1 . George Turner, 48, owner of Penuel Bicycles in Inglewood, California, talks with respect about his childhood BMX dirt bike. “I was mad keen on cycling.” he says. “I did whatever it took to get on that bike, as long as I was home before dark.” Home meant housework, homework and annoying brothers. But a bike meant escapes.

In 2010, George transformed his childhood love into a livelihood, and opened his bicycle shop, Penuel Bicycles. The shop fulfilled a lifelong dream. Before that, he had worked for years delivering boxes for FedEx while selling bike accessories online.

“Bicycles kept me out of trouble,” George remembers. “They were part of my life.” He figured that was still true for kids when he opened Penuel Bicycles. George expected parents to crowd inside, eager to buy shiny new bikes for their kids. He looked forward to helping boys and girls discover the joy of riding — and stay out of trouble — just as he had.

None of that happened, however.

George found that kids these days lead a different life. Usually, they don’t want a bike for their birthday. And most of them ever don’t know how to ride a bike. Instead of getting out and riding, they prefer spending their time on their phones indoors. As kids don’t ride, it is impossible that parents crowd in his shop to buy new bikes. Nine years after opening his Penuel Bicycles, George feared that he had to close the shop.

Then in 2020, the coronavirus pandemic swept the nation. Surprisingly, the pandemic saved George’s business. During the pandemic, many American people found that cycling was a good way to exercise and also a safe way to get around. The demand for new bikes kept growing and people in George’s neighborhood pulled out their old bikes and wheeled them to Penuel Bicycles to get repaired. Now he is trying his best to meet his customers’ needs and hopes that his customers can really discover the joy of riding.

2 . When I go to a new place, the first thing I like to do is walking around the streets to ________ the city. When I first arrived in Santiago, Chile, and took a walk around the city center, one of the first things I noticed was how many stray (无家可归的) ________ there were. The phrase “street dog” or “stray dog” is used to ________ a dog with no home, who lives on the streets.

On every comer there was a sleeping dog. At every traffic ________ there was a dog ________ to cross. By every shop there was a dog waiting for potential ________. At first I was ________ as I thought they might be ________ or unfriendly. However, I have been here for more than a year now and every stray dog I have seen has been passive (顺从的), quiet and friendly.

The dogs are ________ and welcomed here in Chile. I have never seen a street dog being mistreated. In fact, they are ________ given food and water by the public. Some people even ________ jackets for the dogs or ________ beds or kennels (狗舍) for them to sleep in.

The dogs do not have an easy life: they are often hungry, cold or injured. The government does not provide much ________ for these dogs.

Some people believe that the ________ is getting out of control and that it is ________ to have so many dogs on the streets. The dogs can sometimes cause ________ such as car accidents if they run into the road. There are around 2. 5 million stray dogs in Chile and the dog population is ________ faster than the human population. Many Chileans think that all the stray dogs should be sterilized (绝育的) so that they cannot ________. Others think that the stray dog population should be culled, that is, ________ the population by killing them.

The future of street dogs is ________ but for now it looks like they are here to stay with their population increasing year by year.

5 . Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, LinkedIn... The ways to connect with of us on social media are limitless.     1     Here’s what not to do.

People are extremely particular when it comes to sharing pictures on social media. So, don’t post pictures of people without their permission. While you may not think posting the picture is a big deal, the other person may disagree.     2     It will help you avoid upsetting your loved ones.

Just got a new job? Bought a new car? You’re pregnant? Or maybe you decided you’re moving? Don’t tweet or post your news to the world before sharing it with your loved ones. A love relationship largely depends on safety and security and access to inside information is an important part of that     3    

Social media is public.     4     It’s possible to accidentally hurt loved ones by oversharing. Every relationship is different, so talk to your loved ones before sharing anything you suspect may be borderline too much. Oversharing is one of several habits that destroy trust in relationships.

    5     If you’re upset and you have the urge to post something that may come off as mean, put down your phone, computer, or tablet and express your anger in another way. It is recommended that you use social media as a tool to spread positivity, such as birthday posts or meaningful articles.

6 . How coming to China has changed my life and career

Hello, everyone. My name is Jonathan Lopez, and I am a dual(双重的) citizen from Colombia and Canada.     1    ， and how it has a potential to also change yours, if you allow it to have the opportunity to welcome you to China.

When I was 18 years old, I had the opportunity to leave Columbia for the first time to go to see my father in Canada. I studied in a university in Canada, during which I had a chance to go study abroad in universities in Netherlands and Australia, travelling to many countries.     2    ， because I got a scholarship to study at Tsinghua University as a choice for scholar.

When it came to China, I had so many ideas about what China was supposed to be about. The surprise is that it was nothing like I imagined in a more positive way than expected. When I come here,     3    . All the development and how fast things move in China really allow me to quickly realize that this is the place where I needed to continue growing in my career professionally.

    4    . After I graduated from Tsinghua university, I got a job at Bytedance Internet Company first, and currently for Tiktok. But the most important thing is that I can be able to become an ambassador, and share my story about how being in China—my another home—impacted me and change my life so much.

It's been only three years in China and it's just the beginning. There is so much more that I can continue to learn in this place, and it's just an open invitation for people that are thinking to study abroad, work abroad or do things anywhere in the world, to also consider China. Hence, this is a place to be, and this is a place where you can learn and grow a lot.     5    .

9 . At the present time, the Internet is a major part of our lives. It’s always in our hands or pockets. Whatever we are doing is somehow linked(连接) to the Internet. We start finding our connections online as well, which is quite impressive. We find a person on a social media platform (社交媒体平台),see we have a shared interest and start chatting!

Online friendships in the past were doubted and not considered reliable because you didn’t know who was behind the screen. But now, when we can go shopping online, clear bills in online banks, and virtually attend schools, why can’t we find some real friends online?

With online friends, there are several advantages. When we find something catchy in someone — the very first quality of our online friend, we only then encourage ourselves to find ways to talk to them. We can share with them our everyday things, and what’s better than texting our friends our secrets? We can be present together with them on interested forums(论坛). We can share looks just through a click. And the best part is that we can shoot them a real quick message whenever we need their expert advice.

With all these strengths of an online friend, also come some weak points which make some people afraid to find their friends online. Some people believe that the person they are talking to on the screen is not real or trying to get information about their private life. They feel uncomfortable sharing and chatting with a person who they’ve never met in real life. Another problem that comes in the way of online friends is hanging out. People can’t really hang out with their online friends. The other problem is miscommunication, which sometimes leads to the end of a friendship.

Despite all these problems, online company is a perfect form of relationship between two or more. After all, we would notice these problems in any other kind of relationship or friendship. Miscommunication or a trust issue is always present even in face-to-face communication.

10 . Yu Yi, Honorary President of Shanghai Yangpu Senior High School, is among the first generation of Chinese teachers after the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949.

Yu was born in 1929, not long before Japan invaded (侵略) China. Her road to education was very difficult. During the war, Yu studied in many schools before she was admitted to Zhenjiang High School.

In 1947, Yu was admitted to the Department of Education of Fudan University in Shanghai. In 1951, as she was about to become a teacher, Yu decided to tie her future to the motherland.

As a Chinese teacher, Yu has been thinking about how to teach every class well. Rather than follow the traditional teaching method, in which teachers keep speaking while students just listen, Yu used a different one. She had her students read revolutionary (革命) books, which put the “red gene (基因)” in their blood and helped them set higher goals. In her view, Chinese classes not only teach children to use the language, they also shape children’s souls. For decades, Yu has devoted herself to her work. She has also written many books on teaching.

“I have said I will be a teacher for the rest of my life, and I will also learn to be a teacher for the rest of my life, which is by no means empty talk. I have been learning all my life, constantly improving and perfecting my personality. I keep thinking about how many lessons I have given and how many are really taught to students,” Yu says.