9．　　Are you interested in sports, music or the environment?Being part of a community isn't just about where you live. It (1)       means sharing ideas with other people and it can help you understand yourself.
　　A community might be an actual space where people (2)       with each other. It is like your local neighbourhood or school or a virtual (虚拟的) space where (3)       meet online. These groups, or communities, bring people who share (4)       ideas and interests together. Communities come in all shapes and sizes and make you (5)      you're part of something bigger than yourself.
　　Be around people who (6)      your passion (激情). It's also a great way to make new friends. Joining a community of people that shares your ideas can help you achieve amazing things (7)       you're improving yourself. Kids Against Plastic is a group run by teenage sisters Amy and Ella Meek. They have created a community of (8)       people taking action against plastic pollution. So far they have (9)       more than 90, 000 pieces of single－use plastic rubbish in the UK.
　　Amy tells the newspaper, "We as young people have really strong voices, and when we come together, we can make a huge (10)      . Building a community can help to not only increase your (11)       but also provide you with the encouragement to run for your passion. "
　　(12)       by thinking about what your interests are and find a community group that feels like a good fit. Lots of (13)       and sports teams have fan clubs, or you can find local groups by asking at your nearest library. There are (14)       community groups to choose from, including dance, drama and gardening. They are set up by people with a passion. They welcome (15)      members. Why not join one?

10．
　　What will the world of tomorrow look like?Many people believe that technology is going to help solve some of the most difficult problems we have on Earth today. New technology may solve old problems, and it may (1)       create new ones. No technology is perfect. Each has advantages and disadvantages, as these three examples.
　　When we dream about the future, many of us think that we will be able to fly to the skies in our own (2)       flying car. We could fly at 480km per hour, avoiding traffic lights and busy roads. However, if the cars become popular, there will be problems with traffic (3)      .
　　3-D printing is (4)      new technology for the future. 3-D printers are (5)       used to make life-size models of car parts, and man﹣made body parts, such as ears. As we move (6)       the future, 3-D printing will change the way we make things and the way we treat sick people. The disadvantage is that such a machine is very (7)      .
　　Finally, people are trying to (8)       robot suit (套装). This is an electronic suit. It allows people to lift heavy (9)      and walk a long way. It might help people walk again after an illness or an accident. However, one disadvantage at the moment is cost.
　　Looking ahead, it is easy (10)      a future. We will be able to fly to work, print out a new pair of shoes or lift a car above our heads. (11)       there are some problems to solve before all of this is possible, we can certainly dream of a world. In this world, technology makes people's life easier and safer. It can solve some of the most difficult problems we have today.

12．　　He was an old man who fished alone in a small boat on the sea and he had gone eighty﹣four days without getting a fish. In the first forty days a boy had been with him. But after forty days without a fish, the boy's parents told him that the old man was salao, which is the worst form of unlucky, and the boy had gone with another boat which caught three good fish in the first week. It made the boy sad to see the old man's sail looked like the flag of failure forever.
　　The old man was thin with deep wrinkles (皱纹) in the back of his neck. His face was terribly brown because of the strong sunlight on the sea every day and his hands had the deep scars (伤疤) from dealing with heavy fish on the lines. But none of these scars were fresh. Everything about him was old except his eyes and they were the same color as the sea and were cheerful.
　　"Santiago," the boy said to him as they climbed the bank from the sea. "I could go with you again. We've made some money."
　　The old man had taught the boy to fish and the boy loved him.
　　"No,"the old man said. "You're with a lucky boat . Stay with them."
　　 "But remember how you went eighty-four days without catching a fish and that we caught big ones every day for three weeks."
　　"I remember," the old man said.
　　"It was my papa who made me leave. I am a boy and I must follow him."
　　"I know," the old man said: "It is quite normal."

13．　　A new contact lens (隐形眼镜片) has been developed by scientists from America, Britain and China. It can check for illnesses at any time by examining chemicals in tears. A new sensor (感应器) is used to achieve the purpose.
Scientists hope that the improvement could help to deal with sudden medical events. Dr. Zhao Yunlong said, "COVID-19 has had a great influence on the scientific world. And we are doing research to help people deal with similar events in the future."
　　When introducing the new contact lens, Dr. Guo Shiqi, a researcher at Harvard, said, "In the past, the sensor was put between the layers (层) of the lens. It didn't have direct contact (接触) with tears. But our new sensor is smaller and smarter. It can be fixed to a lens and keep direct contact with tears. What's more, it causes no discomfort to the eye."
　　The contact lens has not been put to the market, but researchers are quite sure that it will be welcomed. It is especially useful for the old and those who may experience sudden medical events.
　　As society develops, scientists are supposed to develop more products that provide care and convenience (便利) for people. The contact lens is one of what they are researching on. Earlier, a California company developed another kind of contact lens using LED technology. It can show the health information on the mobile phone. Steve Sinclair, head of the company, said, "We have to build something that helps you when you need it and stays off when you don't need it."

14．　　Visiting outer space is still a far dream for anyone who isn't an astronaut, but a day trip to the stars is already open for people to order!
　　A new company, Space Perspective, is planning tests with passengers. It has big plans to run up to 500 flights from different places across the USA by 2024. If successful, reaching the outer side of space could be as easy as flying abroad in a few years' time. The plan will be for spacemen and up to eight passengers to travel in Neptune, a capsule (太空舱) tied to a balloon, the size of a football field.
　　They will move slowly upwards right to the side of space, 30 km away from the Earth. There, space tourists will be able to look back at the Earth and out to dark space and the sight of millions of stars. Although the price is yet to be fixed, the expensive flight, which will take six hours, is likely to cost over £ 10000. Because the capsule remains within the Earth's atmosphere (大气层), no special clothing or training is needed. It means that older people or those with health problems will be included.
　　One problem may be the method of landing back on the Earth. The balloon moves back down from space until it falls down in the sea. Passengers, spacemen, the capsule and the balloon are then gotten back by ship.
　　Now Neptune faces competition from the Stratollite, a balloon being developed by a company called World View Enterprises, while the super﹣rich Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk are all pouring money into developing business space flying machines The advantage of the balloon is that it will be cheaper than a space plane or rocket.
　　Space travel may soon be a reality (现实), but how visitors get there is still a very open question.

15．　　You may have heard that the Yangtze River is China's longest river. It is almost 6, 400 kilometers long. As the world's third﹣longest river, its valley (流域) covers one-fifth of China's land area. The Yangtze River Economic Belt (长江经济带) covers eleven provinces and cities, making up about forty percent of China's total population and GDP.
　　On December 26, 2020, China passed the Yangtze River Protection Law, which came into force on March 1, 2021. It is the first law to protect a waterway in China.
　　The river is in great need of protection because something is wrong with it. For example, because of overfishing and water pollution, the river's Chinese paddlefish has died out there. There's also desertified land and soil pollution near the river.
　　According to the law, fishing will not be allowed in all of the Yangtze's natural waterways, including its major tributaries (支流) and lakes. Those who are caught fishing will be fined (罚款) 50, 000 to 500, 000 yuan.
　　Digging sand will be strictly limited (限制) in the river. Many companies are digging sand along the river. However, this has led to lower water levels of the river, which has caused the river's water to decline.
　　Companies and factories along the river will need to focus on green development. If their activities do harm to the waterways, they will be moved away, the law says.

16．　　Many of us have had the same "pleasant surprise". After you mark a song as a favorite on a music app, it suggests songs of the same kind to listen to. (1)      
　　Big data (数据) is a lot of sets of information that are put together so they can be used by a computer program. It can have different kinds of information from many sources (来源), such as information that comes from schools, social media sites, companies and governments. (2)       Another set can have what they like, where they go to school, and how much time they spend on the computer.
　　(3)      The government uses it to understand how many people travel on buses or trains. The information is then used to make bus or train systems better. Companies use big data, too. It helps them understand who buys their products. For example, one company uses weather data to see when people eat the most ice-cream.
　　Big data can be used for good reasons. Some hospitals use big data to predict if a baby who is born too early will get sick. The hospital can then take extra steps to take care of that baby so he or she does not get sick. (4)      It can be used to predict which kinds of people are likely to break the law or hurt others, even if they have not done anything wrong.
　　(5)       It is because the computer programs used to look at big data and understand it are written by people. People think a certain way. Because they think a certain way, they build a model of those ideas. These ideas are then used to look at the data. Sometimes, these ideas are helpful for people or businesses. Other times, bad ideas can cause problems for certain groups of people.

17．A: Hi, Luke. What are you doing?
B: (1)      
A: Wow, what kind of competition is it?
B: A speaking competition from our school.
A: Great. (2)      
B: You're right. For me, it's really a good chance. By the way. (3)      
A: Yes, I have. But I've never got any prize.
B: What a pity! (4)      
A: What do you mean?
B: Look! Here's a writing competition. To win it, you need to write a short story about your favorite place.
A: (5)      I will have a try.
B: By the way, the story doesn't need to be true!You can write a beautiful place you have long dreamed about.
A: Cool! That would be great!

A. Would you like to try other competitions?
B. It will help you improve your speaking.
C. I am preparing for a competition.
D. Have you entered competitions like this?
E. That's a shame.
F. That sounds wonderful.
G. What prize did you get?

18．紧张的九年级学习生活已经开始了一段时间, 你周围的同学遇到了各种各样的问题, 你有什么样的建议呢?假如你校英文报"学生园地"栏目正在向全校学生征文．请你根据下面的图表提示, 写一篇短文向校报投稿.

要求:
1. 词数80 — 100, 开头已给出, 不计入总词数．
2. 文稿中不得出现真实的人名、校名和地名．
3. 字迹工整, 语言流畅, 表达正确, 逻辑清晰．
　　I have been a Grade 9 student for nearly four months. My classmates have met all kinds of problems, _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________