1 . On Saturday, August 24, 1918, it was raining cats and dogs and thundering over a city called Sunderland on the northeast coast of England. The storm lasted for only about ten minutes. People were surprised to see that it was not just rainwater falling from the sky. There were fish falling down, too! People came out to find out what was happening. They could not believe their own eyes. There were thousands of fish—sand eels (沙鳗)—lying on the ground. They were about seven centimeters long, and all were frozen dead.

Sand eels swim together in large groups, often in sandy water, and are often found in large numbers in the North Sea, which reaches out to the east of Sunderland. How was it possible for these sand eels to fall from the sky and land on Sunderland?

Scientists believed the heavy thunderstorm that afternoon may have caused a waterspout (水龙卷). Waterspout s can be formed when strong winds move quickly in a circle over water. They are so powerful that anything less than one meter in length can be taken into them and forced into the clouds. The clouds carry whatever has been taken into them for long distances —sometimes over 150 kilometers. It’s very cold up there and everything soon freezes.

For hundreds of years there have been reports of small animals being taken into the sky through waterspouts. In 2009, dead tadpoles rained down on the city of Nanao in Japan. In 2012, fifty kilos of prawns fell from the sky over Sri Lanka. In 2017, fish fell on the coastal city of Tampico in Mexico.

It must be a very strange experience to see fish raining down on you. It would probably hurt if one fell on your head! With climate change and many reports of terrible storms, will the time ever come when it may really begin to rain cats and dogs?

2 . I was waiting for a rickshaw (人力车) in Bombay, India. However, none of them were _________ to pick me up because they charged too much. So I started _________ when I saw a rickshaw and stopped him. When I asked him if he could _________ me to my destination and get the money I offered, to my surprise, he _________ agreed.

I got onto his rickshaw and our _________ started. “Why did these rickshaw pullers say ‘no’ when I offered the _________ money?” His reaction was in English, “Madam, this is what I _________ about these rickshaw fellows. These guys aren’t _________ and they think foreigners are all rich and _________ more.” Hearing his words, I was __________ how this old man, a rickshaw puller, spoke so __________ English. When I was thinking about it, what he said moved me. “I was a BSC graduate in 1975 and I was a __________ in a middle school for many years. I __________ the rickshaw just for two hours in the morning or afternoon and the rest of the time I __________ young students for free. My purpose is to let them know how important __________ is, and become a good human being.”

From this experience I really realize money may come and go in hands, but education and knowledge will stay forever.

3 . Explorers Camp

The day is divided into two thematic sessions per age group. Campers have a three-hour morning class engaging with a morning theme (9 am to 12 noon) and a one-hour lunch break, followed by another three-hour class engaging with an afternoon theme (1 pm to 4 pm). Snack periods are held throughout the day. All campers should bring their own bagged lunch and snacks.

Explorers Camp organizes engaging arts, history and science-related activities in every class, and focuses on a range of topics that emphasize active learning, exploration and, most of all, fun! All camp sessions are created with age-appropriate activities that are tailored to the multiple ways that kids learn.

Campers enjoy a staff-to-child ratio ranging from 1:4 to 1:7 depending on the age group. Instructors are passionate educators who are experts in their fields and have undergone training and a background check.

5 . My father was a strong fisherman. He loved the sea and would stay out until he caught enough to ______ the family.

When we met ______ weather, he would drive me to school with his old track. And after we arrived, he would bend over and give me a ______ on the face and then tell me to be a good boy. I always felt very shy in front of so many other ______. I was already a twelve-year-old young man, but my father still kissed me goodbye!

Then on a rainy day I ______ to tell him my feeling. When we stopped at the school gate, the ______ big smile appeared on my father’s face. I ______ what would happen next. I ______ put my hand up and for the first time said “No” to him. The smile on his face immediately changed into a ______ look. He looked at me for a long time, and tears began to appear in his eyes. I was shocked. I had never ______ him cry! Then he said, “You’re right. You are a big boy... a man. I won’t kiss you anymore.”

Not long after that, my dad went to the sea on a bad day. Most of the ______ stayed at home, but not Dad, because he had a big family to feed. But after that day, be ______ came back. Later his boat was found with its nets half in and half out. He must have ______ a strong wind and was trying to save the nets.

How I wished I hadn’t ______ my father’s kiss! And from this I have learnt that we should take every chance with our family and friends as the last one in our lives. We can have ______ regrets(遗憾)by doing this.

7 . Thousands of people online are involved in efforts to help an 8-year-old, cancer-stricken (患癌症的) boy from the United States to realize his dream. Dorian Murray of Westerly, Rhode Island, has been receiving_________from around the world in recent days.，

Dorian has been_________cancer since he was 4._________the disease had been brought under control after a series of_________treatments, a medical checkup early this month found that cancer cells (细胞) had_________to the boy’s brain. The family decided to_________treatment.

Dorian then told his father that before going to heaven, he wanted to be_________in China because it had the Great Wall, which he called “a bridge for people to walk on”. The_________between the boy and his father was posted on Facebook, where it was_________and commented on by thousands of Internet users, including many from China.

Some responded with____________taken at the Great Wall in Beijing, in which they held signs with words of____________, reading “D-Strong” and “You are very famous in China.” Some left messages below the post, saying “I hope you will____________soon.” or “We are delighted to make your dream come true.”

Dorian’s mother wrote that she was____________and deeply moved by the responses to Dorian’s____________. “Dorian has brought so much inspiration to people around the world! I couldn’t be more____________my son,” she said.