A visually-challenged man from Beijing recently hiked (徒步) 40 days to Xi’an, as a first step     1     (journey) the Belt and Road route (路线) by foot.

On the 1,100 kilometer journey, the man Cao Shengkang,     2     lost his eyesight at the age of eight in a car accident, crossed 40 cities and counties in three provinces. Inspired by the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation     3     (hold) in Beijing, Cao decided to cover the route by hiking as a tribute (致敬) to the ancient Silk Road.     4     friend of his, Wu Fan, volunteered to be his companion during the trip.

Cao and Wu also collected garbage along the road, in order to promote environmental     5     (protect). Cao believes this will make the hiking trip even more     6     (meaning). The two of them collected more than 1,000 plastic bottles along the 40-day journey.

In the last five years. Cao     7     (walk) through 34 countries in six continents, and in 2016, he reached the top of Kilimanjaro, Africa’s     8     (high) mountain.

Now, Cao has started the second part of his dream to walk along the Belt and Road route. He flew 4, 700 kilometers     9     Xi’an to Kashgar on Sept. 20,     10     (plan) to hike back to Xi’an in five months.

In ancient China lived an artist    1     paintings were almost lifelike. The artist’s reputation had made him proud. One day the emperor wanted to get his portrait (画像) done so he called all great artists to come and present their     2     (fine) work, so that he could choose the best. The artist was sure he would    3    (choose), but when he presented his masterpiece to the emperor’s chief minister, the old man laughed. The wise old man told him to travel to the Li River～perhaps he could learn a little from the greatest artist in the world.

Filled with     4     (curious), the artist packed his bags and left.     5     he asked the villagers on the banks of the river where he could find the legendary (传奇的) artist, they smiled and     6     (point) down the river. The next morning he hired a boat and set out     7     (find) the well-known painter. As the small boat moved,     8     (gentle) along the river he was left speechless by the mountains being silently reflected in the water. He passed milky white waterfalls and mountains in many shades of blue. And when he saw the mists rising from the river and the soft clouds    9     (surround) the mountain tops, he was reduced to tears. The artist was finally humbled (谦卑) by the greatest artist     10     earth, Mother Nature.

I'm not sure     1     is more frightened, me or the female gorilla(大猩猩）that suddenly appears out of nowhere. I'm walking on a path in the forest in the Central African Republic. Unexpectedly, I'm face-to-face with the gorilla, who begins screaming at     2     top of her lungs. That makes her baby scream, and then a 400-pound male appears. He screams the

    3    (loud)of all. The noise shakes the trees as the male beats his chest and charges toward me. I quickly lower myself, ducking my head to avoid     4    (look) directly into his eyes so he doesn't feel    5    (challenge).

My name is Mireya Mayor. I'm a     6    (science)who studies animals such as apes and monkeys. I was searching     7     these three western lowland gorillas I'd been observing. No one had seen them for hours, and my colleagues and I were worried.

When the gorillas and I frightened each other, I was just glad to find     8    (they) alive. True to a gorilla's unaggressive nature, the huge animal     9    (mean)me no real harm. He was just saying: "I'm king of this forest, and here is your reminder!" Once his message was delivered, he allowed me     10     (stay)and watch.

One morning, I was waiting at the bus stop, worried about     1     (be) late for school. There were many people waiting at the bus stop,     2     some of them looked very anxious and     3    (disappoint) . When the bus finally came, we all hurried on board. I got a place next     4     the window, so I had a good view of the sidewalk. A boy on a bike     5     (catch ) my attention. He was riding beside the bus and waving his arms. I heard a passenger behind me shouting to the driver, but he refused     6     (stop) until we reached the next stop. Still, the boy kept     7    (ride). He was carrying something over his shoulder and shouting. Finally, when we came to the next stop, the boy ran up the door of the bus. I heard an excited conversation. Then the driver stood up and asked,“    8     anyone lose a suitcase at the last stop?” A woman on the bus shouted, “Oh, dear! It s     9     (I )”. She pushed her way to the driver and took the suitcase thankfully, Five others on the bus began talking about what the boy had done and the crowd of strangers         10    (sudden) became friendly to one another.

With a big smile on her face, Gan Youqin chats with her followers in her live-stream every night, trying    1    (promote) sales of oranges from her hometown, a small village in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. She, together with her teammates,    2    (help) villagers sell nearly 500,000 kilograms of oranges every week. The 40-year-old woman, who used to be a farmer and housewife, is now admired in her hometown    3    her great success in boosting sales of farm produce.

Gan    4    (know) as one of the pioneers who shares country life and promotes sales of related products online. She was    5    (initial) encouraged by her nephew, who asked Gan to be the main character in his short videos    6    (feature) country life. As Gan’s fame grew, they began to sell fruit from their family orchard,    7    soon fell short of demand. They then launched an e-commerce company selling various kinds of    8    (agriculture) products from all over the region.

Gan’s company has been    9    great success and Gan has received lots of awards for her    10    (achieve). She is now devoted to shooting videos and live-streaming, but is also planning to offer free training to those who love the industry.

Chinese comedienne and actress Jia Ling recently revealed that she was losing weight for     1     upcoming role during her gap time.

Jia Ling has lost 50 kilograms for her new movie YOLO. From the exposed photos, Jia Ling looks like a     2     (whole) different person. In the early teasers for YOLO, audience caught glimpses of Jia Ling’s dedication     3     her role as a boxer. However, it wasn’t until the movie’s release     4     viewers truly got to witness the extent of her transformation. Her     5     (define) abdominal (腹部的) muscles are clear and beautiful, making it hard to imagine that this is the same Jia Ling we once     6     (know).

    7     (slim) down from 100 kg to 50 kg can’t be achieved overnight. She thought if you can’t bear the pain of discipline, you will have to accept the mediocrity (平庸) of yourself. She is unwilling to settle for mediocrity and has chosen to challenge herself, determined     8     (exchange) sweat and effort for her glamorous transformation today. Her path to success has been filled with hardships and challenges,     9     she has never given up on her     10    (pursue)and dream for herself.

She shows us through her actions that regardless of the circumstances, as long as you have determination and perseverance, you can definitely achieve success. She not only brings us laughter and touches our hearts but also conveys a positive and uplifting energy.

Last week, I was invited to a doctor’s meeting at the Rush Hospital. In one of the rooms a patient, who was an old man, got up from his bed and moved slowly towards me. I could see that he hadn’t a long time to live, but he came up to me, and placed his right foot close to mine on the floor. He compared his to mine and watched     1    (intent). “Frank!” I cried in surprise, but he tried to smile, all the time keeping his foot close to mine.

My thoughts raced back to more than thirty years ago. My memory was     2    (associate) with the dark days of 1941, when I was a student in London. The scene was an air-raid shelter(防空洞), in which about a hundred people slept every night.    3     we had to stay there was to make sure of our safety. That was the reason. Among them were Mrs. West and her son Frank. Why Frank interested me was     4     he was not normal. He had never been normal, ever since he was born. His mother told me he was 37 then, but he had less of a mind than a baby had. Mrs. West, then 75, was a strong, able woman, as she had to be of course, because Frank relied     5     her completely.     6    (raise) her disabled son was no easy job. She was a representative of a kind and she devoted     7     (she) to looking after him.

One night a policeman came into our shelter and told Mrs. West that her house     8    (destroy) already. That wasn’t quite true. Though     9    (damage) badly, their house could still be used because the Wests went on living there for quite some time. But they certainly lost nearly everything they owned. The     10    (restore) of the buildings needed a lot of time.

I stood beside Frank and measured my right foot against his. They were about the same size. That night then, I took a spare pair of shoes to the shelter for Frank. As soon as he saw me, he came running—and placed his right foot against mine. After that, he always greeted me in the same way.