15．　　One of the world's most dangerous (1)       is mountain climbing, and one of the most popular places for this is the Himalayas. The Himalayas run along the southwestern part of China. Of all the mountains, Qomolangma (2)       the highest and is the most famous. It is 8,844.43 meters high and so is very (3)       to climb. Thick clouds cover the top and snow can fall very hard. Even more serious difficulties (4)       freezing weather conditions and heavy storms. It is also very hard to take in air as you get near the top.
　　The first people to (5)       the top were Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary on May 29, 1953. The first Chinese team did so in 1960, while the first woman to succeed was Junko Tabei from Japan in 1975.
　　Why do so many climbers (6)       their lives? One of the main reasons is because people want to challenge (7)      (them) in the face of difficulties. The spirit of these climbers shows us that we should never give up trying to achieve our dreams. It also shows that humans can sometimes be (8)       (strong) than the forces of nature.

16．　　It was a dark day, one of depression (沮丧) and anger. As I climbed out of the pool, after seeing my time in the 100 yard freestyle (自由泳), I did not feel like speaking to (1)      . I saw the bright smiles of swimmers who had just (2)       a best time. However, I had failed. Or at least that was what I thought at the time.
　　I was lying on my cool bed (3)       an idea came to my head. Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without (4)       your enthusiasm (热情). At practice the next day, I told my swimming teammates about my goal time and they all either laughed or replied, "You can't do it" or "(5)       not". Believe it or not, these are the responses (反应) that made my goal achievable.
　　Finally came the day when I had to (6)       to myself and others that with belief there is no limit to your achievements. With the starting gun going off, I dived with perfect form into the pool. I (7)       the cool water running across my back. I swam like a fish, bouncing off (弹离) each turn at the wall as if it was a spring board. On the last turn, I came back to the wall (8)       every piece of strength I had. I touched the final wall with my fingertips and knew that I had swum the (9)       race.
　　I had done it! I had achieved my best time! (10)       filled my heart like water does a cup. I saw the (11)       on all of my friends' faces as I climbed out of the pool: their jaws (下巴) dropped to the ground. I began to laugh and gave them thumbs up.
　　I have learned in life that having (12)       in yourself opens all gates. Never forget that anything the mind can imagine and believe it can achieve.

17．Who do you admire most?
Jackie, 14
　　Sofia Marconi, my friend Bia's mum, is probably the most amazing person I know. She is also very brave. She is a wildlife photographer and she travels to some of the most dangerous places on Earth to take photos of the world's most endangered animals.
Jacob, 16
　　One of my heroes is Mr. Donaldson, our great music teacher. He is so creative and finds different ways to get us interested in his lessons. He is also a really amazing guitar player. He is in a band. I'm sure they are going to be famous one day. But I hope it doesn't happen soon. I don't want to lose my teacher!
Alex, 15
　　The person I admire more than anyone is my grandmother Gwen. She is 78 and looks just amazing. Many people think she is my mother when they see us together. She is one of the nicest people I know. She always sees the good in other people. She still does volunteer work for a children's charity in India!

18．　　When I was seven years old, my mom was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. The doctors told us my mom might be saved with operation. But it could also kill her. She chose to have it.
　　The day before the operation I was off school, and my mom planned the best day of my life, everything I loved at seven and everything that would put a smile on my face. The day began with her waking me up saying, "Kate, I have a surprise for you. Come and see." The surprise was a doll I had wanted for the longest time. Throughout the day, she told me everything that she thought I would need to know to grow up and be a good person; she told me to be the best I could be and that I would always make her proud. We had a picnic in the park, and it was so cold that we moved to the car. The day was filled with laughter. For the first time in a long time I could see she was really happy. I would never forget her smile, or the way her eyes shone as if we were the same age. It was the best day of my life, and I will never forget the conversations we shared.
　　My mother managed to live through the operation. Now when I look back, I realize that the best day of my life could be her last and this could be the last day I would remember with her, the last one we shared. I also understand how unselfish a mother is.

19．　　There are about 80,000,000 mines (地雷) under the ground in more than 60 countries. It is difficult and dangerous to clear these mines. About 50 people including many children were killed or hurt each day. In 2003, APOPO, a Dutch research company that trains the animals, came up with the idea of using rats to search for the mines.
　　The animal trainers found that a kind of rats from Africa were clever and had a sharp sense of smell. The rats were about 75 cm long and weighed about 1.35 kg, light enough to run across a minefield without setting off the mines.
　　In January 2004, the APOPO started this project. First, the trainers let the 4-week-old baby rats get familiar with humans. A few weeks later, the rats were not afraid of people and the things around them anymore. Then they were trained to connect a click sound with food. After the rats had learned that, the trainers then taught them to tell the difference between the smell of mines and other smells. When the rats could do it, the click was sounded and they were given a bit of banana. The method was called clicker training. "The training isn't easy," said trainer Abdullah Mchomvu. "You have to be patient. Sometimes I get angry, but then again, I tell myself these are animals."
　　After nine months' training, the rats were taken to a minefield. They ran across the minefield, stopped, sat and searched the ground to tell the domineers (排雷员) that they smelt out a mine. Then the mine was cleared. It had taken two domineers a day to clear a 200 m² minefield, but with the help of two rats they could finish it in two hours.
　　The rats and the domineers saved thousands of lives, "The rats did this job much better than we expected. So far they have helped to make almost 2,000,000 m² of land safe. They are heroes." said Bart Weetjens, the head of the APOPO.

20．　　There are several kinds of distances people keep. Dr. Hall names them intimate, personal, social, and public. Intimate distance is being very close to another, as in a family. Personal distance might be the kind people put between themselves at a party. Social distance is more businesslike and formal. Public distance is used by actors, politicians, and leaders before a large group.
　　Scientists are trying to find out how people use these different distances. They want to discover why, when, and where people allow closeness or use space to protect themselves from others. Since proxemics (距离效应学) is a new science, there aren't many conclusions about the meaning of spaces separating people. But you can make some general observations (观察) on your own. Take note how you use space on different situations. What message do you get from other people as they move close to you or away from you? Does distance give you a feeling that you are being ignored (忽视)? When do you feel crowded?
　　Standing in line at a shop counter, you can learn about space. People keep just enough distance between each other so that they don't invade (侵犯) each other's area. If you shouldn't move in on another person's area, you would soon know it. That person would become nervous or turn around to show you the angry expression on his or her face. Or that person might simply tell you, "Please step back. I'm too crowded."
　　School is a good place to study how space is used and how people mark their own area. At school you probably have a desk or part of a table to call your own. How do you feel when you find someone sitting at your desk or covering your table with papers and books? Maybe you want to protect your area. You might tell the other person that it belongs to you. Then you might move his or her things aside. You might even ask that person to leave your area.
　　Whether people are close together or far from each other, space can tell you indeed. The most important thing in space dialogue is whether people respect one another's areas. Invading other people's space might mean trouble.

21．　　A wise teacher once told me that every teenager needs to experience a not-so-fun first job from working at a grocery store to the fast food industry.
　　Now I still remember my first day at a fast food restaurant three years ago. I wanted to save up money and buy my own car, so I looked for work everywhere I could that summer. The restaurant called me right away and I thought to myself, this is going to be easy. Within four hours of my first shift (轮班), I had angry customers who complained how slow I was. I watched in fear as a kid spilled his milk everywhere, and I heard the words that no 16-year-old boy or anyone for that matter wants to hear, "Mike, there's a problem in the men's bathroom and you might want gloves for this one." I realized right away that working at the restaurant was not going to be a picnic. The manager expected a clean environment and fast service with a friendly smile.
　　Over three years later I still work at that restaurant whenever I go home during vacations. I love my co-workers there and all the customers know who I am. Every morning the same senior citizens come in and get their morning coffees. They chat with us workers and joke around. Our smiles have just as much to do with them making us a part of their everyday lives as the coffee does.
　　From my first job at the restaurant, I learned teamwork and devotion. I also learned staying positive no matter how tough things seem to get. I will forever carry the experience that I gained at the restaurant with me as I go forward in my life.

27．假设你叫李华，你的笔友Tom给你写了一封信，向你询问在家中，作为学生的我们能做哪些力所能及的家务。请你给他提一些建议，并写一写你对做家务的看法。
提示词语：clean, sweep, do the dishes, responsibility, independent
提示问题：
1. As a student, what chores can we do to help our parents?
2. What do you think about doing chores?
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28．生活中我们会遇到各种各样的困难。在我们得到他人的帮助的时候，我们也应该帮助他人。请结合自身经历，以"Helping Is Great"为题，写一写你曾经帮助他人或者被他人帮助的经历，并谈谈你的感想。
提示词语：solve, improve, happiness, kind, friendly
提示问题：
1. Have you ever helped others or been helped?
2. What did you learn from it?
Helping Is Great
　　In our life, we might meet different kinds of problems. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________