I grew up in a poor family where none of us kids believed in Santa Claus. My parents refused to let us believe in him. They couldn’t provide us ___expensive presents. And they didn’t want us to think we weren’t as good as other kids who, on Christmas morning, found all kinds of toys under the tree that were ___ to be left by Santa Claus.

That year when Christmas came, we had no money at all. On Christmas Eve, Dad took us three kids out into the night one after ___ . I had a blanket （毛毯） with me, and when it was my turn, I offered to share it with Dad, but he said “No, thanks.” The____ never troubled him. I sat next to Dad and we looked up at the sky.

“Pick out your ___ star. It’ll be your Christmas present.” Dad said.

“You can’t give me a star! No one owns a star.”

“That’s right,” Dad said. “No one else owns a star. You just have to claim （认领） it ___anyone else does, just like Columbus claimed America.”

I ___ it for a while. “I want that one,” I said.

“That’s Venus （金星） . It is a planet. It shines only from reflected （反射的） light.”

“I like it anyway,” I said.

“It’s Christmas. You can have a planet if you want.”

That evening, we discussed outer space and I realized Dad was a man with much ___ of the stars and planets. We all____ about the other kids who believed in Santa Claus and got nothing for Christmas but some cheap plastic toys. “Years from now, when all that they got are broken and long forgotten,” Dad said, “you’ll __ have your stars.”

Are you a sports lover? There are many things to look forward to in 2018. Here we list two most exciting events for you. Let’s have a look!

It’s not amazing to see paintings on paper, on the walls and even on people’s faces. But have you ever thought of creating art in the fields? In Japan, every year farmers plant different kinds and colors of rice to “grow” pictures in the fields. This is called Tanbo art. It started in 1993. At that time the village of Inakadate was trying to do something to help the villagers make more money. They needed a way to attract（吸引）tourists and then the rice field art came into being. During the first few years, the famers created simple pictures. Later they were able to make more complex ones.

Every April, the villagers meet and decide what to plant for the year. Before planting, farmers design（设计）the pictures on computers to work out where and how to plant the rice. After that, farmers plant different kinds of rice in different areas of fields. When rice grows tall, different colors will appear in the fields.

Now, Inakadate has become one of the most popular places of interest for both the young and old. So what are you waiting for? Just bring your camera, go and enjoy the beauty of nature for yourself this summer!

It was on a cold winter night that I knew my mother was dying. I travelled miles from home to spend the last night with her. I sat right next to her sick body, reading her long-loved books. It was one of the most difficult and painful times in my life. After she died, for many days, I stayed alone in her room, with a lonely and empty heart. Everything was in silence.

But one evening the silence was broken: I heard crying outside. I opened the door to find a little dog on the steps. He was thin and poor. I brought him inside, fed him with some fish, and then he fell asleep.

The next morning I learned that the dog’s owner had moved out, so the little dog was there all alone, just like I was. As I walked back to the house, I tried to work out what to do with him. Taking care of something seemed like the very last thing I wanted to do. But as soon as I opened the door, he ran to me and jumped into my arms. It was clear that he didn’t want to go anywhere.

When the time finally came for me to return home, I had to decide what to do about him. There was no way I would leave without him. From then on, things grew easier. With him around, time seemed to pass much faster.

Five years has gone since my mother died. Over the years, many people have said how nice it was of me to save the dog. But I know that we rescued（拯救）each other. I may have given him a home but he gave me something greater.

AI（人工智能）can help us make phone calls, find the place we want to go and play games. And now, AI can do even more things.

Researchers have created the first translation system which makes sure you’ll have no difficulty in communicating in a foreign country.

The system, called the Pioneer, will enter the market in 2019. When set in an earbud（耳塞）, it fits comfortably in the ear. A pair of earpieces（听筒）is needed, one for each user. When the speaker talks, the Pioneer in the ear picks up the sound. And then the sound goes through the translation system that changes it into text in the listener’s language. Then, the text is translated into a spoken form, and at last the Pioneer “whispers（私语）” it back to the listener in his or her language. As a result, the listener can understand the other person even though he or she doesn’t know the speaker’s language at all.

But how can the Pioneer make sure the translation is correct? Researchers tried many ways to improve the system’s translation abilities.

In one method, the system translates every sentence from Language A to Language B, and translates the sentence back from Language B into Language A. This way, the system can improve itself and learn from its own mistakes.

Another way needs the system to repeat the process of translating the same sentence over and over again. This takes about three months and then the system can improve the ability of its translation.

Stephen Hawking was born in 1942 in Oxford, England. When he was young, he wanted to be a scientist. When he was in the University of Cambridge, doctors discovered that he had ALS（肌萎缩性骨髓侧索硬化症）. Most people with ALS can only live for five years. The doctors thought Hawking would live only two and a half more years. When Hawking heard this, he became very sad.

At about this time he met Jane Wilde, a language student at Cambridge. They fell in love and got married in 1965. Hawking does research about how the universe（宇宙）began. He sees connections and works out explanations that other people cannot. His research has influenced many other scientists as well.

As his disease got worse, Stephen Hawking was in short of money. He needed special wheelchairs, nurses 24 hours a day, and machines to help him read and speak. So Hawking gave speeches and wrote articles.

Hawking wrote A Brief History of Time. Even though most people could not understand Hawking’s ideas, he surprised them and became world famous.

Hawking died on March 14 at the age of 76 after living with ALS for 30 years. He has given us many things to think about and lessons to learn from.

I teach at a college three times a week. Besides teaching there, I also teach at another college in Henderson, 17 miles down the road from     55     I live. One day a few weeks ago I drove to Henderson. I left the freeway and turned onto College Drive. I only had to drive a quarter mile down the road to the college. But just then my car died. I tried to start it again, but the engine（引擎）wouldn’t work. So I got out of the car and     56     down the road to the college.

As soon as I got there, I went to the nearest police station and asked for a tow truck（拖车）to meet me at my car after class. The police officer asked     57     what had happened. After I told him, I said with a smile, “This is my day!” “Oh? Your car breaks down but why do you say today is your     58     day?” He asked in doubt.

“I live 17 miles from here,” I explained. “My car could have broken down anywhere     59     the way to the college. It didn’t. Luckily, it broke down in the perfect place: off the freeway, not very far to walk here,     60     I’m still able to teach my class as well as ask for the tow truck to meet me after class in time. Right?”

Hearing my words, the police officer’s eyes opened wide. A few seconds later, he understood and smiled to me. I continued: “Every morning when you get up, you have a     61     about how you want to spend your life that day. I choose to be cheerful.” After this, I smiled gently     62     to him and headed for class.

63. 假设你是Lin Tao，你在八中校报上看到了下面这则新闻，请你按要求以一名读者的身份给编辑写封信。

I hope to hear from you soon!

Lin Tao