2 . It’s an all too common story: A young child walks off during a party and falls into a backyard pool. No one notices she’s missing——until it’s too late. When Grayson Barron learned of such a disaster in a friend’s neighborhood, the 18-year-old immediately jumped into problem-solving mode. The new pool alarm system he’s just developed sends out several types of warnings when someone or something splashes into an unguarded pool.

Grayson calls his floating system “The Buoy (浮标)”. A large splash will trigger its built-in sensors to send out a series of alerts——a flashing light, an alarm that sounds like a loud doorbell and a text to the owner’s mobile phone.

Grayson’s is not the first pool alarm, but the teen says others all have disadvantages. Some are very costly. Others can become stuck in corners of a pool. He wanted a low-cost option that was reliable (可靠的). Grayson 3-D printed the main part of his device, then attached sensors. He then equipped the device with a light, a speaker and a wireless network that can send texts. A battery, which is hooked up to solar panels, keeps the system charged for months.

While hard to design, the new system “is so easy to use,” says Grayson. “All I do is turn it on and throw it into a pool.” After that, he says, it just “does its thing”.

Chinese characters (汉字) are so     1     (amaze) that even many foreigners are crazy about them. For the past three decades, Richard Sears has been focused on one thing: telling many     2     (story) behind Chinese characters. His interest in Chinese language and characters date s back to (追溯到) 1972, when he was a 22-year-old physics major in the USA.

He built a website     3    2002 and named it Chinese Etymology (词源), where visitors can check the development of Chinese characters in a variety of forms for free. Because of this well-received website, he     4     (become) Uncle Hanzi, a nickname (昵称) which was given by Chinese netizens (网民).

In September, Sears set up     5     (he) studio (工作室) in Nanjing as part of the local government’s plan to promote (促进) Chinese culture. To help both Chinese     6     foreign learners have a better understanding of Chinese characters, the studio concentrates     7     telling stories behind Chinese characters with the aid (帮助) of technology. They have made over 60 videos in English with Chinese subtitles (字幕) for Bilibili, a popular video website among young people.     8     (watch) the videos not only brings fun but also makes people know more about Chinese characters, leaving them a deep     9     (impress).

With the tireless efforts of people like Richard Sears and the government’s support,     10     (many) people will appreciate (欣赏) the beauty of Chinese characters fully.

4 . When Michael Jordan’s feet left the ground, time seemed to stand still. The player who became known as “Air Jordan” changed basketball with his graceful moves and jumps. Jordan’s skills were impressive, but the mental strength that he showed made him unique. In the final seconds of a game, Jordan always seemed to find a way to win. Jordan says that the secret to his success is learning from his failures. “I can accept failure; everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” Losing games taught him to practise harder and never give up. In life, Jordan has learnt to share his success with others. The Boys and Girls Club which he started in Chicago has been helping young people since 1996.

Yuan Longping, known as the “father of hybrid rice”, was born in 1930.     1     (learn) that farmers often had poor harvests and sometimes even had a serious     2     (short) of food to eat, he chose to study agriculture and graduated from Southwest Agricultural College in 1953.

Since his graduation, Yuan     3     (devote) his life to finding ways to produce more rice. Through constant effort, he overcame enormous technical difficulties     4     (develop) the first hybrid rice     5     could be used for farming in 1974. This hybrid enabled farmers to expand their output     6     (great).

Today,     7     is estimated that about 60 percent of domestic rice consumption in China is comprised     8     crops come from Yuan’s hybrid strains. Yuan’s innovation has helped feed not just China, but many other     9     (country) that depend on rice as well.

Though Yuan’s hybrid have made him quite     10     (wealth), he doesn’t lead a life of leisure. Instead, he donates much money to support agricultural research.

8 . Erjiu

A video of a 66-year-old man ______ Erjiu has gone viral (走红、火了) on Chinese social media after his nephew Tang Hao shared the man’s brief but ______ life story on short-video platform Bilibili on Monday.

In the video, Erjiu is shown as a “young ______” who always performed well academically at school during childhood. ______, while he was a teenager, a high fever was misdiagnosed (误诊的) and he ______the wrong medicine, _____ resulted in Erjiu losing the use of his left leg. Erjiu, who _____ in bed in low____ for one year afterward, then learned carpentry by watching a carpenter (木工、木匠) going about woodworking tasks _______ three days, and he later did woodworking in the village and the town.

According to Tang, it would be inaccurate to merely define Erjiu _____ a carpenter, since he demonstrated his _____ skills by fixing an electrical socket patch panel (插座接线板), a gas stove and a toy car during the three days the video was shot in the village. He also _____ erhu — a traditional Chinese musical instrument-with wood, using fishing line for strings _______ snakeskin as covering.

Erjiu, who said that he _____ felt sorry for himself despite his difficulties, now _____ his 88-year-old mother. At the end of the video, Tang shares a sentence that Erjiu found in a book decades ago: “Be _____ and not afraid of sacrifice to _____ all difficulties and win the final success.”

The man, who uses a cane (拐杖) due to a longtime ______, is portrayed as a common hero ______never bows to life’s difficulties, but struggles instead ______ a full and meaningful village life.

10 . Every March, the country celebrates the achievements of women in American history. Even though these achievements go back a long way, most schools didn’t start focusing on women pioneers and their achievements until recently. Today, most schools teach kids about the contributions women have made to our country. How did this change come about?

On March 19, 1911, a German woman named Clara Zetkin organized the very first International Women’s Day. Inspired by American working women, the event took on the causes of peace in an effort to end World War I as well as women’s rights. However, people’s interest in International Women’s Day still dwindled over the years. It gained momentum (势头) again in the 1960’s when the women’s movement caused women to wonder why they weren’t included in the history books.

By the 1970s, more female historians began to look back at women’s contributions in history. In 1978, a California school district started Women’s History Week to promote the teaching of women’s history. School officials picked the week of March 8 to include International Women’s Day. It was so popular that, in 1981, Congress passed a resolution, making the week a celebration for the entire country. The concept of studying women’s history continued to grow in popularity. In 1987, a group of women asked Congress to expand the celebration. That same year. Congress declared the entire month of March National Women’s History Month.

Today, schools and communities across the country celebrate the month with special lessons and activities designed to teach the ways women have helped shape the US. The women who have worked hard to make Women’s History Month a reality would like to see women’s history studied all year, not just every March. In 1996, the National Women’s History Museum was founded. It is a commonweal (公益) organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating the various historic contributions of women. The organization is working with Congress to open a permanent (永久的) museum site in Washington D. C.