There was a businessman who was deep in debt (债务) and could see no way out.He sat on the park bench, head in his hands.

Suddenly, an old man _______ before him. "I can see that something is troubling you," he said. _______ listening to the businessman's stories, the old man wrote out a check (支票) and said, "Take it and _______ me back here exactly one year from today." Then he turned and disappeared as _______ as he had come.

The businessman saw in his _______ a check for $500,000, signed by John D. Rockefeller, one of the _______ men in the world! "I can pay off my debts in a second!" he realized. But _______, the businessman decided to put the check in his safe. Just _______ it was there might encourage him to save his business, he thought.

He went back and _______ hard. Within several months, he was out of debt and made money once ________. Exactly one year later, he returned to the park ________ the check. At the same time, the old man came along ________. Behind the old man was a nurse. The nurse told the businessman that the old man was mentally (精神上地) ill and was ________ telling people he was John D. Rockefeller.

The businessman was surprised to hear this. Suddenly, he realized that it wasn't the ________, real or imagined, that had turned his life around. It was his newfound self-confidence that gave him the ________ to achieve anything he went after.

After Christmas, it is one of the biggest holidays in the western world. Easter, which fell on April 21 this year, is celebrated in many countries.

Easter is a religious (宗教的) holidays. Most adults celebrate it by going to church. But for children, it's way more fun.

Candy is a big part of Easter. Children receive big pieces of chocolate that are shaped like rabbits during the holiday. The Easter bunny is a symbol of the holiday.

Jelly beans are another common Easter candy. They come in all kinds of different colors and flavors, such as strawberry or cinnamon (肉桂). There's even a black jelly bean that tastes like licorice (甘草) -most kids don't like these because of their strong flavor, but some kids love them. The jelly beans, along with the chocolate Easter bunnies, are usually placed in a basket and given to kids on Easter morning.

Another fun Easter tradition is hunting for eggs. The night before Easter, parents and their children   get together and decorate eggs with colorful paint and stickers. The next morning, parents will hide these eggs all over the house. Kids can't get their Easter baskets until they find all of the eggs. It's a fun tradition for children and parents to celebrate together.

California is burning! Wildfires have spread across the US state since Oct. 23, 2019 and smoke has filled its skies.

Take the Kincade Fire in northern California for example. It forced 200,000 people to leave their homes within one week. The state's largest power company cut power to about 206,000 homes in order to stop more fires from breaking out, CBS News reported.

California has seen many wildfires in recent years. Nine of the 10 biggest fires have happened since 2000, including five since 2010, according to The New York Times.

Why is this? California has the perfect wildfire conditions, Park Williams, a US climate expert (专家),told The New York Times. It has dry air and high temperatures from spring through late fall. At the same time, seasonal winds blow across the state every year, causing the wildfires to spread quickly and last for weeks.

Global (全球的) warming has also made the fires worse in recent years .It has dried out the state's trees and other plant life, causing them to burn more easily.

Humans have played a role as well. Burning campfires ,garbage debris (垃圾碎片), and cigarette butts (烟头) can easily cause wildfires.

Humans have caused 90 percent of California's wildfires, according to the US National Park Service.

A few weeks ago, my school's ninth-grade class went on a trip to the Black Country in England, UK to learn about geography and history.

Many people believe the name comes from the 1840s because of the soot (煤烟) that was put out by factories at that time. There is also a 10-meter-thick coal seam (煤层) close to the surface of the ground in Black Country.

The aim of this trip was to get us prepared for a geography project about rivers. We also learned more about the history of England.

On the first day of our trip, we went to Carding Mill Valley near Birmingham and learned about the changes that can happen to a river as it flows downstream (顺流而下). Our teacher had given us a few lessons on how rivers work before the trip, so we were well-prepared for the project we had to do.

The next day, we went to the famous Black Country Museum where we learned about coal mining (煤矿开采) and the lives of the people who lived. A highlight of the day was when we visited a coal mine and watched how to make iron chain links (铁链节).

It was truly a happy trip. I enjoy this way of learning. I like how we got an opportunity to experience what we learned about in class and put it into real-life practice. It was a useful way to get us more interested in what we were learning about. It also showed us the importance of the journey when we're learning something new.

Some university students are looking for the summer jobs. Here are the advertisements in today's newspaper.

Finding great views is an unforgettable experience. During the summer holiday, I was     43    (luck) enough to go to Chile (智利) in South America along with some of my schoolmates. We stayed with   Chilean     44    (family)   there. We met them when they visited our school   before. While we     45    (be) there, we visited many parts of the country, including the Atacama Desert (阿塔卡马沙漠) and Chile's capital city of Santiago.

At first, it was a bit difficult     46    (live) in a house with a new family. But I fit in well and my Spanish improved     47    (quick). My trip to Atacama Desert was an unforgettable experience. For example, I swam in Cejar Lagoon, an oasis (绿洲).     48    (it) salty water can help you float more easily. In addition, I saw wild flamingos, ate in a cafe at a     49    (high) of 3,300 meters and climbed a mountain to see cave (洞穴) paintings that were created over 4,000 years ago.

Every child in the UK must receive a full-time education until the age of 16. Parents can choose to send their children either to a state school, which is free, or to a private school, where a fee is required.

(A) They generally divide the school year into three terms. Each term ends in a holiday. The summer holiday is the longest and usually lasts from the middle of July to the beginning of September.

Education has (B) ________ main stages—primary school and secondary school. Primary schools are for students from the age of 5 to 11. The main subjects are Maths, English, History, Geography, Science, Art, Music and PE. Secondary schools are for students from the age of 11 to 16 or 18. The same subjects are taught there (C) as well as other subjects, such as foreign languages (usually French, German or Spanish), Technology and Computer Studies.

After the age of 16, students can either find a job or continue their studies at a school or college until they are 18.(D) ________ the ages of 16 and 18, students must choose only 3 or 4 subjects to study. At the end of the 2 years, (E) 他们必须参加一些重要考试。 If they do well, they can then go on to study at university. There are (F) over 100 universities in the UK, and the most famous are University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge.

A group of boys gathered around a tree. "What a tall tree!" they said to each other. "It would be exciting to climb to the top!"

The group of boys then decided to play a game to see who could climb to the top of the tree first. ① Their mothers were sitting not far away looking on at their children as they played.

(A) 其中一个孩子是个8岁的男孩儿 named David. He was the shortest child in the group. Nobody thought he would win the competition.

Then the game started. ② Although the climbers all made it half way up the tree before David did, he reached the top of the tree (B) ________ in the end.

His mother was proud to see this. She asked him, "David, (C) how did you succeed in reaching the top of the tree so quickly?"

"It was easy, "David said, "The other children kept looking down as they climbed. ③ When   they realized how high they were, they got scared and were afraid of falling down. I, however, looked only up. When I saw how close I was, I kept going higher and higher (D) ________ I reached the Top."

It is true in life that if we just keep going forward without looking back, we must reach our goals.

Good afternoon. I am Wu Lingling and I want to share my experiences in learning English with you. I was always good at reading and writing English     60    . However when I tried my best to     61     foreigners, I seldom succeeded. I thought I would never learn to listen and speak well.

Then one day, I went to English Corner. At English corner,     62     Chinese people and foreigners get together to speak English. Everybody there is either     63     themselves or happy to help others learn. I have been going to English Corner     64     for more than a year now, and my English has improved so much!

65. 假如你是李平，要参加学校举办的英语周活动，请以How to make our classroom a(n) ________ place 为题写一篇倡议书。