Renewable methods for     1     (produce) electricity, such as wind turbines and solar panels, can only provide power on the days     2     wind blows or the sun shines. Electric batteries     3     (use) to store energy are expensive and can also be polluting. Finnish scientists came up with a simple solution that puts unwanted green electricity to work, heating 100 tons of sand to around 500℃. The sand stays hot for months; when energy     4     (require), air can be pumped through it and heated up. The air in turn heats a system that supplies hot water to heat nearby houses.

On a particular sunny day, little Mykel was determined to learn to ride his bike without the help of training wheels. When the neighborhood kids     1     (spot) Mykel shakily controlling his bike, they raced over     2     (help). Some held the bike steady while others offered encouragement. Mykel was not alone as he tried to reach his goal of learning to ride his bike! Some things are     3     (easy) said than done. However, with a little help from friends, things go better!

The idea of writing a poem might feel frightening     1     (initial) — do you need to follow a certain structure, does it need to have a rhyme, or do you need to have recited a dictionary to be a “proper” poet? The truth is: absolutely not. While there are “types” of poem that offer structure to serve     2     a guide, the reality is that poetry doesn’t have to follow a set of rules — it’s much more about conveying a feeling, and that opens up a lot of creative     3     (free) for us to explore.

COP26, known as “Conferences of the Parties”, was the latest in a series of     1     (meeting) bringing together governments to protect the environment. Its main goal was to take measures     2     climate change—long—term changes in world weather patterns that are linked to human activities including farming, industry and transport. Gases such as carbon dioxide,     3     are produced by these activities, trap heat in Earth’s atmosphere and cause temperatures to rise,     4     (lead) to extreme floods, heatwaves and storms.

A few weeks ago, I accidentally dropped a plate and it broke into a billion pieces! I’d had it for about 40 years. This morning, we had a parcel     1     (deliver) to my son. He opened it and     2     (proud) handed a new plate to me, which he had bought with his own savings, saying that he knew     3     upset I was and wanted to surprise me!

On 15 May, 2021, China became the second country     1     (land) a spacecraft on Mars. The rover, Zhurong,     2     (carry) to Mars on board the Tianwen 1 spacecraft, which was launched in July 2020. Equipped with cameras and a radar, Zhurong’s task was to search for signs of life. It     3     (work) on Mars surface for over ten months and is in good shape.

The world will observe International Museum Dayon May 18th. Since 1977, this day    1    (celebrate) by the International Council of Museums annually to raise awareness of the role that museums play in the development of society. The day is an excellent way of    2    (get) more of the younger generations interested in the history and culture available in museums. Every year, the organization    3    (decide) on a new theme. And the theme for 2023 is Museums, Sustainability and Well-being.

Reading is a unique human experience. Just by skimming our eyes over some words, we can    1    (mental) travel across time and space.

But reading can also be hard, especially when we’re faced with a difficult text.    2    (make) it an easier, more rewarding experience, you’d better read in print whenever possible. One reason for doing so is that our eyes are less likely to skim past printed words than those    3    screen. Plus, consuming content on a physical page helps the brain make a mental map of the information,    4    in turn makes it easier to remember details in future.

I am a 22-year-old artist. My journey through art led me to being an environmentalist.

    1    we consider waste may be useful when we think about it in a different light. Although largely    2     (ignore), materials thrown away provide plenty of resources for us artists to give them a second life. In my hands, glass bottles, plastic bags, and other waste    3    (item) become a form of sustainable art. I want to motivate the people who buy this type of art to contribute to the planet’s welfare.

ChatGPT is a chatbot. Some schools     1     (ban) it since its birth. They need time to make rules about     2     it’s to be used properly in class. Some teachers see it as a     3     (cheat) tool. But many principals believe it’s too late to keep AI out of classrooms. A growing number of     4     (educate) say the panic about AI is a lot like the panic caused by the Internet when it was new. One of them says, “ChatGPT is to English and to writing what the calculator is to math.”