11．　　Today is Tom's birthday. He is seventy years old. But there is nobody being (1)       him. He feels very disappointed. He can't find his happiness anywhere. His sons who are busy working, don't care for him on his special day. (2)       the cake is very delicious, he doesn't want to touch it. He just (3)       his children to come and stay with him.
　　 Nowadays, many people are so busy that they (4)       visit their parents. However, blood is (5)       thicker than water. Our dear parents make every effort to bring us up, so we are supposed to treat them well when they become old.

12．　 　All the time, little Dick was happy. He used to go about singing and dancing the whole day long. Nothing could make him sad.
　　One day, Dick wanted to travel in the (1)      . So he set out with excitement, singing till he made the forest full of songs.
　　He was about to drink near a river in the woods when he was (2)      . He found himself in the hands of a tall giant (庞然大物), a hundred times as (3)      as himself! The giant looked at him and then put him into a large (4)      , and carried him off.
　　 Poor Dick tried to get out of the bag, (5)      the giant only laughed.
　　At last the giant came to his house — a dark place. When he got in, (6)       shut the door, and took Dick out of the bag.
　　 Dick now thought he would (7)       , for when he looked around he saw a large fire, and before it his two brothers were roasted (烤) for the giant 's dinner. However, the giant, did not kill Dick, but put him into a prison (监狱) which he had (8)       for him.
　　The prison was dark, with bars (栏杆) all round it. The only food was bread and water. Dick beat his head (9)       the bars. Dick was too (10)       to think of eating or drinking.
　　 The (11)       Dick thought of his free life — warm home, close friends, the (12)      , the trees and the flowers.
　　The giant came again, and wanted Dick to sing as he (13)       do. "Sing, sing!" he said. But Dick was too sad to (14)      . A prison is no place in which to sing. (15)       the giant grew angry, and took Dick out to force him to sing. Dick cried, struggled, and then died in the giant's hand!
　　This is a true story — Poor Dick was a little bird, and the giant was a cruel boy.

13．　　While I was jumping rope, my smartphone took a fall to the floor which created cracks (裂缝) on my screen. However, the music kept playing. 30 minutes later, I could see only one-tenth of my screen while the rest was black. The next morning, I decided not to use it for 24 hours. I felt a sense of calm that day, which led to my not using it for one week. One week ended up becoming 60 days in total without my smartphone.
Here are some advantages I noticed in this challenge.
　　—You'll become "bored"
　　Without my phone, I became bored, but my mind went through all kinds of topics. Boredom (无聊) is a perfect way to create new ideas on a business or project. When you are bored, you allow your mind to relax to reach all possibilities.
　　—You'll be able to reduce your "work" hours
　　A survey found that adults checked their smartphones 85 times a day, or once every 10 minutes. As I learned in my challenge, by not having my smartphone, I fell into deep work more easily, so I completed my tasks in a shorter time.
　　—You'll improve your mental health
　　Without my phone, I avoided reading negative (负面的) news and comments. While that helped make a big improvement in my mental health, the biggest reason for it was truly communicating with people. It brought me more connections with humans in the real world. I went to more dinners with friends and asked more questions to strangers.

14．　　In a small village there was a middle-aged postman, who just turned 20 years old and started delivering (投递) all kinds of happy or sad stories to each home day after day for 50 kilometers. 20 years flew by, and so many changes took place, but the road from the post office to the village always hadn't had any tree and nothing but the flying dust (尘土) could be seen.
　　"How long shall I go along this lonely road?"
　　As soon as he thought he must spend his life riding the bike on the dusty road with no flower or tree, he felt somewhat sorry.
　　One day when he finished delivering the letters and was ready to return, he happened to pass by a flower shop. "Right, that's it!" He walked into the shop, bought a handful of wild flower seeds (种子), and from the next day on put these seeds along the roadside. Thus, after one day, two days, one month, two months... he always kept putting the wild flower seeds along the roadside.
　　Before long, on the lonely road, where he had come and gone for 20 years, grew up a lot of little flowers, in all seasons endlessly.
　　For the villagers, the flowers were more enjoyable than any mail the postman delivered in all his life.
　　On the road without dust but full of peals (花瓣), the postman rode his bike, losing himself in the sweet smell and not feeling lonely and anxious any more.

15．　　After opening a free online Harry Potter center in April, British writer J K. Rowling brings even more good news.
　　In May, Rowling started writing a new story called The Ickabog, which was free to read online to help amuse people who stayed at home because of COVID-19.
　　The new story centers around a monster (怪物) known as the Ickabog, a fierce child-eating monster who lives in the northern tip of an imaginary land known as Cornucopia and has super powers.
　　Though the book is written for children, it is also fascinating to adults. It talks about many things, such as weak leadership, and suppression (镇压) of disagreement.
　　"The Ickabog is a story about truth and the abuse (滥用) of power," Rowling wrote on the website. "The themes are timeless and could be used in any era or any country."
　　Rowling put the first two chapters online on May 26, with daily writing to follow until July 10.
　　She is also planning to publish (出版) the book in print later this year and then give away the money from its sales to projects and organizations helping the groups most influenced by COVID-19.

16．　　Boyan Slat has been dreaming of cleaning up the world's oceans for a long time.
　　 In 2010, he went on a diving (潜水) vacation in Greece and was shocked. "I saw more plastic bags than fish in the water," he said.
　　 From then on, Slat began to pay more attention to ocean pollution. He decided to give up higher education and set up the Ocean Cleanup, a non-government organization. Its purpose is to clean up ocean rubbish. He has set up the world's first ocean cleanup system (系统) with his team.
　　Every year, over 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans, and it can take up to 500 years to break down. In 2018, the World Economic Forum predicted that the weight of ocean plastic would match that of all the fish in our oceans by 2050. Sea animals easily get caught in plastic. They can't move. They can even die if they eat it. Smaller plastic pieces can also enter the food chain (链) and end up in our bodies.
　　Slat's plan was to create an environmentally-friendly, large system to clear out plastic rubbish from the ocean.
　　 After seven years of tests, on October 2nd, 2019, a machine called System 001/B came out. It successfully caught and collected a large amount of plastic rubbish floating in the ocean.
　　Slat and his team are working to improve System 001/B. Their dream is to clear out 90 percent of all the ocean plastic by 2040.

17．A: Hey, Jimmy, what's wrong?
B: I had a fight with my best friend. He is upset. What should I do?
A: Well, you could write him a (1)            .
B: I don't think (2)            . I'm just not good at writing letters.
A: Maybe you should (3)             him up.
B: No, I don't want to talk about it on the phone.
A: But you really should talk to him so that you can say you're sorry.
B: Yes, I know I should, but it's not easy.
A: Hey, I know. You could take (4)             to the ball game.
B: That sounds great. He likes ball games. Thanks (5)             your advice.
A: My pleasure.

18．
　　On May 22, 2021, the whole nation were saddened by the news that Dr. Yuan Longping passed away. That afternoon, it was (1)             in Changsha, Hunan Province. As the hearse (灵车) went slowly through the streets, people said together "Grandpa Yuan, rest in peace" over and over again. Some ran along, (2)             to see him off for a longer time. Tears ran down their faces with the rain.
　　Dr. Yuan Longping worked most of his life growing better rice. As a result of his research, the Chinese people are no longer (3)             about getting hungry. For his contributions, Dr. Yuan is always called the "Father of Hybrid (杂交的) Rice" by the Chinese.
　　Born in 1930, Dr. Yuan graduated from college in 1953. Years later, he decided to do (4)             on hybrid rice. From 1964 to 1969, he did more than 3,000 experiments, but all (5)            . He never gave up. In 1974, he became the first agricultural (农业的) pioneer (6)             grow rice that had a high output in the world.
　　Dr. Yuan Longping was good at English. Actually, he spoke English (7)             he talked with foreign reporters. He liked swimming and playing the violin. He also wrote lyrics for a song to show his dream and (8)             his love for his mother.
　　Like our neighbour and friend, Dr. Yuan Longing was a (9)             and caring man. He encouraged the young people and loved children. Dr. Yuan Longping is a great (10)             with a humble mind and a warm heart.
　　Dr. Yuan Longping will live in our hearts forever.

19．　　Aunt Jia had a snack stand (摊位)in our neighborhood. Her snacks never failed to satisfy my stomach. What's more, she was always patient with her customers. Even COVID-19 didn't influence her business.
　　One day, during the last Spring Festival, I saw a large family visiting her stand. It formed a heart-warming picture: Each family member was enjoying being together. As they were leaving, I noticed Aunt Jia felt a bit sad.
　　 I was amazed. In my experience, she was always smiling, I went forward and ordered my favorite snack. When she was wrapping (打包) , I couldn't help saying, "Happy New Year, Aunt Jia! Why don't you take a break?" Aunt Jia looked surprised, but she soon replied, "Happy New Year! I love working here in this city. It's too cold and snowy in my hometown." I became more curious (好奇的). "Where do you come from? Aren't your family waiting for you to come home for the celebration?" Aunt Jia stopped for a few seconds. "They sure are," she answered gently. "But I have to stay here. I'm from a mountain area, where it would not be easy to make money. I'd be comfortable if I were home now. But in order to live a better life, I must work hard." I froze thinking about her words. Having noticed my shock, Aunt Jia smiled.
　　To get something better, sacrifice (牺牲) is a must. This is a rule that people from all walks of life must follow.

(1)What business did Aunt Jia have in the neighborhood?
                                                                                

(2)How did Aunt Jia feel after a large family visited her stand?
                                                                                

(3)Where did Aunt Jia come from?
                                                                                

(4)Why did Aunt Jia work hard?
                                                                                

(5)What rule can we learn from Aunt Jia's experience?
                                                                                

20．假如你是李华，已升入高一级学校，现应邀回校向同学们介绍英语学习方法。请根据下列要点提示，以"To Be a Successful English Learner"为题，写一篇英语演讲稿。
要点提示：
1. 兴趣方面：听英语歌，看英语影片等；
2. 习惯方面：用词典查生词，写英语日记等；
3. 素养方面：提升听说读写能力，学习中外文化等；
4. 意志方面:不畏困难，勇于挑战等；
5. 个人观点: ……
要求：
1. 词数110词左右(开头和结尾已给出, 不计入总词数)；
2. 要点提示均须涉及，可适当增加内容；
3. 不用真实姓名、校名、地名。
参考词语：develop, improve, ability , culture, challenge
To Be a Successful English Learner
Dear schoolmates,
　　 I'm Li Hua. I'm honored to be invited here to share my ideas about how to learn English well. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for your listening.