The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the wonders of the ancient world. It ______ more than 4, 000 years ago in Egypt. It is so popular that ______ tourists from all over the world come to visit it every year.

In Egypt there are over 80 pyramids and the largest ______ is the Great Pyramid. It lies on the west bank of the Nile. As a matter of fact, all the pyramids along the Nile are on the west bank. The ancient Egyptians thought the setting of ______ sun meant the end of life. That is ______ their dead bodies were buried (埋葬) on the west bank of the Nile.

You can hardly imagine how huge the Great Pyramid ______. It has more than two million blocks. Some are as ______ as five school buses. ______ they were heavy, workers were able to put a block into the pyramid every three minutes.

The workers, Egyptian men and women, ______ in teams. The teams had different tasks. Some dug up the stones. Others moved them. Another team cut the stones. The last group put the stones into the pyramid. There were so many different teams, but the pyramid is perfect. No stone is in the wrong position.

But how did the Egyptians move those heavy stones to the top without any modern machines? No one knows for sure. Many things about the Great Pyramid are still a mystery ______ interests many people around the world.

Jim is a well-behaved boy. He _______ had an argument with his parents before. But when this boy became a ninth-grader, things began to _______. He said, “Now, I often argue with my parents, sometimes about something unimportant.”

He might be suffering from puberty(青春期). Education experts think ninth grade is a special period for _______. They go through difficult physical and psychological changes during puberty.

A recent survey by the National Institute of Education Science shows that the lack(缺乏) of support from parents makes the situation even _______. Meanwhile, the _______ also shows that as ninth-graders reach puberty, they want to be more independent. As a result, about 80 percent of ninth-graders and their parents always have different opinions. Jim had the feeling deeply. “I thought I was an adult already. I can make _______ by myself, but most of the time my parents disagree with me,” he said. _______, he thinks there is nothing wrong with hanging out with friends at night. But his parents don’t _______ him to do that.

To _______ these problems, an expert has given tips to students. First, talk with your parents. Sometimes, they may not fully understand you, but keep trying. Second, calm down and focus on your studies. Finally, learn about these changes and get to know yourself through reading and other things. Then try to ________ your emotions(情绪).

Waste sorting is a problem around

Kinds of waste include:   

●Recyclable waste: paper, metal, glass and other thing that can be reused.

●Harmful waste: things like medicine, batteries.

●Wet waste: things that you don’t want but pigs eat, also called household waste.

●Dry waste: things that aren’t wet, recyclable or harmful waste.

A few ways to help you sort waste

① Plastic bags can’t be recycled. Plastic bags may cause a lot of problems in the recycling process. If you have plastic bags, you should put them in the dry waste bin.

② Plastic bottles with caps on can be recycled. With the new recycling equipment, this kind of bottles will go into the recyclable waste bin. However, the bottles filled with air usually take up more transport space. Therefore, you had better squeeze（挤压）the air out of the bottles before you recycle them.

③ Pizza boxes can’t be recycled. Although cardboard itself is recyclable, pizza boxes are not. Why? It is due to the oil.The oil on the boxes makes the paper non-recyclable.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a double-edged sword. It can help us, but also cause us harm. Who is using AI? Is AI replacing humans? What should we do to avoid the risks and dangers that AI might bring?

AI is set to help people in many ways. It will make everyday tasks easier and bring efficiency to lots of industries. It might be one of man’s greatest inventions.

However, like any other technology, AI will also bring risks. In February 2018, a group of AI experts got together to discuss the possible misuse of AI. What they found was that “Every AI advance (前进) by the good guys is an advance for the bad guys, too,” according to Quartz.

What they were most worried about was that criminals (罪犯) could use AI for wrongful purposes. One of the areas they looked at was the use of AI to create websites that could be used to steal people’s personal information. Another possibility is that AI programs could be taught to break into computer secure systems.

There are some other concerns as well. It is possible that AI could be used to create fake news and videos. In fact, Chinese tech giant Baidu, has developed a program called Deep Voice that can “clone” (克隆) anyone’s voice by studying a 3. 7-second audio sample.

Many famous people in the tech world have expressed concern about AI. People like Bill Gates and Elon Musk have called for the industry to be more strictly regulated (管理), as there are few laws right now on the use of AI.

However, this is set to change. In March 2018, the European Union plans to set up a group that will discuss the dangers of AI, and hopefully, make some rules that will help us keep it safe for humans.

There once was a homeless cat named Cathy, but the fact didn’t influence her life. She tried to make     41     strong. She was brave and could run fast, and always walked around her neighborhood to catch mice. Thanks     42     her hard work, she never lacked（缺乏）food. When the     43     was warm, she would lie in the sun, enjoying a relaxing life.

One day, a girl noticed Cathy. She often     44     food at Cathy’s house. There was plenty of food     45     Cathy didn’t have to go out to catch mice. Every day she did     46     and just waited for her delicious food.

However, this kind girl suddenly moved away. Cathy had no more food to eat. At the same time, she put on lots of weight and was too     47     to catch mice. The neighbors complained that there were some     48     in the neighborhood, but Cathy couldn’t do anything. Her terrible life began.

She really wished she hadn’t met that kind girl. She     49     her living ability because of the girl’s kindness. So keep awake, work     50     and keep our living ability even though we are in the easy life. Or we’ll end up with a sad life.

Students from Taizhou Middle School, Jiangsu Province, experience farming during their labor course. As we all know, the life skills like cooking and painting are important and should be taught as part of labor education.

On June 3, 2020, the Ministry of Education(MOE)(教育部) gave a document showing the new curriculum (方案) for high schools across the country. Labor education includes housework, school labor and community voluntary services.

“Labor education must be carried out with the purpose to make the right view of the world, life and values and develop an interest in doing housework,” said Vice-Minister of Education Zheng Fuzhi.

According to China Youth Daily, the labor course will take six credits(学分)—the same as foreign language and physics.Voluntary service, as part of labor education, will take two credits. The MOE also asks schools to make sure 40 hours of voluntary service during the full three school years.

According to Xinhua, adding labor education was out of care that the country’s young people do too little housework and that they think labor jobs aren’t important. Because of a lot of school pressure, most schools pay more attention to the course of education and parents may think that doing housework will waste their kids’ time.

According to a survey, middle school students in China only spend 12 minutes a day on housework, compared with 72 minutes in the US, 42 minutes in South Korea and 30 minutes in France.

However, doing housework does not take young people’s attention away. Instead, it can help them to develop a strong working spirit, according to Julie Lythcott-Haims, the writer of How to Raise an Adult. “The earlier you started, the better...”, she said.