On July 26, 2021, Team USA swimmer Katie Ledecky won the gold medal in the first-ever 1, 500-meter freestyle event for women, while the men’s event has been held     1     decades. If you’re surprised that Tokyo 2020 was the first Olympics     2     (hold) this race for women, you’re not alone. Women have had to overcome many difficulties to compete in the Olympics and even today there are a few events that are still not open to     3     (they).

When the modern Olympics began in 1896, no women     4     (allow) to compete. In 1900, they could compete in only five events (tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf). Today, women compete in just about every event and any sport     5     (seek) to join the Olympic program has to have women’s     6     (compete).

In recent years, the IOC     7     (increase) the numbers of mixed-gender events,     8     teams of two men and two women compete against each other are part of the Tokyo Olympics. Equestrian is one of the few Olympic sports where men and women compete     9     (direct) against each other. With     10     trend, more and more women athletes will join the Olympics.

According to a new study, the world population     1     (decline) for the first time in the next century.

The world population is currently estimated at 7.8 billion. The     2     (globe) population could possibly peak at around 9.7 billion in 2064. Then it will fall to 8.79 billion in 2100. Due to low birth rates and aging populations, up to 23 countries, including Japan, Italy, Spain, Portugal, and others might see their populations fall by over 50%. China will see its drop     3     1.4 billion in 2017 to 732 million in 2100. But it also predicted some regions would witness     4     increase in population like North Africa and the Middle East.

Lead study Professor Stein, told the press, “The last time that world population declined was in the mid-14th century,     5     (result) from the Black Plague (黑死病) .     6     our forecast is correct, it will be the first time that population decrease     7     (drive) by fertility (生育) decline, as opposed to events such as a pandemic or famine (饥荒).”

The fertility rate is the average number of     8     (child) a woman has over her lifetime. “It is likely     9     (drop) steadily, from 2.37 in 2017 to 1.66 in 2100,     10     is greatly below the minimum rate (2.1 live births per woman) necessary to maintain population levels,” he added.

All teenagers would love to have a little more money earned by themselves. They can buy things they     1     (want) since they were little kids.

Actually, making money when you are a teenager is     2    (easy) than you think. Here is one way     3     (make) money if you are a teenager — dog walking.

Don’t attempt dog walking as a business if you are not     4    (comfort) with dogs. But if you love dogs, this can be a great     5     (choose).

Usually, your customers are in the neighborhood because people won’t give their dogs to teenagers they don’t know. Always ask the owners to tell you     6     much as possible about their dogs and their habits. It’s very important to bring some food to the dog,     7     can help you develop a friendship with the dog.

You can get $5 if the walk is thirty     8    (minute). If the owner wants you to walk the dog for an hour, you should get $10     9    even $15.

The only disadvantage of this business is dog waste. Be sure to bring     10     bag and clean up after the dog. Newspaper is perfect for this task.

How do you enter a room full of strangers? Do you walk right in full of confidence? Or do you try to slip in (悄悄溜进) without     1     (notice)? Now I’ll tell you some useful ways that help you become a more confident person.

With most things in life, Practice makes perfect, and that is     2     (truth) of confidence skills. The more you practice them, the     3    (easily) they will become.

Body language

Always hold your head high and look at people     4     the eyes. Answer questions clearly and confidently. The way you walk    5    (show) others how confident you are.

Chances and talents

Focus on the things that you do well, and look for     6    (opportunity) to use those abilities.

Mistakes

All humans fail     7     times, and you will too. But don’t allow mistakes to trouble you. Learning from mistake helps you face the same situation later     8     fear.

Even with practice, you will     9    be perfect. But you can learn to love and accept     10     (you) and live your life with confidence.

The Tour de France is the most important bicycle race in the world. The three-week-long race,     1     was first organized in 1903, is     2     (tradition) held in July. Although the route of the race changes slightly every year, it always contains a mixture of the flat stages at the     3     (begin) and the difficult stages across the Pyrenees and the Alps.

Each of the teams that can enter the Tour de France    4     (include) nine riders. And each team has a leader, usually the     5     (good) cyclist in the team. The other members of the team support him. They help him come back to     6     front line if he falls behind or they block off attacks by other teams. The main goal of every team is     7     (have)one of their athletes in the yellow jersey (运动套衫), which always belongs to the leading cyclist in the overall race. The time of each stage     8     (add)up.

The ranking is also important. The best mountain rider wears a polka-dot jersey and the best young rider wears a white jersey.     9     , not all cyclists of the Tour de France make it to the finish line. Many drop out because of injuries or because     10     (they) bodies cannot cope with the physical strain (损伤) of a three-week tour.

As he prepared to jump out of a plane at 7,600 metres, Luke Aikins could hardly see his landing area. Aikins was trying to jump from such a height without a parachute (降落伞). This is     1    (usual). He needed to land on a huge net (网) hung above a desert in southern California. “I’d be     2    (lie) if I said I wasn’t nervous,” Aikins said as he got on the plane.

The whole process     3    (take) a little more than two minutes, but the 42-year-old man prepared to make the jump for two years. “I take the jump very     4    (serious). I have a family and I’ve got a life with to live. It’s not     5    joke,” he said. “I’m a professional skydiver     6     more than 18,000 jumps,     7     never once had I left a plane without a parachute.”

Aikins’s wife,     8     was among the viewers below, watched him fall into the net. The skydiver did not move for several     9    (second) as the net was lowered to the ground. Then Aikins stood, waved his arms and hugged his wife. Aikins became the first-ever skydiver     10    (land) safely without a parachute.

Recently our class has conducted a survey about “The growth of 00’s generation” People’s opinions on it     1     (be) divided.

Some people think that the 00’s generation are confident, ambitious and     2     (depend) in thinking. What’s more, they are fond of new things, ready to accept and try them. It’s especially worth     3     (mention) that they are enthusiastic and caring. They treasure friendship and are good at communicating     4     others.

However, others argue that the post-00’s generation are too self-centered and dependent on their parents in life     5     teachers in studies. They tend to live a comfortable life but are less able to overcome frustration. Besides, some of them lack the sense of     6     (responsible) )and don’t know how to show gratitude to others.     7     (badly) still, many are so weak in controlling themselves that they are often addicted     8     the Internet.

As a member of them, I think we post-00’s generation should be aware of our own     9     (strength) and weaknesses, so that we can try to perfect     10     (us). Only in this way can we gain respect and faith from others.

The Taj Mahal, in Agra, India,     1    (regard) as one of the most beautiful buildings in the world. The cultural relic     2    (date) back to nearly 400 years ago was built by a ruler named Shah Jahan for     3    (he) beloved wife, Mumtaz Mahal. It took nearly twenty years to complete the building. It is     4     (impress) that depending on the season and the time of day, the white monument (纪念碑) takes on different colors. But over the years, the Taj Mahal has been changing color even more and not in a good way because it     5    (destroy) by heavy air pollution from nearby factories and cars gradually.

In the 1990s, India’s Supreme Court ordered     6     number of factories near the monument to close. Also, car and bus traffic is limited.

Now and then, workers use a mud paste (泥巴膜) to remove dirt     7     the surface of the Tai Mahal.     8    cleaning the monument is expensive and time-consuming (耗时的). And it doesn’t prevent the discoloration.

More action needs to be taken     9    (preserve) the Taj Mahal. “We are trying, but we need to try harder,” said an expert     10     worked on a 2014 study of the Tai Mahal.

An independent report commissioned by the United Kingdom government has called for a complete change of the food industry in England, with fruit and vegetables to be prescribed by doctors and additional taxes on sugar and salt.

The report says money    1     (raise) by increased taxes could be used to provide improved school meals and support    2     (good) dietary habits among the poorest sections of society.

In addition, improved diets would be better for the environment, and ease the pressure on the National Health Service. Businessman Henry Dimbleby, who led the study, told the BBC that the COVID- 19 crisis had underlined the wider issue of dietary health,     3     (call) it “a painful reality check”. “Our high obesity rate has been    4     major factor in the UK’s tragically high death rate,” he said.

The food industry has expressed concern    5     increased taxes on sugar and salt could lead to increased prices in shops,     6     Dimbleby rejected this idea. “We do not    7     (actual) believe that for most things it will increase the price — what it will do is that it will reformulate. It    8     (make) people take sugar and salt out,” he said.

The report’s suggestions, which the government says it will respond    9     within six months, have won the backing of several leading charities,     10     (include) the British Heart Foundation.

When it comes to studying alone, we often imagine sitting by     1    (we) in our bedroom or a quiet library with books and notes on the table. We're holding our heads in our hands,     2     (try) to understand concepts.     3     (actual), studying alone brings many     4     (benefit). When     5       (lock) in our bedroom, we are more likely to concentrate     6     what we are reading. Nobody is moving around or talking near you. However, everyone is different,     7     means everyone learns differently. Some may require an environment with background music     8     others may require complete silence. Some may learn best with flashcards. Others learn best when they reread texts. Anyway, studying alone     9     (allow) us to learn in the perfect study environment. Studying alone is an     10     (effect) way of learning in this sense.