1 . In 2008, I traveled to a remote region in southwest China to tell the story about the Nu River. The word “Nu” means “angry” in Chinese. Here many ________ lived in the mountains along the narrow river. There were ________ bridges over the river and most people from the villages had to ________ it by zip lines (滑索).

I went to a place closest to a town on a market day. When I got there, a stream of people was already crossing over the ________ waters of the river. They did it ________ or in pairs. Some of them even went with ________ in their arms, such as chickens and pigs. I even saw a goat.

With a camera around my neck, I hooked onto the return line and moved forward until I ________ midway above the river. The waters did look angry below me.

Hanging over the river, I ________ people crossing until those waiting to return home became very ________ . I pulled myself back to the roadside to let them pass, and then hooked onto the line again for another try. Suddenly, I saw a group of people were heading toward the zip lines with a ________!

“What’s the angle? “I asked myself, as I ________ my position. I wanted the river waters in the picture but that was not easy to do. Before I could check all the ________ they tied a rope around the cow, hooked it on the line, and gave it a push. Kicking its legs in the air, the cow ________ the steep line above the angry river.

I reached the line’s end just as the cow closed in. For a second, my camera was in the cow’s face. The view was ________ —completed by the angry river below.

Nowadays, these zip lines have been ________ by modern bridges and government housing projects have been designed to encourage the people to move down to the riversides.

2 . Every school has rules(规则) for students to follow. However, some students may see the_______ as a way which teachers control them. Sometimes, they’re unhappy and even feel_______Well, if you think your life is hard, you might think about the_______in ancient times. For some of them ,life was really hard.

In the old days, people believed that teachers had to be very _______and had the right to punish the students. Parents didn’t mind if teachers punished their children when their children didn’t do what they were_______ to do . Often the stricter a teacher was, the more parents thought he or she was a good teacher.

In fact, following school rules can be very important. For example, running in the hallways(走廊) could cause(导致) a student to_______.It may hurt himself or another person. Following the rules can also help the students in the classroom to learn_______ difficulty. In class, a teacher may ask students to raise their hands_______they speak. If someone speaks out of turn, other students might not be able to hear the teacher_______.School rules can help students prepare for their own futures as well. When they________ and go out on their own, they’ll soon find that they still need to follow rules.

Rules make the world much better. If there are no rules, life will be meaningless and in disorder.

3 . If you’re a parent, you know how important it is to develop a child’s creativity.

Joe Whale’s mom and dad have always seen the _________ in their son. _________, at 6 years old, Joe began drawing and fell in love with it. Since then, his family has _________ the creative outlet (释放)—even after he started getting into trouble for it.

When _________ about Joe’s doodling (涂鸦) began coming in from teachers at his school in Shrewsbury, England, the 9-year-old’s parents weren’t upset. They _________ that doodling was Joe’s way to express himself. So rather than _________ him for not paying attention, they sent him to an after-school art class.

_________ his artwork, his after-school teacher began sharing it on Instagram, where Joe’s _________ caught the attention of local restaurant Number Four. The staff thought his style was a perfect _________ for the cafe, so they reached out to see if Joe wanted to help __________ their dining room. When Joe heard about the __________, he leapt at the __________ to do it.

The __________ became Joe’s new after-school activity—and his first __________! He spent a couple of hours every weekday filling the restaurant’s walls with his art. Joe’s dad Greg said it took him about 12 hours to __________.

“Joe loves doodling, and we’re so __________ of everything he’s achieving,” Greg said. “The fact that a completely independent __________ has asked our 9-year-old son to do a professional piece of work for them is __________.”

__________, Joe has a bright future ahead of him! This job is just the first of many __________ more and more people can commission (正式委托创作) pieces through his website, and we can’t wait to see them!

4 . A man was driving home when he saw a car stuck on the side of the road. So he _______ behind the car and got out. Even with a smile on his face, the lady was still _______ . He said, “I’m here to help you. By the way, my name is Bryan.”

All the problem she had was a _______ tire, which was bad enough for a lady. Bryan helped change the _______ , making hands dirty and hurt. She couldn’t thank him enough for coming to her _______ . She asked him how much she owed him. He never thought twice about the _______ . This was helping someone in _______ .

He waited until she _______ her car and drove off. It was a cold day, but he felt _______ as he headed for home.

Halfway the lady stopped to grab a bite to______at a small cafe. A waitress came over with a sweet smile. She ______ that the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant. After the meal, when the waitress went to get the _____ for her hundred dollar bill, she left __________ . The waitress found the words on the napkin under which was four $100 bills—“Somebody once helped me out, and I won’t let this __________ of love end with me.”

That night when the waitress got home, she shared the story with her husband and whispered, “With the __________ due next month, it may be hard, but everything’s gonna be all right, Bryan.”

5 . Last Saturday, two teenagers, Jim and Bob, went to the Rocky mountains with their parents for the weekend. In the morning, the two boys decided to _________ Cathedral Mountain by themselves while their _________ relaxed at the campsite.

After three hours, they reached the top successfully. However, _________ began when they climbed down the mountain. Bob fell three meters off the path. He was badly injured in his right leg and couldn’t _________. Jim didn’t want to leave his friend and waited for help with Bob.

When the boys didn’t return that evening, their parents became very _________. They got in touch with park workers and began _________ the boys.

While waiting for help, Jim gave Bob his food and water and let him lie on his jacket to make him more _________.As it was getting darker, Bob told Jim to go back to the campsite, but Jim still didn’t   _________. He used his extra shirt to keep Bob warm.

At sunrise, Jim and Bob started the long climb back to their anxious parents with great difficulty. _________, after four hours, they arrived at the campsite. Bob thanked Jim for saving his __________, saying that is the greatest thing a person can do for his friend.

6 . The king of Kamera in Africa was a proud and cruel man. His men ______ him and immediately carried out his orders. But one day when he was saying proudly that all men were his servants, a ______ old man called Boukabar criticized (批评) him, saying, “All men are ______ of one another.”

“So I am your servant, am I?” said the king very ______. “Then prove it. Force me to work for you before sunset, and I will ______ you a hundred cows. If you ______, I will kill you.”

“Very well,” said Boukabar.

Being a very old man, he had to use a stick for ______. Just as he took it up and was about to go out, a beggar came to the door.

“Allow me,” said Boukabar, “to give this ______ man something to eat.”

Taking some food in both hands, Boukabar tottered (蹒跚) past the king. His stick ______ from under his arm and got ______ on his clothes, and nearly tripped (绊倒) him up. He cried to the king, “Please pick up the stick or I shall fall.”

The king picked it up without thinking, and Boukabar then laughed ______and said, “You see all ______ men are servants of one another. I am serving the ______ and you are serving me. But I do not want the ______. Give them to the poor.”

The king did so, and took Boukabar as his chief ______.

7 . I’m a second-year student of Coventry University. For more than a year, I have been volunteering for SHOUT, a text-based _______ health support service.

This time last year, we all watched the COVID-19 unfold across the country. I had planned to work in the summer vacation, but this became _______ when the first lockdown began. My days became a(n) _______ of watching the news and wishing I could do something. Fortunately, I learned about SHOUT in an email from my university’s volunteering team _______ the charity needed more volunteers, due to the increase in _______ they were receiving since the pandemic (流行病) began. I applied instantly.

SHOUT volunteers _______ as a listening ear to anyone who needs support, at any time, with their mental health. The service supports them and encourages self-care techniques to keep people _______ during the pandemic. This service was especially important during lockdown, when clinical services were often _______. As volunteers, we never give advice; often our texters just need someone to _______.

My volunteering ________ have had a huge positive impact on my mental health. I have been able to gain new   ________ from gardening to instructing. In a voluntary capacity, the pressure is off. If I’m struggling, my teammates will always encourage me to rest and   ________ for a while. And when I’m feeling strong, I can get involved again and ________ other people in their time of need.

The skills I’ve gained by volunteering have given me the ________ to successfully apply for an internship (实习生) with Coventry University. I strongly believe volunteering has changed my life, and I encourage everyone to ________ opportunities to change theirs too.

8 . Farmers around the world face serious challenges in growing food more effectively. Climate warming increases the risk of crop damage from insects, fungi (真菌), and bacteria. So to manage the threat, farms are turning to artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and computer vision to target pests more ________.

In 2019 the United Nations reported on the pest ________ causing crop losses of between 20 and 40 percent of global production each year. Damage from plant diseases, it said, costs the world economy an estimated $220 billion annually, and invasive insects around $70 billion.

Smart farming is one way to combat the problem, using AI and robotics to kill bugs and reduce reliance on pesticides while ________ skilled worker shortages and adapting to climate change. Technologies include soil and crop sensors, satellite and drone monitoring, plus computer vision and AI data analysis to reduce the number of affected plants and increase crop ________.

Insect monitoring services like the UK’s Spotta offer ________ real-time data on invasive species. The company uses internet-connected dry traps to catch red palm weevils (象鼻虫) that attack date palms, causing more than $1 billion of losses in the Middle East, Africa, and North America each year.

Traps alert plantation workers to trees infested (寄生) with weevils so they can eliminate them before they cause any real damage. And this targeted approach means less pesticide is used, ________ the impact on other species.

________, the Californian agriculture technology startup FarmSense uses visual sensors and machine learning algorithms (算法) trained to find and track insects in real-time. With non-native invasive insect species ________ to increase 36 percent worldwide by 2050, these technologies could give farmers a huge advantage in eco-friendly pest control and food growing.

Precision spot spraying linked to AI is another valuable add-on that aims to ________ pesticide and herbicide use. Spraying entire crops can harm insect pollinators (传花粉者) like bees and becomes part of agricultural run-off when it is washed out of soil. But targeting weeds or insects using cameras and directed sprays can vastly reduce ________ use.

In the Czech Republic, scientists at Mendel University in Brno have built a sample robot that patrols greenhouses and can identify the different ________ of insect growth. It then ________ just enough insecticide to kill individual pests, working 24 hours a day to keep things under control.

Companies like Root AI and 80 Acres Farms are banking on indoor growing and AI-controlled systems as the future of farming. In the case of 80 Acres, its pesticide-free indoor farms are ________ by AI every step of the way. Robots do a lot of the work and computer vision lets them know if crops need more nutrients or if pests are causing ________.

Their efforts are part of what analysts say will be a $2.6 billion AI-farming market by 2025. Reimagining how farming operates will be crucial says the World Bank – reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, soil erosion, and biodiversity loss. And technology will play its part in helping farmers improve their all-around crop ________.

9 . Spreading Kindness, Rock by Rock

“Mom! I found one! I found a rock!”

I _________ those words again and again last summer as I sat on the porch of my home, which faces a park in the small town where I live.

The Kindness Rocks Project, which was started a few years ago by a mom in Massachusetts, has _________ around the world. _________, families, and adults of all ages are taking part — painting rocks, hiding rocks, and finding painted rocks all over the place. Some _________ photos of the rocks on social media, and others simply move the rocks for someone else to find. Some take the rocks home and then _________ them with new ones that they create and hide.

Nine-year-old twins Harry and Hannah DeVrieze have _________ hundreds of rocks with their parents. Most evenings, the family and their small dog walk around with a wagon full of _________ that they hide as they walk.

“It’s a fun _________ activity,” Hannah says.

“We will do it in the winter too,” Harry _________. Ben Burinsky, aged nine, and his brother, Luke, aged seven, were visiting relatives when they __________ their first painted rock in a park. They were so __________ that they went home and painted their own rocks, then __________ them for others to find.

“My boys loved finding the rock in the park, __________ since it was a superhero,” their mother, Judy Burinsky, says. “I love how something so __________ can bring a smile to my children’s faces. In return, they learn the __________ of giving back to others.”

10 . Christmas is a time for giving and receiving. However, is it ________ for close family and friends? Do we even spare a ________ for those in need? Our children receive so much throughout the year.

As parents we want our daughters to be ________ for what they have and to think of those who don’t. That’s why my husband and I want them to ________ the spirit of giving back from a very young age.

Through their school, the girls have a charity which they ________ . Every Tuesday they take two loaves of bread to the school food bank. Twice a year they donate ________ clothes, toys and books to shelters. They also volunteer on weekends. As my husband is a regular blood donor, the girls ________ to donate as well. Unfortunately they are too ________ as the start age is 16.

Children mirror the ________ of their parents and if you often reach out to others by giving generously, they will ________ . Christmas is the perfect time to teach them to give back to those less ________ .

Teaching the gift of giving back not only promotes personal growth, it also ________ them a sense of belonging and pride. It will create ________ that they are making a difference in someone else’s life no matter how small the ________ . It teaches them love, kindness, patience and so on. These ________ will help them carry it forward in their adult life.