Billy’s mom had been asking him to clean the attic(小阁楼) for months. One Saturday, Billy was bored and decided it was ___________ to get the job done. He walked up the dirty stairs, ___________ the old door, and got right to work.

As Billy looked through boxes, walked through papers ___________ did some cleaning, he found all kinds of little treasures. He found old toys, many books and funny pictures of his parents. The pictures were taken ___________ they were younger. Billy found some of his own toys and clothes from when he was much ___________. He smiled. The attic certainly had lots of stories to ___________ about his family.

A small wooden box, lying in the far comer of the attic, caught Billy’s ___________. He went over and opened it. In it he found some old papers. One looked like a ___________. He took it out. As he looked ___________ at it, Billy discovered that the map showed a house—his house! Then Billy searched for where the map ____________, and realized it was to his own bedroom!

He ran back down the stairs with the map ____________ his hand. He was very excited now and sped into his room to find what he was sure would be a wonderful surprise. As he opened the door to his room, he smelled his ____________ thing in the world: banana nut cakes. There, on the comer of his desk, was a plate of warm cakes and a tall glass of cold milk. Beside the plate was a ____________ from his mom. “Thank you for ____________ the attic,” it said. “I hope you enjoy this little ____________ , too! Love, Mom.”

1. His Dark Materials series—by Philip Pullman

In this hit series, young Lyra Belacqua tries to prevent kidnapped (被绑架的) children from being hurt; helps Will Parry—a boy from another world—search for his father; and finds that she and Will are caught in a battle (斗争) against those gathered by her rebellious (反叛的) uncle, Lord Asriel.

2. Looking for Alaska—by John Green

Sixteen-year-old Miles’ first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great tricks (恶作剧), but is defined (定义) by the search for answers to life and death after a serious car accident.

3.The Book Thief—by Markus Zusak

Trying to make sense of the horrors (恐惧) of World War Ⅱ, Death tells the story of Liesel—a young girl who has abilities to book-stealing and storytelling helps support her family and the Jewish (犹太的) man they are hiding, as well as their neighbors.

4.The Giver series—by Lois Lowry

In the future, society has changed everyone to “Sameness”. In three related stories, Jonas, holding memories of the time before Sameness; Kira, an orphan (孤儿) with a twisted (变形的) leg; and the healer (治疗者) Matty must discover the truth about their society and restore (修复) feeling and meaning to their world.

One Sunday afternoon in May 2021, waiter Paul Blachut, 24, was busy at work at the FLOSSLANDE restaurant in scenic Augsburg, Germany. From behind the bar, Blachut had a good view of the Lech river below, in which many people were cooling their feet. The water is very cold at this time of year, and it runs quickly.

Among those enjoying the cooling water were a mother and her two teenage daughters. They were playing with an inflatable tube (充气轮胎) by the riverbank, when suddenly the girls lost their footing and fell into the river. It all happened so fast. The girls caught the tube, which their mother was sitting in, pulling her into the river, too. Now all three were being carried away, shouting, “Help! Help!”

Blachut looked up from his busy work when he heard the shouts. Then he found the three women not far away, flapping their arms, trying to catch anything. Without thinking, Blachut ran down to the river and jumped into the cold water. All he wanted to do was rescue (营救) them.

As Blachut got closer to them, he could tell that the mother seemed to be in the most trouble; her head was now out of sight. At once, Blachut went down under the mother, pushing her upward and towards the bank. Then an onlooker (旁观者) got close to grab the woman’s hand, pulling her to the land.

Blachut knew he needed to rescue the two daughters, who were now further down the river. He jumped into the water again and succeeded in getting one out in the same way he did her mother, while the other was saved by another onlooker.

Several onlookers expressed their admiration for Blachut following the accident. “The whole rescue only took two or three minutes,” he said, adding that it was not a big deal. Actually, it was a job very well done.

Some people find hobbies boring or simply think of them as a waste of time. What they do not know is that it can do them a lot of good physically, mentally and emotionally. Here are some of the advantages of having an interesting hobby.

Doing your favorite hobby gives you time to relax. It can help reduce the stress level in your body. This can be done by moving your focus. For example, instead of always thinking of your problems, you can spare some of your time to focus on your hobby.

Having a hobby allows you to get new skills and discover your hidden talents. Finding the right hobby may be difficult but you can try different activities until you realize what your interests actually are. And as you learn more about your chosen hobby, you can develop your skills. For example, chess can make your analytical (分析的) skills better; art hobbies like painting can improve your creativity.

Developing hobbies can lead you to meeting like-minded (志同道合的) new people. You can make new friends while playing your favorite sports like golf, tennis or basketball. You meet a lot of people especially in outdoor activities.

Sports can make you healthy. Exercise such as running, hiking, playing ball games, skiing and skating can build up your body and make you feel good about yourself.

And lastly, believe it or not, your hobbies can also help with your job applications (申请) to various companies. It is a fact that there are certain characters (特色) and skills that employers (雇主) look for and these can easily be learned in the hobbies that you take part in.

In a word, developing a hobby is a great idea to improve yourself, which is helpful to the development of a better you. If you do not have a hobby, do develop one right now.

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Coral reefs (珊瑚礁) provide bright color under the waves. These ecosystems (生态系统) are diverse (多样的)—home to everything from crabs to sea turtles.

However, these busy underwater rainforests are in danger. Coral reefs get their pretty color from single-celled (单细胞的), brightly colored algae (海藻) that live with the corals. But when water around coral reefs gets too warm, corals get stressed. This makes them kick out their algal roommates. With the colorful algae gone, the corals become white. That’s why these events are called coral bleaching (珊瑚白化). If the coral can’t attract another algal roommate in time, the coral itself will die. A bleached reef can cause trouble for many species that call it home.

Coral bleaching is happening more often and in more places lately. That’s because of climate (气候) change. As the earth’s temperature rises, the oceans have taken in a lot of heat. Warmer oceans cause more bleaching events. The oceans are also storing much of the CO₂ that people produce by burning fossil fuels (化石燃料). More CO₂ makes oceans more acidic (酸性的), which makes it harder for corals to build their rocky homes. More than half of the world’s coral reefs are in danger of disappearing.

Scientists are working hard to help bleached corals and plant new coral reefs. They’ve found that playing a soundtrack from a healthy reef can attract fish back to a sick one—making it easier for the sick reef to recover. They’re also planting tiny bits of coral in new places, trying to help new reefs get a good start.

Dancing with the Light

A few years ago, I visited the Classical Gardens of Suzhou. During the visit, my attention was drawn away from the plants, bridges and stones, towards     41     walls of the gardens. Mostly white, some parts of the walls are losing small     42     (piece) of their covering. This creates space in which light and plants can be     43     (see). The walls are not only the boundaries of the gardens, but they also form protected paths that guide you on a trip.

The memory of the white walls stayed with me. I kept     44     (imagine) how many shadows (影) could be collected by them to dance with the light. This fantastic moment was so lively     45     I came back to explore it with my camera.

Working     46     (free) with these walls and their marks, I began to feel like collecting all the stories that were painted there. Weather and time have turned these     47     (amaze) white walls into Chinese landscape paintings.

I     48     (take) the photos during the month of June, just after the rain. The air was full of small drops of water, showing the light and the color     49     the things around. As color was born out of a dance between light and a body, when photographing in color I found     50     (I) enjoying a moment of this dance.

American Grace Brown is keeping busy during her first year of high school. She studies all subjects, such as English, history and math, as well as taking classes in Latin. She also sings in a school team and plays the piano. The school day lasts from about eight o’clock in the morning to three in the afternoon. But because of her many activities, Grace has no time for a class in physical education. So she is getting school credits (学分) for virtual (虚拟的) PE.

The idea, as strange as it may sound, depends on wearable health recording devices (设备). Brown wears a health tracker (追踪器) called Fitbit that the school provides. She wears it on her arm while doing exercise lasting 30 minutes or longer three times a week. She usually does this outside of school hours. Her computer has a program that records her activities which she can provide for school for credits.

A PE teacher may not be guiding the Fitbit-wearing students in person. But teachers do lead students’ work by setting goals such as fat burning, using the technology as their eyes and ears. Grace Brown has been adding light running and bicycle rides to her days. For students, it is a welcome way to take a required class that some students may find socially or physically difficult. Grace’s mother Rhonda Brown says, “These kids are burning 2,000 calories during a practice and more at every game. I wish the schools would catch up with the times.”

However, technology and the collection of any student data (数据) always cause worries about students’ private information. And some Americans worry that students exercising on their own may miss out on important social spirits such as teamwork.