Peng Shilu was born in a family of heroes in Haifeng, Guangdong in 1925. When he was less than five years old, his parents died. The young boy was taken care of and protected by the poor, and he moved between different families and lived a difficult life. The people’s kindness influenced him deeply at his early age.

In 1940, Peng Shilu was taken to Chongqing. Later, with the help of the CPC (中国共产党), he went to study in Yan’an. In 1951, he went abroad to learn chemical engineering. When he completed his studies, he got an excellent grade.

In 1956, Peng Shilu was asked, “Are you willing to change your research field?”

“Of course, as long as the motherland has a need!” With the strong belief (信念), Peng Shilu began to study nuclear power (核能) at once. In the early 1960s, China’s development of nuclear submarines (核潜艇) was almost a “blank”. Peng Shilu and other scientists were learning, exploring and practicing. In 1970, China’s first nuclear submarine was built. In 1974, China became the fifth country in the world to have a nuclear submarine.

Peng Shilu worked very hard. He spent all his life on nuclear power. “I have only done two things in my life. One is to build nuclear submarines and the other is to build nuclear power stations,” said Peng Shilu.

He died on March 22, 2021, at the age of 96. As a pioneer in nuclear power, he is remembered by the people and the country. On March 3, 2022, he was named “Touching China’s Figure of the Year 2021”.

Southern white rhinos (犀牛) mainly live in Africa. They are very large in size, about 4 metres long, 1.75 metres high, and over two tons in weight. There are two horns (角) on the nose. The front horn is over half a metre long, while the other one is smaller. Southern white rhinos are not really white. They are grey in colour. “White” may come from the Afrikaans word for “wide”. It has some connection with their wide mouths.

Southern white rhinos live on grass, leaves, fruit and so on. They have very poor eyesight. However, they have good hearing and an excellent sense of smell. Their skin (皮肤) is nearly 5 cm thick but is very sensitive. During the day, they try to find a cool place to avoid sunburn. Southern white rhinos lie in mud (泥浆) when they can, as it sticks to their skin and protects them from the bright African sun.

Some humans kill rhinos for their horns. They sell horns to those who believe horns have magic powers or can treat sickness. It puts southern white rhinos in danger.

Now many actions are taken to protect southern white rhinos. The international trade in rhino horn has been stopped in the world. Besides, many protected areas have been built, especially in South Africa. Up to 2020, more than 20 countries have made rules to protect southern white rhinos. Today the number of southern white rhinos has increased to over 20,000 in the wild.

Hanfu (汉服) has become popular again in China. More and more young people love it, and they usually wear Hanfu happily and     46    . The style has also attracted (吸引) many     47    . Tom, a young man from England, is one of them.

Tom teaches English in a school in Xi’an. In the city, people in Hanfu are often     48     in the streets. After seeing that many times, Tom started to have a     49     interest in it and really wanted to have a try. “My first try was the Tang style. I can’t forget the     50     time I put it on.” said the young man. “It made     51     very special, and it is still my favourite one today.” Ever time he puts on Hanfu, he has a feeling of travelling     52     to ancient times.

Hanfu is like a     53     for Tom. It leads to a room of colourful Chinese culture. In the past, he only knew China has a long     54    . And now Hanfu helps him to know more about Chinese culture.

Tom is making short videos about Hanfu. “I can’t wait to     55     Chinese culture to the world,” said Tom. “I hope more people will learn about Hanfu and China through my videos.”

56. 艺术充满魅力，艺术课使校园生活丰富多彩。你校英文周刊以“My favourite art course”为题向同学们征稿。请你用英语写一篇短文投稿，内容包括：

1. 学校开设的艺术课（如音乐、绘画、舞蹈、书法、戏剧等）；

2. 你最喜欢的一门艺术课及其开课情况（如上课时间、活动等）；

3. 喜欢的理由。

注意：

1. 词数为80左右；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；

3. 文中不能出现真实姓名及学校名称；

4. 短文开头已给出，不计入总词数。

参考词汇：art course（艺术课），painting（n.绘画），calligraphy（n.书法），drama（n.戏剧）

My favourite art course

Art courses are important at school. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________