1 . Every year about 40,000 people attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain in Africa. They ______ with them lots of waste. The ______ might damage the beauty of the place. The glaciers (冰川) are disappearing, changing the face of Kilimanjaro.

Hearing these stories, I’m ______ about the place — other destinations are described as “purer” natural experiences.

However, I soon ______ that much has changed since the days of disturbing reports of ______ among tons of rubbish. I find a ______ mountain, with toilets at camps and along the paths. The environmental challenges are ______ but the efforts made by the Tanzania National Park Authority seem to be ______.

The best of a Kilimanjaro ______, in my opinion, isn’t reaching the top. Mountains are ______ as spiritual places by many cultures. This view is especially evident on Kilimanjaro as ______ go through five ecosystems within a few kilometers. At the base is a rainforest. It ends suddenly at 3, 000 meters, ______ lands of low growing plants. Further up, the weather ______ — low clouds envelop the mountainsides, which are covered with thick grass. I counted twelve shades of green from where I stand. Above 4, 000 meters is the highland desert: gravel (砾石), stones and rocks. ______ you climb into an arctic-like zone with permanent (永久的) snow and the glaciers that may soon disappear.

Does Kilimanjaro deserve its reputation as a crowded mountain with lines of tourists ______ the atmosphere of peace? I found the opposite to be true.

2 . I started the topic “question of the day” in my family text group. We’d talk about everything from movies to politics. But my loved ones warned me that some of my answers were judgmental (武断的)and that I was too quick to attack an opinion. I all but killed that group text. It had a good 12 people in it. We’d shared laughs, encouragement, and funny memes (表情包). It took only one conversation-which I was in the middle of-to end it.

I realized that I had a problem. The reason for my problem is the smartphone. Smartphones enable instant communication. When in the past people talked on the telephone, you could cut in a “What do you mean by that?” to correct a misunderstanding before it got out of hand. But don’t-misunderstand me: I love a good group text. It makes me feel connected to people in a way that I just can’t seem to anymore, now that I have a wife and kids.

I’m learning, but I made mistakes again recently. I joined a new text group. I introduced my topic “question of the day” again. I thought foolishly that I was encouraging a healthy debate on current eyes. No. Others in the group saw it as me trying to prove that my way was the right way. Then I made the mistake of sharing a friend’s personal information, which he had told me during a phone conversation. I thought everyone knew it. Then this friend started referring to me as a snitch — not a kind word. So I asked him about it in person. That’s when he told me I’d shared sensitive information he hadn’t told anyone else. I apologized plentifully and came away from the conversation and more determined to slow down my texts.

My new determination seems to be working. Now I have avoided making a few points that I had meant to make in individual and group texts. In some cases, I didn’t even respond, but I haven’t lost any more connections by doing this.

3 . I got on an overnight, bus journey from Kolhapur to Aurangabad in India. The bus — an ordinary, air-conditioning-free one — was more than ______. All 55 seats were taken and there were some 20 people ______ in the aisle (过道). The hot day ______ the discomfort of the 10-hour journey. Because I was travelling on a student bus pass I had no choice but to-stand.

After approximately two extended hours, I was wet with _______ in the noise of the bus. I suddenly ______ a hand tapping my hand, asking for ______. Turning around, I found a middle-aged man with a smile looking up at me. He stood up and said I could take his ______ for a little while. I was pleasantly ______ and immediately accepted his offer, my entire body feeling a sense of relief. And the man just stood next to me, looking around. After about 20 minutes, I signaled him to ______ his space. Another man, who was sitting by the window on the other side of the bus, had observed our’ ______.

Just then, something ______ happened. Our observer stood up and offered his seat to another standing man. Unexpectedly, we had caused a chain reaction: almost all the standees got a(n) ______ to be seated. More surprisingly, people-even started chatting with each other while exchanging their positions, and soon began sharing jokes. Needless to say, the rest of the journey was quite ______.

The bus reached its destination the next morning. I stood in the early morning light, waving goodbye to the groups, who-went-their separate routines. But this extraordinary experience has stayed with me after all the years. I am always ______ of an important life lesson — that we can all ______ what we have, including our burdens, and help our co-passengers in the journey of life.

5 . Sadie looked out of the window and sighed (叹气) as she thought about another long, boring day of summer. She wondered what all of her friends from school were doing on their summer vacations. It had to be a lot better than looking out of a window. Sadie thought about the fun she had last summer when she and her best friend Allison went to the beach. They built sandcastles, played beach volleyball, and even tried surfing. But they wouldn’t be going to the beach together this summer because Allison had moved to a different city far away from Sadie’s.

Suddenly, Sadie had an idea. She could call her friend Wendy, who always had funny ideas. Maybe they could ride their bikes together around the park. Sadie raced to the living room, picked up the phone, and called Wendy. She sighed more deeply as the phone rang and rang. Then Sadie seated herself on the sofa, picked up the television remote, and put it down again. She didn’t really want to watch television, so she went to her room and found the list of phone numbers of her good friends from school. In the living room, she called almost each of them, but no one was at home.

After hanging up the phone, Sadie wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table, watching her mom do the cleaning. “Mom, I don’t have anyone to hang out with because my friends from school aren’t home and Allison moved away,” said Sadie. “Honey, there are many things you can do by yourself, like playing your guitar or having a walk in the garden. You could even finish that story about our camping trip,” said Mom.

“I don’t want to do those things by myself. I want to play with a friend.” “Sometimes, it is nice to do things by yourself,” said Mom. “I like seeing my friends, but I also like doing things alone like taking a walk by myself or finding a quiet spot to read. Why not have a try?”

Sadie thought about her mom’s words and returned to her room.

Twelve animal head statues of the Chinese zodiac ( 生 肖 ) are well-known treasures from Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace. After Anglo-French troops broke     1     the Old Summer Palace in 1860, numerous national treasures, including the 12 animal head statues,     2     (take) away.

On Nov 13,     3     red bronze horse-head statue,     4     was donated by Macao-based collector Stanley Ho, returned to Beijing. “The     5     (break) link of historical memory is thus re-connected,” Liu Yuzhu, director of the NCHA, told China Daily. “The return of these relics holds the Public’s collective emotion. People’s cultural     6     (confident) can be strengthened. It will also encourage more compatriots’ (爱国者) devotion, both at home and abroad,     7     (preserve) the cultural heritage of our country better.”

In the past 70 years, the Chinese government and many compatriots     8     (spare) no effort to     reclaim (拿回) lost Chinese relics and artifacts from overseas. Due to their efforts, the horse statue is the     9       (seven) of the 12 animal statues to be returned from overseas. Now, the search is on for the     10     (remain) five: a dog, a rooster, a dragon, a sheep and a snake.

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . Improved mental health is on the schedule for many people in 2024 and being organized is an ideal method of realizing it.

Disorganization (无序) is often considered to have a negative impact on the way we see ourselves and the lives we lead. The disadvantages of living in a disorganized environment include memory problems, poor eating habits, and decreased self-control. “There’s an obvious link between increased stress and anxiety disorders and living in a messy space,” says Daniel Levitin, a behavioral neuroscientist (行为神经科学家) at McGill University.

“Disorganization reduces productivity (生产力) that is difficult to measure” says Levitin. He points people loses a large amount of time when looking for lost items, missing appointments, or falling behind at work or school because of disordered living. “The average person likely loses 5 percent of their time due to disorganization,” he says. “Take your annual salary, multiply(乘)that by5percent, and you can measure what disorganization may be society you.”

Joseph Ferrari, another researcher on disorganization, says that nearly every mental health downside coming from disorganization can be improved by getting organized. “You’ll feel more energetio, enhance your productivity in the office, and greatly improve the quality of your life,” he says.

Tidy homes mean physical health. “Those whose houses are cleaner are more active and physically healthy,” says Libby Sander, an assistant professor of organizational behavior. It is partly because those people are better at managing their time, and partly because less mess can help improve one’s diet. “Studies show a close link between disorganization and overweight,” says Libby.

Getting organized has also been shown to decrease one’s stress levels, increase personal efficiency, and even improve sleep. Another studied advantage of getting organized may be improving the quality of one’s relationships. Libby explains that relationships can be negatively impacted when too much mess affects communication or distracts (分散) one’s brain from noticing important message from their partner. Research shows this can cause others to feel ignored, misunderstood, or unimportant.

9 . Like other penguins, African penguins have white feathers covering their chests and black feathers covering their backs. They have lifelong mates, and they live in huge numbers —so, scientists wondered how the birds were able to identify their partners among a sea of black-and-white birds. To find it out, they studied 12 African penguins at a marine park called Zoomarine Italia.

In one test, they hung two life-size photographs of the African penguins. One is selected randomly(随机选择地), while the other is the test subject’s mate. The scientists recorded their interactions with the photos: How long did they spend looking at each photo, as well as how much time did they spend standing near each one? The penguins spent more time looking at the photo of their partners—about 23 seconds longer, on average —than looking at the other photo. They also stood next to the mate’s photo for twice as long. Then, the researchers covered up the heads of the birds in the photographs, and the penguins still stayed near their partners’ photos.

In another experiment, the researchers hung up two photos of a bird’s mate —but, in one, they had digitally removed its spots(点). In this case, the penguin again spent more time looking at the photo with the spots. In the third experiment, the researchers hung two penguin photos with digitally removed spots—one of the test subject’s mate and the other: a random penguin. In this case, the penguins did not appear to recognize their partners—they spent almost the same time looking at or standing near both photos.

Together, the research results suggest African penguins are zeroing in on their partners’ spots and using them like name tags. Scientists say: “Our results prove birds recognize their mates by specific visual patterns and all sensory modalities(模态)should be considered in the study of animal communication.”