1 . Sammie Vance, 14, knows there’s nothing worse than feeling left out. For years, she’s been helping kids who feel lonely _______ friends. What she was doing was running the Buddy Bench program. The _______ was that anyone at school who was feeling lonely could sit on the “buddy bench”. That let other kids know someone needed a friend. “It’s really helpful to have other people be able to _______ you,” Sammie says.

Sammie got the idea for the Buddy Bench program at summer camp in 2017. She thought it would be _______ to have a buddy bench in her school, so when she got back, she _______ the idea to her principal (校长). Getting approval for the project was just the first _______.“There have been a lot of small challenges, like money,” Sammie says.

To reduce _______ and be eco-friendly, Sammie decided to make the bench out of recycled material. So she asked her community to gather bottle caps. Word of the project _______, and soon Sammie was getting caps from people all around the country. She even got them from people in other countries. In the end, she _______ more than 1,200 pounds of bottle caps. A company called GreenTreePlastics was able to make these into three benches.

Before long, Sammie was helping other schools acquire benches. Her work continues to ________ kindness far and wide.

Who is the greatest teacher in Chinese history? Many people would say: Confucius.

Confucius lived in the kingdom of Lu, part of today’s Shandong Province, during the Spring and Autumn Period. His father died when he was only 3 and he had to work     1     (help) his mother. But young Confucius didn’t give up     2     (study). He visited many famous teachers and learned music, history, poetry and sports.

Later, he became a teacher and started the first public school in Chinese history. At that time only children     3     rich families could go to school, but Confucius believed everyone should go to school if they wanted to learn.

Today, people still follow Confucius’ lessons. He told us that everyone has something     4     is worth learning and teaching. “When I am with three people, one of them is     5     (probable) better than me in some areas. I select their good qualities and follow them. I take their bad qualities and change them in myself.” He also taught     6     (we), “All study but no thinking makes people     7     (puzzle). All thinking but no study     8     (make) people lazy.”

Confucius is not only a great teacher,     9     also a famous thinker with wise thoughts about the world and society. His most important teachings are about     10     (kind) and good manners (礼仪).

Social media is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world today. A study carried out by the PewResearch Center showed that 92% of teenagers go online daily. The wide use of social media has changed nearly all parts of teenagers’ lives.

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High school student Elly Cooper from Illinois said social media often reduces face-to-face communication. “It makes in-person relationships harder because people give attention to their phones instead of persons,” Cooper said. Yet, some people believe social media has made it easier to start relationships with anyone from anywhere.

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The rise of social media has changed the way teenagers see themselves. The 19-year-old Essena O’Neill announced on the social networking service Instagram that she had stopped using social media. She thought she had gotten lost in appearing perfect online. Negative comments can also do damage to a teenager’s self-esteem (自尊). Teenagers who get negative comments can’t help but feel hurt. In particular, some social media apps such as Yik Yak may provide opportunities for cyber bullying (网络欺凌).

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However, Armin Korsos, a student from Illinois, takes advantage of the comments he receives over social media to improve his videos on the social networking site YouTube. “Social media can help people show themselves and their talents to the world in a way that was never possible before,” Korsos said.

But Korsos realizes that social media has become a distraction (让人分心的事). “Social media is not all necessary, though it helps people connect with their friends and know each other well anytime.”

In modern society, many Chinese traditional festivals are still an important part of Chinese culture, and     1     we must protect them and maintain them.

Some traditional festivals teach us a lot about our nation’s history. For example,     2     the Dragon Boat Festival is celebrated in honour of Qu Yuan. By celebrating the festival with rice dumplings and dragon boat races, the story of Qu Yuan is passed down from generation to generation.

Moreover,     3    传统节日使我们更多了解中国人的价值观. Festivals, such as the Mid-Autumn Festival, have a caring, family-centre d message at their heart.     4     The full moon on the festival is considered to stand for family togetherness.

Finally, traditional festivals are a source of national pride and help shape our national identity. For example,     5     我们有腊八节 with unique customs, and these shared experiences bring us together as a people. Traditional festivals tell us who we are and fill us with pride in being Chinese.

Are you thinking about traveling alone? You must have a million questions: What should be the first destination? Will there be someone to talk to? How can it be safe? In fact, travelling alone is not as scary as it seems. Here are some good tips.

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It is true that traveling alone for the first time is more about the experience than the destination. So choose a place that you feel comfortable with. It could be somewhere close to home or somewhere you have been with your friends.

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This can make you less nervous when you’re travelling alone for the first time. Besides, when you book your hotel, ask if they will send a driver to pick you up.

Talk to people

If you’re going to a tourist place like Thailand, there are lots of other people who are traveling alone. Most likely, they’ll be easy to talk to and they’ll want to communicate. They might also ask you to join them for dinner or a beer. That happens a lot.

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Your family and friends love you and probably worry about you every day, so text them and let them know what you’re up to throughout your trip. That will make you and them feel safer. And in case something did happen, they’ll know where you are.

9 . The next day would be Christmas. Jim was shopping for a gift for his wife Della. With an income of twenty dollars per week, life was really _________ for the couple, but Jim wanted to buy a perfect gift for Della. He thought of the beautiful set of _________ Della had wanted for so long in one of the shop windows on Broadway. Tomorrow, Jim decided, he was going to make Della’s dream come true.

Jim and Della _________ two things they were both proud of. One was Jim’s gold watch, and the other was Della’s beautiful _________. Jim looked at the gold watch that had been his father’s and his grandfather’s. _________, Jim knew what he had to do: he would sell his watch.

That afternoon, Jim _________ the watch, went to the shop for the combs (发插) and returned home with a package in his pocket. He was sure that they would be the most wonderful gift for Della. He was _________ about what Della was going to think when she saw the gift the next day.

The door opened and Della walked in. Jim looked at her with a puzzled _________. “Jim,” Della cried, “don’t look at me that way. I sold my hair to buy you a watch chain. Give me your watch. Let me see how it looks on it.”

Jim smiled. “Della,” he said, “I sold my watch to buy you a gift.” Jim _________ the package from his pocket and __________ it on the table. Della opened it. There lay the set of combs that she had always wanted. Now they were hers, but her hair was gone.

Exercise has a range of health benefits. However, some people believe that     1     if some exercise is good, more is always better, so they tend to exercise for a long time without stopping. For example, some people go jogging for several hours at a time because of the step-counting smartphone apps.     2     还有些人周末连续锻炼数个小时 to make up for their lack of exercise during the weekdays. Habits like these put stress on the body, and if maintained over the long term,     3     they can be a serious health risk.

Generally speaking, aerobic routines that last over 100 minutes have a certain health risk. On the other hand,     4     they should not be shorter than 10 minutes. If you do exercise for only a few minutes, you may not be working out long enough to see any benefits from it. When you exercise, aim for the daily average of 30 to 60 minutes.     5     这将会防止你受伤. Moreover, it will ensure that the exercise you do has a positive effect on your physical health.