Hitting heavily on the keys, I turned away from the piano, trying to fight the tears in my eyes. After an hour of _______, I still couldn’t get the rhythm（节奏） quite right on a Mozart piece that I had to show to my piano teacher the following day. Although I tried very hard, I just couldn’t seem to play it the way it was _______ to be played.

I decided to take a break. For the most part, after a little bit of work, I could usually learn the song pretty quickly. Sadly, it was always that one song, which might have appeared simple but was difficult, that always annoyed（惹恼） me. These types of songs always made me _______ myself whether I could be a pianist.

After dinner, I decided to come back to the _______. Placing my fingers on the keys, I chose to play the piece carefully and _______, paying attention to hitting the correct notes instead of trying to play the piece quickly. Using this new method, I exercised a great deal of patience, something that I often had _______ with. Instead of thinking how hard the rhythm was, I thought about how I could _______ myself, little by little. Finally, I could slowly see myself getting better.

That evening, I didn’t even get the rhythm right until a week later. I _______ an important lesson—sometimes, baby steps are the best way to reach a goal. I’m a（n）_______ person who likes to think that I can get somewhere by leaps and bounds（跳跃）. ________, in the case of piano, I couldn’t move forward and improve until I slowed down and took it one step at a time.

When the first supermarket opened its doors 75 years ago, shoppers were in shock. That day in January 1948 changed the way people in the UK shopped. On 12 January 1948, a great number of people crowded into a new shop in Manor Park, London. This was because it allowed shoppers to choose, touch and take things off the shelves themselves. The idea came from the US, where a supermarket-style shop called Piggly Wiggly had opened in 1916. Its owner, Clarence Saunders, decided to let people help themselves instead of serving each of them. In this way, he could cut costs and reduce prices. Shopping trolleys（购物车）first appeared in the UK supermarkets in 1950. With a trolley, people could carry more in a single shopping trip.

Within 10 years, supermarkets were springing up all over Britain. People could find one almost anywhere. The first one-stop supermarket opened in Nottingham shire, England, in 1964. It had 50 departments and sold everything under one roof. Around 30, 000 people and 1, 000 cars turned up on its opening weekend, causing traffic jams. Today, 9 out of 10 people buy things from supermarkets.

Supermarkets are using technology to make shopping easier. Amazon Fresh shops use cameras and shelves to see and weigh what people buy. In the US, “smart trolleys” scan（扫描）objects when they are dropped in and make it easy for customers to find things. Engineers in Hong Kong have designed self-driving trolleys. Supermarkets are looking for smarter ways to send things, too. Coles supermarket in Australia uses drones（无人机）to fly things to customers’ doors.

Lucy: Oh, Jack, you are naughty（淘气的）. Keeping me waiting here for twenty years, and then trying to surprise me by coming in from the window. And your friend, I see, is as strong as you. Good evening. Jack’s such a silly boy, still up to his tricks. Do take a chair. And we can all have a nice cup of tea. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?

Simon: Oh …er…yeah. Er…thank you.

Lucy: Lovely. Now, wait a minute. Jack, entertain your friend, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.

Simon: A right mess this is. Quick, back out of the window.

Jack: No. Calm down. Can’t you see? It’s even easier. She thinks I’m her old boyfriend. She’s been waiting for him for twenty years. All I have to do is to ask her for the money and she’ll give it to me. She’s off her head.

Simon: Do you think so? It’ll be as easy as that?

Jack: Of course it will. Now shut up. She’s coming back.

Simon: She didn’t even notice our masks.

Jack: Oh, shut up.

Lucy: Here we are. A nice cup of tea and, now, Jack, you haven’t introduced your friend.

Jack: Oh, no. Sorry. Er...this is Simon.Yeah...“Simon.” Simon, this is ...

Lucy: Hello, Simon. So pleased to meet you. I’m Lucy.

Simon: Oh, very pleased, I’m sure.

Jack: Lucy, I wanted to talk to you about money.

Lucy: Ah yes, Jack. I wasn’t going to mention it quite so soon, but that ten thousand pounds I lent you must have got quite a lot of interest by now, and times are rather hard. Now, drink your tea like a good boy and we’ll discuss how you can pay it back. Twenty years is a long time to wait, after all. Jack? Jack, what are you doing? Come back at once. Oh dear. He is a naughty boy. But I know he’ll come back. Always did. But I’m afraid his tea will be cold. Ah...

48. —Are the police going to tell the details of the case to the public?

—Not until the thief ________ (catch).

Have you ever visited Longmen Grottoes（石窟）or Yungang Grottoes? Around 1, 800 years ago, Chinese artists made statues in mountains. Over the years, these statues have gone through earthquakes, floods and wars. Now in the 21st century, however, they are facing an even bigger problem: tourism. Too many tourists go to visit those grottoes every year and this certainly does harm to the grotto statues. How?

Over many centuries, these grotto statues slowly corrode（侵蚀）because of the acidic content （酸性物含量）of air, water and so on. But when they are open to the public, the corrosion process speeds up.

According to a study, the carbon dioxide that visitors breathe out has made the air more acidic. Also, visitors bring in microorganisms（微生物）. Even their body heat can increase the grottoes’ temperature.

Bad behaviour can cause harm to the grotto statues as well. Too many visitors touch the grotto statues and cause their surfaces to change colour.

When we visit the grottoes, we can often see a sign saying, “No Flash!”or “No Photos!” This is because the strong light can be bad for the statues, especially those with colour. The light can easily make them lose colour.

To protect those ancient cultural treasures, recently China has asked the workers who take care of those grottoes not to allow too many visitors to come every day. And to keep a balance between protecting relies and educating the public, some grotto sites have also created their own digital（数字的）museums.

Title: Grotto Statues Are in     54    

65. 礼物，是一种期待，是一种感谢，是一种赞美。每个人都会收到礼物，或大或小，或贵重或是很便宜，也许是一本书，一张卡片，都寄托着送礼物人对你的感情。那么你收到的最佳礼物是什么呢，请说说它背后的故事吧。

Everyone has ever received a gift. The best gift I have received is_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________