Once, in a small village, there lived a family with eight children. Two of the children loved_______ very much, but the family was so poor that it was impossible to send _______of them to study at the art college at the same time. After many discussions, the two boys finally_______a plan.

They would toss (掷硬币) a coin. The loser would go down into the mines(矿)and_______ his brother in studying at the college with the money he made. Then when the brother who won the toss finished his studies, after four years, he would support the other brother in studying at the _______.

James won the toss and Jack went_______ into the mines. James worked with all his heart and his paintings were even much_________than those of most of his teachers', and by the time he _________, he had made a lot of money because of his paintings.

_________James returned, the family held a big dinner for his great success. Soon after the meal began, James________up from his seat to drink a toast(举杯祝酒) to his dear   ________. He said. "Jack, now you can go to the art college and your________ will come true. I will take care of you."

But Jack said ________, "James, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it's too________ Now I can't even hold a glass. "

To show his great ________, James drew his brother's hands with figures towards the sky. He called his drawing The Praying Hands, which became very famous years later.

On Jan 26, people around the world were shocked to hear of the sudden passing of Kobe Bryant, one of the NBA's best-known players. The 41-year-old, his 13-year-old daughter Gianna Bryant and seven others died when their helicopter crashed in California. US.

People from all walks of life have paid tribute (致敬) to the late basketball superstar-—not just for his achievements on the court, but for his sincere personality and the encouragement he provided to so many people.

In the basketball world, Bryant ranks among the top players of all time. Fans remember him as the player who helped the Los Angeles Lakers win live NBA championships during his 20-year-long career. He started out at the age of 17 as a basketball prodigy who went straight to the NBA and took his talents directly to the league. His fast speed and basketball art earned him the nickname Black Mamba(一种非洲毒蛇). That's why his basketball philosophy(哲学) is known as the "Mamba Spirit".

Off the court, he was known as a successful businessman, buying stakes (股份) in several companies, including Alibaba and Dell. He also left footprints in the movie industry, winning an Oscar in 2018 with his short film Dear Basketball.

Bryant was also known as a proud family man. His friend, baseball star Derek Jeter remembered him as such in an essay: "Throughout our friendship, the most meaningful conversations we had—they were always about family. "

As the Los Angeles Times noted, Bryant's greatness was cemented(强化) by his skill, hard work and tireless search of victory. His legacy(给后人的东西) will live on long after his death.

Do you use Facebook, MySpace or Twitter? If so, then you are part of a social network. Social networking sites allow us to see our social connections.

When you create a profile (a description of somebody that gives useful information) on a social networking site, you open up a number of possible social connections. You can look up old friends, make new friends, and share music, photos and videos with them. You can also join groups according to your interests or hobbies, favorite TV shows or music.

Setting up a social networking account (帐号) is simple. You just create and post a personal profile. For this you need a login name, password, and an e-mail account. Then you add some personal information such as name, age. sex, location. interests. etc. You can also add a photo of yourself. You can control who sees your profile, The next step is to look for new ones, and add them to your network. Then you can search your friends' connections for anyone else you'd like to add to your network.

Different social networking sites allow people to communicate in different ways. There are sites that allow you to enlarge your personal community such as Facebook, Then there are ones that include media(媒体伦)sharing, such as You Tube, where members upload and look at other people's pictures and videos, There are also ones that specialize in sharing music, such as Last FM. and finally. ones that allow bloggers to form online communities. such as Live Journal.

The latest trend (趋势)in social networking is to create your own independent social network. Companies do this to make their products sell well and people do it to create their own communities.

Five Tricks to Make Your Memory Better

Remembering things, like names, dates, and other fine details is just like playing basketball. It's also a skill that can be practiced. The five memory tricks below can help train your memory.

Imagine what you want to take before you get it

There's something about walking into another room or passing through a doorway that changes our short-term memory and makes us forget what we went there for. Think about your purpose before you leave the present room, you'll increase your chances of remembering what you want.

Learn the chunking technique(组块技术)

We can only store a limited number of things in our short-term memory-about four to seven different items. The chunking technique is helpful for us to get past this limitation: Group several items into a larger whole.

Make good use of the power of music

We forget names and numbers so easily, except our favorite songs or nursery rhymes from childhood. Music helps us memorize things well. If you want to learn a foreign language, try training with music videos with words of this language. Generally speaking, singing can help improve our brain.

Create mnemonic pegs(助记符) to remember long lists

Even without the music background, you can use rhyme and rhythm to remember things like shopping lists or lists oral the US capitals. You can build a connection between the items and the things that rhyme. For example. l is a gun(imagine the first item being fired from a gun), 2 is a shoe (imagine the second item inside a shoe) and so on.

Take care of your health and learn new skills

Sadly, our memory falls as we get older. Taking care of our basic health, though, can help your brain work in a proper way. That means reducing the stress in your life, exercising and staving and keeping your brain healthy too by learning new skills.

Follow one trick that works for you and keep using it, and you can make your memory better and better!

One day in autumn Squire Gordon went on a long journey. John went with him and I pulled the cart. The weather was rainy and windy, but we travelled happily until we came to the old wooden bridge.

The man at the tollgate told us the river was rising fast. “There’s going to be a bad storm tonight.” he said.

We arrived in the town, but Squire Gordon’s business took a long time. We didn’t leave until late afternoon. The wind was blowing, making a terrible sound. Suddenly, a huge tree fell across the road in front of us. I stopped still. I was shaking with fear, but I did not turn around or run away.

“We must go back to the crossroads,” said John. “and drive six miles to the wooden bridge.”

When we got there, it was nearly dark. There was water on the middle of the bridge, but the Squire did not stop. As soon as my feet touched the bridge, I knew that something was wrong. I didn’t move at all. “Go on. Beauty,” said the Squire.

“There’s something wrong. Sir,” said John. He got out and tried to lead me forward. “Come on. Beauty,” he said. But I knew that the bridge was not safe. Just then the man saw us. “Hey there! Stop!” he cried. “What is it?” shouted the Squire.

“The bridge is broken in the middle,” he answered. “If you go onto it, you are all going to drown in the river.”

“Thank God!” said the Squire. “Thank you. Beauty!” said John. We turned around and went along the road by the river. For a long time, no one said anything. Then John said: “Black Beauty saved our lives.” He knew the bridge was dangerous.

When we returned home, the Squire told Mrs. Gordon: “We are all safe, thanks to Black Beauty!” That night I had good food to eat and a comfortable bed of straw. And I was glad, because I was very tired.

If asked to name the most famous cartoon character from their country, Americans may say Mickey Mouse. And people in Belgium would p    71    mention Tintin. And in China, the title may go to Sanmao, a thin boy w    72     only three hairs on his head, who was created by the late comic artist Zhang Leping(1910-1992) .On March 26, Zhang was given the Special Honor award at the 2018 International Illustrated Silent Book Contest. Zhang is the first Chinese cartoonist to ever r    73     this prize.

The story of Sanmao starts with his moving to Shanghai. As an orphan (孤儿), Sanmao has n    74     to depend on and has to take on many different jobs, such as selling newspapers, and performing kung fu. But still it's h    75     for him to afford the cost of living. He has to sleep on the streets and is often laughed at by strangers.

A    76     his living conditions are poor, Sanmao is a kind boy who often shares his food with homeless people. He is also a boy of integrity (正直的). For example, he once r    77    to join a group of thieves who promised to feed him every day in exchange for his services.

From his story, people learn about the most turbulent(动荡的)moments of Chinese h    78    .

This is why even though Sanmao is often seen as "China's Tintin", his tale is c    79     to be much darker than that of the Belgian character. The birth of Sanmao also filled a blank (空白) in the Chinese comic i    80    . Using the skill of line-drawing, Zhang wrote no dialogue and used the simplest brushwork to show the life in old Shanghai.

81. 为促进文明城市发展, 推动社区人文建设, 中国日报 (China Daily) 教育版近期将举办英语征文竞赛, 其主题为构建模范社区 (Model Community) 。假设你是Tony, 住在城市花园社区, 请以"How to build a model community"为题, 写一篇参赛短文。

How to build a model community

My name is Tony. I live in City Garden Community. These days, people in our community are discussing __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________