It’s my honor to stand here and talk about “Promoting traditional Chinese festivals”.

Thank you very much for your attention!

3 . Nowadays, in many places of the world, kids play soccer less than before.     1     Besides, many parents don’t know soccer’s real help to kids. Here are some reasons why kids should play the beautiful game.

Soccer is a team sport.

Teamwork is a life skill that kids need to learn. Being part of a team isn’t just about learning how to work together and share talents. It’s also about teaching kids how to face failure. It doesn’t end there, either. Being part of a team lets kids know how to take responsibility for their behavior.    2    

Soccer shapes motor skills (运动技能).

Nowadays, many kids prefer to stay in their rooms to have fun through TV, video games and smartphones.    3    It can cause them to lose out on valuable motor skills. By playing youth soccer, kids get a chance to develop their physical strength and motor skills.

    4    

Soccer can improve students’ concentration (专注) in the classroom. Besides, soccer is a fast-paced game, so kids can learn how to solve problems quickly. Plus, soccer is a sport which involves getting the ball from point A to point B. So kids’ visual-spatial (视觉空间) ability can be improved when they play the game, which can help them learn subjects like Physics.

Soccer improves the personal character.

The World Health Organization recommends kid get at least 60 minutes of exercises daily. This isn’t only for the physical benefits but also for the benefits to the personal character.     5     And these kids often have more self-confidence.

6 . Move over soccer, basketball and football, there’s a new competition sweeping Australia. It’s competitive bird calling. Yes, bird calling!

Scores of kids in New South Wales are spending their spare time practicing for the Bournda Bird Olympics, an event that aims at young bird-callers against each other to see who can deliver the clearest, most enthusiastic and most accurate bird call. The principal of the Bournda Environmental Education Centre, Doug Reckord, encourages the kids to listen to bird calls on YouTube to prepare for the event. The children also work on identifying birds by their beaks, claws and calls.

Surprisingly, the Bournda Bird Olympics isn’t Australia’s first competition with competitive bird calling. The first competition took place in Sydney in 1912. It was supported by the Gould League of Bird Lovers, a foundation that encouraged children to bird watch and learn about birds.

Even back then, New South Wales was the country’s bird calling leader. Students from the New South Wales region had access to much more bird sounds than city kids. They won the Dawson Memorial Shield for best bird calling six times between 1953 and 1962. Today, New South Wales is bringing back the bird calls. Led by the Bournda Environmental Education Centre, the Bournda Bird Olympics renewed in 2018. The event now features former bird calling champion, Bruce Chapman, as the “celebrity” judge.

When showtime finally arrives, three judges at the Bournda Bird Olympics rate people taking part on their enthusiasm, accuracy and clearness. The players can earn a maximum of three points in each type. Some 45 children took part in the 2022 event. The most popular bird call to imitate (模仿) was the kookaburra’s unique laugh. But the winner that year came from a girl copying a king parrot. Her call sounded so accurate that a king parrot in the trees actually called back to her.

8 . If a cheetah, a wolf and a well-trained human all entered a marathon, who would win?

The cheetah would definitely take an early _________. The wolf would probably pass the cheetah after a few miles. But at the end of the 26 miles, the human would be the first to cross the _________ line.

Humans have only two legs but a(n) _________ capacity for running. Our powerful lungs give us the stamina needed to run great distances. And because we can sweat, we can control our body _________ while we run. Why are we so good at running? Running was necessary for early human _________. Of course, we don’t often need to run for survival these days. All the same, running _________ to play an important role in human cultures all over the world.

Marathon running is perhaps the best-known example of human running _________. That is because it is a big business. Millions of people worldwide watch on television as elite runners _________ for millions of dollars. And, of course, businesses _________ products such as athletic shoes during the competition.

How does someone become an elite marathoner? The __________ runners of Kenya seem to have found the answer. Iten is a small farming town in Kenya’s western highlands. It is also home to seven of the world’s top ten marathon winners. Most of them are __________ of the Kalenjin tribe. They tend to have __________ bodies for running. Their slim bodies, long legs and short waists concentrate __________ where a runner needs it most — the legs.

And because Iten is 8,000 feet above sea level, the Kalenjini __________ an enormous lung capacity. They need it to get oxygen out of the thin air. This gives the Kalenjini an important __________ when they compete in races at lower altitude.

Recently, a poll(民意调查) finds that although almost three in four adults played sports when they     1     (be) younger, only one in four continue to play sports as adults.

But that decline in interest doesn’t stop parents from encouraging their children to make sports a part of their lives.     2     fact, almost nine in ten parents     3     middle school or high school aged children play sports say that their children benefit     4     great deal or quite a bit from playing sports.

And, while most adults no longer play sports     5     (they), the majority of parents say it is very likely or somewhat likely that their children will continue playing sports when they become adults. One in four parents also hope their children will become     6     (profession)athletes.

“Sports are an important part of a healthy community. They help children and adults maintain a fit     7     (weigh), teach acceptance and teamwork, and expand opportunity for children     8     (live) in poverty(贫困),” said a researcher. “This poll     9     (indicate) that we must continue to encourage children to play sports, but just as important, we must find ways     10     (keep)adults engaged in sports in order to maintain health and well-being.”

10 . LeBron James is the new all-time scoring leader of the National Basketball Association (NBA).

He set the record with a jump shot (得分) in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers game Tuesday night against Oklahoma City. James pushed his career total to 38,388 points and passed the scoring record that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had held for nearly 39 years.

After he made the shot for his 36th point of the night, James threw both hands in the air, and then smiled. Abdul-Jabbar sat up from his seal and clapped. The game stopped as members of James’ family, including his mother, his wife and their three children, went to the court for a ceremony honoring the moment.

“I’m there now because I never, ever thought about it,” James said, when asked what the scoring record meant to him.“The only thing I ever thought about was winning championships. But scoring championships and records, I’m telling you, was never on my mind.”

Abdul-Jabbar was a longtime player for the Lakers. He became the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on April 5, 1984 and retired (退休) in 1989 with 38,387 points. It was a record that some thought would last forever, with very few coming close. Great basketball players, including Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, and Michael Jordan retired when they were still thousands of points away.

James, who is 38 years old, passed all of them and set the record in his 20th season. Abdul-Jabbar also played 20 NBA seasons.

During the on-court ceremony, Abdul-Jabbar handed a ball to James, showing a passing of the torch(火炬). James wiped away tears from his eyes and thanked the crowd. He also thanked his family and those who supported him, including NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the late NBA Commissioner David Stern.

“I thank you guys so much for allowing me to be a part of something I’ve always dreamed about,” James said.