2 . On a Saturday morning last November, I got up at 5 to be at the Armory track on 168th Street in Harlem, a neighborhood in Manhattan for the girls’4×2 relay race (接力赛).

I joined the team when I was a freshman at Abraham Lincoln High School. I hadn’t considered it until a girl came up to me and said, “You look like a good runner. Would you like to join the track team?” She thought I would make a good runner because she saw my legs and arms were built, but I was just naturally slim.

I was excited and surprised, “I don’t know. What do I have to do?”

“It is a lot of hard work and devotion. It’s not easy.”

She was right. My team had practice every day from 3:30 to 6 except for Fridays. When we didn’t have practice, I’d run on my own on the boardwalk. I got faster and focused. Track helped me get away from troubles. Arguments with my mom, problems with schoolwork, and dramas with the kids at school. I felt calm every time I ran.

I got to the Armory at 7. My team was already there. We gave each other hugs and high fives. When the officials called for the relay race, I went out to the starting line. Then the gun went off. As I pounded the track, I was focusing so much on myself. I started running away from my problems. I couldn’t see anyone or anything but the finish line. Everything else was just a blur. I fought to the finish line. I wasn’t only fighting against the other teams; I was also fighting to win my battle against my stress.

I could feel the wind blowing against my skin. I felt like I was flying. My stress disappeared. I   came in second as I passed the baton (接力棒) to my teammate.

3 . Ethan was passionate about playing the guitar. Every day after school, he would rush home, _______ his guitar, and lose himself in the melodies. One day, an opportunity _______ Ethan’s door. The village was hosting a talent show, and Ethan decided to participate. _______, doubts started to creep into his mind. The fear of failure began to _______ him.

But Ethan’s grandfather shared his story. He had a dream of becoming a _______ but filled with self- doubt, so he decided to seek guidance from a wise old artist. The artist listened to his worries and offered him a _______ to paint a picture on a large canvas in front of a crowd. _______ by the challenge, he hesitated. The wise artist smiled, “Paint from your heart and _______ your soul into every stroke. The beauty lies not in _______, but in the authenticity (真实) of your creation.”

Encouraged by these words, he painted with passion, letting his emotions guide his brush. The crowd watched in awe as a beautiful masterpiece ________ on the canvas. Finishing the story, Ethan’s grandfather said, “That day, I realized that success is not ________ by how perfect we are or how we ________ others.”

Inspired by his grandfather’s story, Ethan practiced ________ and poured his heart into every ________. When the day arrived, the audience was captivated by his performance. At that moment, he realized that his self-doubts had held him back, but now he was ________.

5 . Life is precious, but health is more precious than it because life without health is just like food without taste. Health gives you the opportunity to live your life full of joy and make you able to do all of its activities as you desire. When you live a healthy lifestyle, your body remains healthy, and your mind stays fresh. So, this would prevent you from so many severe diseases, and live a healthy life to its full extent.

Living a healthy lifestyle not only extends your life but also rejuvenates your body and mind; it will help you feel better. Although a healthy habit is very hard to develop, it needs a change in one’s mindset. But a firm will and a focused goal will help you to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Most of us have some kinds of health issues like overweight, lack of energy, and dull appearance. A good healthy lifestyle plays an important role in overcoming these issues. It will encourage you to live your life with no chance of a great difficulty in life.

A healthy lifestyle plays a vital role in boosting the energy in a person’s body and providing a better performance in every activity of life. It minimizes the chances of insufficient sleep, and a person’s body will get all the essential nutrients (营养) that are required to function precisely. A healthy lifestyle includes slight changes in life like daily habits and routine, and the most important food you eat because the food you eat impacts directly on your body and behavior.

Bad habits in your daily lifestyle may lead to a bad emotion, and you can improve it by adopting a healthy lifestyle. It will lead you to a relaxed mind and keep you energetic in a day. It is human nature that when a person is happy and satisfied, he performs his work more accurately and creatively, but if his mood is not refreshing then he can’t perform anything at his best. A fine and healthy lifestyle will help the person to release stress and tension from his mind, so this person can perform all the tasks in his best condition and give amazing results.

6 . Pablo Picasso, born in 1881 in Malaga, was an active artist for most of his long life. His father, an artist himself, was his first and most formative art teacher. Picasso had one of the most fruitful and creative careers in history.

Picasso went through many creative periods in his career. His “Blue Period” started in 1901, when one of his dear friends, a painter and poet named Carlos, passed away in a cafe in Paris. Picasso was deeply affected, and sank into a depression that lasted several years.

In 1904, Picasso moved to Montmartre in Paris, and settled into the community of artists and creators there. Coming out of his depression, Picasso moved on from dark and serious subjects in his paintings to more lighthearted compositions featuring harlequins, clowns and carnival performers. His color palette (调色盘) warmed up as well, with his paintings now bathed in reds, oranges, pinks and earth tones. This period was known as Picasso’s “Rose Period” and it lasted until 1906.

From 1906 to 1909 Picasso was heavily inspired by African art, after he was exposed to traditional African masks (面具) and other art objects coming from Africa into French museums in Paris. This stage was called his “African Period”, and was a precursor (先驱) to his most famous period, “Cubism”. Influenced by Paul Cezanne’s experimentation with three-dimensional spacing and perspective on art, Picasso and Georges Braque led the artistic movement known as Cubism. This way of breaking down a form to its most basic forms and reconstructing them in an abstracted way is what Picasso is most known for.

Throughout his life, Picasso took inspiration from everywhere in his life, whether it be working through his emotions, responding to a difficult life event, or the works of his fellow artists. In turn, his life’s works have inspired and influenced millions of people around the world and forever changed the history of art.

7 . Clean energy may also be called renewable energy or green energy, and it specifically refers to energy produced from renewable resources without creating environmental problems. There are several other ways that this term can be explained, however. It may refer to energy processes that pollute less or, alternately, to energy that doesn’t pollute at all and doesn’t use resources that can’t be easily renewed, The basic forms of clean energy are often referred to as those that come from water, wind, or sun.

It’s hoped that using this type of energy, especially as a total replacement for use of things like oil, might help to reduce global warming and greenhouse gas emission, creating a safer world for all people. In reality, clean energy has its problems too, which have not been fully realized that it is not a complete replacement for energy created by non-renewable resources. For instance, wind farms that can provide power may have significant effect on local bird populations, and birds of some types can face serious reduction of numbers when they live near wind farms.

Nevertheless, these negative consequences tend to be smaller in comparison to the use of oil or non-clean coal. Many environmentalists reason that, though no power source is completely without risk, green energy could have a wide-reaching effect on helping the planet to recover and perhaps stopping the trend of global warming. An additional reason why it can be so desirable is that it tends to come from sources that are free. While controlling this energy costs money, wind and sun aren’t owned by anybody in particular. Otherwise, political problems may be created and wars may be fought for a certain resource. For example, most of the oil in the world is gathered in a few places, and the majority is located in the Middle East. So they believe that wind or solar energy could lead not only to a cleaner planet, but also a more peaceful world.

Much remains to be done to figure out how to best control renewable energy sources and how to use them to their best advantage. One issue is how to transport collected energy from one place to another, since many places that produce this energy are located in remote locations. Changing the power net to adapt to different sources of energy can help this problem, but this has yet to occur on a wide range.

8 . Your home can be a dangerous place. But, if you understand what you can do to make your home safer, you can prevent accidents. And always keep a first-aid kit in your home—just in case there is an accident.

The kitchen, bathroom and bedroom are the most unsafe places. Common accidents in these rooms include falls, fires, poisoning, cuts, hot water burns and electric shocks.

Make sure the floor is not wet or slippery.

Always use a ladder (梯子) to reach high cupboards; never stand on a chair.

Always cut away from your body when you use a knife.

Follow directions for all electrical appliances carefully.

Unplug (拔掉插头) all appliances, especially irons, after use.

Keep matches out of the reach.

Store all cleaning materials and poisonous materials in a locked cupboard.

Never smoke in bed

Unplug electric blanket (毯子) when not in use.

Have a telephone near the bed, especially if ill.

Don’t plug in an electrical appliance or use it while standing in water.

Don’t use a hair dryer near a bath containing water.

Never leave a little child alone in the bath.

Fires can cause terrible damage to your home and terrible injuries to people. But people are more important than things; so, if there is a fire, get everyone out of the house safely. Then call for help. Never go back into a burning building to save your things.

Have fire extinguishers in the house, which can be quite helpful at the beginning of a fire.

Buy clothes, curtains and toys that do not burn easily.

Put screens in front of fires.

Use heaters very carefully as they can set objects on fire. Place them away from furniture.

When cooking, do not let oil touch flames or other sources of heat.

Check electrical wires a number of times a year to make sure they are in good condition.

Put covers over electrical outlets if young children are at home.