11．Finding the Awesomeness
　　My family hadn't done anything different for long. So when my aunt invited us to her farm for a spring celebration last month, I was so excited that I decided to make some special cupcakes.
　　On that day, everything went wrong. First we had to wait for Ted to find his shoes. On the half way, we had to go back to the house as Mom (1)       her wallet at home. Then, we drove far to find a restroom for Indi. After that, my parents decided to take a shortcut, which ended up turning into a long cut!We were driving forever on a winding road when our car started making a strange noise.
　　"Sorry," said my mom. "We have to pull over and call roadside service."
　　"Don't worry," said Dad. "I'm sure (2)       will come soon."
　　Actually, help did not arrive soon at all.
　　"We're going to(3)      everything!" said Ted.
　　I just sighed (叹气).
　　"Look on the bright side," said Dad. "Our car couldn't have picked a (4)       place to break down." It was true. There were various wild flowers dancing on the sea of grass, with strong trees as their guards.
　　Mom got the picnic blanket out. "How about walking over to that wildflower field and have our own (5)      ?"
　　At first, we kids weren't exactly jumping up and down about the idea. But as we looked around, cool things started happening.
　　"Hey!" Indi said. "This huge butterfly (6)       on my knee! She's so beautiful."
　　"Look!" Mom pointed at two cute rabbits happily eating grass. "We're not the only ones who think this is a good spot for a (7)      ."
　　Just then, we noticed hundreds of birds rose up out of the trees and flew into the sky in the most amazing patterns!
　　"Wow!That's the most magical thing I've ever seen!" said Ted.
　　Finally, we didn't make it to the farm, and we ate my cupcakes — they were so delicious!
　　Sometimes you can get discouraged, but do not give up!Try to stay (8)       to what's happening around you!You might just discover unexpected awesomeness right under your nose!

12．　　If you want to enjoy fun holidays, look at these festivals.

13．　　Janie read the invitation to a Halloween party from Manuella, trying to make sure she had not received it by mistake.
　　"Thank you for inviting me to your party, Manuella," Janie said to Manuella when she saw her.
　　"Oh. I had to invite all the kids in the class, or my mom wouldn't let me have it," Manuella told her.
　　"I'm looking forward to it," Janie replied, hoping she did not sound as hurt as she felt. "Is it all right to wear the clothes that we wear for the school party?"
　　"I don't care what you wear, Janie."
　　"Who are you going to dress as, Manuella?" Janie asked.
　　"I haven't decided yet."
　　"Well, thank you again, Manuella."
　　"Yeah. Whatever," Manuella replied.
　　On her way home, Janie kept trying to think of any time she had been mean to Manuella. She didn't understand why Manuella was mean to her. So she called Karen, "Did I do anything that made Manuella unhappy?"
　　"It isn't anything you've done," Karen answered. "It's who you are. Manuella used to be the most popular girl in our school. But now they think you are. She's hurt and frustrated (沮丧的). She sees herself as your enemy."
　　"Wow!I never thought of that. I want to be her friend. I have to get her back into the spotlight." Then Janie got an idea.
　　It was the party time. When Janie got to Manuella's house, Manuella was shocked because Janie was dressed like her.
　　"But, why?" asked Manuella. "We were told to dress like someone we admire."
　　"I did. Manuella, you don't know how pretty, smart and talented you are. I'd like to be your friend. Will you let me?"
　　"If you can forgive me for being so jealous and mean to you. I'm sorry, Janie. I'd be happy to have you."

14．　　A typical example of a morning person is thought to be someone who wakes up naturally at 6 am, exercises, has breakfast and is ready for a productive day at work by 9 am. Whereas an evening person hates to get up early in the morning and feels more productive in the evening. What's behind the different chronotypes (睡眠类型) ?
　　Researchers have analyzed (分析) the relationship between chronotypes and personality traits. A large number of participants were asked to answer questionnaires about their sleep timings and personality. Opinions on the participants' personality from those who knew them well were also collected. In this way, researchers were able to see the relationships between sleep and personality.
　　Researchers found that people high in conscientiousness (认真尽责) and low in openness were connected with having earlier chronotypes. They went to bed and got out of bed earlier. They also found that less straightforward and excitement﹣searching, yet more self-disciplined (自律的) people were more likely to have earlier chronotypes, too.
　　These findings have helped researchers come up with two possible pathways of how personality might influence chronotype. First, personality traits may influence people's preferences for different social activities, which in turn, may influence what time people go to bed. For example, people who like searching for excitement might go to concerts and bars more often, which may keep them up later at night. The second possible way is through active decisions people make regarding their sleep. More self-disciplined people make decisions to sleep earlier as a healthy lifestyle choice. Other research has shown people high in self-discipline avoid behaviors that are harmful to their health.
　　"Although personality traits go through little change over time," Professor Anu Realo, one of the researchers, says, "our findings suggest it might be possible to change your chronotype or at least train yourself into a different, more socially convenient sleep pattern by increasing your self-control." Evening people who typically experience worse health could learn to go to bed earlier, or regularly turn off the lights at earlier hours, which might lead to falling asleep earlier and better health.

15．　　A Dairy Queen manager stood up for a blind man. The blind man dropped a ＄20 bill, and a woman picked it up and pocketed it. Seeing that, the manager threw her out of the restaurant and then handed the man ＄20 from his own pocket. His good act made headlines on the Internet. It may not be totally new, but public attention does seem to be attracted these days by ordinary (普通的) people, who make extraordinary moral (道德的) decisions.
　　Mimi Drumwright, a professor from University of Texas, says, "This is the type of stories that will encourage goodness. The reports of the good acts probably will beget more good acts, and that is a good thing. Already, countless strangers have been paying it forward with ＄20 to the Dairy Queen manager."
　　Some experts, however, question if airing this kind of "good" news is actually good. They say there may be a downside to overplaying it.
　　"They did do the right thing. But heroic? I think not. They had the duty to do what they did. It was not above and beyond the call of duty," says professor Peter Madsen from Carnegie Mellon.
　　When people celebrate what should be ordinary behavior as extraordinary, experts say, it sends a dangerous message. "I do worry about a culture in which people are giving selves credit for not having done terrible things. It sets a really low standard for what it takes to be a good person," says professor Daniel Effron from London Business School. He thinks praising people for what he calls "the immoral road not taken" could actually have the opposite effect. When do﹣gooders are too highly praised, it means that they're far greater than the rest of us. It even suggests that most people in that situation would be indifferent to what happens, unwilling to get into trouble or offer to give a hand. More disappointingly, they won't feel bad when behaving like this. So, it suggests that most people are selfish and self-serving, and therefore, it's OK if they're selfish and self-serving.
　　Others, however, argue that the reason why these stories are seen as unusual is not that we devalue (贬低) ourselves. They suggest we devalue these particular do﹣gooders.
　　We have to be careful not to go overboard. But celebrating people for doing the right thing is still the right thing to do.

16．　　Doctors Use Scientific Tools to Repair Museum's Artworks
　　The conservators (修复员) at the Smithsonian American Art Museum are called "art doctors". They use scientific tools to repair the museum's artworks and often wear white lab coats. However, unlike regular doctors, their patients never shout "ouch".
　　"We X﹣ray art to see how it's made and practise preventative care, " said Amber Kerr, the head of conservation. "And if something's broken, we fix it."
　　Kerr is one of the seven conservators who work in the museum's Lunder Conservation Center. The center opened in 2006 as the country's first conservation lab. Before then, museums hid pieces that didn't look their best and repaired them behind the scenes.
　　In the spirit of sharing, the museum invites visitors to watch the conservators repair artworks from their glass-walled labs on the third floor.
　　On a recent afternoon, Leah Bright, an objects conservator, was caring for two art pieces at her workstation. A piece of a massive sculpture (大型雕塑) was under a microscope. She pointed out holes in a small part of the aluminum foil (铝箔) that covered the artwork. "Here is the damage. We will record it and try to stop it," she said.
　　The other item was a stone sculpture of Venus with two broken legs. One of its owners had tried to fix the legs with metal sticks and glue, but the staff had noticed the sculpture rocking back﹣and﹣forth at the joints. "It was not safe, " Bright said. To stop the swing, the conservators used a special filler. They also used the paint they mixed to match the color of the sculpture.
　　In another room, Keara Teeter, a painting conservator, was working on two works from William H Johnson's Fighters for Freedom series. The paintings are part of a travelling exhibit. It's planned to reach its first stop, South Carolina, in January. Teeter was preparing them for the journey by retouching areas where small pieces of the paint had come off and adding glass to the frame to protect the works from humidity, dirt, heat, etc.

17．假如你是李华, 学校英语社团的负责人, 你校将在本月为外国交换生举办一次"指尖上的中国"传统文化体验活动(Hands-on Experience of Traditional Chinese Culture)．请你用英语写一则活动推送, 介绍该活动的时间、地点、内容和意义．
提示词语: mooncake, Chinese clay art, make, symbol, spread
提示问题:
● When and where are you going to hold the activity?
● What are you going to do?
● Why is the activity held?

18．每个人的生活都需要沟通．沟通像人与人心灵交流的纽带, 把大家拉近;沟通像一缕和煦的阳光, 能消除大家的隔阂;沟通像一盒七彩糖果, 能使我们原本平淡的生活多姿多彩．
某英文网站正在开展以"学会沟通"为主题的征文活动．假如你是李华, 请用英语写一篇短文投稿, 分享你认为最有用的沟通技巧以及它给你带来的好处．
提示词语:listen, polite, understand, respect, get on well with
提示问题:
● What is the skill you find most useful to communicate better?
Please share your experience of getting it.
● How do you benefit from it?
　　It's important to learn to communicate well with others. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________