11．　　An old saying goes, "When in Rome (罗马), do as the Romans do." I learned the meaning of this when I studied in Russia.
　　One day I (1)       some of my Chinese friends to a famous local restaurant in Moscow. My guests and I were excited from visiting Red Square and happy about our meeting. We chatted (2)       until the waiter told me that we were talking too loud. We turned our voices lower. But this didn't last long. The waiter came over to us two more times with the same (3)      .
　　How bad an impression (印象) we must have left on the local people! In China, it's natural and (4)       for a host (主人) to make a lively atmosphere (气氛). However, in Russia and western countries, having a meal in a public place means you must (5)       your voice low. You need to be polite to others.
　　I felt (6)       about this. Even though we tried our best, it's very difficult to form a new habit. Russians have their own special habits. My Russian friend, Andrey, always looks around and thinks for a while before leaving home. I asked him (7)       he did this. "Aha," Andrey said, "In Russia, people always spend about a minute (8)       things and plans in their minds before leaving. So they won't leave (9)       necessary behind."
　　Finding the differences between (10)       is very interesting. I'd like to keep my eyes and mind open.

13．　　One day, a farmer was walking along a road with his son Thomas. The father said, "Look! There is a horseshoe. Pick it up and put it in your bag." Thomas said, "It isn't worth the trouble." His father said nothing but picked it up himself.
　　When they got to a nearby town, they had a rest. There the farmer sold the horseshoe and with a few pennies he bought some cherries (樱桃). The father and the son continued their way. The sun was well up in the sky. And there wasn't a house or even a tree where they could have a rest. Thomas felt too thirsty to walk on. At this time, his father dropped a cherry on the ground and Thomas picked it up quickly and ate it. After a while, his father dropped another cherry and once again, his son lost some time in picking it up and putting it in his mouth. And so they went on. The old farmer dropped the cherries and the son picked them up.
　　When Thomas had eaten all the cherries, his father said to him, "My dear son, if you had bent (弯曲) down earlier to pick up that horseshoe, it would not have been necessary for you to bend so many times for the cherries. Always remember the lesson that anyone who does not worry about the little things will find that he cannot do the great things."

14．　　Everyone has his or her own living habits. Building good living habits is important. Why are some habits better than others? Let's find out.
　　(1)      
　　Corn, sweet potato, soybean and oats are all coarse food grains (粗粮). Eating coarse food grains is good for your health. They have a lot of dietary fiber (食用纤维). It's good for your stomach. You can cook them in porridge or make drinks with them.
　　Why shouldn't we bend our heads for a long time?
　　Keeping your head bent down for long is not good for your neck. Why is that? It's because you put too much pressure on your neck. It's like putting two watermelons (about 27 kilograms) on your neck. (2)      
　　Why shouldn't we rub (揉) our eyes?
　　Your hands are much dirtier than you think. When you rub your eyes, the bacteria (细菌) on your hands might go into your eyes. (3)       Clean them with running water instead.
　　(4)      
　　After exercising, your skin is sweating (流汗) and your heart is beating fast. A cold-water bath will stimulate (刺激) them too much. (5)       You'd better wait for a while until your body cools down. Then you can take a warm-water bath to relax.

15．　　Since the outbreak (爆发) of the pandemic (疫情), it has made its way around the world.
　　It has a strong influence on our daily life. People have found a way to protect themselves by wearing face masks (口罩). We must wear masks anywhere in public. But the masks are one-time items. This means that we need to discard them after one or two uses. The world has seen wasted masks strewn (散布在) all over the streets and filling up garbage bins (垃圾箱).
　　Experts have pointed out that the materials used in masks are difficult to degrade (降解). It will take at least 100 years for them to degrade naturally. Environmentalists become quite worried because a countless number of wasted masks have ended up in the sea! They are polluting the sea! The sea animals suffer (遭受) a lot and so do we humans. If the sea animals eat them by mistake, the rubbish will be hard to digest (消化) and stay in their stomachs forever. The bacteria on the masks may kill them too. They will not only largely influence the ecological balance (生态平衡) of the sea, but also can spread some more dangerous illnesses. People will also leave these harmful things in their own bodies and may become ill when eating these sea animals.
　　In general, the harm of wasted masks to the sea is serious, so we must take action to stop it right now. We should leave them in a safe place and find a wise way to recycle them.

(1)How do people protect themselves in the pandemic?
      
(2)What does the underlined word "discard" mean in Chinese?
      
(3)How long will it take for the wasted masks to degrade naturally?
      
(4)What should we do with these wasted masks?
      
(5)What is the writer's purpose of writing the passage?
      

16．
　　Last night I went to a concert of Chinese folk music with my Chinese friends. A piece of music named Erquan Yingyue (Moon Reflected on Second Spring) deeply moved me. It was one of the most (1)             pieces of music I've ever heard. It sounded so sad that I almost cried along with it (2)             I listened. Later I got to know the music was (3)             by a folk musician Abing. Today it has become one of China's national (4)            .
　　However, the road to his success was not easy. His mother died when he was young. His father taught him to play many (5)             instruments. By age 17, he was known for his talent in music. Unluckily, his father died. What was worse, he (6)             a serious illness and became blind. He had no choice but to perform on the streets to make money. His excellent skills made him popular (7)             his lifetime. He played and wrote many pieces of music. When we listen to his music, we can sense the beauty and (8)             in it. It makes us (9)             about the wounds and pain we have experienced. For this reason, many people praise him as the musician who has greatly influenced erhu music. So it's (10)             a pity that not many pieces of his music were recorded.

17．Kathy: Hi, Molly. Where's your brother Larry? (1)      
Molly: Hi, Kathy. I'm sorry. Larry can't join us after all. (2)      
Kathy: I see. I really don't think sixteen-year-olds should be allowed to work at night. (3)      
Molly: Oh, I disagree with you. Teenage boys never get tired.
Kathy: Well, maybe. (4)      
Molly: That's true. He needs time to do homework.
Kathy: You know another thing that worries me? (5)      
Molly: Yeah, I know. I think he shouldn't work on weekends.
Kathy: That's right. He needs to spend time with friends.

23．As an old saying goes, "A true friend reaches for your hand and touches your heart." 假如你叫李华，在你的初中学习生涯中，一定有许多朋友给了你不少帮助。在毕业之际，请给你的好友李雷写一封感谢信。
要点：
1. 感谢他(她)对你的帮助；
2. 他(她)是如何帮助你的。
要求：
1. 请结合具体事例，适当发挥；语言通顺，意思连贯；
2. 文中不能出现与本人相关信息；
3. 80词左右 (开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数)。
Dear Li Lei,
　　How time flies! We are going to graduate from junior high school. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
　　Wish you all the best!
Yours,
Li Hua