The Shenzhou-18 manned spaceship has been successfully launched (发射) from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. It marks China’s 32nd manned flight into space.

At 8: 59 p. m. on April 25, 2024, it     1     (send) three astronauts and nearly 100 experimental boxes (实验柜) to the Tiangong space station. The three astronauts     2     (be) Ye Guangfu, Li Cong and Li Guangsu. They were all born in the 1980s. Ye was one of the     3     (member) of the Shenzhou-l3 mission (任务) from October 2021     4     April 2022.

This time, he works as the     5     (lead) of the three astronauts. Both Li Cong     6     Li Guangsu are newcomers to space. During     7     (they) time in space, they will care for the space station to make sure it can work     8     (safe). They will do over 90 experiments. A fish     9     (call) “the 4th member of Shenzhou-18” will be used for an experimental project.

The Shenzhou-18 astronauts are planned to return to     10     earth in late October this year. So they will spend about six months on the space station.

“Do you get enough sleep?” The answer is probably no if you ask a tired student who is always taking a nap (小睡) on a classroom desk. “I couldn’t get to sleep and experienced a restless night again.” You may often hear such words from an adult. Not having enough     1     is a common problem around the world.

However, sleep is just like food and water to us.     2     of us can live if we don’t sleep at all. Sleep experts say that an adult requires 7 to 9 hours of sleep a night and a teenager needs 8.5 to 9.5 hours. Anything less could be h    3     to our health.

According to a study, sleeping only five hours a night for a week is like having a blood-alcohol (酒精) level of 0.1 percent. That is above the safe driving limit (限制) in most countries. Most people probably wouldn’t take an exam or go to work if they get drunk. But     4     enough sleep, they still do these things. As a result, they     5     in the exams or perform badly at work. What’s worse, doctors and nurses often work long hours. When they are sleepy, they might hurt a patient or even     6     a patient’s death by accident.

    7     sleep is so important, many people these days are not getting enough. In a survey, twenty percent say that daytime sleepiness influences their daily work. They feel it hard to pay full attention during the day. However, they don’t seem to care. Some even show off how energetic they can be the next day just with little sleep. It may be time to wake up and     8     the way we think. We should realize that not sleeping enough is a serious problem.

In the world that we are creating very quickly, we’re going to see more and more things that look like science fiction, and fewer and fewer things that look like jobs. For example, our cars are very quickly going to start driving     1    . That means we’re going to need fewer drivers. At the same time, there might be some new kinds of     2     in the future. Let’s have a look at some of them.

Robots will become more common in our homes and schools, so we’ll need people who know     3     to fix them. These workers will be like robot doctors, finding out what’s wrong with a robot and helping it get better.

Imagine going on vacation to space! In the future, more people might be interested in space travel, so we might need g    4     who can show tourists around the stars and planets.

As AI (人工智能) is developing fast, we’ll need people to check that it works properly. We call these people AI rule keepers. They will make     5     that AI won’t do anything harmful to humans.

School might look different in the future, with lessons designed just for you. Then we’ll need p    6     learning planners. These planners would create special learning plans     7     each student, so that everyone could get what they need to succeed.

These are just a few examples of the jobs we might have in the future. The best way to get ready for these future jobs is to be open to new ideas and never     8     learning. Knowledge will remain important, and problem solving and critical (批判性的) thinking skills will be needed for our future education and work.

Community connects us with each other. A community is a p    1     where people live, work and play together. It’s just like a school, where s    2     help each other to learn. People in a community h    3     one another, too.

People in a community have different skills. They often help neighbors s    4     all kinds of problems. For example, sometimes people do not feel well. The d    5     and nurses will make them feel better. There are also some engineers. They may help people f    6     their broken bicycles or washing machines. When people don’t know what to wear to a party or how to design their homes, the artists will give them some a    7    .

Some college students work as volunteers in their s    8     time. They often do some cleaning for the old people and help students with their h    9    .

Community is not a building or an organization. It is like a big f    10    . Members of a community have a sense of trust, safety and caring for each other.

The Zigong Lantern Festival shows the wisdom and culture of people in Zigong. In 2008, the festival     1     (become) a national-level intangible cultural heritage (国家级非物质文化遗产). So far the Zigong lantern festival     2     (reach) many places in China and more than eighty     3     (country) around the world.

Wan Songtao is     4     important leader of a lantern-making company in Zigong. He spent his every vacation     5     (learn) lantern-making from his father when he was a teenager.     6     (get) better at designing (设计), Wan studied fine art in college.

One of the most important parts of making a large lantern is designing. “We used to design the lanterns all by ourselves,” said Wan. “    7     (lucky), we can use AI for good ideas now.” Besides AI, other technologies are also very     8     (help). “The great success of Zigong lanterns comes     9     team effort,” said Wan. His favorite work The sundial in 2024 is the work of over 80 Zigong lantern makers as well as a group of engineers. It took them over 4,000 hours to make it     10     bring it to the park.

In China, when you want to travel on a high-speed train, you can now choose a quiet car. The big train company in China has started this on some train lines,     1     the ones from Beijing to Shanghai, Beijing to Guangzhou, and Chengdu to Chongqing.

You can choose a quiet car when you buy your train ticket on the website 12306.cn     2     can offer train tickets. You can ask for a quiet seat in the     3     (two) class (等级). On the 12306 phone app, if a train has a quiet car, you     4     (find) a “quiet” sign.

After you buy your ticket, you will receive     5     message telling you not to make any noise in the quiet car. You should use headphones when     6     (listen) to music and go outside the quiet car if you talk on the phone. Parents must make sure their     7     (child) behave well so that they won’t cause any trouble for others. The conductors (列车员) will speak more     8     (soft). They also know when each person will get off the train and can tell     9     (they) quietly.

If you would like     10     (buy) some food, you can scan (扫描) a special code on the arm of your seat. Follow the steps to order, and the salesperson will bring it to you.

Now, you can enjoy a nice and quiet train trip!

Jiang Shumei, born in 1937, spent most of her time working in a factory. In 1996, she learned her     1     (one) Chinese character (汉字). Sixteen years later, she started to write down some of her own     2     (story). It was not easy. Sometimes, completing a single sentence could take a day. She     3     (usual) started at 3 or 4 a.m., and revised (修改) the pieces several times until she was     4     (satisfy).

In 2013, her book, Time of Trouble, Time of Poverty, was published and proved to be     5     success. The book earned Jiang a lot of fans and sympathy (同情). “Don’t feel sorry for me,” she says to her fans, “The hardships mentioned in the book are now in the past.     6     them, I could never have finished this book.”

So far, the elderly woman     7     (publish) six books, totaling more than 600,000 characters in length. “It’s never too late. I enjoy     8     (I) when writing,“ Jiang says. She lives a healthy life, exercising every day     9     eating a balanced diet. “If I could live as long as 130, would you still say that it is too late for me     10     (start) after 60?” she says jokingly.

With big, soft ears and round eyes, rabbits are some of the cutest animals around. They even     1     (跳跃) and turn around in the air when they are happy. It’s such a lovely action. Besides, rabbits are interesting animals to study.

Rabbits have many amazing     2     (能力). They can run at the     3     (速度) of 30 kilometers per hour. Their ears allow them to hear sounds from up to 2.8 kilometers away. They also have a very good sight. With all these skills, they can often run away from     4     (危险).

Some might think that rabbits     5     (更喜欢) carrots, but that’s not true. Their food is mostly made up of dry     6     (草) and fresh vegetables. Carrots are     7     (富有的) in sugar and will be harmful to their teeth.

Rabbits are usually active in the early morning and late afternoon. That’s when you’ll possibly see them eating or walking     8     (安静地) and freely in fields or woods. In the wild, rabbits live in     9     (地下的) holes. Often, groups of rabbits in one area     10     (掘，挖) their holes and connect them together. They dislike being lonely. As pets, they are much happier when they’re raised in pairs or larger groups.

The traditional Chinese calendar divides the year into 24 solar terms (节气). Thousands of years ago, they     1     (create) to help with farming, but the solar term culture is still very     2     (use) today to people’s life. Grain Buds is     3     eighth solar term of a year. It means that the seeds from the grain are becoming full but are not ripe. This year Grain Buds falls     4     May 21st, and lasts 16 days. Here are some things you may not know about Grain Buds.

A saying about rain during this time says, “A heavy rainfall makes the river full. “Because of a lot of rain, rivers are full of water and a great number of fish. You can’t miss the chance     5     (enjoy) them. Also, it is such a golden season for     6     (fisherman)!

Wet and hot days     7     (be) common in this season. It may make you get skin illnesses easily. It is necessary to take more exercise. Walking, jogging and practicing tai chi are popular.

It is a good period for flowers to grow     8     (rapid). Caring for your garden becomes even     9     (important) than any other time.     10     you take good care of them, your plants will be healthier.