1 . As a child, I had spent my holidays travelling our village in Bangladesh — running across the rice fields or farms and fishing in lakes. But, this had started to wear off as a teen. One thing I remember about that trip was when we were only about half an hour from our village, we had to get out of our car. The road in front of us was completely under water. We all got on a bamboo boat for another two or three hours.

That was 15 years ago — the last time I visited our village. One by one, many other villagers left there. But my father has been working hard to build it up. He doesn’t want it to be lost.

Yes, we should protect our home. But there is something else to think about: climate crisis (气候危机). Bangladesh is at the centre of the climate crisis — it is hit by floods, droughts, storms and other natural disasters. “I jokingly say, Bangladesh is God’s laboratory for natural disasters,” says Prof Ainun Nishat, an expert on climate change from Bangladesh.

The period from June to October sees heavy rains. But the rainfall time is becoming more erratic (无常的). In 2020, Sylhet, my hometown, was hit by huge floods that affected thousands of families, whose homes were swept away. In fact, over a quarter of the country was flooded. Nearly 1.3 million homes were damaged, and hundreds of people died.

The weather is getting more extreme (极端的). It is getting too hot. And the supply of water can’t be relied upon, leaving the land getting drier.

Although people have worries about droughts and floods, unlike in the past, the country is well-prepared to deal with them. Prof Nishat says, “Maybe 20, 30 years back we depended on external (外部的) support to return to normal from any natural disaster, but now it’s different. The country has developed, and we suffered these disasters many times, so the people are one of the most prepared.”

Last year, I returned to Fuling, a river town near the Yangtze River. I visited the White Crane Ridge Underwater Museum. It’s a very strange museum    1     is under 40 meters of water, I knew its director even before the museum and the Three Gorges Dam     2    .

I taught English at the local college in the town of Fuling     3     1996 to 1998. Fuling was then quiet. Foreigners were very rare(稀小). When I ate my lunch in the town centre, often a crowd came to watch me. There weren’t any traffic     4     I couldn’t find a car.

During my visit, I     5     some of my old students. They told me about their old classmates, many of whom had left Fuling. I also visited Huang Zongming and his brother.    6     I lived here, they were fishermen. When the first stage of the dam was     7    ,they left their home. I was sure that their lives were     8     changed. But now l discover that everything is almost the same for    9    .They are still fishermen and go     10     every day. The fishing on the river is still good.The dam has not changed some things in Fuling.

6 . Today, the original Beetle has largely disappeared from the world’s roads since Volkswagen stopped producing it in Germany in 1978. But the instantly recognizable car was once everywhere. From the 1970s to the 1990s, more than 21 million Beetles were produced worldwide. Many adults in their 40s or above have a story about the Beetle, or at least a memory.

Part of its universal appeal is its unique look. There’s something about the car that just makes people smile: its happy shape, its cheerful colors, and perhaps its small size. However, the smiles that beetles evoke, in people are not simply due to their design. It has a character almost. It has a sort of soul in a way. It’s beyond a machine. For the better part of a century this car has been a part in people’s lives. Seeing these cars on the road is like a time capsule. It opens people to memories and stories that might otherwise go untold. By allowing us to travel back in time, they remind us of what’s important. In today’s world, this car represents something very basic and earthy and genuine. Exactly the kind of travel we need right now.

“My parents had three, a white one, then a red one, and then an orange one. It was the car I grew up with,” said actor Ewan McGregor. “They would put us in the back of the Beetle in Scotland and drive to France for camping holidays in summer. My first car was a 1978 Beetle and now I own two, parked at my home in Los Angeles.”

McGregor thinks the car’s future is electric. He has recently turned his 1978 model into a fully electric car. “Moving forward, maybe we’ll just have to think; smaller cars, low emissions (排放), and something that makes us feel happy,” he says.

7 . Bournemouth in Dorset has always been my favourite seaside town. When I was growing up, Mum and Dad didn’t have much money, but they’d saved enough for a few days in Bournemouth. I was four years old at the time. I don’t actually remember much about the trip, apart from being devastated when we had to leave. Mum said I fell in love with the place and insisted on waving goodbye to the sea when it was time to go. So I grew up believing Bournemouth was a wonderful place.

Forty years on, my wife and I returned for a week’s break. I was nervous, wondering if I’d be able to bring back that delight I’d felt as a child. I needn’t have worried. We had a fantastic time. It helped that the British weather had decided to provide us with high temperatures and plenty of sun. But it was Bournemouth that kept me spellbound, making me feel like a child again.

Bournemouth and its neighbour, Boscombe, are always busy, alive with chatter, music and other lively sounds. But as we stepped into Boscombe Chine Gardens, all the noise faded away. A sense of peace spread through us as we meandered along the paths, delighting in the squirrels climbing up and down the trees and the bright colours of the pretty plants.

One morning, we made a short trip to Poole Quay and took the ferry to Brownsea Island. Owned by the National Trust, it’s a feast for the eyes, from its mock Tudor entrance, to the many peacocks walking around, to the magnificent views of the sun sparkling on the shining waters and boats bobbing up and down, seen from the island’s highest point.

Before we knew it, it was time to return home—but not before waving goodbye to the sea.

9 . In January 2020, my life was like a perfect movie. I was the _________ in my amazing group of best friends. They were all a year older, but you would never have known. I was only a senior two student but had _________ to secure a spot on the swim team. Then my teammates and I traveled in Hawaii.

Little did we know we would _________ to chaos. Our school was _________ down for two weeks due to COVID-19. Although feeling unhappy, my best friends made promises about how we would stay close during the lockdown. Shortly into quarantine (隔离区), I _________ hobbies and did anything I could to keep myself busy.

Looking back, I felt like a fool for thinking that two weeks would be a _________ to a pandemic. Months went by and the new school year began. I couldn’t accept the _________ that training in the pool became impossible. The pain of missing my friends began to _________. I felt like I was drowning.

It occurred to me that my best friends, who were now _________, would leave me next fall anyway. That made me ____________, making November the ____________ month for me. I couldn’t describe the feeling of just lying on my bed with tears ____________ down my face.

Alice in Wonderland became my life as I kept falling down a never-ending hole. Still, all the same, I felt ever so ____________ to climb out of this darkness. As the winter holidays ____________, things started to pick up. I was ____________ by the Christmas spirit. Sure, it was ____________ this year but still, I looked forward to the ____________ activities: Christmas eve dinner, opening gifts with my family on Christmas Day.

I made a New Year’s resolution to become more ____________ to my studies. As I did that, I found the college conversation became less ____________. I thought about all the ____________, the passions I would pursue. I became more excited about the unknown.