Nobody wants to give up, but what if you don’t enjoy an activity or a hobby as much as you used to?

I still remember my first time to play the ________ when I was only 6. How did I start? Once I heard my classmate in the kindergarten (幼儿园) play the guitar. I ________ my mom that I wanted to buy one. My mother asked me what instrument I ________ myself liked best. I had no idea, so she took me to the instrument store. I was attracted (吸引) by the colorful violins, guitars and so on. I ________ myself in the beautiful world. Then my mom took me to a violin lesson there. The teacher was a very ________ lady with an angelic (天使般的) smile. When she played the violin, the world seemed to be full of wonderful ________. I fell in love with the nice violin. I decided to learn it. So my mother ________ one for me.

After a few lessons, I found that playing the violin was not always interesting. It was boring to remember long pieces of music and practice again and again. I wanted to ________.

My mother had a long ________ with me. She said, “Nothing is fun all the time. It is necessary for us to stick at something difficult to develop important skills like willpower (意志力). Finding the courage to keep it going can help you succeed.” ________ hearing this, I continued playing the violin. So far, I’ve learned the violin for more than 9 years. I will keep it as my lifelong hobby.

Our English teacher Mrs. Wang let us do an English project—researching the Chinese traditional festivals. Here are two groups’ reports about it.

In my backyard, there stands a strong and thick tree that has watched me grow up. It offers shade (阴凉处) on hot summer days and a home to many birds. I remember climbing it up as a child, feeling like I was reaching for the sky. The tree and I, we have always been there for each other.

One day, there would be a big storm. I worried about my friend. Papa said we should help it by tying ropes for support. Working together, we tied ropes around the tree. After the storm passed, the tree stood strong, and I learned that just like the tree, nature needs our care, too.

I started collecting rainwater in a bottle nearby. The tree seemed to love it, as its leaves grew greener. I also planted flowers around it, and bees came to visit, helping them grow better. My friends from school helped me make bird feeders, which hung from the branches (树枝), feeding the birds that sang their thanks every morning.

Do you know what a team needs most? If people on your team are not good at communication, you may often feel terrible. To create a successful team, good communication is the most necessary for both the team members and the leader. Here are some helpful suggestions.

Tomatoes are red, the sky is blue, and bananas are yellow, right? Well, not exactly — color does not really exist (存在). What exists is light. Light is real, but color is not. It is our brain that creates color.

We’re told to trust our eyes, but our eyes have little to do with vision (视觉). We see much more with our brains. You sometimes see different colors because your brain thinks they have a different meaning. The brain does this by looking at what’s around the object. Here is an example. If you see a person wearing a white shirt against different backgrounds, your brain might express the same white color differently. Suppose this person stands in front of a bright yellow background, your brain might think the white shirt is more like gray. If the person moves to a dark blue background, the same white shirt might appear closer to a brighter color.

Color is created according to our past experiences, and sometimes there are optical illusions (视错觉). That is because your brain includes the recent history of what you saw, at least for a brief time. But if you watch the thing for a longer time, your brain may forget the recent history and see the real color.

This raises the question: Do you see what I see? The answer, in short, is no. Our past and present experiences are different. None of us even sees the world as it really is, but as a meaning that comes from our own experiences. It’s clear that seeing is not always believing.

In today’s world, science and technology are developing at an amazing speed. They bring about great changes in our lives and help us a lot.

Let’s consider the communication technology. The invention of the Internet and smartphones has completely changed the way we communicate. People can stay connected with friends and family across the world, share information fast, and get plenty of knowledge online. AI Sora is a new AI tool which is able to understand human language, learn from experience, and make wise decisions in different situations. One of the key advantages of AI Sora is its ability to understand natural language. This allows users to communicate with the system, asking questions, answering in a polite way, changing words into videos and so on.

Secondly, transportation (运输) have been greatly changed by science and technology. The development of planes and high-speed trains has made travel faster, safer, and more convenient (方便的). Satellite navigation systems (卫星导航系统) have made it easier for people to find their way.

Education has also been influenced by science and technology. The use of modern tools has made learning more interesting. Students can have online courses and get online learning. They can learn at their own speed and from anywhere. Teachers can also use technology to make better lesson plans.

But some scientists are worried about the risk of using science and technology. Some people use them to do something bad, which is difficult for most people to tell. So science and technology have made a big difference to society, shaping the way we live, work, and communicate, but we should know the challenge and risk.

When I was a kid, I liked exercise. I often     71     (ride) my mountain bike everywhere. However, as I grew older, I seldom went out by bike     72     there were more and more cars on the road. I thought it was very     73     (danger) to ride a bike with lots of cars.

These days, I decide to have     74     great time on the road again. I still feel nervous because I ride around cars,     75     (bus) and people. I never ride too fast. In that way I can protect     76     (me) from traffic accidents. On weekends, my father sometimes     77     (choose) to ride a public bike to parks with me.     78    fact, riding bikes is a nice way to get around the city!

Besides, if we all try to ride bikes more often and drive     79     (little) than before, we can do something for our environment. So what are you     80     (wait) for? Ride your bike and have fun!