Last summer I went to Corsica with my friends. I had never been there before. It was my ________ visit to the island! It took us eight hours from Toulon to Ajaccio ________ ship. We played card games to kill time.

________ we got there, I was surprised at the weather. It was already October! But it was still very hot, we just needed ________ T-shirts and shorts. We went to the beach to enjoy the sunshine and some of ________ friends even went swimming in the sea. We had a picnic, went for ________ long walk along the coast.

The next day we ________ the local train to another beautiful city named Corte. We ________ visited the citadel (城堡) and museum. We also enjoyed the beautiful views (景色) of the city.

The food in Corsica ________ fantastic and we visited the market to taste something delicious. We also went to some local ________ for dinner. At the end of the trip, we were a little sad to leave and I hope to return to Corsica again one day.

Tom had a bad tooth, so he often had a toothache. His mother wanted to take him to see a (n) ________, but he didn’t agree. He is ________ when the doctor extracts (拔出) his tooth. Tom’s mother told him if he didn’t see the doctor, the pain would get ________. At last, Tom had to agree.

There were not many people in the ________. Soon, it was Tom’s turn. He walked ________ into the room and sat down. The doctor looked ________ and said hello to him with a smile. He asked Tom to ________ his mouth. And then he told Tom that he had to extract the ________ tooth. The doctor gave Tom an injection (注射) and promised him that he would not ________ any pain.

Tom really didn’t feel any pain. Then the doctor ________ Tom to brush his teeth twice a day—in the morning and in the evening. He also told Tom not to eat too many sweet things.

My mother always says to me, “Do everything by yourself.”

I remembered that when I had something difficult to do in my childhood, I often asked my mother for help. But she always said gently (温柔地), “Do it yourself, boy.” I wasn’t happy about this. I thought she was the laziest mother in the world. I thought she didn’t love me at all.

One day, I decided to invite my friends to my home. My bedroom was really messy. Books were everywhere and I didn’t make the bed either. I asked my mother to help me clean it, but she still said, “Dear, if you learn to do things by yourself, you’ll find nothing is difficult. So do it yourself.”

Because of my “lazy” mother, I had to wash my clothes and clean my room. I had to help my parents do some housework. I even had to go to see the doctor by myself.

As time went by, I understood my mother. I learned a lot from her: being hard-working and facing difficulties bravely. A good mother is worth (值得) one hundred teachers.

Long before the Disney cartoon movie Mulan was released (上映), Hua Mulan was already a famous heroine in China.

Her story started from at least the 6th century. In the first written record known to people, The Poem of Mulan, Mulan dressed up as a boy. She took her father’s place in the army. Mulan fought for 12 years, but asked for only a camel to return home when the war ended. When she put on girls’ clothes, the soldiers knew she was a girl.

As the years went on, Hua Mulan’s story began to be written in books and plays. The most famous is the 16th-century play Mulan Joins the Army in Place of Her Father. It’s written by Xu Wei. It is the first to introduce the “Hua” surname (姓) comes from the Chinese word “flower”. And the play also says Mulan gave up foot-binding (裹足) before going to the army.

Although people have done much study, we still can’t know Mulan is real or from the legend (传说). However, it’s still possible that Mulan’s story is true. Because women soldiers did play a role in the Chinese history, for example, Princess Pingyang. She helped her father in the war.

Real or not, Mulan’s story is a powerful one about a woman. She goes against tradition. With the 2020 live-action Disney movie Mulan, our heroine has spread (传播) Chinese culture to the world.

Are you one of Earth’s next generation of astronauts?     31     What do astronauts do to prepare for their work in space?

Alyssa Carson’s dream is to be the first person on Mars. As a child, Alyssa read as much as possible about Mars. This included going to a space-themed camp for the first time at the age of seven.     32     At these camps, future astronauts get the chance to experience the work of astronauts.

    33     If you’re interested, here are some suggestions for you.

Astronauts must be in excellent physical condition.     34     It needs a healthy diet, regular (规律的) exercise and enough sleep. And astronauts need to overcome a lot of physical difficulties.

Astronauts also need to meet a lot of emotional (情绪的) challenges. Take every chance to practise team building, leadership, and problem-solving skills. More importantly, astronauts need to have wide knowledge in math and science.     35    

Don’t forget languages! In addition to English, you’ll need to learn other languages such as Russian and French to communicate successfully.

A boy had encephalitis (脑炎) when he was two. He     41     quite difficult when he learned. For example, when the teacher asked students to     42     a composition (作文), he could only write three or five lines. However,     43     other classmates could write several hundred words.

One day, in a composition class, the teacher gave the title “Wishes”. The boy wrote     44    , but he only wrote three sentences. “I have two     45    . The first wish is that every day my mother looks at me and smiles at me, ‘You’re very smart.’ The     46     wish is that every day my teacher looks at me and smiles at me, ‘You’re not stupid at all.’”

The teacher was deeply moved by the     47     composition. She not only gave the composition the     48     score, but also read it with full feelings in class. Below the composition, the teacher remarked, “You are a     49     boy. Your passage is very moving. Don’t worry. I’m sure your mother loves you very much and I like you. We all like you.”

The boy was moved, too. Later, he     50     a great writer with hard work. The intelligence (智力) may be hurt, but the love will not be lost.

Baozi is one of the common Chinese food for breakfast. But this simple meal became an important character in a film, and even won an Oscar.

On February 24, 2019, the short film Bao won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. In the film, a small baozi becomes the “son” of a lonely Chinese woman in Canada.

Domee Shi got the idea from her own experience. When Shi grew up, she wasn’t free and spent little time with her mother.

Bao shows the life of an empty-nest (空巢的) Chinese-Canadian mother. It also tells us that the Chinese woman loves her “son”. She makes delicious food and cleans up the house for her son. These things really show the strong love of Chinese parents for their children.

“Traditionally, Chinese parents don’t say ‘I love you’ to their kids. I didn’t use conversation in the film because I wanted it to be a story that spoke to everyone around the world,” said Shi at an interview.

Moreover, this film can also help parents and children better understand each other and learn how to express (表达) love.

61. 假如你是八年级学生李华，作为学校的一名“健康宣传小卫士”，请你根据下列思维导图，向同学们介绍自己的运动习惯。

Hello! My name is Li Hua. I have good exercise habits.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________