1 . On March 14, 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic (新冠疫情) forced 57th Street Books, in Chicago, to close its doors. The store wouldn’t reopen for nearly a year and a half. During that time, director Jeff Deutsch was worried. Customers couldn’t come to the shop. His main advantage over online business had gone overnight.

Deutsch said he and his team were lucky. Customers stepped up. They offered gifts and support. “There was something very beautiful in the way our community came together,” he said. “We really supported one another’s businesses,”

Similar stories played out over the past two years in cities and towns around the country. Though independent bookstores were forced to close during the pandemic, many found ways to connect with and help their community.

Anne Holman is co-owner of the King’s English Bookshop. It’s in Salt Lake City, Utah. She said the store put books outside for reading and started doing a lot of events online. Other stores set up bookselling hotlines, and improved their tools for e-business.

Some bookstores did events that went more than bookselling. They offered COVID testing. They collected food for people in need. “Having an independent bookstore in your community is almost like a town square,” said Samira Ahmed, an author of books for young adults. “It’s an important place to build community.”

11-year-old Adele Sorkin, a fan of 57th Street Books, is on its Young Readers Advisory Board. Members receive early copies of books in exchange for writing reviews. “I think of the bookstore as a cookie jar (罐子),” Adele says. “It’s something special and fun that is always there for you.” Jeff Deutsch sees a bright future. “If we reimagine bookstores and do our best to support them,” he says, “then bookstores can thrive (兴盛).”

Stephen Hawking’s family have contributed the ventilator (呼吸机)    1     (own)by Hawking to the Royal Papworth Hospital to help coronavirus(冠状病毒)patients.

After a check by the hospital’s engineering team,   the hospital    2     (happy)accepted the ventilator. The hospital has expanded to more than double its usual size as a result of the increasing number of coronavirus patients. The     3    (contribute)from the Hawking family was    4     great help to the hospital.

“After our father passed away, we returned all the medical equipment(医疗设备)to the National Health Service(NHS),” said Lucy Hawking,     5     is Stephen Hawking’s daughter. “Even some items that he bought for himself    6     (give)to the NHS to fight against coronavirus. The NHS has played a huge part    7     our lives over the years. We fully recognize the efforts of NHS to help those in need." Besides, Lucy Hawking encouraged people    8     (support)the NHS in any way and take social distancing measures seriously.

Since the news was announced, it    9     (attract)national attention. Many people were    10     (touch)and said that even if the great physicist became a star, he still gave off light.

5 . One of the luckiest things in life is that someone offers help when you are in need. Such warm stories happen these days in our city.

We’ve never depended on deliverymen for our daily needs so heavily as we do now, when we work from home to stop the spread of the COVID-19. Some of the deliverymen were afraid that they would not be able to come out to work the next day if they went home and found an overnight lockdown (封锁) in their communities. So they chose to sleep under overpasses (天桥) or on park benches. Photos of them sleeping in those outdoor places were put online. The next day, the government took action and offered them free places to live in either at hotels, at schools or at courier stations (快递站).

Another recent case that shows ordinary people are cared for was about a bun (面包) seller. The man left a message below a post on the Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission (市健康委员会)’s WeChat account. He said he had trouble running his store because of the recent spread of the COVID-19. Community workers in his area paid him a visit to see what they could do to help. On the night of the same day, the man received an unexpected large order from his community.

There is a long list of such small acts of kindness in almost every corner of the city. It tells us love and care is powerful to help us overcome the difficulties.

Every year I travel a lot to appreciate tourist     1    （attract）. As the saying goes, “Read ten thousand books and travel ten thousand miles.” Large quantities of practice     2    （be）the same important as reading large volumes of books. Since 2015, I have visited more than twenty cities at home and abroad, during     3     time I enjoyed wonderful views of mountains and rivers and saw the powerful strength of our motherland as     4    （good）as the great changes of the world.

However, COVID-19     5    （sweep）the globe during the past two years.     6     great many, people were infected with the disease. But a great part of them have been cured on account     7     the wise policies of our government. Despite     8    （affect）, we firmly believe that our government will pay what it takes     9    （save）her people. At the same time, there are countless organizations and individuals voluntarily     10    （struggle）against the disease. Victory belongs to us, our country and the whole world.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

Major school districts around the United States     1     (permit) students to attend class without face coverings to date. New York City ended the     2     (require) rules on March 7.

As we all know, the rules relating to face coverings or masks have caused fights among     3     (educate), school boards and parents throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Some families are happy that their children no longer have to wear masks, which can make children focus     4     study better, while others hold the different ideas about the quitting of the restriction.

Falling COVID-19 infection rates and new federal health recommendations are the driving force for     5     drop of the rules. Even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued new guidelines     6     (say) most healthy Americans, including students can     7     (safe) stop wearing masks. However, there are still many concerns about low vaccination rates among American children     8     officials in many large cities have said they will keep mask rules for the time being.

Undoubtedly, wearing masks can cause trouble for students to understand     9     teachers are instructing in the classroom. But it remains     10     (see) what will happen in the following months, so we are supposed to be cautious about the ongoing changes.