Lots of scientists believe there’s life on other planets. Because of this, they keep doing research     1     the universe. They have sent astronauts to the moon. And they have     2     the answer. There’s no life on the moon. Not long ago they     3     spaceships to Mars. There, they didn’t find life. And they found the environment of Mars was     4     from that of the earth. Then they knew it was     5     for people to live on Mars.

    6     they haven’t received a message from other planets, they believe their idea is right. Recently they have discovered a planet. It’s     7     Proxima Centauri (比邻星). It’s very     8     to our earth. It is just over four light years away. Proxima Centauri is     9     than the earth. And there’s water on this planet. That     10     mean that life is possible there. Now scientists are studying this planet. Soon they will tell people the answer.

What do you know about Mars? What does it look like?

Mars is the     1     planet from the sun in our solar system and     2     after Mars, the Roman god of war. Its diameter is 53% as     3     as that of the earth. Mars gets around the sun     4     a distance of about 228 million kilometers. You can tell which planet is Mars because it is bright red in the night sky. It looks like a red     5     orange ball. It’s very beautiful. But during spring and summer, the surface of Mars is covered by strong storms. The gravity on the surface of Mars is about two-fifths as strong as it is on earth. So a person     6     weighs 90 kilos on earth weighs only 36 kilos on Mars. The     7     on Mars is between -138℃ and 28℃. The air     8     only 0.13% oxygen.

It takes a spaceship about eight months     9     Mars from the earth when the two     10     are closest to each other. Scientists are still searching for more information about Mars.

Scientists have always wanted to know more about the other worlds in space. Years ago they knew a lot about the moon. They knew how big it was and how far it was     1     the earth. But they wanted to know more about it. They thought and thought. At last they found the only way to know more was to send men to the moon.

The moon is about 384,000 kilometers     2     from the earth. A plane can not fly to the moon because the air reaches only 240 kilometers high above the earth. Then there is no air. But there’s something that can fly even     3     there is no air. That is a rocket. Rockets can fly out     4     space. Rockets with men in them have already reached the moon. Some rockets     5     men in them have flown to other parts much farther than the moon in the universe. One day rockets may be able to go to any place.

Opened at the end of the 18th century, the Louvre(卢浮宫) is the most famous museum in France and one of the most visited in the world. At present, it receives over 8 million     1     each year.

The Louvre used to be fortress(堡垒) in the 12nd century. Before it opened as a museum, King Charles V and Philippe II lived there. When the Royal Family moved to Versailles(凡尔赛宫), the building was turned into one of the most     2     museums in the world. It now covers a total area of 160, 000 square meters.

A glass pyramid(金字塔) was built in the palace's main courtyard in 1989. It was     3     by Ieoh Ming Pei, a famous Chinese-American architect. When it was newly built, some people disliked it and said that it destroyed the beauty of the palace. But the pyramid proved itself to be a great     4     over the years. It is now loved by both tourists and local people. In fact, the pyramid itself has become a tourist attraction.

Recently, Barcelona's opera house held a concert. A string quarter(弦乐四重奏) played a piece of music to a full house.

But the     5     was a little unusual—all 2, 292 seats were filed with potted plants. And people watched the concert on the internet.

Eugenio Ampudia, an artist came up with the idea for the concert. Mr. Ampudia said that during the coronavirus lockdown(新冠病毒封锁), he felt     6     to nature. He was happy that humans could only watch while nature came back to fill many places. The concert was built on that idea, and got people to think about their     7     with nature.

The event was also a way to thank Spain's health care workers. After the concert, the plants were given to health care workers in Barcelona to thank them for their     8     during Spain's fight against the virus.

In 1939, two brothers, Mac and Dick McDonald, started a drive-in restaurant in San Ber-nadino, California. They chose a busy corner for their place carefully. They ran their own     1     for years, first a theater, then a barbecue (烤肉) restaurant, then another drive-in.     2     later, they provided a new menu. French fries, hamburgers and sodas were on it. Soon they came up with one new idea and     3     it to the new menu such as quick service, no waiters or waitresses and no tips (小费).

The brothers developed a strict routine (程序) for the preparation of     4     food. The new drive-in became very popular, especially for lunch. The self-service restaurant was popular. Later, the brothers opened another ten restaurants     5    . Ray Kroc was a salesman. He got in touch     6     the McDonald brothers in 1954. He quickly saw the special way of the brothers’ fast-food restaurants and succeeded in     7     the right to franchise (特许经营) other copies of their restaurants. Ray Kroc owned the right to duplicate (复制) the menu, the equipment as     8     as their red and white buildings.

In 1976, McDonald’s had over $1000     9     in total. Its first twenty-two years is one of the most amazing stories in the modern American restaurant history. In     10    , McDonald’s is really a well-known name today.

MEP taught the people there to make good use of land and water     1     get more food, forest and grassland and the people there began to live peacefully with the elephants. The other reason was that many people killed them     2     much money. Eighty-three elephants were lost in 2015, and another fifty-one were killed in 2016. “If the situation goes on, all of the elephants     3     in the future,” Canney, the head of MEP said. Facing the serious situation, the     4     set up a special team to stop people from killing (杀害) the animals. Luckily, there are about 350 elephants living in the     5    . Though things are improving, there is still a long way to go.

Animals are our friends. It’s of great importance to protect the environment and stop killing.

Can animals be made to work for us? Some scientists     1     that one day animals     2     be taught to do a number of simple jobs. They     3     that in a film or on TV we may     4     elephants, monkeys, dogs, bears, or other animals doing a lot of things. If you     5     carefully, you may find that those animals are given something to eat in return for     6     them. The scientists say that many different animals may be taught to do a number of simple jobs if they will get something     7    .

Of course, as we know, dogs can be used to guard a house, and elephants can be used to do some heavy jobs. And we can also teach animals     8     in factories. Apes, for example, have     9     used in America to help make cars and scientists     10     that these monkeys may one day get in crops and even drive trains.

In the year 2050, there will be different kinds of materials (材料) for clothes. Special materials will make the clothes     1     forever. They will never get dirty (脏的). We will have less (更少的) work, and we won’t need to wash clothes. So we can save     2     and money.

Children won’t     3     about what to wear to school every day, because they won’t go to school! They’ll stay at home in front of computers to study. They can wear their favourite clothes every day. Someone thinks it will be       4    , but the school life isn’t the one I like. My ideal (理想中的) school is a school with many classmates and teachers together. What about     5    ? What do you think schools will be like in 2050?