Jenna was excited that Marti, her best friend, would take taekwondo (跆拳道) lessons too. After the warm-up exercise, Jenna showed Marti a front kick. Marti copied it. Her kick was as ________ as Jenna’s shoulder.

“Great job, Marti!” said Ms. Baroni. She then spent the next five minutes working with Marti.

Jenna watched Marti copy everything Ms. Baroni did. The more Marti did, the more ________ she won from Ms. Baroni. Jenna practiced halfheartedly. What if Marti became better than her?

“Who is Ms. Baroni scolding (训斥)?”Jenna wondered. She turned and saw Ms. Baroni looking directly at her. Nothing could have been ________.

“Your moves are sloppy(敷衍的). Try again,” said Ms. Baroni.

At the end of the class, Jenna hurried outside without saying good-bye to Marti.

For the next several weeks, Marti continued to ________ their teacher with her skills.

“Ms. Baroni thinks I’m ready to test for a higher level,” Marti said one day.

“It’s harder than you think,” said Jenna.

Marti looked sad. “You don’t think I’m good enough to test yet?”

Jenna’s face got hot. “I didn’t ________ that.”

A week later, at the testing, Jenna saw Marti stretching (伸展). “I’m glad you’re here. I’m really ________,” said Marti.

“You’ll do fine,” Jenna said, though she knew she’d feel better if Marti made a(n) ______. But when Marti finished her testing, parents and students ________.

“Great job! How often do you practice, Marti?” asked the judge.

“About 45 minutes every day,” Marti said.

No wonder Marti was getting so good, Jenna thought. Jenna ________ remembered how she had treated Marti these days. “I haven’t been a very good friend,” Jenna thought.

Later, Jenna walked to Marti to congratulate her.

“How about practicing together next time?” Jenna said.

“Great! Then I might become as good as you,” Marti said.

Jenna ________. “Funny, I was hoping I might become as good as you.”

“Dad, are you sure there will be lots of chocolate?” I ask. I’m lined up with Dad and Uncle John near the back of a crowd of 20,000 runners in Los Angeles. My first marathon. It’s pouring rain. My legs are cold, and I’m wishing I hadn’t been too nervous to eat a bigger breakfast.

“Sullivan, there were tables of chocolate bars every mile at my last marathon,” Dad says.

Suddenly everyone around us starts moving. Way up ahead I see smoke, the signal of starting. And our marathon finally starts.

Soon Dad starts to slow down. “You go on ahead,” Dad says. “I’ll see you at the end.” Uncle John and l speed away. Soon Dad is way behind.

We reach mile 5, and I’m feeling good. I still haven’t seen a chocolate bar anywhere. Maybe they don’t have them! Instead, the streets are lined with fast-food places.

By mile 8, my legs feel good but I’m starving.

Instead of one piece of bread for breakfast, I wish I’d eaten six pieces of bread, eggs, bacon...

It’s raining so hard that it hurts.

On both sides of the streets are excited people, yelling and waving to us.

At mile 10 I take a power gel (能量胶) out of my pocket and try to open it, but my hands are so cold that they feel as if they’re frozen.

Just past mile 13 is the halfway checkpoint. Up ahead I can see my aunt and my little brother cheering for us. Soon I can’t hear my name anymore. Food at last! I take a banana and eat it.

Mile 15. There are tables full of power gels. I take one, tear it open, and put it in my mouth. Chocolate would taste better.

Every step hurts my legs. We’ve reached mile 20, and I don’t want to run another inch. I tell Uncle John to go on ahead. I don’t want to hold him up anymore.

I start walking. Older people run past me. I think, If they can do it, so can I.

I start to run again when I reach mile 22. No one passes me, and I pass no one.

l wish I could give up, but I don’t really want to. Dad told me, “You can do it, Sullivan.” But where’s Dad now? Miles behind me.

l start walking again, but another runner comes up beside me and says, “Don ‘t give up.” I start to run again. Mile 25. I can hear the crowd at the finish line. I turn a corner. Thousands of people line the street.

I’m running fast now, and the crowd is yelling just for me. When I cross that finish line, I feel like a winner. An hour later, Uncle John and I sit together, waiting for Dad.

I’m finally eating a chocolate bar. It’s the best one I’ve ever tasted.

Members of the family of Spanish artist Pablo Picasso are selling more than1,000 digital (数字的) art pieces of one of his sculptures. The work has never been seen publicly. Picasso’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso, and her son Florian Picasso showed media some of the art pieces in their home in Geneva, Switzerland. They say the digital pieces are a mix of old fine art and digital work. The Picassos want to make money from the recent interest in NFTs, or non-fungible tokens (非同质化代币). NFTs are a kind of digital art that gained popularity in 2021. Sales of NFTs have made millions of dollars. But they have been considered as schemes (阴谋) to make money.

But a Picasso artwork would mark a change for NFTs, his family said.

NFTs are based on a technology called blockchain, which is also used with digital currencies (货币). An NFT can be connected to a piece of digital art or other things in digital form. The NFT is meant to provide proof (证明) that the digital objects are real. Anyone can see the work, but only the buyer owns it.

“We’re trying to build a bridge between the NFT world and the fine art world,” said Florian Picasso.

The artist’s family keep images of the piece mostly private. They are only showing a small part of the work. It is a ceramic piece, the size of a large bowl. The parts that have been shown have a thick yellow line and areas of green. There is also the number 58 at the base. Marina Picasso says the piece is from October 1958, when she was a child. “It’s joyful, happy,” she said. “It represents life... It’s one of those objects that have been part of our life.”

Sotheby’s is an international company known for selling artworks. It is having an auction (拍卖) in July for the Picasso work which will include an NFT and the ceramic bowl. Over 1,000 other NFTs will be sold online through the Nifty Gateway and Origin Protocol websites. Some of the money from the sales will be donated.

Florian Picasso said the family agreed on the colorful ceramic piece because it was “a fun one” to start. The family and its business managers say the purpose is to create a younger community of Picasso fans.

“ ▲ ,” Florian Picasso said. “I think it fits within Picasso’s legacies (遗产) because we think highly of him and his creative way of working.”

The Zisha teapots produced in Yixing city in east China’s Jiangsu Province are considered to be the best tool for making tea. According to literature, the first Zisha teapot was created during the Song Dynasty in the 10th century.

Different types of clay used for making Yixing teapots, mainly purple clay, red clay, green clay and mixed clay, are collectively called Yixing clay. Yixing clay is referred to as “zisha” in Chinese because purple clay is most commonly used. To make a Zisha teapot, the material should be carefully selected and processed before it can be used. The most important step to make Yixing teapots is to keep pounding (拍打) the clay with a special wooden stick. They are not produced in factories by machine.

The Zisha teapot is considered as the best tea pot that the tea made in it tastes especially nice. And the tea can be stored overnight in it without going bad even in summer. The clay is highly porous (多孔的), but water cannot leak (渗漏) from it. This is the biggest specialty of Zisha clay.

Another famous characteristic of Yixing teapots is that they can absorb tea flavors (吸收茶香) with each brewing. Over time, Yixing teapots can smell aromatic even without tea in it.

The production technique of Yixing Zisha teapots was listed among China’s Intangible Cultural Heritages in 2006. Many people collect Zisha teapots, since it is not only a daily necessity, but has come to be considered as a work of art.

Title: Yixing Zisha Teapot

65. 在人的一生中，幸福是我们永恒的追求。日前，无锡日报英文专栏以“Happiness”为题，面向全市中学生开展征文活动。请你参考下面提示图，从幸福的含义出发，结合自己的某次经历，写一篇短文，谈谈你对幸福的理解。

Happiness

Everyone wants to get happiness. What is happiness?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________