3 . Are you facing a situation that looks impossible to fix?

In 1969,the pollution was terrible along the Cuyahoga River Cleveland, Ohio. It    1    (be) unimaginable that it could ever be cleaned up. The river was so polluted that it    2    (actual) caught fire and burned. Now, years later, this river is one of    3    most outstanding（杰出的）examples of environmental cleanup.

But the river wasn’t changed in a few days    4    even a few months. It took years of work     5    (reduce) the industrial pollution and clean the water. Finally, that hard work paid off and now the water in the river is    6    (clean) than ever.

Maybe you are facing an impossible situation. Maybe you have a habit    7    is driving your family crazy. Possibly you drink too much or don’t know how to control your credit card use. When you face such an impossible situation, don’t you want a quick fix and something to change immediately?

While there are    8    (amaze) stories of instant transformation, for most of us the    9    (change) are gradual and require a lot of effort and work, like cleaning up a polluted river. Just be     10    (patience).

When the Lebanese director NadineLebaki was doing research for her filmCapernaum (何以为家), she interviewed many children    1    (struggle) for survival in Beirut and asked them one question    2    the end of the conversations.

The question was, “ Are you happy to be alive?” Sadly , the    3    (true) is that most of the answers were in the negative. The children from poverty-stricken    4    (family) talked about their miserable situations    5    they were abused (辱骂) and badly treated.

The 2-hour film begins with a story about Zain,    6    12-year-old boy who asks the parents why heis brought to the world with flashback shots about his sufferings appearing constantly. He is indeed a strong and wise character, although    7    (physical) smaller than his real age.

Besides, most of the other actorsfound it easy for them    8    (act) because similar experiences even happened in    9    (they) real life. So far, the film which premiered (首映) at the film festival    10    (receive) a lot of praise.

The Dujiangyan is the oldest man-made water system in the world, and a wonder in the development of Chinese agriculture.     1     （build）over 2,200 years ago in what is now Sichuan Province in Southwest China, this amazing engineering     2    （achieve）is still used today.

In ancient times, the region where Dujiangyan now stands     3    （suffer）from regular floods from the Minjiang River.     4    （help）the victims of the flooding, Li Bing,     5     region governor, together with his son, decided to find a solution. Li designed a series of channels built at different levels along Mount Yulei that would take away the floodwaters while leaving the river flowing naturally.     6    （good）still, the extra water could be directed to the dry Chengdu Plain, making     7     suitable for farming.

Once the system     8    （finish）, no more floods happened and the people were able to live     9    （peaceful）. Today, Dujiangyan is admired by scientists from around the world because of one feature. Unlike modern dams,     10     the water is blocked with a huge wall, Dujiangyan still lets waterflow through the Minjiang River naturally, making the ecosystem（生态系统）and fish populations exist in peace.

I felt butterflies in my stomach when I started calligraphy class ten years ago. I wondered what I was doing there. At that moment, I couldn't have known that I'd just made one of the best     1    (choose) of my life.

I sat down and listened to the teacher introducing the tools of the craft. Then     2     was the first time for me that I had tried my hand. I took up the brush, using the correct gesture,     3    (dip) it in the ink, and carefully wrote "one"     4     Chinese.

Over     5     past five years, I have learned to make versions of well-known poems. Calligraphy seemed like a bridge,     6     connected me to authors from centuries past. Stroke(笔画) by stroke, word by word, I could feel their emotions, cherished my own peace and learned     7     (appreciate) my daily life.

Now, calligraphy is not just a hobby,     8    a way to remove myself from the worries of life. Rolling out the paper, I can write for a whole day. Calligraphy     9     (able) me to balance my busy schedule and live     10     (peace).

A math teacher from Peking University     1    (bring) into the spotlight over the past few weeks. In a video, he introduced himself as one of the most common students     2     graduated from the School of Mathematical Sciences at Peking University and a gold medalist in the Mathematics Olympiad. Internet users immediately recognized that this unassuming teacher was a real big shot     3     (know) as “Chen Jingrun's successor” and a rare mathematical genius — Wei Dongyi. But the viewers were impressed by his humble lifestyle as he     4     (hold) a bottle of water and a bag of steamed buns.

Born in Shandong province in 1990, Wei showed great interest     5     mathematics from a very young age. When he was a junior student at High School Attached to Shandong Normal University, Wei joined the school's Olympia training team. But it was his     6     (amaze) performance at the 49th and 50th International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) that set the world on fire. Wei got two gold     7       (medal) with full marks. After that, Wei enrolled into Peking University and got his master's degree and PhD in only three and a half years. In 2019, Wei completed his post-doctoral work and became     8     assistant professor of the university.

To avoid disturbances, the university called for reducing attention on Wei himself. “We     9     (sincere) hope that society will join us in creating an environment for young scholars     10     (focus) on research,” the university wrote in a statement.

The Chinese war film The Battle at Changjin     1     (arouse) enthusiastic discussion on Chinese social media since it debuted around the country on September 30.

The film tells the story about how Chinese People’s Volunteer soldiers held their ground during fierce cold and the enemy’s more advanced weapons. However, the real battlefield is far     2     (impressive). Changjin Lake     3     (locate) in North Korea. The war was     4     in severely cold winter with temperature of around minus 40℃. CPV soldiers did not only need to fight against enemies,     5     had to battle over the nature with their strong will. Chinese People’s Volunteer Army won the battle by     6     (fight) against impossible odds. The Battle of Changjin Lake became a critical moment in the war. It is not the film itself but the     7     (hero) of the war years who fought     8     (blood) for our country and the people     9     make people moved.

Song Zhongping,     10     military expert and TV commentator, emphasized that the film shows that the Chinese people don’t provoke troubles, but never flinch (退缩) when troubles come their way and are able to defeat provocation (挑衅).