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.”

5 . Zion is among the most visited parks in the USA and is particularly crowded because many of its most popular sites sit in a narrow six-mile canyon (峡谷). Last year, about 4.3 million people visited it, up to 60 percent from a decade ago. So this year, park managers announced they were considering a first for any national park: requiring reservations (预定) for entry.

The National Park Service was created in 1916 to protect the country’s growing system of parks and monuments. Its aim is to conserve scenery and wildlife while also protecting visitor enjoyment for generations to come. For years, the lack of a reservation system for park entry associated with the spirit of adventure: Anyone could come, pretty much anytime.

But recently, both visitors and nature are suffering. Mr. Burns, who is on a team that is considering a reservation system, said some people showed up for a vacation they had planned for months, spent a day in the traffic jam and turned around. Mr. Burns said he favored a reservation policy. He recalled the days when he would jump in a car and pull up to parks across the West with no plans.

When he first came to the park in the 1980s, he wrote a letter home. “I’m living in a no-man’s-land,” he told his parents. He could hike for hours, even days, without seeing anyone, and he remembered the constantly changing light on the canyons, the brilliant green of the trees, the blue water of the Virgin River. Today, he said, when he wants to find solitude (清静), it is usually joined by the distant rumble of the shuttle bus.

“There is only one Zion National Park,” he said to those struggling to see a need for limiting access. “And it’s sacred (神圣的). Its beauty is sacred.”

6 . The Chongyang Festival is a traditional Chinese festival. It is celebrated ________ the ninth day of the ninth lunar month (阴历). It’s also ________ the Double Ninth Festival.

The festival started as early as the Warring States Period. It has a ________ of more than 1,700 years. Among the numbers from zero to nine, ________ is the highest odd number (奇数). People believe that two “ninths” meeting together stand for a ________ life. So it is a special holiday for Chinese people to ________ love and respect (尊重) for their elders. They hold many kinds of activities in ________ of old people to wish them good health and a long life.

The festival comes during the golden time of ________. On the day, people traditionally drink chrysanthemum (菊花) wine, eat Double-Ninth Cakes and ________ mountains. They also carry a kind of plant, dogwood (茱萸). People in ancient times believed that the plant could drive away evil (邪恶的) spirits and ________ them from catching an illness in winter.

The Internet     1     (connect) people across the world to a single     2    (share) community so far. We can achieve almost anything online — with access     3     the Internet come some     4    (true)life-changing advantages. One of the greatest     5    (advantage) of the Internet lies in the quick and easy way to get information, With the click of a mouse     6     the touch of a button, it is possible     7    (find) out almost anything we care to know.

The Internet has made our lives unbelievably convenient. The Internet also helps us establish and maintain     8    (society) ties. Wherever we are, the Internet keeps us in contact with the ones     9     we loved. However, while it brings valuable advantages, being connected has its problems. We must be aware of these problems and use the Internet properly and responsibly. Only in this way can the Internet be     10     place of discovery, wonder and inspiration for everyone.

8 . Last night, on my way home I stopped because of being attracted by some hamburgers at a fast food restaurant. On my way in, a(n) _______ man approached me and asked, “Do you have any bottles lying around?” I knew he would _______ them for a few cents, but I didn’t have any, so I said no. And again he asked, “Can you spare some _______?” I smiled, and said no again. He was very _______; he smiled back and said, “OK, thank you.” Even though he didn’t have anything, he was still in good _______. From the way he spoke I could tell he was _______.

Then I bought one hamburger and enjoyed my meal, but in the back of my _______ I wondered whether the homeless man was hungry. After I finished my _______ I decided to order another one for him. At this point I didn’t know if he was still around, but I _______ anyway.

At the ________ I ordered a hamburger and also a hot chocolate, because it was cold outside, and I thought it would help warm him up.