16．　　Nowadays, lots of foreigners are learning Chinese. Like many of them, I (1)       knew two words of Chinese ("Ni Hao" and "Xie Xie") when I first came to Beijing, China in 2009. As you can guess, my life was (2)       for a while after I arrived. Simple tasks like ordering food or taking a taxi were quite stressful.
　　I knew I had to learn more Chinese, so I (3)       a Chinese class. My teacher was (4)      , although I didn't learn enough to have a real conversation. Later I studied on my own as well, but my progress was still slow. And I decided to (5)      .
　　Around this time, I started playing in a band with a Chinese man who became one of my best friends in Beijing. He taught me a lot of (6)       about music, such as "melody". He learned a lot of English from me in return, so it was a good way to (7)       language and culture.
　　I have learned enough Chinese to (8)       many problems like booking train tickets. These days, there are more foreigners who are studying Chinese. I can (9)       why it's an amazing language. Finally, I found that the best way to learn a (10)       is to make friends with native speakers and spend time with them.

17． When Justin Tong was a child, other kids felt sorry for him. His parents always had him doing lots of housework such as carrying out the rubbish and sending newspapers. But when he grew up, he was better off than his childhood friends and lived a happier and healthier life.
These are the finding of a 40-year study that followed the lives of 456 children in London. It showed that the children who had worked hard in childhood had a richer and a happier future. "Children who worked in the home or community gained competence (能力) and came to feel they were worthwhile members of society," said Daniel Brown, the psychologist (心理学家) who made the discovery. "And because they felt good about themselves, others felt good about them."
Brown's study followed these children in great detail. Interviews were repeated at ages 25, 31 and 47. Under Brown, the researchers compared the children's mental-health scores with their childhood — activity scores. Points were awarded for part-time jobs, housework, effort in school, and ability to deal with problems.
Working at any age is important. Childhood activities help a child develop responsibility, independence, confidence and competence — the underpinnings (基础) of emotional health. They also help him understand that people must cooperate and work toward common goals. The most competent adults are those who know how to do this. Yet work isn't everything. As Tolstoy once said, "One can live magnificently in this world if one knows how to work and how to love, to work for the person one loves and to love one's work."

18． Sending packets, shopping for everyday goods and even building a house, these are new skills that new robots show at the World Robot Exhibition.

19． Alice Lee is a high school student studying at a private school. She is doing some voluntary work at an after﹣school program to help students from poor families.
On the first day of her work, she noticed that many kids were lining up for free sandwiches and fruits. She was surprised. One of the organizers explains that many of these students don't get enough to eat at home. So a school lunch or an after﹣meal might be the most food they would get all the day. She has also been told that some hungry kids can receive free lunches, but others are only allowed reduced﹣price meals, and those students' families have to pay for the part of their food.
Lee was shocked, she decided to offer help to those who are suffering from hunger, "I want other kids to understand that if you see a problem, you don't have to wait to be an adult to fix it, " says Lee. She and a group of friends are using their programme skill to create a new app called Food of Thought, which will allow parents, students, and even kind﹣hearted strangers to donate money to lunch accounts for students in a nearby school.

20． The journey to and from school is a major reason for stress throughout the world. And the journey can even make you sick. Yet one city has found a way to make its train journeys more comfortable while offering enjoyable reading at the same time, just like in a library.
On two train lines in Beijing, the underground cars(车厢)have been turned into libraries, but they're not traditional libraries. Instead of real copies of books, the underground cars provide e﹣books.
When passengers get into the cars, they can see pictures of different book covers on the walls and even doors. Passengers can browse(浏览)the books just like in any other library. Once they've made their choice, they can use a mobile phone to scan the QR code(扫二维码)on the cover of their chosen book. The QR code leads to an e﹣book app, on which the passengers can read the e﹣book for free. And they can still enjoy the book on the app even after leaving the train.
Thanks to the underground's idea, passengers can discover new stories every time they take a ride. In this way, the journey will not be boring any longer, and passengers will not complain about the journey either. Instead, they can benefit(受益)a lot from .
Reading e﹣books can really make the journey more enjoyable﹣it's one of the things that successful passengers usually do. In fact, in this kind of special library, the books can go on forever!

21． (Shenzhen, Dec. 17th, 2018)THE Shenzhen International Marathon was held yesterday, attracting nearly 30, 000 runners from home and abroad. In the morning, though the sky was dark with clouds, it did not diminish the runners' excitement. They all gathered at the Civic Centre square at 8 a. m. ready to hit the road.
The first runner to cross the finish line was Edwin Koech from Kenya in A frica, who finished the men's full﹣length marathon (42. 195 km) in 2 hours 9 minutes and 44 seconds. The woman who finished in first place was Mulu Seyfu from Ethiopia. Another four medal(奖牌)winners were also from African countries.
Besides our friends from Africa who swept all the full﹣length race medals, many other foreign runners also showed their charm(魅力)on site and spoke highly of the Shenzhen Marathon for the services provided.
Evgeny, a runner from Russia, said he really enjoyed the race and it was the second time that he had been in the Shenzhen Marathon. "The marathon is amazing. I really like the route because the views along Shennan Road are beautiful. People are nice and helpful, which is good, "he said.
Another runner mentioned the guidance provided by the organizers when asked for his opinion on the marathon. "It's clear to me, as a foreigner, I know what I should do and where I should go, "he said. "And it's very good service for the places along the route to offer drinks to the runners. "
Most runners expressed that they were happy to experience the fun of running. They told the reporter that they would continue at the end of next year if they had the chance.

22．Jason and Andy are twins. They share a lot of things, including room, food and toys.
One Saturday, Jason and Andy went out (1)      (play) with a toy car. Both of them wanted to be the owner of the car, so they shouted at each other. (2)      (They) mother heard the boys arguing. She came out and told them to take turns to play with the toy car, but the twins wouldn't.
A few days later, Mother brought (3)      pet home. "Can't we each have our own pet dog?" asked the boys. They were (4)      (tire) of sharing everything.
"No! The dog must (5)      (share). " Mother said. "You will have to feed the dog and make sure it does not get into anything wrong. "
Several days later, the dog got into mother's room (6)      (secret) and made a mess there. Jason saw the dog playing with mother's clothes. He quickly went to find Andy and told him (7)      the dog had done.
"Oh, no! It's our duty to clean up the mess!" (8)      (cry) Andy. They boys picked up the clothes and put them away rapidly.
"Just think, Jason, " said Andy, "what a big mess two (9)      (dog) would have made!" "I agree (10)      you, " laughed Jason, "Maybe sharing isn't so bad!"

23．假设你是李华, 你的英国朋友 Tony 对"中国红"一词很感兴趣, 想了解"中国红"在中国人日常生活中的体现, 请你根据以下表格信息写一封回信帮助他了解.

提示词:婚礼 wedding, 中国结 Chinese Knot, 红包 red packet, 代表 stand for
Dear Tony,
　　It's great to receive your letter. I'm writing to tell you something about Chinese red. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________　　
　　I truly hope my letter will help you understand better about Chinese red.
Yours,
Li Hua