When my daughter was in grade school, one day she brought home four tiny twigs (细枝). The school gave them to the students to plant. _________ of them looked very hardy (耐寒的), but with a hope for the future, I still planted them in our backyard.

Over the years, an accident with the lawnmower and _________ soil brought an end to three of them. All that was left was a single evergreen (常青树). It was not straight and grew very _________. It never got very tall and bent to one side. Then, I noticed that it was starting to _________. The lower branches had few leaves. The needles on the branches a little further up had turned brown. Only the top third of the tree was still green. Last summer I did my best to save it but there was no use.

This morning I went out and looked at it again, _________ if it would be better to just cut it down. As I walked over to take a closer look at it, however, I noticed something moving within the needles. It was a robin _________ building a nest in the topmost branches. I _________ and decided that maybe this old tree had some life and usefulness left in it yet. It may not be healthy or pretty, but it was still giving a bird a _________ and oxygen to this world.

This tree made me think of something too. All of our lives have a purpose. All of our lives have _________. It doesn’t matter if we are young and strong or old and sickly. Until our last moment here, we have things to do, love to give, and joy to __________.

Hanfu fashion has become more and more popular with young people. China has followed Western fashion designs in recent years, but a growing number of young people are now looking to the past for fashion ideas.

If you look closely around your city, you might notice hanfu, the traditional clothing of the Han dynasty. In a recently published report by an online shopping platform, about 2 million hanfu clothes were sold in 2019, nearly 4 times as many as those sold in 2018. Most of the buyers are between 19 and 24 years old.

But why has this traditional clothing become popular with young Chinese people? For some of them, it’s a costume for relaxation. Dafan, a 24-year-old college student, told CGTN that dressing in hanfu is a way for her to get away from the troubles of real life. Modern clothing, on the other hand, represents the identity(身份) people need to show every day. “Hanfu and modern clothing help me to show the different sides in me,” she said.

Other teenagers like hanfu because of the culture behind it. They see it as a way to reconnect with traditions. Its wide sleeves, crossed collars and flowing robes bring people back to ancient times.

“Hanfu is the symbol of the Chinese traditional culture.” Nanhe, a 21-year-old costume studio owner, told CGTN.

In a few hours Sam would be flying to Germany. We looked at each other but no sound broke the silence of my beach-side house.

Such a moment was not the first time for me. On Sam’s first day of kindergarten (幼儿园), I felt his stress when holding his hand. He looked at me—as he did now. But I said nothing till the school bus came. About ten years later, I drove him to the college. He was sick but I didn’t know then. I thought he was just too tired. I tried to think of something to say as he would start a new period of life. Again, ________.

Now, as I stood before him, I thought of those chances we parents all let pass. A boy graduates from school, a daughter gets married. We seldom find a quiet moment to tell them what they have meant to us, or what they might face in the future.

Sam was weak when he was born but grew into a strong boy. Then he became the best baseball player in high school. His finest moment came when he got the first prize at a science fair. I was sorry he gave up his athletic talent, but proud (自豪的) that later he chose English literature. One day, I told Sam I regretted (后悔) never traveling abroad to know better about the world before working. Sam decided to learn German in Berlin, even though his friends thought it was meaningless.

The night before he was to leave, I failed to say any words again. Maybe, I thought, it wasn’t necessary to say anything.

What does it matter if a father never tells a son what he really thinks of him? But as I stood before Sam, I knew it does matter. My father and I loved each other. However, I always regretted never hearing him put his feelings into words.

“Sam,” I said, “if I could have picked, I would have picked you.” I wasn’t sure he understood what I meant. Sam came towards me and threw his arms around me, saying “thank you”. My eyes misted over (模糊). Then, the moment ended, and Sam left home.

That was seven weeks ago, and now I think about him when I walk along the beach near my home on weekends. Thousands of miles away, Sam might be busy walking in the street of Berlin.

What I had said to Sam was not new. It was nothing. But, it was everything.

(adapted from Words from a Father)

On Dec.25, 2021, a new, exciting age of space science started as NASA launched the James Webb Space Telescope (望远镜). “Webb will change our understanding of space as we know it,” said NASA.

According to NASA, Webb is the world’s largest and most powerful telescope. The old Hubble Space Telescope mostly sees what we see—visible light. But Webb sees infrared (红外线的) light, which the human eyes can’t see. That means Webb can see through dust in the universe and make new discoveries by examining stars inside those dust clouds. It will look at the first light after the Big Bang (宇宙大爆炸) which created our universe, as well as how young stars grow.

The telescope will also takes a closer look at what the atmosphere (大气层) of some other planets is made of. It can give scientists clues of possible life forms.

Webb “sees” by using mirrors to collect light from the universe. The bigger the mirror is, the more it can see. The telescope is as tall as a three-story building and as big as a tennis court. It is so big that it has to fold its mirrors to fit inside the rocket.

The telescope flew 29 days to reach its orbit (轨道) which is more than 1.6 million kilometers away from the earth. After six months, it sent back its first picture.

The building of the telescope started in 2004. About 40 million hours of work, thousands of scientists from 14 countries, 10 billion dollars and 1 heavy-lift rocket made it all possible. Now it’s ready to help us answer key questions, such as where we came from and whether we’re alone in the universe.

For most people, graduation (毕业) is an exciting day. B    71     my graduation day was not.

I remember that weekend two years ago. We graduates had degrees, but very f    72     job chances because of the bad economy (经济). I knew that the next day I would no longer have a place to call home.

I knew my small university town couldn’t o    73     me any chances, so I drove to southern California to find work. But what I thought would take a week lasted for two weeks, and then four weeks, and I found m    74     in the same spot I was in before.

You know that feeling when you wake up and you are full of f    75    ? Fear about something you can’t control. You hope that everything that has happened to you so far is just a bad dream.

So what did I do to stay calm? I wrote. Something about putting words on a page made everything seem a little clearer—a little brighter. Something about writing gave me h    76    . If you want something enough, sometimes a little hope is all you need!

I t    77     my scary feelings into a children’s book—about a surprising hero who simply refused to give up on his dream.

Then one day, without a writing degree or training in the writing world—just a lot of hard work—I r    78     a publishing (出版) deal for my first book! After that, things started to get b    79    . I received a second book deal. Then, a few months later, I got an i    80     with a big company and got a good job.

It takes time, but just hold on—change can happen when you least expect it.

As a child, Alain Robert was afraid of heights. One day, when he was 12, he returned home from school. At the front door of his building, he looked for his keys, but he didn’t find them. It was 3:30, and his parents worked until 6:00 p.m. Robert looked at his apartment on the eighth floor. He saw an open window. He closed his eyes and pictured himself climbing the building. When he opened his eyes, he told himself, “I can do it.” A quarter of an hour later, he was in his house, and his fear of heights was gone.

Today, Robert (known as the French Spiderman) still climbs buildings. In 2004, he climbed Taipei 101 (the tallest building in the world at the time), and in 2011 he climbed the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai. To reach the top of a building, Robert usually uses only his hands and special shoes. To climb the Burj Khalifa Tower, though, he was made to wear safety ropes.

Robert climbs as a hobby. He also does it to make money for charity (for children and the homeless). Climbing is his passion. Although many climbing accidents have left him seriously disabled, he has become one of the best solo climbers in the world. Alain says in an interview, “We set ourselves limits, but we are all strong enough to aim higher, to achieve our goals. All we have to do is find such strength within ourselves.”

When Robert climbs, he wants to send a message to people. If you have a dream, something you really want to do, it can become real. But you must be brave and keep trying. If something bad happens, don’t give up. Close your eyes and tell yourself, “I can do it.”

86. 五一劳动节马上就要到了，你们班将召开班会，请大家分享五一计划，讨论如何度过一个有意义的假期。以下是你草拟的流程图，请你根据流程图中的提示，写一篇100词左右的发言稿。

Good afternoon, everyone. I’m glad to be here to share my plan for the May Day Holiday.

That’s all. Thank you.