When I hurried to the store, I saw that the books were already being packed into     1     (box). I had a long chat with Casey, the store’s elderly owner. Sighing     2     (deep), he told me how it was becoming difficult to run an independent bookstore. More and more customers     3     (attract) by chain stores and online discounts. I tried to think of some words of sympathy,     4     I had to admit that the Rainbow Bookstore couldn’t stay in business much longer.

The Little Prince     1     (tell) us the importance of looking beneath the surface of things to uncover their real meanings. I like it because it is simple, and yet it really made me think a lot     2     life and death, love and responsibility, friendship and loneliness. One of the most memorable characters in the book is a rose,     3     the little prince fell in love with.

Humankind’s growing need for food is running up against thousands of other species’ need for space. By 2050, humans may need to clear an additional 3.35 million square     1     (kilometer) of land for agriculture.     2     (transform) these largely natural habitats would squeeze more than 17,000 vertebrate species from some of their lands. But changing how and where food     3     (grow) can minimize the impacts. “We can feed the planet without messing it up too badly,” says conservation scientist David Williams.

    1     (sit) back in my seat, I can’t quite believe that I’m about to travel along the railway that many foreign experts claimed was “impossible”. The train     2     (race) along steadily since it left Xining. All this time, the song “Sky Railway” has been playing inside my head. The words “railways like massive dragons are winding among the mountains” seem     3     (particular) vivid as I travel across the “roof of the world”.

During Darwin’s time, people believed that all species     1     (appear) on Earth at the same time, and had not changed since.     2     Darwin began to think differently. He noticed that some species of animals were very similar to each other. Maybe animals evolved as they adapted to     3     (they) changing environments? It was just an idea. But it was enough     4     (inspire) Darwin to look for more evidence.

Three Chinese astronauts landed on the country’s still-under-construction space station on Thursday. With that, the Chinese station,     1     was called Tiangong, became one of two populated space stations in orbit. The completion of Tiangong, expected by the end of next year,     2     (be) another milestone for the space program whose recent missions have included bringing samples back from the moon and landing a robotic rover on Mars. It was said     3     the station would allow Chinese astronauts and scientists on the ground to carry out experiments in the weightless space environment.

When you make a mistake, the last thing     1     you want to do is run away from it. You need to accept it because you can learn a lot from it. The mistake     2    (make)already, so make the most of it.     3    (pay)the price, learn the lesson, and grow that much stronger.

The Qinming Festival, originating from the Hanshi Day, is an opportunity for people     1    (remember) and honor their ancestors at tombs. And it became a festival in 732. Then observance (纪念) of Qingming found a firm place     2    Chinese culture and continued for over 2500 years. The Qingming Festival is a time     3     the sun shines brightly, trees and grass become green and nature is again lively. Since ancient times, people     4     (follow) the custom of Spring Outings.

World Environment Day (WED) is a day we all need to put in our     1     (diary). It happens on June 5 every year and should be one of the most important days of the holiday calendar. WED     2     (create) in 1972 by the United Nations General Assembly. The environment wasn’t such a big issue back then. But it is one of the hottest topics in the world today. WED helps raise worldwide awareness of the threats to our environment.     3     people can do that day is to start changing lifestyles to reduce their carbon footprint. Many environmental agencies organize events based on different themes each year. These events encourage both governments and local communities to work together     4     (handle) environmental problems.

When I was seven years old, I caught a cold and had to stay at home. My parents had   to work, so my neighbor came over to look after me. She read many different books to me     1     (patient), including adventures set in ancient times, travel stories, family dramas, historical novels, etc. To my joy,     2     (listen) to each book made me feel like watching a movie, but better because books gave much more details than movies. She started my interest in reading. Next year, after graduating from college, I     3     (have) a job teaching English. I hope that I can transfer the love of reading to my students.