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5 . The competition Michael Stone, a blind man, faced today was fierce. The pole was set at 17 feet. That was three inches higher than his personal best. Michael faced the most_______day of his pole- vaulting(撑竿跳) career.

As long as Michael could_______he had always dreamed of flying. Michaels mother read him many stories about flying when he was_______. Her excitement and enthusiasm made Michael’s dreams full of_______and beauty.

From the age of 14, Michael_______every day with weights and running. The program was carefully_______by Michael’s father.

All of Michael's vaults today seemed to be the_______for his hard work. As soon as he_______on the mat full of air，the crowd stood on their feet in surprise. Without hesitation，Michael_______began preparing for his next attempt. He seemed________of the fact that he had just surpassed (超出) his personal best by three inches and that he was one of the final two________in the pole vaulting event.

When Michael cleared the________at 17 feet 4 inches, again he showed no emotion. What he needed were constant________and strong determination. As he________his turn and heard the other let out a sigh, Michael knew the other vaulter had________his final jump. He knew it was time for his________jump. He knew it was time to________when he heard the singing of some distant bird.

As he began________, something felt wonderfully different, yet________. Michael Stone was now flying, just like in his childhood________.He set a new world record National Junior Olympics record.

7 . Jose Hernandez made his dream of becoming an astronaut a reality and he did so despite unbelievable difficulties.

“I was working in a field near Stockton, and I heard on my radio that Franklin Chang-Diaz had been selected for the Astronaut Corps," said Jose, who was a senior in high school at the timed was already interested in science and engineering, Jose remembered, "but that was the moment I said, "I want to fly in space.' "

As one of four children in a migrant（移民）farming family from Mexico, Jose - who didn't learn English until he was 12 years old - spent much of his childhood traveling with his family from Mexico to southern California each March, then working northward to the Stockton area by November, picking strawberries and cucumbers at farms along the route. They would then return to Mexico for Christmas and start the cycle all over again in the spring. "Some kids might think it would be fun to travel like that,“ Jose laughed, "but we had to work”.

After graduating from high school, Jose was admitted into the University of the Pacific, In 1987, he accepted a full-time job with Lawrence National Laboratory. In 2001, Jose joinedtheJohnson Space Center, where he came face-to-face with Franklin Chang-Diaz.

“We actually had common experiences —asimilar upbringing, the same language issues. That built up my confidence. Any barriers that existed, he had already overcome them.” Jose smiled. "Now it's my turn!^,,

“NASA rejected me not once, not twice, not three times but 11 times. It wasn't until the 12th time that I got selected, he said. Jose was selected as part of the 19th class of astronauts in 2004. He circled the globe 217 times but remains a down to Earth guy.

Jose Hernandez received the 2016 National Hispanic Hero Award and he continues his long history in the field of engineering and space.

8 . I played a racquetball game against my cousin Ed last week .It was one of the most _______and tiring games I’ve ever had. When Ed first phoned and _______ we play, I laughed quietly, figuring on an _______ victory. After all, Ed’s idea of _______ has always been nothing more _______ than lifting a fork to his mouth. _______ I can remember, Ed’s been the least physically fit member in the family, and _______ proud of himself. His big stomach has always ballooned out between his T-shirt and trousers. Although the family often _______ about that, Ed refused to buy a _______ T-shirt or to lose weight. So when Ed __________ for our game not only with the bottom of his shirt gathered inside his trousers but also with a stomach you could hardly __________ I was so surprised that I was __________.My cousin must have made an effort to get himself into shape. __________, at the point in our game when I’d have predicted(预计) the score to be about 9 to 1 in my favor, it was __________ 7 to 9-and Ed was __________ . The sudden realization was painful. We __________ to play like two mad men. When the score was 16 up, I was having serious __________ about staying alive until 21 years old, let alone __________ that many points. When the game finally ended, both of us were lying flat on our backs, too tired to __________. In a way, I think we both won in the game: I won the game, but cousin Ed my __________.

9 . Micro plastics are tiny bits of plastic often too small to be seen. Plastic doesn't decompose like natural materials. Instead, it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces. No one knows exactly how much plastic is in the oceans. Since the sea is so large and so deep, it s hard to get a good idea of how much plastic it contains. But in recent years, scientists have made greater efforts to get a more accurate idea.

Some studies have suggested that since 1950. about 17 million metric tons(公吨)of plastic have entered the Atlantic Ocean. Scientists believe that the plastic previously found on beaches and on the surface of the water is only about 1% of all the plastic in the oceans. Researchers from the United Kingdom (UK) want to find out where the other 99% was.

For two months in 2016 the researchers took samples at 12 different locations in the Atlantic Ocean from the UK to South America. They collect water samples from three different depths in the top 200 meters. By running the water through special fllters(过滤器),they were able to collect the micro plastics, which they could view and study with a microscope.

Based on their measurments. the researchers learned that just the top 200 meters of the Atlantic Ocean holds between 12 and 21 million metric tons of plastics. But the Atlantic Ocean is very deep, and the scientists only checked the top 200 meters. They say that if microplastics are spread through the rest of the Atlantic like they were in the top 200 meters, thin there are probably about 200 million metric tons of microplastics in the Atlantic Ocean.

Though the scientists only studied the Atlantic ocean the results suggest that there may be far more microplastic in all oceans than we realized. The problems go far beyond ocean pollution. Microplastic particles have been found just in everywhere around the world from Antarctica to the bottom of the sea.

Scientist predict that the amount of plastic entering our oceans is likely to triplet over the next 20 years. Having a good idea of how much plastic is already then might be a good first step to fighting the problem.