School volunteers don’t get paid, but sometimes we get special gifts.

One morning, I was selling tickets to our school’s evening performance. “I think it’s _________that I have to pay to see my own child perform,” a parent said unhappily.

“The school needs a voluntary donation (捐赠) to help __________ the scenery and costurnes (服装),” I explained. “But _________ has to pay for the tickets. Of course you can  have them for free .”

“Oh, I __________ pay,” she grumbled (嘟囔), “Two adults and a child.” She handed me a ten-dollar bill, and then I gave her the change and her tickets. That’s the boy waiting behind _________emptied a pocketful of coins onto the table. “__________?” I asked.

“I don’t need tickets,” the boy said. “I’ve __________ seen the show. I arrived late last night and couldn’t find anyone to buy tickets from, _________ I just walked in. I’m paying now, for last night.”

I pushed the coins back and said, “If the ticket table was ______, you didn’t need to pay. Nobody knows the difference.” However, the boy ______________ to take back the coins. “I know the __________,” he said before leaving.

“Excuse me…” I looked up, __________ to see the woman who had bought her tickets moments earlier. She was still there, with change and tickets in hand. “Why don’t you _________ the change?” she said. “The scenery must be beautiful, and those costurnes couldn’t have been __________.” She handed me a few dollars and left.

Little did the boy know that he had given us both a special __________ that has more meaning than money.

In the past 2018, there were some amazing achievements in China which not only conquered (征服) the world but also sounded very interesting. Let’s have a look at some of them!

The tallest man-made waterfall in the world	In Guiyang, there is a waterfall hanging in front of a building. It’s reported that keeping it running costs about 800 yuan per hour, so it has been shown only for less than 10 times. And getting the waterfall ready isn’t an easy thing because it’s on the top of a 121-meter-tall building.
The first pit (坑) hotel in the world	With 19 floors, this five-star hotel was built nearly 90 meters below the ground in Shanghai. It’s the world’s lowest building. It costs around 600 dollars for one night. Compared with the height, the cost is pretty high.

Would you like to live in a city where buildings turn the lights off for you, and self-driving cars will find the nearest parking space themselves? Although it might sound a little far from you, living in a “smart” city like this could happen sooner than you think.

Great changes have taken place in towns that we have lived in for centuries, while completely new cities are being built. One such place is the city of Songdo. Every home there will have a “telepresence” system (远程遥控系统)－allowing users to control the heating and looks, take part in video meetings, and receive education, healthcare and government services. Around the city, escalators (自动扶梯) will only move when someone is on them, and offices and schools will all be connected to the system.

The great mind behind Songdo is from the company Cisco. In fact, technology companies around the world such as IBM, Siemens and Microsoft are already in the business.

About 75% of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050, so cities will need to be more modern to deal with the coming problems. “Making cities smarter is one way out, and I think this will in turn make cities greener,” said Dan Hill, the head of a research company.

My father was German, but he worked in England. He married my mother, who was English. Her family name was Robinson, so when I was born in 1632 in England, they called me Robinson, after her.

My father did well in his business and I went to a good school. He wanted me to get a good job, and live a quiet, pleasant life. But I wanted adventure and an exciting life.

“I want to be a sailor and go to sea”, I told my mother and father. They were very unhappy about this.

“Please don’t go.” my father said, “You won’t be happy you know. Sailors have a difficult and dangerous life.” And because I loved him, and he was unhappy, I tried to forget about the sea.

But I couldn’t forget, and about a year later, I saw a friend in town. His father had a ship and my friend said to me, “We are sailing to London tomorrow. Why don’t you go with us?”

On September 1, 1651, I went to Hull and the next day we sailed for London.

But, a few days later, there was a strong wind. The sea was rough and dangerous, and the ship went up and down, up and down. I was very ill, and was very afraid.

“Oh, I don’t want to die!” I cried, “I want to live! If I live, I will go home and never go to sea again!”

The next day the wind stopped, and the sea was quiet and beautiful again.

“Well, Robinson,” my friend laughed, “How do you feel now? The wind wasn’t too bad.”

“What!” I cried. “It was a terrible storm.”

“Oh, that wasn’t a storm,” my friend answered, “Just a little wind. Forget it, come and have a drink.”

After a few drinks with my friend, I felt better. I forgot about the danger, and made up my mind not to go home. I didn’t want my friend and family to laugh at me!

I stayed in London for some time, but I still wanted to go to the sea. So, when the captain of a ship asked me to go with him to Guinea in Africa, I agreed. And so I went to the sea for the second time.

It was a good ship, and everything went well at first, but I was very ill again. Then when we were near the Canary Islands, a Turkish pirate (海盗) ship came after us. They were famous thieves of the sea at that time. There was a long, hard fight, but when it finished, we and the ship were prisoners. The Turkish captain and his men took us to Sallee in Morocco. They wanted to sell us as slaves (奴隶) in the market. But in the end, the Turkish captain decided to keep me for himself, and took me home with him. This was a sudden and terrible change in my life.

Bats are the only mammals (哺乳类动物) that can fly a great distance, but they have another ability. Many bats live a very long time for an animal of their size.

European researchers are studying bats to understand why they live so long. They hope to find ways to fight the aging process (过程) in human beings.

Last week, the group of scientists said they had found important biological (生物学) qualities in bat species (种类). The group studied bat chromosomes (染色体)—a line of genes found in the nucleus (核) of cells. The scientists were very interested in the ends of the chromosomes. They are called telomeres (端粒). Telomeres protect the ends of chromosomes, which shorten each time a cell divides. Scientists believe this shortening process causes cells to break down. ▲___            

This month, a report on bats was published in the journal Science Advances.

One of the leaders of the study was Emma Teeling, a biologist in Ireland. Teeling said studying long-living mammals is another way to prove the molecular (分子) basis of continued “health length.” She added that studying bats made scientists learn more about the processes “that drive healthy aging.”

The European researchers studied 493 bats from four bat species. They used information that had been collected over 60 years. Of these bats, the greater mouse-eared bat generally lived the longest, an average of 37 years.

The scientists said this and a connected species, named Myotis, had telomeres that did not shorten with age. Another Myotis bat holds the record for oldest age, reaching 41 years.

The scientists’ findings suggest that these bats’ cells have the ability to keep and repair their telomeres. This, they said, helps guard against the aging process. Based on its body size, a bat like the greater mouse-eared bat would be expected to live four years. But, these mammals are found to live nearly 10 times longer than that.

The scientists found that eighteen of these are bats except an unusual African rat.

Rebecca is a wildlife camera-woman from the UK. She felt a     51     (深深的) sadness when she was filming a documentary for the BBC in the Pacific Ocean. The     52     (沙滩) should have been lively. But she sadly found that they were covered with plastic bags, toys, and     53     (瓶子) and dead animals.

Plastic bags have many advantages, so they are     54     (广泛地) used in people’s daily life. Britain uses nearly 17 billion plastic bags each year. The numbers are amazing.

Rebecca     55     (决定) she had to do something. In her own     56     (家乡), Modbury, she made a suggestion that local shopkeepers should     57     (避免) using plastic bags. To her surprise, they       58     (接受) her suggestion and Modbury became the first plastic bag-free place in Britain.

Now the “bag for life” is part of the national     59       (文化), and the task of cutting down the use of plastic bags has become the     60       (法律): Since October 2015, all shops in the UK must pay five pence for each plastic bag. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

Recently, a very simple sentence, “Amazing, my motherland” has become well-known in China.

As we know, China has developed     61     (quick) these years. And it has become one of the most important     62     (country) in the world. Foreigners pay more attention to this ancient eastern country--China. Lily is     63     Australian girl. She is studying     64     a university in Nanjing now. She     65     (live) in China for three years. Great changes make     66     (she) amazed. “I think finding jobs is     67     (easy) in China than that in Australia. I will work here after I finish my school work in Nanjing,” Lily said. In Nanjing, we can find new     68     (building) everywhere. There     69     (be) much more great changes than before.

The achievement is so surprising. China is developing the trade     70     the friendship with other countries. China is playing an important role in the world.

Hurting others online

One day, 14-year-old Wen Jiayi posted a photo on QQ. However, one of her classmates wrote “You’re so ugly and silly.” under the photo. Wen was shocked and didn’t know how to reply.

This is an example of cyber bullying (网络暴力), which refers to sending, posting, or sharing bad things about someone else online. Lots of kids these days have experienced some forms of cyber bullying. According to a recent survey, nearly 30% of teenagers in China have been bullied online. The most common form of cyber bullying is the use of bad language.

Nearly 70% of cyber bullying happens through social media (社交媒体). 14-year-old Sun Zhenyao studies at Hefei No.50 Middle School in Anhui. When he writes down his opinions on news articles, he sometimes receives rude messages from strangers. “It comes out of nowhere and drives me crazy,” Sun said. He adds the bullies to his blacklist and reports them to the sites he posts on.

However, most victims (受害者) don’t take this kind of action. About 60% of cyber bullying victims stay silent. Sometimes it’s difficult to fight back by yourself. But if those messages really hurt you, just ask your parents or teachers for help.

I have read the information about the two families. _________________________________

Many thanks.

Li Hua