It was a rainy, windy October afternoon. Garth stood outside his house with a wide smile. This was _________weather for testing his new invention—Umbrella Hat. He could hardly wait to see whether it could keep the rain off. He carefully ________ the hat on his head and started walking carefully along the street. It ________!

Suddenly, three boys in his neighborhood appeared and ________ him. Todd, the biggest one, pulled his Umbrella Hat off his head.

“What’s THIS?” he asked.

“It’s an Umbrella Hat you can wear it on rainy days and...” Garth said,

The boys ________, “Will anyone wear that stupid thing?” Todd threw the hat onto the ground and they ran off.

Garth picked up his Umbrella Hat from the ground in tears. “Maybe Todd was ________... in reality, who would ever need this invention?” He lowered his head and thought to himself.

Suddenly he ________ and saw a lady looking at him. “I was just leaving my house ________ I saw you and those boys. Are you okay?” Then she saw the ________ Umbrella Hat and asked “Er.. what’s that?”

“It’s my Umbrella Hat, I thought of it and make it myself ...” answered Garth.

“What a creative ________ you have! Don’t ever let stupid boys put you down! Keep inventing and one day you will ________ something really great!” said the lady.

“And you have given me a wonderful ________.” she continued, “I have a gadget (小器具)shop—Gadgets4U—and I’d like to hold a ________ to find the best young gadget inventor in it. I will display (展示) three best inventions in my shop. I’m sure you will have a(n) ________ of winning a prize.” Garth was very ________. Gadgets4U was one of his favorite places and the thought of having his invention displayed in that wonderful place was too exciting for words. He suddenly felt much better and could already feel lots of new ideas coming out, waiting to spring into life!

We talk every day. When we have good news, we like to share it with our good friends. Even when something     41     happens, we will make it known to others soon. But can you     42     that a tree can talk and share news too? Though, it may sound strange, some trees try to     43     with each other.

Willow tree sends out a special smell when nibbled (叮咬) by insects. This smell tells the other willows that harmful insects are coming near. All of them make a chemical (化学物质) in their leaves     44    . The insects do not like it and they fly away soon. In this way, the willow trees     45     themselves from the insects. So trees can talk and give messages to each other.

According to some old Chinese stories, there once was an ancient emperor named Shennong. At that time, there was no medicine to treat illness. Many sick people could only wait for     46     (die).

To save his people, Shennong decided     47     (find) and test out different plants. He and his men set out on a journey in search of medicinal plants.

Each time the team found a new plant, Shennong would taste it     48     (he). Some plants made him feel sleepy, some caused him to have a stomachache, and some made him tremble (颤抖) all over.     49     Shennong searched and tested over a long time, he and his men discovered lots of medicinal plants.

As they     50     (continue) their search, the team found a plant with small yellow flowers. Shennong picked off one piece     51     the plant in order to taste it. He said, “It looks like a medicinal plant. I have to test it,     52     some people may misuse it.”

Suddenly, Shennong’s face turned pale and he fell to the ground     53     (heavy). Even after he was given the leaves from other medicinal plants, he still     54     (lose) his life. People covered him with thousands of     55     (flower). From then on, they called him “the Emperor of Medicine”.

56. 本学期很快过半，相信你的生活一定发生了一些变化。假如你是李华，根据以下提示问题，从学习状况、课外活动、家务劳动等方面给你的好友Mario写一封信，介绍这学期以来你的生活。

How’s everything going? Something has changed in my life this term.

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Anything new about your life? Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Hua