3 . Los Angeles residents Joe Blackstone and Jamie Mohn have long recognized the lasting impact storytelling can have on a child’s life. Shortly after getting married, the couple began volunteering to read books to elementary school kids. Then, when they became parents themselves, they created the J3 Foundation to help organizations devoted to children’s growth. But after learning two-thirds of fourth graders who cannot read effectively end up on welfare, Blackstone and Mohn decided to take a more hands-on approach: in 2018, they launched J3’s Cozy Reading Club.

Each session of the two-hour, after-school program is free and includes outdoor activities and a healthy snack. Then, it’s time for some comfortable reading. After teachers read a book aloud and the group talks about the storyline freely, the kids find a spot to sit while grabbing a book of their choice to look through. In the end, they get to choose two books to borrow and take home.

In its first year, J3’s Cozy Reading Club served 15 students in one L. A.-area classroom. As of 2022, it had expanded to 17 schools across four different districts, impacting a total of at least 400 students, the vast majority of whom live in underserved communities. With impressive statistics backing it up 90% of the students have significantly improved their reading scores, and 95% say they’ve started reading for fun since taking part in the program——its founders have much to celebrate.

“Having more than 5,000 culturally relevant books available to them is so exciting. I love it when our students can see themselves and their classmates’ lives reflected in the books they are reading. The hope of changing one kid at a time makes all the work worthwhile,” Blackstone said.

Currently, J3 is in the process of raising $864,000, so the Cozy Reading Club can expand to an additional 24 Los Angeles schools and double its book collection to 10,000. This is worthwhile. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) reported that 68% of U. S. fourth graders weren’t skilled at reading in 2022, up from 66% in 2019.

I wonder if you like long-distance running. Long-distance running is becoming one of the most popular     1     (activity) in our lives.

Doctors believe that many of the health problems come     2     such bad habits: eating too much, drinking too much, smoking and     3     (stay) up late. Running is     4     (easy) than those exercises in gyms because you don’t need a membership or special equipment. It will help you get fit and prevent diseases. You can find that your immune system gets better and better. It will give you good upper     5     lower body strength. Meanwhile, it makes your heart stronger and allows more blood     6     (flow) around your body and increases more oxygen to your brain. Anybody     7     is feeling down can go for a run to cheer themselves up.

If you are new to running, here is a piece of     8     (advise) for you. It is important to warm up and cool down     9     (proper) before and after running. In this way, you will feel very     10     (relax) instead of hurting yourself.

6 . The sun is shinning. I get on No. 151 bus. I’m heading for my office. The sight on the bus is striking: People sit so close together, using those thin sheets of newspapers to keep their distance.

As the bus approaches the National Park, a voice suddenly rings out, “Attention! Attention! This is your driver speaking.”

No one speaks. We look at the back of the driver’s head. His voice carries authority. “Put your papers down. All of you.” The newspapers come down and they are placed on our laps.

“Now, turn and face the person next to you. Go ahead.” Amazingly, we all do it. Still, no one smiles. Just follow the order.

I face an old woman, her head wrapped tightly in a red scarf. I see her nearly everyday. Our eyes meet. We wait for the next order from the driver. We smile to each other. There is a feeling of relief. The barrier (隔阂) has been broken. We cannot help saying, “Good morning, neighbor.”

It is not so hard after all. Some of us repeat it. Others shake hands. Many laugh. The bus driver says nothing more. Slowly, I hear laughter, a warm sound I have never heard before on the bus.

When we reach my stop, I say good-bye to my seatmate, and then jump from the doorstep. As No. 151 bus drives away, I smile as I watch the happy faces of the passengers. This day is starting off better than most.

7 . Stephen Lee is one of the many people in Hong Kong who enjoy mountain-bike riding. He has always _______ the sport since he was a little boy. When he was 15, he got his own mountain _______. It was this bike that made him a hero.

One Sunday afternoon, Stephen came to Silvermine Bay. A _______ had been on the way, but Stephen had not noticed the black clouds _______ in the sky. He was too busy admiring his new bike.

Stephen rode up the hill behind Silvermine Bay until he _______ the top. He was just beginning to rush down _______ it was raining hard. The narrow path became a stream (小溪) of fast running water. Stephen was _______ riding his bike through the rain. Suddenly, he heard a cry for _______.

Stephen found Lilian, a young woman, sitting at the side of the road. Lilian had fallen and _______ her ankle (脚踝). Stephen put Lilian on his bike and carefully ________ down the path beside her, holding the handlebars (把手) as best as he could. The ________ became even worse. Neither the path nor the hillside looked ________ . But at last they made it to the nearest ________ to get medical treatment.

The next day, the newspapers got the ________. “It was the bike that saved Lilian,” Stephen said to the reporter ________. Two days later, Stephen received a $ 2,000 prize from an unknown giver.

Ms. Guli is from Australia. In 2012, she decided to focus on     1     (help) the world face its water problems. Ms. Guli said that when she saw a river that had dropped by 20 feet within six     2     (year), she realized she needed to do something.

She started a group called “Thirst” that had taught over 500,000 people in China different ways     3     (save) water. Ms. Guli also began running. Running was not easy for her. When she was younger, her back was badly hurt. Doctors thought she might never run again. She started swimming, then biking, and     4     (final) running again.

In November, Ms. Guli ran the New York Marathon, the first of the 100 marathons planned for     5     (she) Running Dry project. But after 60 marathons, doctors discovered that Ms. Guli had broken     6     bone in her leg. She decided to walk the marathons rather than run them. That meant spending about 9 to 12 hours     7     (walk) instead of five hours running.

But after 62 marathons, doctors told her that she would damage her leg     8     she didn’t stop. Ms. Guli finally agreed to stop running.

One thing is certain. Even if she     9     (hurt) her leg, Ms. Guli will continue working to let us know how     10     (importance) it is to change the ways we use and save water.

10 . People often feel upset because airline companies always lose their suitcases when they fly. It has never happened to me. But something even worse happened to my family recently.

About ten years ago my mum got a job _________ at a university in Thailand. At first she only went for six months. Later because she really liked it, she agreed to stay _________, so my father and I went to live with her in Thailand. We had a great time, but last year my _________ decided that they wanted to return to the UK. We had been there so long. So we wanted _________ a lot of things back with us-all the furniture from our house, in fact. So Mum and Dad went to a shipping company. Workers in the company took everything back in one of those big containers that you see on ships. The container looks like a big green metal box. The _________ put everything into it: the armchairs and sofas, the TV, wardrobes, desks, even all the rugs and curtains. Our whole house was inside that big green metal box.

We flew back to the UK and _________ for the container to arrive. About ten weeks later, we were having _________ one morning when a big lorry arrived outside our house. On the back was a big green metal box. We were so _________. The men _________ the box and started to take out our things. But they weren’t our things. The container was full of gym equipment. It was the __________ one. We were so sad. But the story has a happy ending. The men took the container and gym equipment away, and about two months ago our things finally arrived