When people are young, meeting and overcoming (克服) challenges will make them strong and ready to face life. When we look at successful people, we see that the most successful of them are people who have had to struggle. One famous businessman, who now owns many supermarkets, used to carry clothes on his back and sell them from door to door when he was young. Another successful man is Dennis. His father died when he was only twenty. His father’s death forced him to mature fast. He had to bring up a family of nine people. He took up the challenges and overcame them. Today his brothers and sisters are leading successful lives.

Sometimes challenges do not appear to us because we keep away from them. So some parents and teachers actively encourage young people to face challenges. They might organize some activities for young people which provide them with challenges, like rock-climbing, camping, volunteer work and so on. However, just passing exams will not prepare a person for life. We must meet and overcome challenges. The young people of today will become the leaders of tomorrow. For countries to continue to become successful, it is important that the young people learn to meet challenges and overcome them.

Dunhuang is a historic city in Gansu. In ancient times, Dunhuang was an important city of trade. As the Silk Road developed, Dunhuang became China’s western gateway to the world. Here, different cultures met and influenced each other. People from foreign countries did business and communicated with the local people.

If you visit Dunhuang, you will be able to see the Mogao Caves (莫高窟) . If you walk in, you will discover some of the wonderful artworks. There are over 45,000 square meters of beautiful paintings on the cave walls, as well as thousands of statues.

Over the years, China has made great efforts to protect the Mogao Caves. Today, you can also find high-quality photos of the artworks on the Internet. People all over the world now have a chance to see Dunhuang’s treasures online.

We all know that doing exercise makes us healthy. But many of us don’t know which is b    56    , to exercise in the day or at night. Dr. Yang, a famous sleep doctor, advises people to do outdoor exercise for at least 30 minutes a day in the daytime.

Dr. Yang has been doing r    57     on sports and sleep for years. He finds o    58     that those who exercise in natural light for half an hour every day have better sleep and more e    59    . Dr. Yang h    60     gets up at 6:30 am. Then he usually takes a walk outside. Sometimes, he walks his two dogs in the park in the afternoon with his sunglasses left at home.

Many schools put Dr. Yang’s findings into practice. They m    61     it a rule that students should do outdoor exercise once or twice a day. In some schools, students e    62     formed outdoor running clubs. After some time, most students said that they benefited (获益) a lot from outdoor e    63    . Now they s    64     better and concentrate more on their studies. Some students are now thinking about i    65     their teachers to join them in their daily runs.

66. 初中阶段的学习生活即将结束。假如你是李华，回想自己在老师们的关爱和帮助下的成长过程，想必心中充满感恩之情。请根据以下提示，给你的体育何老师写一封信，表达你的谢意。

1. 三年前入校时，你有点儿胖；

2. 第一节体育课，所有同学参加1000米长跑，你跑在最后，曾想放弃；

3. 何老师为你制定训练计划并监督你完成；

4. 三年来你坚持训练；

5. 你感谢……

（2）短文的开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数；

（3）要点齐全，行文连贯，可适当发挥。

How are you getting on with your life and work? I’m writing to express my sincere thanks for you. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You have truly been a friend.

Yours,

Li Hua