When we think of Christmas, we probably think of gifts, Christmas trees and Santa Claus.

But behind all these things lies the true meaning of Christmas: the importance of sharing and giving love and joy to people around us. The story in A Christmas Carol is ________ the best example of this.

A Christmas Carol is a famous short novel written by the British writer Charles Dickens (1812—1870). It is about an old man called Scrooge who ________ laughs or smiles. He only thinks about himself and is ________ to share things with others. He doesn’t treat others nicely. He just cares about whether he can make ________ and he hates Christmas. One Christmas Eve, Scrooge sees the ghost of Jacob Marley, his dead business partner. Marley used to be like Scrooge, so he was ________ after he died. He warns Scrooge to change his ways if he doesn’t want to end up like him. He also tells Scrooge to expect ________ ghosts to visit him.

That ________, the ghosts visit Scrooge. First, the Ghost of Christmas Past takes him back to his childhood and reminds him ________ his happy days as a child. Then the second ghost, the Ghost of Christmas Present, takes him to see ________ others are spending Christmas this year. Everyone is happy, even poor people. The last one, the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, takes him to the ________. Scrooge sees that he is dead, but nobody cares. He is so ________ that he wakes up in his bed and finds out it is only the next morning—Christmas Day!

Scrooge decides to change his life and ________ to be a kind person. He ________ celebrates Christmas with his relatives. He also gives gifts to people in need. He now treats ________ with kindness and warmth, spreading love and joy everywhere he goes. And that’s the true ________ of Christmas!

In the late 1960s, when Li Zhenxia was 5, she liked oil-paper umbrellas and dreamed of buying a beautiful, red oil-paper umbrella in a store next to her grandmother’s house. It was too expensive for her family to afford one at the time.

When she was 10, she saw a young bridegroom (新郎) pass by her house on his way to pick up his bride. He and his friends were carrying six red oil-paper umbrellas, and the image touched her heart.

When she was in high school, her physics teacher would arrive with an oil-paper umbrella every time it rained. She and the teacher became good friends.

In 1996, Li’s dream of oil-paper umbrellas came true when she started learning how to make them by herself. Two years later, she produced her first one. Of course, it was red.

Today, Li is a boss and has her own stores. She enjoys talking to her customers and passing on her skills to her students.

“The oil-paper umbrella is like my lover; it has been with me my whole life and always makes me feel better,” the 58-year-old said.

Li’s store in Datong ancient town in Chishui City, Guizhou Province—a town where there is a lot of rain—welcomes many visitors who buy her umbrellas to model in photos, decorate their homes or add to collections, and sometimes even to use for catwalks at shows and performances.

Production involves over a hundred individual steps, from cutting the bamboo and threading (穿线) the pieces together, to pasting the paper shade, drying it in the sun and brushing it with oil. The whole process takes between 15 days and several months, depending on the umbrella’s design, and all the work is done by hand.

Now Li has two more stores, one in Danzhai in Guizhou and another in Sichuan Province. Of her three children, only her eldest son, who is 36, helps with the business, running the store in Danzhai. Her daughter is married in Beijing, while her youngest son is a Grade-3 high school student. Li hopes he will learn art and help her make umbrellas in the future.

When you think of the sea, you may not think of Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia (内蒙古). But recently, the “seafood” produced in these places has become popular, especially after Japan put nuclear-contaminated water (核污染水) into the sea, reported China Daily.

In Xinjiang, about 6, 000 tons of rainbow trout (虹鳟鱼) will be produced this year. Rainbow trout belongs to the same family as salmon (鲑鱼), which is a kind of well-known seafood. It tastes like salmon, too.

Why do farmers there choose to grow fish? The weather in some parts of Xinjiang is seldom hot, and the rivers are fed by meltwater from the Tianshan Mountains. Water deeper than 6 meters always stays at 10℃. As the meltwater is very clean and cold, it’s a “comfortable” home for fish, a worker at a fish company in Xinjiang, told China Daily.

To make sure the river stays clean, the company uses machines to clean fish waste in the water. They also use net cages that are good for the environment. The nets are about 51 meters wide and lie 25 meters deep in the river.

Meanwhile, in Inner Mongolia, whiteleg shrimps (南美白对虾) grows well. Saline soil (盐碱土) covers a large part of the desert (荒漠) where few plants are able to grow. Farmers used to put water from the Yellow River onto the farmland to wash away the salt. This was a waste of salty water.

Scientists then came up with a new idea. They decided to make “seawater” with the salty water by adding in some other components (成分). Whiteleg shrimps can live well in this kind of water. They taste no different from the same kind of shrimp that grows in the sea.

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The Ghost wore a black robe. The robe covered its head, its face and its body. The only thing visible was a hand.

The Ghost neither spoke nor moved. Scrooge was terrified.

“Are you the Ghost of Christmas Yet To Come?” asked Scrooge. The Ghost didn’t answer, but it pointed its hand in front of it.

“You are going to show me the future,” Scrooge continued. “Am I right, Ghost?” The Ghost nodded its head. That was the only answer Scrooge received.

“Ghost of the Future,” he said, “I am more afraid of you than of all the other ghosts. But because I want to be a better man, I will go with you. Please, speak to me.”

It didn’t reply. The hand pointed straight in front of them. “Lead on!” said Scrooge.

The Ghost moved forwards. Scrooge followed in the shadow of its robe. And the robe carried him along. The city sprang up around them. There they were, in the heart of it. The Ghost stopped beside some businessmen at the Stock Exchange. His hand was pointing to them, so Scrooge listened to their conversation.

“I only know he’s dead,” said a great fat man. “When did he die?” asked another.

“Last night, I think. ”

“What was the matter with him?” asked a third. “God knows”, said the first, with a yawn.

“What has he done with his money?” asked a red-faced gentleman.

“I don’t know,” said the great fat man, yawning again. “He hasn’t left it to me. That’s all I know.” Everybody laughed.

“It will be a very small funeral,” said the great fat man. “I don’t think anybody will go to it.”

Scrooge knew the men. And he looked towards the Ghost for an explanation. He didn’t understand why this conversation was important. But he knew it must be.

Scrooge looked around the place. He looked at the clock. It was strange. He was usually there at this time but he couldn’t see himself.

76. 一个榜样不仅具备优秀的能力和品质，更重要的是他的人格魅力和对社会贡献的付出。生命中总有一些值得我们学习的榜样。最近，江苏教育电视台将举办题为“The Great Person I Admire Most”的英语演讲比赛，请根据以下流程图写一篇英文演讲稿参加比赛。

The Great Person I Admire Most

It is my great honour to stand here to make a speech.