This is the year 2070. Today is my    1     (fifty) birthday, but I look like a person of eighty- five. I have serious kidney (肾脏) problems because I don’t have enough water     2     (drink). I’m afraid I don’t have much time left to live. I’m already one of the oldest people in this society.

I remember when I     3     (be) five years old, everything was very different. There were lots of trees in the parks. I could enjoy a shower for half     4     hour. At that time,     5    (woman) all had beautiful hair. Now, we have to shave (剃光) our heads to keep them clean without the use of water.

I remember there were “Saving Water” warnings in many public places, but nobody     6     (pay) attention. We believed water would last forever. Now, all the rivers and lakes are either dry or polluted. Water is much     7     (expensive) than gold and diamonds.

In the past, doctors suggested adults drink eight glasses of water a day. Nowadays, I am allowed half a glass only. Most people are weak and sick.

When my son asks me about my childhood, I tell him about how pleasant it was to fish in the rivers     8     how healthy people were. When he asks, “Why is there no clean water now?” I feel guilty (有罪的). I belong     9     those people who simply turned a blind eye to all the warnings.

I hope the people living in the 2020s     10     (true) understand the importance of saving water.

Waters may be flowing on the surface of an enormous planet that lies about 120 light-years from Earth, according to new evidence     1     (uncover) by the James Webb Space Telescope.

The investigation with the space-based observatory, one of the most advanced astronomy instruments in operation,     2     (reveal) that the exoplanet (外星球) K2-18b may have some key features of a planet     3     could support bodies of water — and life. Closely orbiting the cool dwarf star K2-18, the exoplanet lies within the star’s habitable, or Goldilocks, zone and is 8.6 times     4     big as Earth. An     5     (analyse) of Webb’s observations found the planet has huge quantities of methane (甲烷) and carbon dioxide in its atmosphere.

The Webb telescope, which can detect infrared (红外) light invisible to the human eye, searched for exactly     6     elements are featured in the planet’s atmosphere. And     7     latest observations of the planet also hint that a very special substance, called dimethyl sulfide (二甲基亚砜), could be     8     (presence) on K2-18b. On Earth, dimethyl sulfide “is only produced by life,” according to NASA. Researchers are not directly suggesting that K2-18b is crawling with alien life. Further research is needed     9     (confirm) the presence of dimethyl sulfide.

And even if scientists confirm the chemical compound’s presence, that doesn’t guarantee life-forms exist there. But this new evidence does expand scientists’ understanding of exoplanets similar     10     K2-18b.

Recently, a poll(民意调查) finds that although almost three in four adults played sports when they     1     (be) younger, only one in four continue to play sports as adults.

But that decline in interest doesn’t stop parents from encouraging their children to make sports a part of their lives.     2     fact, almost nine in ten parents     3     middle school or high school aged children play sports say that their children benefit     4     great deal or quite a bit from playing sports.

And, while most adults no longer play sports     5     (they), the majority of parents say it is very likely or somewhat likely that their children will continue playing sports when they become adults. One in four parents also hope their children will become     6     (profession)athletes.

“Sports are an important part of a healthy community. They help children and adults maintain a fit     7     (weigh), teach acceptance and teamwork, and expand opportunity for children     8     (live) in poverty(贫困),” said a researcher. “This poll     9     (indicate) that we must continue to encourage children to play sports, but just as important, we must find ways     10     (keep)adults engaged in sports in order to maintain health and well-being.”

A Chinese sturgeon(中华鲟) was freed into the Yangtze River in Yichang, central China’s Hubei Province on Saturday morning in March. China will free 200,000 Chinese sturgeons into the Yangtze River, the country’s     1     (long) river, as part of its efforts     2     (protect) the rare fish. According to China Three Gorges Corporation, they     3     (conduct) the release(释放)every year since 1984.

With     4     history of 140 million years, Chinese sturgeons are among the most ancient vertebrate species on earth and are under Class-A protection in China. The fish are     5     (large) protected through artificial breeding(人工繁殖), followed by release into natural environment.

Sturgeons released this year are between 6 months and 14 years old, a design aimed     6     helping the restoration of the wild population. Before the release, larger sturgeons were attached with trackers for knowing about environmental impacts on the species’     7     (survive) in the wild, in order to inform future protection     8     (measure).

In recent years, China has worked hard in ecological protection along the Yangtze River, with a 10-year fishing ban (禁令)     9     (carry) out in key waters along the river at the beginning of 2021. Actually, China passed the Yangtze River Protection Law in December 2020,     10     provided legal support for biodiversity protection in the river.

The course of human history has been shaped by many     1     (force), from kings and wars to science and technology. Frequently, however, the world has been changed—or, better yet, improved—by a single simple idea. Over the past 150 years alone, the invention of toilets was credited     2     saving more than a billion lives, while countless other innovations have saved tens of millions more.

In most cases, these breakthroughs have been the results of single-minded efforts     3     (solve) specific problems. But many of     4     most important life-saving inventions have been made by accident. The safety glass most commonly     5     (use) in car windows, for example, was invented when French scientist Edouard Benedictus     6     (careless) dropped a glass bottle containing a liquid plastic     7     not only stopped the glass from breaking but enabled it to keep its     8     (origin) shape. Penicillin, meanwhile, was discovered when Scottish researcher Alexander Fleming accidentally     9     (pollute) a dish of bacteria he was working on. And X-rays were the byproduct of a German physics     10     (professor) experiments with cathode ray (阴极射线) tubes.

Ever wonder    1    it would feel like to hide away in a dark cave without being connected to the outside world for 40 days? Fifteen people in France just did that. The group    2    (live) in a cave as part of the Deep Time project. The project was conducted by scientists from the Human Adaptation Institute, who wanted to see how they would react to and cope with being    3    (total) disconnected from the modern world. Since the volunteers    4    (cut) off from the outside world, they had to rely    5    their body clock to know when    6     (wake) up, go to sleep and eat. As expected, those in the cave lost their sense of time. “Time seemed to pass more slowly in the underground cave, where there were neither clocks    7    sunlight,” said Deep Time’s director Christian Clot.

The majority of the volunteers said they enjoyed the experience of total isolation. Two-thirds expressed a desire to remain underground a while    8    (long) in order to finish projects they had started. “The experience tested humans’ ability to adjust    9    (they) to the sudden huge changes in living conditions and environments,” said Clot. “We hope to better understand how our brains are capable of    10    (find) new solutions, whatever the situation.”

Coffee fest hopes to fuel Shanghai’s cultural industries

Shanghai, the city     1     the most coffee houses in China, opened a two-week-long coffee culture festival on Thursday.     2    (organize) by the Shanghai Cultural and Creative Industry Promotion Association and the Shanghai Food Association, the Shanghai Coffee Culture Week will run to Aug 18 and feature a     3    (vary) of themed activities.

Data from domestic tech and retail giant Meituan showed that Shanghai was home to 7,857 cafes as of June 30,     4    (rank) first among cities in China. The central Huangpu district has the     5    (high) density of coffee shops, with 38.5 per square kilometer.

Wang Yayuan, deputy head of the municipality’s publicity department, said at a news conference for the event that coffee culture has prospered in Shanghai and become     6     important “window” for residents and tourists     7    (experience) a high-quality life and local culture. The festival     8    (design) to explore coffee’s cultural connotations and the city’s unique characteristics, advancing the development of     9    (culture) and innovation industries, Wang said.

On the event’s opening day, the homegrown coffee brand Manner Coffee offered free Americanos to residents,     10     food delivery platform Eleme provided 30,000 cups of free coffee on Friday. Customers can get special offers at hundreds of coffee shops across the city during the festival, according to organizers.

Hua Zhibing announced     1     June 3 in her blog that she will study in the Department of Computer Science at Tsinghua University in the upcoming semester. Hua is China’s first virtual student     2     (power) by Wudao 2.0,     3     artificial intelligence (AI) system.

    4     really sets Hua apart from any average college student is her amazing learning     5     (able). She can learn much     6     (fast) than any average human being. “If she begins learning at the six year-old level this year, she can reach the level of a twelve year-old in one year,” said Tang Jie, the     7     (develop) of Hua Zhibing. “We aim     8     (teach) her to think and feel like a human being. Now, Hua is     9     (closely) to breaking the Turing Test in painting pictures, writing poems and answering questions. We hope that she will master these basic skills first and then seek breakthroughs in     10     (reason) and feeling.”

Why do Chinese people drink hot water? Many westerners find it so interesting that they always see Chinese people carry a vacuum cup(保温杯) no matter which season it is.

For lots of Chinese people, nothing is     1    (common) than drinking hot water every day. But for most of the Westerners,     2     idea of drinking plain hot water is really odd since they drink cold water even in winter. Why do Chinese people drink hot water? Hot water vs cold water, which one is better? Follow us     3    (find) an ideal answer.

It is well known     4     Chinese people prefer hot meals every day, and they’re also used to     5    (have) hot drinks with it. Moreover, some parents always teach     6    (they) children to drink hot water with meals, because they think mixing cold liquids with hot meals     7    (be) really bad for the stomach. And cold liquids may solidify fats in your stomach, which cause digestive problems, whereas hot liquids aid in     8    (digest).

According to the eating habits in western countries, they prefer “raw” food,     9     they also prefer their water “raw”. At the same time, they are fond     10     hamburgers, cheese and fried stuff, which are all with high calorie. As a matter of fact, they need cold drinks to cool them off.

Confucius was born into a middle class family in Lu State, an area with the modern city of Qufu, in China’s Shandong Province. Now, he     1     (remember) for his teachings, which, along with the works of his students，formed the rule of Confucianism (儒学) many     2     (year) after his passing away.

Confucius also lived     3     active political life. From his job as Minister of Crime, he took part in a campaign (运动) to distance Lu from the rule of the state instead of     4     (work) for the central government. However, the plan failed. After a short period of being sent to live in another country, Confucius could finally return to Lu state     5     (spend) the rest of his life as a teacher of philosophy.

Even up to the time of Confucius’s     6     (die), his teachings were not     7     (wide) accepted in China, and most of     8     (they) were lost when the emperor Qin ordered the burning of Confucius’s books.

Yet, his philosophical (哲学的) ideas survived during the later Han Dynasty. Emperor Han Wudi,    9     was inspired by the social and political wisdom of Confucius, accepted Confucianism and applied his systems of morality everywhere from classrooms     10     law courts. The teachings of Confucius still spread far across China and the Far East.