Tom was a middle school student. He loved sports and was a talented basketball player. He dreamed of becoming a professional (专业的) player one day. In his spare time, he always spent hours practicing on the court, ________ his moves and techniques.

One day, while playing in a game, Tom injured his ankle.

Shocked gasps (倒吸气) broke out from the audience (观众). Tom had to drag his injured leg off the court. He was extremely ________ and thought that his dream of becoming a basketball player was over. He became depressed and stopped practicing completely.

Tom’s coach noticed his lack of enthusiasm (热情) and decided to have a ________ with him. He told Tom that it was common to have setbacks and injuries in one’s life. But it was how we responded (作出反应) to them that mattered. He encouraged Tom to keep practicing and never give up on his dream.

Tom ________ his coach’s words to heart and started practicing on the court again. His coach often watched him ________ far away and was proud of him. Tom kept practicing no matter how painful his ankle was. He realized that setbacks were a part of life, but he could always overcome them if he had determination (决心).

As time went on, Tom’s ankle healed, and he became a better basketball player than he ever was. He ________ his team to victory in many games and even won a championship.

Tom learned an important lesson from his injury. He learned that setbacks were not the end of the road, but just a detour (迂回路) on the path to success. He also learned that having a positive attitude and never giving up were the key to ________ his dream.

In the end, Tom became a professional basketball player and inspired many young athletes never to give up on their dreams, no matter what difficulties they faced. He knew that with hard work and the right ________, anything was possible.

Traditional Chinese culture is rich and interesting. It has a variety of forms, such as traditional Chinese opera, festivals, handwriting, and so on. It’s beginning to attract the attention of the world. Here is a brief introduction about some forms of traditional Chinese culture.

The Lion Dance is one of the most widespread folk dances in China. The dance has a recorded history of more than 2, 000 years. Performing the lion dance at the Lantern Festival has become a custom in many parts of China. People could pray for good luck, safety and happiness by doing that.

The Duanwu Festival, also called the Dragon Boat Festival, is to commemorate (纪念) the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. People cast glutinous dumplings (粽子) into the water after Qu Yuan threw himself into the river, hoping that the fishes would eat the dumplings instead of his body. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by glutinous dumplings and dragon boat races.

Wushu can be traced back to ancient times. It is a kind of traditional Chinese culture. As we all know, the Chinese Wushu Association has been working very hard to popularize Wushu. As a way of self-defense and to keep practitioners (习艺者) fit and strong, Wushu has become popular in some other counties, especially in Africa.

Please match each form of Chinese culture with its description.

“You’re it!” Linda shouted as she tapped me on the arm. I noticed Peter and ran after him. He turned right suddenly and I missed him. Linda was just past him, so I started running after her, but she shouted, “No tag backs!” I didn’t think so. We didn’t make rules for this tag game. I ran even faster to tag her. Then she didn’t play with me anymore, and our tag game was over. This made me unhappy.

Peter and I stopped to talk. “I guess this is one reason that people make rules for games,” said Peter. “We could still be playing if we had agreed on the rules with Linda before we played.”

But rules were boring. I just wanted to play. I decided to try playing with someone else, without rules. I played football and hurt Jack’s arm when I tackled（抢球，截断）him. The other kids didn’t want to play football with me anymore.

Next I went on the monkey bars, and went on before Amelia was to the end of the bars. She surprised me when she turned around and came back on the monkey bars, and we bumped（碰，撞）into each other. She cried and told me that now she couldn’t break her monkey bar record. I was by myself again.

“Maybe there is a reason we have rules,” I said to myself as I walked back toward Peter, who was on the slide. If I had used rules, Linda would feel like the tag game was fair, so she would still be playing with me. If I had played by the rules with the other players, Jack would not have gotten hurt, and the other kids would still be playing with me. And if I had waited my turn on the monkey bars, Amelia would not be mad at me and could have broken her record, then I could have had my turn.

“Peter, you’re right. Rules are important. They help to keep things fair, safe, and fun for everyone. Let’s go to talk with Linda about some fair rules for tag.” And off we went.

Picnics on a beach, boating on a lake, or a riverside walk—people are naturally attracted to water. Research now shows that activities like these are important for our health and well-being.

The physical and mental health benefits of spending time in green spaces—such as parks, gardens, or woods—are already well-known. However, for around a decade (十年), evidence has been growing that blue spaces—such as rivers, lakes and the sea are also good for our health in a variety of ways.

Whether people enjoy water sports or a simple walk on the beach, studies have showed that those who live near to blue spaces are more likely to be physically active. Regular visits to blue spaces have also been shown to improve mental health. One study has found that although people are generally happier in natural environments, they are the happiest in blue spaces. And as people tend to enjoy activities together in blue spaces, they are also good for our social health. Another important point is that blue spaces can create healthier environments, cooling the temperature in cities and cleaning the air.

With all these benefits, could doctors prescribe (开处方) time in blue spaces for their patients? This is actually happening in the UK, where doctors can now refer (推荐) patients with mental health problems to a “blue prescribing” program. Over several weeks participants spend time in blue spaces taking part in activities such as bird-watching, canoeing, walking, and having picnics. The results have been very positive, with participants saying that being in a blue space helps them to relax and to feel less stressed. Surf treatment is also growing in popularity around the world as a way to treat mental health problems and has been shown to reduce depression and anxiety.

However, you don’t need to go surfing to enjoy blue spaces—Just looking at the sea or listening to the sound of water is known to be relaxing. And research has shown that spending around two hours a week in a blue space is enough to bring health benefits.

Have you ever heard of ChatGPT? It’s an AI (人工智能) language model and is developed by Open AI. It’s designed to understand and produce human-like texts.

ChatGPT, or “Chatbot Generative Pre-trained Transformer”, is an advanced language model which is created with cutting-edge (尖端) artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. It’s designed to understand and produce texts like how humans do. ChatGPT is based on the GPT series of models, and it’s the fourth form that is known as GPT-4.

ChatGPT is trained on an extremely large amount of text data (数据) from books, websites, and other sources. It learns to understand the structure of the language, grammar, and context. When you provide key words about a text, ChatGPT organizes the information in a special order and makes a response, which is based on its knowledge.

The model has been trained to use a technique called “unsupervised learning”, which means it’s unnecessary to tell it what to do and how to do. It learns by observing patterns and relationships in the data. This helps ChatGPT to be highly creative and more suitable.

As a middle school student, you may find ChatGPT an excellent resource for different kinds of tasks. If you’re stuck on a problem or need help to understand a concept (概念), ChatGPT can provide explanations and examples. It can help you brainstorm ideas, make outlines, and even proofread your articles to improve your writing skills. If you’re learning a new language, it can help you practice by making conversations or translating phrases. It can also be a source of entertainment, creating stories, jokes, or even taking part in friendly conversations.

ChatGPT is undoubtedly a powerful tool. However, it is important to note that ChatGPT is not perfect and may sometimes make responses that are not appropriate or correct. We should use critical thinking skills and evaluate the responses which are generated by ChatGPT to ensure that they are appropriate and helpful.

Xu Qiusheng, 81, has been a village doctor for over half a century. After he graduated from medical school, Xu started work in Yangfang village, Fengcheng city, in East China’s Jiangxi province.

Acupuncture (针灸) is the most commonly used way to treat pain in traditional Chinese medicine. Xu has used a set of silver needles for decades to help villagers reduce discomfort from ailments such as joint pains, frozen shoulders, and headaches. He is the one who can set their minds in the village.

Regarded as “guardians of health”, village doctors like Xu have played an important role in treating hundreds of millions of farmers in rural (农村的) areas. They always keepd a busy schedule—offering outpatient services during the day and dealing with emergency cases now and then in the evening, staying on call around the clock for patients. Xu also keeps regular contact with high-risk people in the village to follow their health conditions closely. The clinic receives, at most, 30 patients a day, and doctors will deliver medicine to villagers’ doors. Early this year, the village smoothly passed its peak COVID-19 infection (感染) rate.

Xu says that treatment and medicine are usually free of charge for villagers facing difficulties, and he also allows his patients to pay their bills later. Besides, he never asks for the medical expenses owed (拖欠) by villagers.

Just before this year’s Spring Festival, Xu, together with his daughter, who returned to the village and followed in his footsteps to become a village doctor, went door to door visiting the elderly. The health of more than 1, 400 villagers in Yangfang has become the responsibility for village doctors like Xu and his daughter. Xu is also glad to see his grandson begin his career as a doctor after graduation.

“I see my patients as my family members, and I hope the next generations of doctors in rural areas can continue to be the guardians of villagers,” Xu says.