Several years ago, my boss let me work overseas, so I decided to give my black cat Larry to my mother. It was     1     (real) hard for me because I loved my cat so much. I couldn’t imagine living     2     him. But I had to do that. Besides, my mother had been feeling lonely lately, and I     3     (hope) Larry would change that.

Those days without Larry were difficult, because Larry was already like     4     son to me. I asked my mother to share videos of Larry online as often as possible. After two years, I was ready       5     (get) Larry back. Before I could do that, I got a call from my mother. She said one morning she fell asleep much     6     (early). Suddenly, she woke     7     because Larry was on her chest, meowing and pushing her face. Larry had never done that before. She smelled       8     (anything) strange, jumped out of bed and found the kitchen on fire.

My mom is alive     9     of Larry. He has been protecting us in his way. He really     10     (see) us as his family. I guess this is what love is. It doesn’t matter whether you are a human being or a cat. You give love and you get love. And I know that Larry loves us, just like we love him.

2 . Stan Lee, original name Stanley Martin Lieber, was     1     (出生) in New York City in 1922. At the age of 17, he got a job at Timely Comics, the company that later developed into Marvel. There he     2     (精确地) learned writing duties and penning superhero stories.

Lee spent nearly 80 years of his life     3     (创造) hundreds of characters and teams.

Some of them are     4     (广泛地) known around the world, such as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Iron Mar the Avengers, X-Men and Thor.

Actually, Marvel’s superheroes existed long before Lee got into the     5     (商业). They were perfect in comic books. However, Lee’s heroes are quite different. They do have superpowers that ordinary people don’t have. But they are also troubled by     6     (日常的) problems. People who like Lee’s heroes think that they can even feel for these superheroes.

Lee has also played many cameo roles in Marvel movies, a     7     (传统) that continued after Walt Disney. In these films, he waters the flowers, delivers     8     (邮件) and even works as a security     9     (警卫). In 2008, Lee was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

On November 12, 2018, this     10     (活跃的) old man died of illness in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 95. But we will always remember him and his superheroes.

3 . How time flies! Now we are in the     1     (nine) grade. Our junior high school years will come to an end in several months,     2     I still remember the first time when we came to the school. We came from different places and we met     3     the first time, so we didn’t know each other. In the past three years, we have not only experienced lots of difficulties, but also had many beautiful     4     (memory) in our school life. We once     5     (fight), and then we made peace with each other. We are good friends now.

I remembered that our school held     6     sports meeting last autumn. We came to school     7     (early) than usual. Although it was September and it was a little cold, we didn’t feel cold at all. We ran, jumped and cheered for     8     (we) teammates.    9     (luck), we won the first prize in our school. How happy we were!

I will put all of these     10     (value) things in my heart forever.

4 . Many museums have works of art and some     1     (著名的) pieces that can never be replaced. These museums give the public a     2     (机会) to enjoy their treasures. In the past, people could     3     (不常，很少) talk when visiting museums. Today, rules aren’t as strict, but following some rules is still necessary.

First, respect the space. Keep the museum space clean and throw away all rubbish.     4     (避免) standing against walls and watch where you walk. No     5     (食物) is allowed. Finish eating all the food before     6     (进来，进去) the museum.

Second, respect the art. No touching the art. Hands, fingers or any body part should never come into contact with the artwork.     7     (某人) thinks a small touch won’t hurt the artwork, but     8     (想象) how those “touches” would add up with hundreds or thousands of visitors every day. No flash photos. Without     9     (疑惑，疑问), bright lights can be harmful to the art.

Third, respect other visitors. Complete silence isn’t necessary, but talk in a     10     (低的) voice. Stand in lines while buying tickets or waiting.

5 . It is reported that more and more people are trying Traditional Chinese Medicine. As a result, China has become the     1     (中心) of herbal planting. Nobody can tell when the Chinese started to     2     (发现) the magical use of the different herbs. There are many stories talking about the starting of the Traditional Chinese Medicine. And the story of Shen Nong collecting herbs has been most     3     (广泛地) spread.

Shen Nong found that some     4     (叶子) of plants could help stop illness. He tried more than 300 kinds of herbs on himself to make sure of the     5     (安全) of the herbs before he used them on the patients. He always stayed     6     (在……旁边) the patients after giving them the herbs so that he could     7     (支持) them in time. Sometimes he was so     8     (瞌睡的) but he kept watching them. Shen Nong is the true hero without     9     (疑问)!

Thousands of years later, the Traditional Chinese Medicine is still playing an important role in helping those in need. We are proud of the     10     (东方的) wisdom.

7 . Last fall a beaver moved into the small stream beside our house. He began taking down small trees right away, and in a couple of weeks our stream turned into a pond. Every day, he     1     (add) more to his dam and to his house. As we saw the work that this beaver did over a very short period of time, we understand the saying, “as b    2     as a beaver”.

We thought that would be the last of the beaver’s activity as winter came. To our     3    , however, he started chewing on a very large tree. We were amazed at the     4     this beaver was trying. All winter, he chewed and chewed. He had setbacks as we faced major winter storms and     5     (freeze) weather. But when the weather allowed, he would be sure to come back and chew a bit more.

The beaver’s first goal was to survive—to build home for the winter. Working every day with that goal in mind, he     6     (successful) achieved it. But the large tree he started chewing on last fall was a future goal—he wanted the large tree to p    7     new food and branches for the coming spring.

Our beaver’s experience r    8     us that we need to set goals for tomorrow. Sometimes just surviving seems to take up all of our time. But if you do just a little bit when time allows and s    9     to your future goal, you will succeed. Keep chewing     10     the beaver, and you will realize your dream in the end.

8 . What do you know about folk or traditional art in China? Each different part of China has     1     (它的) own special forms of traditional art.

Chinese paper cutting, or jianzhi, is a kind of folk art. People who can make paper cutting take     2     (骄傲) in it. It’s a way to show people’s hope and feelings. Paper cutting sounds very easy but it can be difficult. Red paper usually     3     (与……联系) with happiness in Chinese culture. The most common pictures are flowers,     4     (动物), xi (喜) and fu (福). They are put on windows, doors and walls     5     (作为) symbols of wishes for good luck.

Chinese clay art is     6     (广泛) known and popular all over the country. Now many kids learn to make it in schools or even in     7     (公开的) places. To make Chinese clay art, the Chinese shape the clay by hand into things, such as cute children or     8     (生气勃勃的) characters from a Chinese fairy tale or historical story. After the things get dry in the air, they are fired at a very high     9     (热，高温) and then polished and painted. It takes several weeks to     10     (完成) everything. Although they look so small, they look very real. These small pieces of clay art show the love that all Chinese people have for life and beauty.

9 . Stan Lee, original name Stanley Martin Lieber, was     1     (出生) in New York City in 1922. At the age of 17, he got a job at Timely Comics, the company that later developed into Marvel. There he     2     (精确地) learned writing duties and superhero stories.

Lee spent nearly 80 years of his life creating hundreds of characters and teams.

People widely     3     (传播) some of his works around the world, such as the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, Iron Mar the Avengers, X-Men and Thor.

Actually, Marvel’s superheroes existed long before Lee got into the     4     (商业). They were perfect in comic books. However, Lee’s heroes are quite different. They do have superpowers that common people don’t have. But they are also troubled by     5     (日常的) problems. People who like Lee’s heroes think that they can even feel sorry for these superheroes.

Lee has also played many cameo roles in Marvel movies, a     6     (传统) that continued after Walt Disney. In these films, he waters the flowers, sends     7     (邮件). Once he even worked as a safety     8     (警卫), In 2008, Lee was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

On November 12, 2018, this     9     (活跃的) old man died of illness in Los Angeles，California, at the age of 95. But we will always     10     (记住) him and his superheroes. He will live in our world forever.

10 . Scientists have known for many years that houseplants benefit people’s health. Now scientists have found a way to make plants even better for people’s health. They     1     (研发) a method called GM to grow plants. GM means changing a plant or an animal by changing its DNA,     2     (包括) adding DNA from another species.

In 1989, research done by NASA found that houseplants could clean the air in a home. However, further research showed plants     3     (事实上) made a very small difference to help much.     4     (自从) then, scientists have been experimenting with the DNA of certain plants to create a plant that will reduce more air pollution.

In 2018, American scientists make a     5     (决定) to use a houseplant called pothos. They put DNA from a rabbit into the plant and were     6     (惊讶的) to find the new DNA made the plant better at reducing pollution.

R    7    , a company called Neoplants added more DNA from two types of bacteria. As a result, pothos was about 30 times better at reducing pollution c    8     with the non-GM plants that NASA tested in 1989.

Many problems remain unsolved, but the scientists at Neoplants say     9     (无论什么) difficulties they meet, they will never give up. They plan to use this technology in other types of houseplants and hope people in the US will be     10     (能够……的) to decorate their homes with pollution-destroying plants by next year.