Happy 18th birthday! You’ve officially reach     1     (adult) in a lot of ways, even though I know you’re already mature beyond your years.

Many bittersweet events will happen in the next ten years. There will be highs. Stick to     2     (cherish) every single second. There will also be lows, and you may feel     3     (dishearten). But you’ll surely be committed to     4     (make) it through, and    5     (gradual) you’ll get stronger than before.

The world will always throw new challenges at you.     6     a consequence, your strength will be tested again and again. Looking back to what has happened over the last decade, I feel proud of how far you’ve come. Approve     7     everything that contributes to your     8     (become) fearless and independent.

As you become an adult, jump at every opportunity     9    comes your way. Celebrate every chance you get. No doubt you’ll always ponder     10    it and make the right decision.

Happy birthday, Kelsey! See you in ten years.

28-­year-­old Kelsey

Word came that the annual school sports meet would take place next Friday through Saturday. At the exciting news, the whole class burst into cheers. Without any hesitation, we set about making     1     (arrange) for the grand gala for us students.

With the sports meet approaching, we could hardly concentrate on our daily routine. Every day, we spent much of our spare time     2     (talk) about the weather for fear that the sports meet might be postponed again. Then finally came the big day, when the sports meet was held as     3     (schedule). The sports meet was pretty impressive. One of the highlights     4     (be) the parade before the start of the race. Students were marching past the podium with slogans high up in their hands, while spectators were screaming    5    (crazy). Shortly after the parade was over, the race started. Well known for running in junior high school, I     6     (recommend) to enter for the 3000-meter running race, representing my class.

Time was ticking away. Before I knew it, it was my turn to step onto the track. But all of     7    sudden, I felt a bit panicky. As I hadn’t received any training recently, I puffed and panted halfway. I was about     8     (quit) when my classmates cheered me on all the way. Anyway, I made it to the finishing line. Unable to earn a single point for my class, I was     9    low spirits. However, my friends came over and encouraged me to cheer up. It was their encouragement    10    helped heal the pain of failure.

Now two weeks have passed, but the memory still stay fresh in my mind. Disappointed as I am, I never regret taking part in the race. After all, being part of the sports meet is what I really care about.

“We finally have the first look at our Milky Way black hole, Sagittarius A*,”an international team of astrophysicists(天文物理学家)and researchers from the Event Horizon Telescope team announced     1    (proud)on Thursday.

For years, the supermassive black hole in the dark center of the Milky Way galaxy     2    (study)——and eventually, it’s been captured(捕捉)in an image. The black hole is often referred to     3     Sgr A*. Its mass is about 4 million times     4     of the sun, and it’s about 27,000 light years from Earth.

What made capturing the image extra     5    (challenge)was the dynamic enyironment of Sgr A*, and the challenges of looking not only through the earth’s atmosphere     6     also through the gas clouds in the disk of the Milky Way galaxy towards the center. It took several years to refine the images.

“Although we cannot see the black hole     7    (it), because it is completely dark, glowing(发光的)gas around it reveals a telltale signature, a dark central region    8    (surround)by a bright ring-like structure,” the Event Horizon Telescope team said in its announcement.

The     9    (discover)comes three years after the Event Horizon Telescope Collaboration released the first-ever image of a black hole—but that work focused on     10     center of galaxy Messier 87, tens of millions of light-years away from Earth in the Virgo cluster of galaxies.

Many quick service restaurant owners are looking ahead to a future where automation will play an important role. They believe it will be the key to greatly     1    (increase) their thin profits and allow their workers to shine in the tasks no machine can do.

Many people are afraid of being replaced by a robot. But the    2    (smart) and most creative robotic companies are creating intelligent machines that work alongside workers to make efficiency and profits increase     3    (dramatic). Take Flippy, the arm-like robotic kitchen assistant    4     an example. It turns burgers over, cooking them to     5    (perfect), and lets its co-workers know the orders are ready. Not competing for people’s jobs, such robots    6    (design) to be cooperative ones, the cost-effective machines created to work with humans, not against them.

Quick service restaurants with tools like Flippy are the kind of places     7     you keep coming back--you know the staff will always have time to give you    8     answer to your detailed question and you will have your order on time, perfectly cooked.

Automation in restaurants will become even more crucial in the future. Owners then     9    (need) workers to enforce updated safety regulations and interact with dissatisfied guests. With Flippy having their back in the kitchen, they won’t have to worry about     10    (burn) burgers.

Xiaomi’s founder and CEO, Lei Jun, marked the 130th anniversary of his alma mater (母校), Wuhan University, with an enormous donation of 1.3 billion yuan ($182.59 million). The contribution, the largest single donation ever received in the history of Chinese     1     (high) education, primarily supports fundamental research in mathematics, technological innovation in computer science, and the education of undergraduate students. Lei, a graduate of the university’s computer school in 1991,    2     (express) his desire to contribute to the school’s future     3     boosting outstanding engineers, scientists, and technology entrepreneurs (企业家) in China.

In recognition of his     4     (generous), Wuhan University presented Lei with     5     “Outstanding Education Contribution” medal and a donation certificate. The     6     (university) president, Zhang Pingwen, highlighted the significance of alumni contributions, acknowledging Lei’s donation as a new milestone.

Lei’s story of     7     (believe) achievement in the field of software development during his time at the university and subsequent (后续的) success in     8     (found) Xiaomi has become legendary among students,     9     can, as Zhang Pingwen said, permanently encourage countless young individuals at Wuhan University to make contributions, large or small, in their respective fields for the societal development. Notably, Lei has been supporting Wuhan University since 1997, with previous donations totaling 130million yuan. In June of the current year, the artificial intelligence teaching and research building, funded by Lei’s contributions,     10     (official) opened.

At the 10th anniversary of China’s Belt and Road initiative (BRI), the     1     (late) season of the travel reality show on Hunan TV    2     (attract) a newfound interest in the special bridge in Croatia among viewers.

China and Croatia are far apart,     3     they were connected by the ancient Silk Road more than 700 years ago. In 2022, the Pelješac Bridge,     4     (build) by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, was     5     (official) completed and opened to traffic. It connects the northern and southern lands of Croatia,    6     has become a symbol of friendship and cooperation between Croatia and China.

Hai Tao, the head of the company, talked about the changes it has brought to local people’s    7     (life). He mentioned that people spent three hours     8       traveling to Dubrovnik, yet now it takes only half an hour    9     (cross) the bridge. It saves residents time, promotes local tourism development and increases job opportunities.

The bridge realizes “the centuries-old dream of     10     (connect) the south with the rest of Croatia” and its completion “gave the cooperation between Croatia and China a completely new dimension,” Croatian Prime Minister told Xinhua.

The medals of the 19th Asian Games were created after nearly two years of team effort.

“We     1     (have) no idea at the beginning. To be honest, it was difficult to deliver Hangzhou’s thousands of years of culture and showcase its unique features to the world in such a small medal,” Zhang recalls.

    2     more than 20 drafts, the final design of the medal features the natural landscape of Hangzhou in the style of a traditional painting--    3     (mist) hills, a rippling lake, and rolling mountains on the front,     4     the back face features the logo of the Olympic Council of Asia.

The design of the medal     5     (highlight) Hangzhou’s ecological importance, with its beautiful scenery, clear water and rolling hills. The bridge-shaped buckle (锁扣) at the top of the ribbon (带子) symbolizes     6     famous water towns of the Yangtze River Delta region.

    7     (participate) in the opening bidding (招标) for the Asian Games project, their designs stood out from more than 4,200     8     (competitor).

“Having the opportunity to participate in the design of the Games is     9     (actual) a lifelong pursuit for us as designers,” says Fang.

The team conducted a great deal of initial research     10     (select) elements that can represent Hangzhou, Zhejiang, and China.

Have you ever wondered     1     we say maidongxi (买东西) instead of mainanbei, and shangcesuo (上厕所) rather than xiacesuo? Many Chinese words have directions in them, and there is lots of history and culture     2     (hide) behind.

The origin of maidongxi     3     (date) back to the Tang Dynasty, when two markets gained     4     (popular) in capital Chang’an. One was called the East Market while the other was called the West Market. When shopping, people usually went to the East Market first,    5    then the West Market. This practice gave rise to the term of maidongxi.

Another case is yijian xiangzuo (意见相左).    6    great many Chinese are right-handed, and they may feel     7     (convenient) if they use their left hand to write or use chopsticks. Therefore, in ancient Chinese, “left” was easily linked to being different, such as yijian xiangzuo. Likewise, if people don’t accept common     8     (belief), we may say they are following pangmen zuodao.

Then came the story of shangcesuo and xiachufang. In ancient times, houses were laid out in a certain way,     9    gate would face south with a bathroom in the northeastern top and the kitchen in the southeastern bottom. In Chinese, we talk about “the north” as shang and “the south” as xia. So people would say they were going “up” to the bathroom and “down” to the kitchen. Shang and xia also reflect social status. For example, the emperor     10     (call) huangshang and dianxia usually means the prince.

How does urban public transport better serve elderly people? Chongqing Trolley Company has added new age-friendly measures onto the buses,     1     a zero-step entrance, lost & found boxes, emergency drugs are available.     2     (additional), it carries out special training regularly for their staff to make bus service more age-friendly.

Chongqing Trolley Company operates     3       large number of bus routes, and the elderly are their major passengers,     4     (account) for 60% in total. To better serve them, the company has installed a zero-step entrance onto buses along 70 routes. The zero-step entrance is an innovation in public transport. In other words, the entrance of the bus will be lowered when the bus     5     (arrive) at the bus stop. Besides, the footrest at the back door can serve as a wheelchair ramp (斜坡) to make the bus more    6     (access) to wheelchair users and other disabled people.

So far, these buses    7     (equip) with priority seats and reading glasses for passengers with special     8     (need). First-aid knowledge training is also carried out regularly among drivers to offer better     9     (serve) to elderly passengers.

In the future, Chongqing Trolley Company will hopefully introduce more passenger-friendly measures     10     try to make the local bus more convenient.