With a history of more than 1,800 years, dumplings are a traditional Chinese food. They are _________ a must for Chinese New Year. They are popular in China, especially in North China. Even some foreigners are interested in _________ them.

Chinese dumplings can be made to look _________ ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots（银锭）. It’s said that the more dumplings you eat during Chinese New Year, _________ money you can make in the coming year.

People usually put minced meat（绞碎的肉）and vegetables in thin round dough skins（面皮）to make dumplings. Popular fillings are minced pork, fish, chicken, beef, and vegetables. People cook _________ in different ways.

Some people believe _________ people shouldn’t eat sauerkraut（酸泡菜）dumplings during Chinese New Year. Because it means _________ poor and difficult future. People like eating Chinese cabbage dumplings, _________ “白菜” sounds like “百财”. It means one _________ a lot of fortune in the future.

When making dumplings, there should __________ a good number of pleats（褶）so that they will bring wealth. Sometimes a coin is put in a dumpling, and the one who eats it is supposed to become wealthy.

I used to hate running. In middle school, I found running really tiring(使人疲惫的) and I was always one of the ______ students to cross the finish line. Then, in 2018, my ______ asked me if I would like to run a 10K event with him. I answered without thinking, “No way! I hate running.”

Over the weekend, I _______his question. “Why do I hate running when I haven’t tried it since Year 7 in middle school?” In the end, I decided I should give running another ______before I said I hated it. I told my friend I would like to go to the 10K event with him. He was happy to hear that I would ______him. He advised me to look on the Internet for a running program to help me learn ______to run.

There were lots of running programs on the Internet. I ______a 14-week running program that would teach me how to run for 30 minutes non-stop. I enjoyed following the program as I could see   ______in my running each week. I went from hating running to loving running!

On the day of the 10K running event, my friends and father came to ______ for me. With their support(支持) and my training, I finished the 10K in 72 minutes. It was difficult, but I felt very proud for having tried it. From this ______, I learned that it is a good idea to try something before saying you hate it!

Joan: I work on Saturdays and during school holidays. Saturdays are busy because that’s when everyone goes shopping. Our shop sells clothes for men, women and children. I work in the children’s department (部门). It can be crazy sometimes, but it’s fun.

Justin: I work during my summer holidays. Oxford has thousands of tourists in the summer, so it’s easy to find a job as a tour guide. I take tourists to visit the university and then we go down to the river. We go along the river on a boat. The tourists love the boat trip. I have fun at work—I love meeting people from all over the world.

Pam: I like my job, but lots of people don’t like coming to see me because they hate dentists. Sometimes it’s very hard work, but it’s great to help people when they have a problem. It’s so important to look after your teeth.

Paul: My job is very difficult, but I like it because I love flying and it pays well. Most of the time I fly in Europe to places like Spain, Greece and Italy. The most difficult thing about my job is when the weather is bad. Snow and rainstorms are the worst. The best thing is visiting different places.

10 years ago, my parents bought a small house in the countryside, which they used for holidays. After I was born they started to go to the holiday house more. We used to drive 2 hours to get to the peace and quiet of our lovely house every Friday evening.

During the week my parents worked in London. My two brothers and I went to expensive private schools and we were all very busy. We hardly saw each other. We had several babysitters (临时保姆) as my parents had to work long hours. The only time we could be together was the weekend, and that was my happiest time. However, every Sunday morning was torture because we had to leave the house then. We all hated the idea of leaving our village friends and the beautiful countryside.

Last year my dad had had enough. He sold our big house near London and my parents gave up their jobs and long working hours. They bought a smaller car. We are now living in our holiday house—two adults, three kids and a dog. My parents got jobs that allow them to work from home. We never have babysitters.

The best change for me is that now I go with my brothers to a small local (当地的) school. After school we get on our bikes and ride around to see friends. My life is just so different. We feel calm (平静的) and happy. We have fewer things but for me it seems like we have so much more. I am so glad we have changed our way of life.

When I was in Grade 7, I did not like my English class. Every class was like     36     bad dream. The teacher spoke so quickly that I did not understand     37     most of the time. I was afraid to ask questions because     38     my poor pronunciation. I just hid behind my text book     39     never said anything.

Then one day, I watched an English movie     40     Toy Story. I fell in     41     with this exciting and funny movie! So I began to     42     other English movies, too. Although I could not understand everything the characters said, their body language and the expressions     43     their faces helped me to get the meaning. The more I saw, the more I improved my listening and speaking.

Now I really     44     my English class. I want to learn new words and more grammar so that I can have a     45     understanding of English movies.