Jonny took his dog, Scruffy, out for a walk on a cold day in December. He bundled up in his heavy winter coat and put on his thick wool cap before he said goodbye to his mom. Outside the front door, the whole world was like a winter wonderland: there were icicles (冰柱) hanging from tree branches and snow banks that rose all the way up to Jonny’s knees. Scruffy was excited to be outside,digging in the snow and jumping into snow. Jonny was also glad to be out in the cold air.The snowstorm that left all this snow had continued for two days, and he hadn’t been allowed to go outside, even just to catch some air!

They walked through Jonny’s neighborhood, passing people who looked glad to be outside, too. A few blocks down, Jonny saw his friend Marcus building a snowman with his sister, Marie.

“Hi, Marcus!” Jonny called out.He walked over to the snowman.

“Hey, Jonny. You want to help?” Marcus was patting the bottom part of the snowman ith his glove, while Marie was rolling together the second section of the snowman, packing the snow together to make sure it stayed in a round shape.

Jonny walked over and wrapped Scruffy’s leash (皮带) around Marcus’s mailbox. To- gether, Jonny, Marcus, and Marie built an amazing snowman.They made a long pointy nose the snowman, and designed eyes out of green apples Marie found in the house. They made e snowman’s arms out of two longer sticks, setting them up to make it look like he was waving. Sometimes Jonny would look over whether Scruffy would be digging again, but he mostly sat patiently, watching Jonny, Marcus, and Marie work.

When they were all done, Marcus and Marie’s mom came outside to see their work. “This is an amazing snowman!” she said. “Does anyone want hot chocolate?”

All three kids and Scruffy ran into the house and warmed up.

“Oh no!” Jonny yelled, and ran out to the snowman, which was now a pile of snow.

It was a day just like every other day. I woke up early in the morning and went to run on Mount Gracious with my dog, Bubbles. As I ran up the mountain, with my dog following close behind, I felt energetic and refreshed. Running in a natural environment never failed to make me feel alive. When I reached the top, I drank some water and enjoyed the beautiful sunrise. This scene always took my breath away, no matter how many times I had seen it.

Having rested enough, Bubbles and I made our way back down the mountain. As we were running downhill, I saw an unfamiliar path and decided to explore the area. The path was full of rocks. It was not easy to walk.

Suddenly, I slipped on a muddy patch, rolling down five meters before I managed to grab hold of an exposed root of a huge tree. I was safe for now. However, I was seriously injured. My knees were badly hurt. My right foot was also dislocated (脱臼). I knew for sure I would be unable to make my way up or down the mountain without help. I called out to Bubbles and he barked loudly from above. It seemed like he understood that I needed help. He looked down at me pitifully before disappearing from sight.

As night fell, panic (恐慌) set in and scary thoughts went through my mind. There were many things that I had got to do. I couldn't die! This would not have happened if I had stuck to my usual path.

I was losing hope when I heard barking. It was Bubbles. I rubbed my eyes as I struggled to keep awake. But there was silence. Who could it be? Was I hallucinating (产生幻觉)? Then I heard some voices and more barking. Yes. Help was near, I knew. I could count on my dog to get help.

Soon, I heard my parents calling my name.

Later, my parents told me what Bubbles had done to get help.

5 . I'll call him Peter because I didn't know his name. He was a waiter in a restaurant to which I had taken Robert, my five-year-old son, for his ______. Robert wore his new ______, proud and joyful.

Peter greeted us warmly and brought his ______ close to Robert's level to talk with him. Robert lifted his left foot so Peter could see his boot and then he asked Peter to ______ it. Before I tried to stop his ______ request, Peter got down to Robert's boot and took a long smell. Then he thanked Robert for ______ the special smell. Robert smiled at Peter's reaction.

When ______, Robert took more time than a fast-food customer should. Eventually, he ______ an orange juice. Peter praised his ______, which brought a bigger smile to Robert's face. Peter followed us ______ with our food as the birthday boy picked the perfect table. My heart was filled with thanks for this man who made my son feel ______. Though Peter did what Robert asked calmly, I still criticized (批评) Robert for his impolite deed.

Peter treated all customers with extreme ______ and politeness. Eight years later, Robert can still feel Peter's   ______. In life, we often ______ people by material worth or university degrees. However, the true ______ of a person comes from how they treat others.

6 . Charles Darwin was a very famous scientist who lived in the 1800s. His ideas about evolution (进化) completely changed the way scientists understand the natural world. He recorded his ideas in notebooks marked with letters of the alphabet (字母表), which have been considered extremely important for showing how he developed the evolution.

The Cambridge University Library had several of Mr. Darwin’s notebooks. The two that were missing were kept in a small box, and were last seen in 2000. In 2001, someone noticed that the box was missing. Luckily, the library had taken pictures of the notebooks’ pages, so the information wasn’t completely lost.

In 2020, the library made a huge effort to find the books. Workers searched through the 10 million books and other things in the library, but they didn’t find the notebooks. Finally, the library asked people around the world to help look for the books. They officially reported the missing notebooks as stolen so that the police around the world would search for them.

Nobody could ever have expected the way in which the notebooks were returned recently: in a pink gift bag with a note that said “Librarian, Happy Easter, X”. People at the library quickly recognized the blue box that the notebooks had been stored in. Inside a brown envelope they found the two missing notebooks, tightly wrapped in plastic. After the police had examined the package, library workers were able to open and carefully study the notebooks. They were pleased to learn that the notebooks were in good shape. They hadn’t been damaged and they weren’t missing any pages.

The timing of the return is perfect. The library was planning a show called “Darwin in Conversation”, which is set to open in July. Now the missing notebooks can be part of that show.

7 . High school senior Jonathan Walker is unquestionably celebrating an amazing milestone in his life. The Florida teen has been ______ into 27 universities and received up to $4 million in scholarships.

“It was just a surprise to see that they wanted me to ______ their institution, and that they were offering me ______ . It was just a ton of excitement,” Walker said during an interview with ABC News’ Linsey Davis.

Colleges and universities that included Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and MIT all ______ to enroll (登记) the 18-year-old Florida student.

______, the teen was very surprised when he was admitted to all of the universities. He told CBS Miami in an interview, “That’s such a ______ thing to occur, but it did happen.

However, ______ he has been accepted to all of his choices, the teen is working on ______ the list down. “I’ll be able to make a pretty confident _______.”

Actually, Walker is also active in the science club, the international Baccalaureate program, and the school football team. The amazingly ______ 18-year-old has also been working with a partner on a wrist device that ______ people who are blind and deaf to communicate better with people.

“My parents ______ me a chemistry set (化学用具) a couple of years ago. And then from there I really ______ that I could use engineering to help people. And so I just became super interested in ______ devices that could help disadvantaged communities and people ______ a challenging period,” Walker said.

My son was born with club feet     1     made him possibly never run very well. Almost the first three years of his life    2    (spend) in hospitals. By the time he was eight, you wouldn’t know he had a problem when you saw him     3    (walk). The children in our neighborhood ran around     4     Joey would jump right in and play, too. We never told him that he probably wouldn’t be able to run like the other children. So he didn’t know.

In Grade 7, he decided to join the cross-country team. Every day he ran     5    (hard) than the others, partly because he sensed his     6    (different). Although the whole team runs, only the top seven runners have the chance     7    (score) points for the school. We didn’t tell him he probably would never make     8     team, so he didn’t know.

Two weeks later, the     9    (name) of the team runners were called. Joey was No. 6 on the list. He was in Grade 7 while the other six team members were all 8th graders. We never told him he shouldn’t expect to succeed, so he didn’t know. He just made     10    .