Fifteen years ago, I worked in a local lumber mill （木材厂）. The hours were ________. The work was dangerous. And the pay was low. Every day was a struggle physically. It was too hot in summer and too cold in winter. My back would burn with the ________ from the constant bending, lifting and carrying. My feet would ache from ________ the entire day. My fingers would bleed from the work that my hands were doing. I tried to keep my spirit up ________ I worked there, but day by day I felt that I was developing depression. Every morning, I would place Band-Aids （创可贴）around my fingers and ________ my old heavy work shoes. Every night, I would drag myself home smelling of sweat and dust and collapse （坐下）on the sofa.

One evening I felt like I could ________ it no more. Why was I working myself to death there just to survive? Why couldn't I find a better job than that? Why was I having to go through all those things?

I wasn't really expecting an answer, but life loves to surprise me. As I struggled up the ________ to my front door, I found all three of my young children waiting for me with smiling faces. "Daddy, Daddy! My daughter yelled. I ________ and picked her up in my arms. After hugging them all, I laughed for the first time in days and sat down ________. It was just the answer that I needed.

At last I moved on to a better job, ________ I never forgot the answer to my questions. We may have to work to live, but we live to love.

My hobby is collecting stickers （贴画）. It is also one of the most popular hobbies among children. Children enjoy this pastime （消遣）because it is not an expensive hobby.

I have started collecting stickers since I was four years old. My hobby began through the influence of my neighbour, Wilfred. One day when I was playing in his house, he showed me his stacks of sticker albums （专辑）. I was amazed to see so many colourful stickers of all shapes and sizes. He gave me a few pieces from his collection. My interest in stickers started from that day.

I kept my first set of stickers in a notebook but my subsequent collections were kept in beautiful boxes. By keeping the stickers in boxes. I can exchange some of my stickers with my friends.

After my family members knew my hobby of collecting stickers, they began to buy stickers for me whenever they came across nice ones. I love those stickers from my cousin who is an air hostess. She bought them from different countries around the world.

During my free time, I often bring out all my lovely collections, lay them on the ground and enjoy them. Some of my friends are jealous of my collections as I don't exchange my unique （独一无二的）stickers with them.

In Pontevedra, Spain, people don't shout. Since cars are banned （禁止）in the city, there are no horns （喇叭）or noises from car engines. People don't have to try hard to make themselves heard. What you hear in the street, instead, is the singing of birds.

"Listen," says Miguel Lores, the mayor, opening the windows of his office. From the street below rises the sound of human voices. "More than 14, 000 cars used to pass along this street every day. There were more cars passing through the city in a day than people living here. "

Lores became mayor in 1999. He spent months walking around the city. "The historical city is dead, " he said one day. "It is full of cars. It is heavily polluted. There are a lot of traffic accidents. The elderly and children aren't able to use the streets because of cars. People who had a chance to leave have done so. "

At first, Lores thought of improving traffic conditions. However, he couldn't come up with a good plan. After lots of discussions, the government finally decided to get rid of cars.

The change has brought Pontevedra many benefits. Traffic accidents are now rare; CO₂ emissions （排放物）are down 70 percent. Many people are moving to the city, making it lively again.

Most local citizens like the change. Ramiro Armesto, a mother of two young children, said, "In the past, the first thing to see in the morning was traffic jams. Now, the city is cleaner, quieter and safer. ", Raquel Garcia, another parent, said she had stayed in many cities around the world. However, she had never lived in a city as "easy to live in" as Pontevedra. "Even if it's raining, I walk everywhere. The feeling is wonderful, she added. "For me, Pontevedra is paradise （天堂）. "

Many of us learn how to ride a bicycle at a young age. As we grow older, we may stop riding—most of us go to school by bus or by subway. But whenever we get on a bicycle, it's like we've never stopped biking.

This is strange. In many other cases, our memories let us down. We often find it hard to remember the name of a person or a place, don't we? So why can we still ride a bicycle after we stopped riding a long time ago?

It turns out that there are many types of memory. They are stored in different regions of our brains. Memories of experiences (e. g, our first day at school) and of factual knowledge (e. g. , the capital of France) are called declarative (陈述的) memories. These memories can be communicated to others. Skills such as playing an instrument or riding a bike: are called procedural (程序的) memories. These memories are responsible for our performance.

Scientists have done many experiments on different memory types. Perhaps the most famous of them was carried out on Henry Gustav Molaison, an epileptic (癫痫患者). In an operation in the 1950s, part of his brain was taken away. After that, the man suffered less— from epilepsy. But there was a new problem—he couldn't remember things!

What went wrong with Molaison's memory system? Through various tests, scientists found he could learn new skills (slowly, though). However, he could never remember having been trained to learn a new skill. In other words, Molaison could develop new procedural, but not declarative memories.

Scientists have concluded that even with serious brain injuries, procedural memories last much longer. However, they haven't yet found out why. Some say procedural memories are more lasting because they are stored in the brain's center.

Now, "just like riding a bicycle" has been used as an idiom (习语). Can you guess its meaning? Yes, people use it to describe a skill that, once learned, is never forgotten.

Why would someone decide to stop eating? We know that the body needs food in order to function（运行）well. However, many people fast at some point in their lives. Why is this?

Some people fast for political reasons. In the early 2011 century, women in England and the United States weren't allowed to vote. In protest （抗议）, many women went on fasts. They hoped that fasting would bring attention to this unfairness. Mohandas Gandhi （莫罕达斯•甘地）, the famous Indian leader, fasted 17 times during his life. For Gandhi, fasting was a powerful political tool. In 1943, he fasted to bring attention to his country's need for independence. For 21 days, he went without food. Another famous faster was Cesar Chavez. In the 1960s, he fasted for three weeks. His goal was to bring attention to the terrible working conditions of farmworkers in the United States.

Fasting is also a spiritual practice in many religions （宗教）. Every year during the month of Ramadan, which is a religious holiday, Muslims fest from sunrise to sunset. Many Hindus fast on special occasions, as do some Christians and Buddhists.

Of course, not everyone fasts for political or religious reasons. Some people occasionally fast just because it makes them feel better. The American writer Mark Twain thought fasting was the best medicine for common illnesses. Whenever he had a cold or a fever, he stopped eating completely. He said that this always made his cold or fever go away. Another American writer, Upton Sinclair, discovered fasting after years of overeating, indigestion（消化不良）and headaches. His first fast lasted for 12 days. During this time, his headaches and stomachaches went away. Sinclair said that fasting also made him more energetic.

Choosing to go without food can be very dangerous. However, that doesn't stop people from fasting for political, religious or health reasons.

Olyvia, "love is simple. You don't have to do much to make someone happy. " That was what my mother said to me when I was a child. Over a year ago, I had a chance. My good friend Kaylee told me about her t    56     to a small town called Gary, and how it was a life—changing experience. I made up my mind to go there myself.

When I told my parents about the decision, they didn’t a    57     at first. They said I didn't know much about the place. They were worried that it was not s    58     for me to go there. Thankfully, after I e    59     my plan to them in detail, they said yes.

When our group arrived in Gary, I noticed how different the town was from where I lived. There were few stores or restaurants in the town; most had closed. So you would be very 1    60     if you could find a place to buy food or drinks. Houses were built on small hills. Many of them had broken doors or windows. My job was to help the local people to r    61     houses. The work days were long and hot, but it was really good to see the houses taking on a new look day by day.

The children there were also different. They seemed to enjoy every moment in life t    62     they were poor. The smallest things would make these kids happy. I couldn't find words to describe their j    63     when they received an ice—cream, a ball or e    64     a kiss. The community was like a big family. Everyone knew each other and was there when someone needed help,

I am so glad that I had this unforgettable e    65    . I truly learned the meaning, of what my mother said. You don't need to do much to make a difference to others' lives.

66. 假如你是阳光中学学生王芳，学校将组织一次环境保护志愿活动，你打算邀请交换生Linda参加。请根据以下提示用英语给她写一封电子邮件。

I’m writing to invite you to take part in the school's voluntary activity to protect the environment.

Yours,

Wang Fang