Some people have no ________ in sports. They think that sports make them tired and smell bad. They say, “Why waste time playing sports?” To these people, I politely say, “You have not discovered the ________ of sports!”

Let me ________ with you a basketball game I played two weeks ago. Our parents and friends were there to cheer us. A lot of people were watching. We all wanted to win the game in front of so many people. The game was ________ over and we were one point behind. Our coach called us together and said, “Okay, this is it! ________ we score now or the game is over. Let’s work hard to score. Even if we don’t score, at least we know that we have ________ our best. So, boys, don’t think too much. It doesn’t matter if we lose. Just do it.”

Well, in the last minute of the game, we truly scored and two teams tied (打成平局)! We went into overtime (加时赛) and we lost ________. But after the game, the coach hugged all of us. He told us that he was proud because he had never seen a team try ________ than us. To be honest, I get a lot of pleasure in playing sports. It makes me happy and comfortable. That’s ________ I play sports whenever I get the chance. So my advice is to choose a sport and ________ doing it. Your body will thank you and your mind will be ready to work well.

At the 2023 Shenzhen Marathon (马拉松), 45-year-old Luo Shujian crossed the finishing line with his 13-year-old son Xiaobai. His son was born with cerebral palsy (大脑性瘫痪) so he had to sit in a special push-chair all the time. They finished the half-marathon race in an hour and 59 minutes.

Now Xiaobai likes to watch the world from his push-chair with his father during races. Though he cannot express feelings in words, he shows them through expressions and body language. He claps his hands and smiles to show his happiness. The other runners are friendly and cheer them on as they pass.

Their marathon races have taken them to Chengdu to see pandas, to Beijing to climb the Great Wall and to Lanzhou to take photos along the Yellow River.

Luo plans to keep running with his son to allow Xiaobai to live the best life he can.

Mind map

WeChat is very popular in people’s life and it is called “weixin” in Chinese.

As we know, WeChat is a mobile text and voice messaging communication     51     (serve). It was developed by Tencent (腾讯) in China. It’s said that it has had over 1,300     52     (million) users so far.

Nowadays, more and more young people enjoy using WeChat. We can share our     53     (feel) with others and show what we are doing. In some ways, WeChat makes people     54     (close). Many people feel that they can’t live without it. It can make our lives more and more     55     (color). It’s really a new way     56     (communicate) with others. People use it instead of making calls and     57     (send) messages. It’s not only easy but also cheap for people to use WeChat.

However, it causes     58     (we) some problems. For example, people use it all day long. That is bad for their eyes. And it also reduces chances to see each other. So we should use it     59     (correct). There is no doubt that WeChat is useful in our daily life, but it must be     60     (use) properly.

He Sudan is a sand painting artist. She was born into an artistic family in Hunan Province. She started to show her talent in painting as a child. She took up sand painting while she was studying at university. Back then, there were no lessons about sand painting in the university, so she learned it by watching online videos. She is famous around China for her sand paintings about China’s 24 solar terms (节气).

The 24 solar terms are part of the traditional Chinese calendar. They are known as the “fifth great invention” of China. They are useful for people’s life and work. Many farmers still depend on the solar terms now to decide what they should do in the fields.

However, few young people know about the 24 solar terms. She wants to use her sand paintings to tell stories about the solar terms so that more young Chinese can learn about each of them. It takes her about one week to create each sand painting. “I’ll create more sand paintings to promote (推广) traditional Chinese culture,” she said proudly.

Spring is coming. It is great to exercise in the warm weather, but everything is hard at the beginning. How can you start an exercising plan and keep doing it?

Set a goal.

Before you start, ask yourself this question: Why do I want to exercise? The reason for exercise shouldn’t just be to lose weight. It should be about becoming healthier or feeling better. Once you have a goal in mind, it will be much easier to say “no” to high-fat foods and “yes” to daily exercise.

Look for simple ways to exercise.

You can put physical activities into your busy day. You should begin with easy things. For example, stand up from your seat to do stretches during your break between classes.

Find a partner.

We all know it is easy to give up exercising. But if you make a sports plan with friends, you will make it. Also, working out with them will make you enjoy the time even more.

In the new beginning of this season, let’s become healthier and happier together.

Once there was a teenage boy who was known as a fast runner in his village. He only cared about winning every race and becoming more successful.

One day, the boy took part in a running race in the village. He won the 200, 100 and 50-meter races without any problem.     71     But his grandfather came and asked him to have a race with two unexpected competitors, an old man and a blind girl. The boy thought it was unbelievable but accepted. In the race, the boy finished first, while the old man and the blind girl were still far behind. With joy, he waved his hands at the crowd.     72     “Why aren’t people cheering for me like before?” he asked his grandfather. “    73     But this time, all of you should cross the finish line at the same time,” the grandfather replied.

    74     During the second race, the boy took the hands of the old man and the blind girl. And he walked slowly with them to the finish line. The crowd stood up and gave them applause. The boy asked his grandfather, “For whom are the people cheering?     75    ” The grandfather smiled and said, “The crowd did not cheer for any one of you. They cheered for how all of you ran the race together.”

Facing the race of life, what matters is not just winning, but how you run the race.

Many of us may have experienced the pleasant surprise of seeing recommended (推荐的) songs after we listen to certain songs on a music app. When we open shopping websites, we are more likely to see things on the home page (主页) that we might want to buy.

This is based on data (数据). Data is no longer only about numbers, but information from almost every aspect (方面) of our lives: our location, shopping habits and interests. All of this is called “big data”.

In December 2018, President Xi Jinping called for China to speed up its big data strategy (战略) in order to better serve social and economic development and improve people’s lives, the Xinhua News Agency reported. He also asked for greater use of big data in areas like education, social security and transportation.

Big data has been used more often in China in the past few years. The role it plays in tourism is just one example. The data travelers share online is providing the tourism industry with a lot of information about the country’s scenic areas. After the data is analyzed (分析), different scenic areas can create their own online profiles (简况) for other travelers to see. The profiles not only show travelers’ opinions, but also tell the scenic areas which services need to be improved.

Hanfu has become popular again in China. A growing number of young people are now proudly wearing the traditional Han Chinese clothing. (A) The style has already attracted some foreigners. Among them is Rian, a young man from Brazil.

Rian teaches English in Xi’an. In the city, people are often seen in the streets wearing Hanfu. As time goes by, he developed a strong interest in the outfit (装束). (B) 他想要亲自试穿它。 “My first taste of Hanfu was the Tang style,” said the young man. “Today, it is still my favorite Hanfu style.”

Rian’s interest in Hanfu has also helped him learn more about China. In the past, he knew China has a long h_________ and a profound (深厚的) culture. He knows more than that. But Hanfu has shown him more details about Chinese culture.

(C) Rian plans to stay in Xi’an for at least another five years. He’ll go on working as an English teacher while making short videos about Hanfu. He hopes more people will learn about Hanfu and China ________ /θru:/ his videos. “I want to share Chinese culture with the world,” said the Brazilian.

A tiny robot can crawl (爬) through your body and help doctors with their work. It’s not from a science novel. Doctors are now using robots to do operations (手术). This is because robots can do some work that doctors can’t. The robots carry small cameras which allow doctors to look inside patients’ bodies. The robots also have tiny scissors and other tools. “It’s like having little hands inside the patients,” said Dr. Wang from a hospital in Beijing.

The robots have many advantages for doctors and patients. They help cut medical costs. They can also make difficult operations quicker and easier. What’s more, they allow doctors to operate with less damage (伤害) to patients’ bodies, too.

However, the robots aren’t perfect. They can be expensive. They are just tools to help humans, and they must be used by skilled doctors. Even the best robots can’t do everything that humans can do.

Scientists are working to make robots smarter. Someday, robots may do even more than expected for humans.