1．Dear Daniel,
　　I am a high school student. People always stress how important this stage in life is. I want to get good grades, but I always fail the exams. It makes me so worried. What should I do?
Fu Jiliang
Dear Fu Jiliang,
　　I think you are probably working hard, but I wonder if you know what you're working for. A common complaint in math classes is "I will never use this kind of math in daily life. " It's kind of true!I haven't used algebra in at least ten years. Anything that seems useless or boring will be difficult to study.
　　Ask yourself some questions:What are you interested in?The boring things you study today give you basic knowledge that will help you understand the things you love.
　　Next, what are your personal goals for yourself and your life?Why do you want good grades?What do you want to do in five years?Ten years?
　　I usually believe that my readers want to go to college, get good jobs and have financial security (经济保障) for themselves and their families. Do you want these things?If you want these things, do you know what you want to study and what kind of job you want to have?What kind of lifestyle?
　　If you don't have clear answers to those questions, you need to figure them out.
　　Hopefully, you will find some reasons to focus and improve in school if you can't figure them out, you need to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally. Happiness is about more than a test score. Don't hate yourself for the next 60 years because of a low score.
Daniel

2．　　One day a professor entered her classroom and told her students about a surprise test. The students took their seats and waited for the test to begin. The professor put a test paper on each student's desk with the text facing down. She then asked them to turn the paper over and begin.
　　The students were surprised to see no questions, but just a single black dot (圆点) in the center of the page. The professor said, "I just want you to write down what you see on this paper."
　　The students were confused, but did as they were told. At the end of class, the professor took their tests and started reading their answers aloud. Each student tried to describe the black dot – its size, its position on the paper. After the professor finished reading, the class was silent.
　　She started to explain. "Don't worry. I won't be grading this test. But I want you to think about something. All of you focused on the black dot on this test and wrote about it, but no one wrote about the white area around the dot."
　　"Imagine that this paper represents your life. The white area represents all of your life experiences – the black dot just stands for the bad things you've gone through. Life blesses us with many things – loved ones, enjoyable moments, and even miracles from time to time. And yet we tend to focus on the negative. Our problems and difficulties can beat us."
　　From now on, I want you to think about the big picture more often. Don't just focus on the black dots in your life. Remind yourself how lucky you are sometimes.

3．　　From the loss of wildlife to rising sea levels, we all begin to realize the problems that climate change can cause.
　　But while it may seem like such problems won't influence most of us directly. it looks like future generations could grow up without something that many of us now enjoy so much:chocolate.
　　According to an article published by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric
　　Administration, changes to the climate in the regions that produce cacao (可可豆) — the plant from which chocolate is produced — may mean that it will soon become extinct.
　　Most of the world's cacao grows in countries close to the equator, with over half of it growing in the African nations of Ghana and Ivory Coast.
　　It's expected that by 2050, climate change will make temperatures in these countries rise faster, making it extremely difficult for cacao to grow there.
　　The problem doesn't lie in increased heat, however, but in lower humidity (湿度), as it's believed that rainfall will stay at the same level if the temperature rises.
　　"In other words, as higher temperatures take more water out of soil and plants, it's unlikely that rainfall will increase enough to make up for the loss, " Michon Scott, the article's author, wrote.
To help fight this problem, researchers from Berkeley University in the US are working on changing the DNA of cacao plants to allow them to survive in dryer conditions by using gene editing technology(基因编辑技术) according to US News.

4．　　Chinese people are eating too much salt. On average, people in China eat about 10. 5 grams of salt each day, much higher than the 6 grams recommended (建议) by Chinese Dietary Guidelines (2016).
　　China now has one of the highest salt intakes (摄入量) in the world. To fix this, China issued the first salt reduction guide for its food industry on April 18, 2018, People's Daily reported.
　　If the guide is followed properly, the average salt intake for Chinese people will drop by 20 percent by 2030. The guide calls for food companies to lower the salt content in their products by improving their production technology and adjusting (调整) flavors.
　　The salt we take in mainly comes from processed food. For example, a 104﹣gram can of Lay's classic potato chips contains about 0. 66 grams of salt, which accounts for over 10 percent of the recommended daily salt intake.
　　A small amount of salt makes food taste better and is important for good health, but eating too much increases the risk of high blood pressure, Xinhua reported.
　　Less salt leads to better health. And there's no need to worry that food will be less tasty in the future. A study by the Monell Chemical Senses Center in the United States found that it's easy for people to reduce their salt intake. Although you may think your food is not salty enough at first, your taste buds (味蕾) will gradually get used to it and you will feel that your food tastes the same as it did before.

5．　　In an ancient story, we learn about a young man named Narcissus. He was so beautiful that he fell in love with his own reflection, but soon realized that what he loved was not real. As a result, he became sad and died. In the place where he had stood appeared a soft yellow flower — a narcissus (水仙).
　　(1)      Unluckily, narcissism is often used to show a feeling that you don't like because it is usually used to mean being self-centered and not caring about others.
　　However, part of the reason that narcissism carries these negative meanings is that many people admire themselves too much. (2)      A study published 10 years ago shows that if people don't have enough confidence, it can cause many social problems, and it can influence teenagers seriously. When they feel less confident and not as good as their classmates, it's possible for teenagers to have problems.
　　The other reason that narcissism is considered as an ugly thing is because we are taught that we should care more about others than ourselves and that it's better to give than to get. (3)       But some experts say that the love of others is actually based on self-love. If you see yourself as an unpleasant stranger, how can you be able to make friends with anyone else?After all, you are closer to yourself than anyone else.
　　(4)       Only if the parents accept and agree with their children, do they feel loved and learn to love themselves.
　　The next time you look in the mirror, try to tell yourself that you are one of a kind. (5)      

A. Thinking about others is the right thing to do, without question.
B. Any kind of admiration for people themselves really has a bad influence on people's daily lives.
C. This is where the word "narcissism" came from.
D. Pick out your best qualities and be proud of yourself.
E. But the truth is that good self﹣love is necessary for our mental health, scientists say.
F. After years' study, scientists also found that parents play a big part in building a child's self﹣belief.

6．　　It was the district sports meet. My foot still hadn't healed (痊愈) from an earlier injury. I had questioned whether or not I should (1)      the meet. But there I was, ready for the 3000－meter race.
　　"Ready. . . set. . " The gun sounded and we were off. The other girls(2)      ahead of me. I felt ashamed as I fell farther behind.
　　"Hooray!" The crowd shouted. It was the loudest (3)      1 had ever heard at a meet.
　　The first place runner was two laps (圈) ahead of me when she (4)      the finish line.
　　"Maybe I should (5)      . "I thought as I ran. However, I kept going. During the last two laps, I ran in (6)      and decided not to race next year, (7)      my foot had healed by then.
　　When I finished, I heard louder cheers. I turned around and saw that the boys were (8)       their own race. "They (9)      be cheering for the boys, " I thought.
　　I was leaving the meet when several girls came up to me. "Wow, you've shown a lot of(10)      !" One of them told me. "We were cheering for you. Did you(11)      us?"
　　I felt(12)       again and decided to run again next year. I (13)      that strength and courage aren't always measured in medals or victories. They're in the (14)      we overcome. The strongest people are not always those who win, but those who don't give up, even when they are (15)      .

12．　　The ancient Chinese martial art (武术) tai chi is famous all over the world. It (1)      (practice) by Chinese and even by people from many other countries. (2)      (sudden), it becomes popular. And it has become one of the (3)      (form) of life for many New Yorkers recently. This is because of the hard work made by former world martial art winner Chen Sitan and his wife Lin Xu.
　　From five-year-old kids to the elderly in their 70s, people from different (4)      (nation) cultures have learned the martial art through the classes the couple teach. People take (5)      (please) in the classes.
　　Created in China, tai chi involves very slow and beautiful movements (6)       are performed with deep breathing. The movements work with what is called "qi" or life force. It is (7)       type of "flow (气流)" that everyone has in his or her body.
　　Studies show that this mindbody practice has value in treating or(8)      (avoid) many health problems. It makes people (9)      (live) than they used to be.
　　This exercise can not only help people keep energy, but also be good for their flexibility (灵活性) and balance. A research by Harvard Medical School (10)      (mention), "So it could be the perfect activity for the rest of your life."

13．现在, 青少年普遍缺少运动甚至不运动, 请就此现象写一篇短文, 谈谈你的看法．
内容包括:
缺少运动甚至不运动的原因;(学业重, 沉溺电子产品)
缺少运动甚至不运动对学生的影响;(不利于健康、学习、交友)
针对这种现象提出合理的改善建议．(自拟两点)
写作要求:
1. 文中不得出现真实姓名和学校名称;
2. 意思连贯, 表达准确, 条理清楚, 书写规范;可适当拓展;
3. 词数100词左右, 文章的开头和结尾已给出, 不计入总词数．
　　Many teenagers are short of exercise in their spare time now.
　　All in all, teenagers need to do exercise in their spare time. The more exercise they do, the better it is for them. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________