When I was a little child. I was a picky (挑食的) eater. There were many foods that I did not like to eat.     1     there is one meal that I have always loved: grilled (烧烤的) cheese and tomato soup. It’s just two pieces of bread     2     cheese in the middle, and there is also a bowl of tomato soup. But it always     3     (taste) great.

This kind of food is called “comfort food”. Comfort food means simple, easy-to-make meals that are delicious. Your parents might make meals     4     this for you when you’re not feeling well.

Chicken noodle soup is another example of comfort food. It’s     5     simple soup of chicken, noodles and a few vegetables. But it is the     6     (good) food on a cold day, especially if you’re sick.

Different     7     (country) have different comfort foods. In France, French onion soup is a popular     8     food. It is made of cheese, onion and bread in soup. In Japan, many people eat ramen noodles (拉面). My parents always buy these foods for     9     (I). They’re quite nice.

Does China have     10     (it) comfort food? I’m not sure. I know that many people enjoy noodles and dumplings. And I can think they may be comfort food for the Chinese.

Great news! Mrs. Mumford just told me I had been chosen as one of the school students to visit the University of Cape Town in South     1     (非洲) this summer! She said the program was designed for     2    (成百）of the teenagers to experience a different culture. What a good chance.

The only problem is: mom and dad simply won't let me go. They said it was too dangerous for a girl to     3    （旅行）alone. But my guess is that they think it too     4     (昂贵的). I keep telling them I had been on a plane on my own before. This trip would be     5     (差不多) the same as that time when I had visited you in Texas. But they just won't listen!

Will you help, Auntie Em? I really want to go because it will be very important experience to my personal growth.

Love, (and love you even more ) if you manage to make mom and dad agree with me.

How was your May Day holiday? I had an enjoyable holiday. As you know, we had five days off this year, so     1     (go) on a trip was my family’s choice (选择). I was excited from the     2     (one) day. My family went to Xi’an. It is not far     3     my city. And we spent about three hours    4     the road. The trip went     5     (good) except (除……外) a small accident—I lost my ID card!     6     (Lucky), someone found it and called the police. A tall policeman     7     (take) it to our hotel.

The next day, we went to Shaanxi History Museum first. My father booked (预定)     8     (ticket) on the Internet and we got there early. There     9     (be) several people waiting outside. Because of COVID-19, many people    10     (stay) at home so the museum was not so crowded as before. And it was not difficult to find somewhere to park our car. We didn’t need to wait all the time during the holiday. It was really great!

Yours,

Sun Ying

We arrived     1     Beijing at 10:00 in the morning. My friend and I     2    (have) our breakfast on the plane. We     3    (leave) the airport by taxi and put down our things. After lunch and a short rest, we     4    (take) a bus to Summer Palace. We spent the whole afternoon     5    (play) there. While we were in a boat to Kunming Lake, we heard someone singing Beijing Opera     6     the bank. The singing sounded very beautiful.

In the evening we walked to Tian’anmen Square     7     it was close to our hotel. We had our     8    (picture) taken in the middle of the square. There we saw some people     9    (dance).     10     front of the Great Hall of the People we took some photos.

【推荐1】There are lots of amazing places for people to imagine and expect in the world. But many people     1     (encourage) to go into Cambridge.

I come from Cambridge, a beautiful city in the east of England. I have grown up there and experienced many     2     (wonder) times. I have many good     3     (memory) of it. In recent years, it develops     4     (rapid) and has changed a lot. For this, more and more tourists take an interest in it.

Cambridge is 80 kilometers from London. London is in     5     south of England. It has a population of about seven and a half million, so it is     6     (big) and busier than Cambridge. It is about 2,000 years old, and it is famous     7     Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and Tower Bridge. England     8     (it) is part of an island. It owns rich tourism resources. Tourists like the mountain areas and beautiful lakes in the north, and the hills and pretty villages in the south. So it’s really perfect for you     9     (pay) a visit. It is never very hot in summer     10     very cold in winter. So you can visit   England any time of the year. Or it will be a pity in the rest of time.

【推荐2】Rivers are one of our most important naturalresources(资源). Many of the world’s great cities are located on rivers, and almost every country has at l______one river running through it that plays an important part in the lives of its people.

Since the beginning of history, people have used rivers for transportation. The longest one in the United States is the Mississippi. The lifeline of Egypt is the Nile. To the people of India, the Ganges is great, but it is also important for transportation; ships cant______along it for a thousand miles. Other great rivers are the Congo in Africa and the Mekong in southeastern Asia. The greatest of all fornavigation（航海）, however, is the Amazon in Brazil（巴西）. It is so wide and so deep that large ships can go about two thousand miles up it.

B_______transportation, rivers give food to eat, water to drink, water for crops, and chances for fun. In order to increase thesupply(供给) of water for crops, engineers sometimes build adam(大坝) a________a river and let a lake form behind the dam. Then people can use the water not only toirrigate(灌溉) their fields but also top_______electricity for their homes and industries.

However, large cities and industries that are located on rivers often cause problems. As the cities grow in size and industries increase in number, the water in the rivers becomes polluted with c_______and other materials. People are learning the importance, however, of doing more to keep their rivers clean if they want to enjoy thebenefits(利益) of these natural resources.

Trying to visit a big city like Los Angeles in just one day is a hard thing to do. But if you only have 24 hours, I have a good p    1    to help you. This guide will show you where to go and how to go a    2     L.A. in one day.

To start your day in L.A., go to Venice Beach first. It’s an interesting place, t    3     not everyone will like it. But if you want to experience the free and creative spirit of L.A., this is the place to be.

The next place of i    4     that you should visit is the Getty Center. It is on a hill in the Santa Monica mountains. It is a museum and it is m    5     up of multiple buildings with lots of galleries (画廊) inside. It has the best and most valuable art collections in L.A., so it’s definitely worth a visit.

The Chinese Theater is a r    6    cool place in Hollywood. Most people come to see the handprints and footprints of Hollywood legends (传说) in the cement (水泥) outside. It all started when one of the famous people once stepped in the w    7     cement by accident (意外地) when they were building the theater. But then, i    8     of fixing it, the owner thought it was a cool idea and asked other famous people to do it, too. That’s h    9     it all started.

The Griffith Observatory (天文台) is also an amazing place in Los Angeles. If you go there in the e    10    , you’ll be able to see a beautiful sunset. The best part is that from the terrace (露天平台) of the observatory, you can see the whole valley (山谷). If it’s a clear day, you can even see all the way to Santa Monica!

An Accidental Invention

Did you know that tea, the most popular drink in the world, was invented by accident (偶然地)? Many people believe that tea was first drunk about 5,000 years a    1    . It is said that a Chinese ruler called Shen Nong was the first to discover t    2     as a drink. One day Shen Nong was boiling drinking water over an open fire. Some leaves from a tea plant fell into the water and r    3     there for some time. It produced a nice s    4    , so he tasted the brown water. It was quite delicious, and so, one of the world’s favorite drinks was i    5    .

A few thousand years later, Lu Yu, “the saint (圣人)of the tea”, mentioned Shen Nong in his book Cha Jing. The book describes how tea plants w    6     grown and used to make tea. It also discusses where the finest tea leaves were produced and what kinds of water were used.

It is believed that tea was brought to Korea and Japan d    7     the 6th and 7th centuries. In England, tea didn’t appear until around 1660, but in l    8     than 100 years, it had become the national drink. The tea t    9     from China to Western countries took place in the 19th century. This helped to spread the popularity of tea and the tea plant to more places around the world. E    10     though many people now know about tea culture, the Chinese are without doubt the ones who best understand the nature of tea.

【推荐3】阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入一个适当的词, 或填入括号中所给单词的正确形式。

Fire is important to the Yi people.     1     (Dance) and singing, the Yi people had fun around the fire during the Torch (火把) Festival in Bijie, Guizhou,     2     August 12. Every year, the Yi people lights (点燃) torches to show their love for fire.

The early Yi people lived in high and cold places in the mountains. They used fire for light to stay warm and cook food. As     3     old saying goes, “Everything you eat must ‘see’ fire.” In the old days, people made a small fire outside the door before they     4     (take) animal meat into the home. They put the meat over the fire and hoped     5     (drive) away bad luck. They also used fire to light leaves on the ground to make the land rich.

And now the festival is getting     6     (real) popular. During the festival, both the Yi people and     7     (visitor) come together. They show and spread (传播) their happiness and thanks for a good life. The Yi people want to get more people to learn about     8     (they) life.

During the festival, each family has a big torch. But the children’s torches are much     9     (small). The Yi children look forward to this festival, because it means good food and a good time to stay with family. They even go out in different groups to pick flowers     10     bamboo to make their torches beautiful. What an interesting festival it is!