The Silk Road is the wonderful land trade route from China to Rome. It connects two very different worlds—the East and the West: the two cultures of Asia and Europe. When you travel along the ancient Silk Road, history will come to life.

When Helen left home to do some shopping, her elder daughter, 12-year-old Vanessa, was watching a movie and her little daughter, 10-month-old Alice, was asleep in the room. Helen told Vanessa to look after Alice and watch the cake in the oven (烤箱).

Just after Helen left, Alice woke up and got out of her bed. Vanessa didn’t hear her sister because the film was making a noise. She also forgot the cake, but she heard the ice cream man. She ran out of the house without taking her key and locked herself out.

Through the window, she saw Alice in the room. At once, she remembered the cake and knew Alice was in danger. She ran to the nearest telephone box and called 999.

When the firemen arrived, they found Vanessa crying outside and heard Alice laughing inside. They went in and found the dog, Nap, playing with Alice. He was jumping around her and the oven.

When Nap saw the firemen, he stopped at once as if (好像) to say, “Now it’s your turn. She is safe.” The house was full of smoke then, and they believed that Nap was playing with Alice to keep her away from the oven.

Lots of times, Pap would lock me in the wooden house and go away. Pap was pretty careful not to leave a knife or anything in the cabin while he was gone. But I finally got something—a saw, and started sawing hard to help myself out. As soon as I heard Pap coming up from town, I hid the saw and waited. He came in angrily, “Get out to the boat and get what I brought from town.”

It was good to be outside again, even if it was for just a few minutes. If I wanted to, I could take off running right now. I’d just run away, but that’s when Pap yelled, “Boy, are you asleep or drowned?”

At dinner time, Pap drank too much and fell asleep on the floor. I thought about taking the key from his pocket quietly, but he was having a restless sleep. I waited for him to settle down, but then I got too tired and fell asleep.

It was after sunup when Pap woke me. “Get out there and catch us some fish,” he ordered. I headed out and saw something else floating toward me in the river. It was a canoe (独木舟). I jumped in and swam over to it. It was empty inside, then I had a good idea. I pulled that canoe up and hid it behind some bushes. When I had my chance, I’d go down the river in the canoe. No one would ever find me.

Pap got angry when he saw me back, wet all over. So I got locked inside the cabin again. Once Pap set off for town, I had my chance.

When I was ready to run off through the hole I cut with the saw, I realized Pap would know I’d run away. So I smashed the door with an ax. Then I found a wild pig lying dead in the woods and dripped some of its blood on the cabin floor. I pulled out some of my hair and dropped it on the floor, too.

China will cut the number of climbers trying to climb Mount Qomolangma from the north this year as part of plans for the clean-up on the world’s highest mountain. The clean-up activity will include moving away the bodies of climbers who died at more than 8,000 metres up the mountain.

The total number of climbers trying to reach the top of the world’s highest mountain from the north will be controlled to less than 300. The climbing season will be controlled to spring.

Parts of Qomolangma are in China and Nepal. Each year, around 60,000 climbers and guides visit the Chinese north side of the mountain, but few actually try to climb it. China has set up stations to sort, recycle and break down rubbish from the mountain, which includes cans, plastic bags, tents and oxygen tanks.

On the Nepalese side, mountaineering trip organizers have begun sending huge rubbish bags to climbers during the spring climbing season. They should collect rubbish that then can be carried by helicopters back to the base camp.

Every year there are many victims on Qomolangma often in the “death area” above 8,000 metres, where the air is the thinnest. In 2017, 648 people reached the top of Qomolangma. Six people have died on the mountain that year, one of them on the north side.

Qomolangma has become the world’s highest rubbish dump. Meanwhile, melting ice caused by global warming is exposing rubbish that has been left on the mountain since Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay made the first successful climbing 66 years ago.

Exam time is the most stressful (压力重的) period of the year. You have worked all school term on your classes and now it’s the time to prove what you have learned. With so much at stake (处于成败关头), it is easy to get stressed about your exams. However, with the right amount of hard work and focus you can pass your tests with ease!

When I was in school, I used to get very stressed over my exams. So did my friends. Some people stopped eating and others ate too much! Some gave up and others burned themselves out! The most important thing to remember when studying is not to feel frightened! Take the middle path—stay calm, eat healthily and get a rest. Pushing yourself too hard is just as dangerous as not studying enough. A tired, overworked brain is just as useless as a lazy, empty one!

So, what should you do? Arrange a time each day for study and a time for relaxation. You may have less time to relax than usual, but you still need to let your brain rest for a few moments and get plenty of sleep. If you are tired, information will not stick in your memory. Finally eat healthy foods that fuel your body and mind.

It does no good to think too much about your exams. Some students may think that the rest of their life depends on them. That’s not true. Instead, just view the exams as another difficulty you will overcome. You have overcome all kinds of difficulties in your life so far. With the right amount of work and focus, you will pass your exams with flying colours! High school is right around the corner!

96. 随着社会的发展，我们的生活变得越来越好。学校英语角本周的主题是“changes around us”。请你根据下表中的提示，用英语写一篇短文，谈谈自己的看法。

Changes around us

In the past few years, great changes have taken place around us.