13．Courage and Softball
　　Throughout the last few years of high school and middle school, I have always wanted to join the school softball team. However, I was too busy doing cheerleading, working at my part-time job, and keeping up with my schoolwork, so it seemed (1)      to add another activity to my already busy life. I still often thought about playing, but I never went to any tryouts.
　　Last year, for the first time in years, I found my timetable almost completely empty. I stopped doing my part-time job, and my cheerleading practices were (2)       However, the town softball league (联赛) was starting up at the beginning of the summer. With the (3)       of a friend, I realized that this would probably be the last chance I ever had to play and I decided to try out for the town softball league.
　　While I was really nervous during those first few practices and games, I was so (4)       I made the decision to try out. I was out (5)       and staying in shape. It was exciting to play my favorite childhood sport. Not only that, but as one of the only team members with a license, I got to drive my teammates to and back from practices and we became (6)      . My summer that I thought to be boring was exciting and fun all because I decided to (7)       thinking too much about everything and play softball.
　　I'm so thankful that I had the (8)       to play softball last summer. Now that the summer's over and I'm happy knowing that I really will not play softball again, my memories will always be a reminder to myself to go for what I want in life.

15．Treasure of Life
　　Once upon a time, there lived a wise man. His son, however, was very lazy.
　　The man was worried about his son's future. And he recognized the need to give something to his son so that he could take care of himself.
　　One day, the man said to his son, "I want you to find the real purpose of your life. Then he handed his son a map and asked him to find the treasure.
　　The son set out the next day. Along the way, he met a lot of people. Some helped him with food, and some with shelter (住所). Finally, after a long year, he reached the place. But he found nothing.
　　On his way back, he went through the same places. But this time, he stopped to enjoy the beauty of nature. He learned how to hunt, cook, and protect himself from wild animals. He met the same people who had helped him earlier, and this time he helped them in return.
　　When he reached home, he apologized (道歉) to his father for not finding the treasure.
　　"There wasn't any treasure, my son," the man answered with a smile.
　　"But why did you send me to find it?" he asked.
　　Instead of answering the question, the father said, "how was your journey to the place?"
　　"I didn't enjoy it at all!Because I was in a hurry looking for the treasure. But I did enjoy the journey on my way back home. I made many friends and I learned so many skills, which made me forget the pain of not finding the treasure."
　　His father said to him, "now I think you have found your life's true purpose. I want you to lead your life with a goal. But if you remain too focused (专注) on your goal, you will miss out the real treasure of life, that is, to just experience it and grow with it every single day."

16．　　Sometimes a little self-criticism is not a bad thing. We all can learn much from our mistakes. However, too much of it may influence your brain and your life.
　　Negative self-talk is that little voice in your head that judges you. It says you are not good enough. It reminds you of all your faults (过错) and mistakes.
　　Dr. Hughes, an educator and a researcher on how the mind controls behavior, noticed that there are some students who are doing all the right things. They are good students. They show up for class. They do their homework. They study hard. But when it comes to taking a test, they do not do well. They may suffer (遭受) from something commonly called"test anxiety (焦虑)".
　　Lindsay was one of Hughes' best students at a community college. She came to class early, took part in discussions and did all of her homework. However, she did poorly in exams. When Hughes asked her how she felt before a test, she told him she was very nervous. She wondered why she had trouble remembering what she had studied. She said she did not trust that she knew the right answers. This is an example of negative self-talk, which can influence a student's grades.
　　Dr. Hughes took Lindsay's negative self-talks and turned them into positive (积极的) questions. Before a test, he told Lindsay to say to herself:Why am I so relaxed when I take an exam? Why am I so focused during my exam?Why do I remember everything I study for an exam? Why do I trust my answers?
　　Lindsay took his advice. Two weeks later, she took an exam in another class and scored 15 points higher than she had on an earlier exam. Four weeks later, she earned an"A"on the final exam in Hughes' class. Lindsay left community college and went to a four-year university. She continued to use the method of positive self-talk. When Dr. Hughes checked up on her a year later, she had good news to share:she had got straight As on all of her exams.
　　Dr. Hughes saw student after student succeed with his method. More importantly, they got their self-confidence back. And he does not just help his students. He also encourages his friends and neighbors to get rid of (摆脱) negative self-talk gradually in their life. In a television interview, he said, "We can program ourselves for success in class or in life, or we can program ourselves for failure."

17．　　Today, the world is highly competitive. Governments , companies and individuals (个人) are all competing to be the best in the society. It is true that competition leads to better products and services;many people , especially parents , believe that being competitive is helpful for children because it prepares them for the modern world. However, is competition the first thing that our society needs?
　　Schools teach students to compete for better grades, while in businesses , people are better paid for their competitive performances. However, none of them realizes the adverse effects competition has on the society. For two companies in a competition, one will surely lose then disappear, while the other remains stronger in the market. If this is popular in a country, the number of companies may drop, and then the economy (经济) gets worse. Besides, competition may result in distrust in society.
　　Cooperation (合作) presents a different picture. Competition breaks relationships, while cooperation strengthens relationships. When we cooperate with others, we meet new people, we get to know new things, we share thoughts, we help each other and we succeed together. Cooperation focuses on the growth and development of everyone, as many people work together toward a common goal. This way, everyone is equally (相同地) developed.
　　The processes of cooperation have played an important role in shaping the history. Let's discuss the example of UN ( United Nations). The UN's calling is to keep world peace and create harmony (和谐). All nations have cooperated and will keep cooperating with one another to fight for a better future for the whole world.
　　Sports also provide us with a best example of cooperation. Think about how all members of the team forget who they themselves are and work only for the benefit of the team. Although sports are competitive by nature, when there is cooperation between the members, they encourage and support each other, and they get a greater chance of winning.
　　The development of both society and individual today depends on not just healthy competition but cooperation. Unfortunately, people are not taught cooperative skills at an early age, and this has encouraged a culture of competition in today's society. The skills of cooperation should be included in the educational system for children in their early ages.
　　This way, children grow up into adults who value and welcome cooperation, which brings out the best in us.

18．　　At the 2022 Winter Game Su Yiming became the first Chinese snowboarder to win a gold medal in the men's big air event. Behind the huge success is hard work.
　　Back in 2018, the 14-year-old boy was faced with a difficult decision: To be as an actor, or to go all in on snowboarding. With the 2022 Winter Olympics approaching (临近) , the teenager saw an opportunity. "Snowboarding was something I enjoyed the most, and this was a chance to take part in my own home country.
　　Su first stepped on a snowboard around age 4, with the support of his parents. His first snowboard came from his father and it was a lot taller than Su back then. However, Su almost fell in love with the sport immediately. Talking about his parents, Su said. " No matter what decision I made, they've always supported me and believed in me."
　　"I only have one word to describe my feelings for snowboarding, it's love, deep from my heart," Su said. "It's my happiest moment when I stand on the snowboard no matter how long I train, even for seven or eight hours at most at a time."
　　After the competitions, Su Yiming wrote a letter to President Xi to express his resolve (决心) to continue working hard. Su said in his letter that he was born in a great country and raised in the best times. To his surprise, he got a reply. President Xi expressed his hope for young Chinese to keep the motherland at heart, aim high, and have their feet firmly on the ground. "This has encouraged me to work even harder in the future. I shall contribute (贡献) all my strength to my own country and win glory (荣耀) for China's winter sports." said Su.
　　Su Yiming hopes his story could excite more young people to embrace (拥抱) winter sports and face challenges in their lives.

19．题目①
假如你是李华, 下周六上午你们学校将与社区在学校操场共同举办"品民俗话端午"活动, 你打算邀请你们班交换生Peter一起参加．请用英语写一封电子邮件, 告诉他活动的时间、地点、活动安排以及需要做什么准备．
提示词语:playground, eat zongzi , traditional , camera
提示问题:
●When and where will the activity be held?
●What will you do in the activity?
●What do you advise Peter to prepare for it?

20．"百善孝为先", 孝敬父母是中华民族的传统美德．
某英文网站正在开展以"孝敬父母一从小事做起"为主题的征文活动．假如你是李华, 请用英文写一篇短文投稿, 谈谈在日常生活中你为父母做过的一件小事, 以及这样做的意义．
提示词语:favorite , feel, share , important
提示问题:
●What did you do in your daily life?
●Why do you do so?