1 . One of the most important sections of the Human Development Report is the Human Development Index. The Index ________ a country’s achievements in three ways: life expectancy, education and income. The ________ has some surprises. Norway is ________ the list, while the US is at number 7. The bottom ten countries are all African countries. China is in the middle of the list. It is one of the examples of successful ________. China increased life expectancy by 13 years. In the last ten years in China, 150 million people moved out of ________. However, a great many people in ________ countries are facing problems of food. Over half of who get ________ are in South Asia or Africa. In developing countries about 115 million children are not ________. And ________ more than 1 billion people don’t have safe water to drink, so the report suggests that we need to make greater ________ in the future.

2 . The most ________ tornadoes have winds of over 400 km per hour. They can take cars, trains and even houses to other places, and also take the fur or ________ off an animal. Almost all tornadoes ________ in the US. On average, there're 800 each year, making 80 people dead and 1500 injured. The worst one was in 1925, ________ over 700 deaths and 2,700 injuries.

Hurricanes have winds of 120 km per hour or more which cause huge ________,heavy rain and floods. There’re six Atlantic hurricanes each year ________.The worst and most ________ one was in 1900 in Galveston, Texas. ________, it caused 6,000 deaths and destroyed 3,600 buildings. Charles Coghlan, a nineteenth-century Irish actor, died and was buried in Texas in 1899. The cemetery was destroyed by the hurricane and his coffin ________ in the sea. Eight years later, the coffin was found in the east of Canada, 3,000 km away from where Coghlan was ________.

3 . Spring Festival means a lot for Chinese people. However, given the sporadic COVID-19 outbreaks in different places, many cities ________ residents in any city with confirmed COVID-19 cases not to travel during the holiday in order to prevent any more outbreaks. ________, I stayed in Beijing during the Spring Festival of 2022. It was my first Spring Festival in China. I ________ it with my Chinese friends.

Several of Ralph’s coworkers came to our apartment to have ________ with me. They brought the meat and dough (面团) to make the ________ dumplings. While I was not ________ in making them, I certainly did enjoy eating them. As soon as all the food was ready, we ________ to enjoy the delicious foods.

Linda brought me Spring Festival couplets ________ good wishes and asked me to paste them on the door. Scott ________ me with many firecrackers. Some students gave me paper cuts to ________ my windows.

Eric invited me to ________ his family to spend New Year’s Eve together. Among the many ________ at dinner, they served a ________ fish. However, I was told we would only be eating half the fish that night because the ________ of it would be eaten the next day. This was done to ________ the good fortune over into the following year since leftovers are thought to be a ________ of prosperity. After dinner, we watched the Spring Festival Gala together. A martial art performance ________ me deeply. The show entitled “Walking Clouds, Flowing Water” starred three tai chi ________ practicing their moves on top of landmark buildings in three cities: Shanghai, Chongqing and Guangzhou of Guangdong province, which was amazing. I went to my ________ at midnight.

It was a very happy time and we have many good ________ of this festival holiday.

4 . Many people want to buy the newest gadget (小玩意儿), the fastest car and the most expensive watch, but what are these things really worth?

For some people, these things _______ them to achieve status (社会地位). They are cool because they have a cool car, or they are _______ at the newest Xbox game. Lots of people say that _______ new things makes them happy. They _______ having new, pretty, impressive things. _______, the problem is that people can’t remain _______ and the feeling you get when you buy something new fades . There’ll always be another _______ iPhone. You’ll stop liking your car. Your friend will get Beats headphones in a more _______ colour and they’ll look so much nicer! Things get old and out of _______, and someone else will always have something better.

So, what can you buy and stay happy with? The research ________ that the best thing to spend your extra ________ on is doing things like travelling, learning to cook or learning a language. What about going to the theatre or climbing a mountain?

In the long term, people are happier with money they spend on ________ than on things. You forget what shoes you wore, but you ________ running a marathon! When you do new things or things you enjoy, you ________ life experience and memories. You can share adventures with people and tell stories. Furthermore, it is always ________ when you meet someone who has done the ________ thing as you can swap stories. You have an instant ________with this person and can have an amazing time ________ the things you’ve done. Even if you don’t enjoy the experience, you can ________ something and often a little while later you see the positives of it. At the very least, it’s a story to tell — maybe even an amusing one.

So forget about designer clothes and fancy gadgets — a new skill or ________ lasts longer!