16． At the age of 16, Einstein always played with a group of mischievous(调皮捣蛋的) kids. Because he was so(1)        playing, he didn't study enough and failed his final exam.
One morning, when Einstein was holding a fishing rod and was about to go fishing with his friends, his father stopped him and said(2)        .
"Einstein, you are so(3)        of playing all day that you failed your exam. I am worried about your future. "
"What are you worrying about?" Jack and Robert also(4)        , but don't they still get to go fishing? "My boy, you can't think like that, " his dad said. "There is a(5)        that people tell in our hometown. Listen to it now. "
"There were two cats playing on a roof. One cat got caught off guard and(6)        down the chimney while holding the other cat. When the two cats climbed out of the chimney, one of the cats had soot(烟灰)on his face, while the other cat's face was clean. Seeing the soot﹣faced cat, the clean cat thought its face must be(7)        , so it quickly ran to the riverside and washed its face. The soot﹣faced cat saw the clean﹣faced cat and thought its face was also clean, so it just swaggered down the street. "
"Einstein, no one can be your(8)        . You have to think for yourself. If you take your cues from(模仿)others, you will never learn. "
Hearing this, Einstein(9)        his fishing rod and returned to his room. He decided to pay more attention to his studies and less attention to what his friends were doing. This allowed him to be(10)        .

17． The People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrated its 70th founding anniversary in 2019. Over the past decades, many people have made great contributions to the country's development, helping it grow through their hard work. On 17 September 2019, ahead of National Day on 1 October, Chinese President Xi Jinping signed a presidential decree (主席令)to award national medals and honorary titles to 42 of these contributors, including both Chinese citizens and foreigners. Now let's learn four recipients (接受者)of the Medal of the Republic.

18． Shenzhen University (SZU) is working with Audencia Business School in Francein education in the financial technology (fintech 金融科技) field through a joint master's degree program.
This is said to be SZU's first foreign joint education program. It aims to solve the problem of the shortage of talents in fintech field, which best serves industry development, especially in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (粤港澳大湾区).
SZU plans to enroll (录取) 80 students from the Chinese mainland into the program this year. The two universities will jointly design training programs, teaching plans and review standards. After two years of study, students will receive their diploma (毕业证书) from Audencia Business School. The diploma will be admitted by both China and France.
Fifty percent of the program's courses will be taught by teachers from Audenica Business School, and the rest will be given by SZU teachers who have overseas educational background.
It is said that though fintech is developing fast with chances, the industry faces a talent shortage. According to data, China needs more than 1. 5 million talented people in fintech. Fintech is a new field, few universities in China have set up fintech-related program.
With strong educational resources (资源), this program will not only find a way to the talent shortage but also help Shenzhen become more connected with the world economy, said SZU.

19． Confucius, one of the most important Chinese philosophers, was celebrated across the country for his 2, 570th birthday in September 2019. After all these years, his influence is still strong in modern times.
Unlike the abstract philosophy of Laozi, Confucian ideas about right and wrong are ways to understand and apply to daily life. "It's all about the every day. It's all about family, " Roger Ames, a Fonfucius expert at Peking University, told China Daily.
For example, many Chinese learn at an early age to "be filial to parents and respectful to brothers (入则孝, 出则悌)". Confucius believed that if everyone knows how to love their families, they will know how to love others, love their country, and love the world.
"Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you. " is the favourite Confucius doctrine (信条) of Guo Jiulin, a professor at Dalian Minzu University. "It reminds me that if a person wants to fulfill his social ambitions(抱负), he must first be strict with himself in words and deeds," he told China Daily.
Another important Confucian idea is "he", or harmony, Sun Yiting, a student from Zhejiang University, values it. "It reminds me to calm down when I get angry," she said. "It reminds me to put myself in others' shoes. This way of thinking makes my life much happier."
Confucian ideas can even be applied to today's global problems, according to Ames.
"Confucius believed that the only way I can take my stand is by helping other people take theirs(己欲立而立人, 己欲达而达人). If my neighbour does better, I do better. That's the Confucian wisdom. This is really needed in the world today, " said Ames.
"Global warming, food and water shortages, environmental problems, international terrorism(恐怖主义). We can solve these problems only if we work together."

20． Jordan was born with a disability. But she says her difference doesn't hold her back — it makes her amazing.
When Jordan was having a new dance class at the age of 8, she noticed that some kids were staring at her. The kids were looking at her left arm. It stops above the elbow (肘部).
Each year, about 2, 000 babies in the United States are born with limb differences, like Jordan was. That means they are missing all or part of an arm or a leg. With only one hand, Jordan has a tough time doing certain activities like tying her shoes. She sometimes uses a prosthetic (假体) arm to help her ride her bike.
Jordan attended camps for kids with limb differences. Three years ago, she was invited to a special workshop. She was challenged to design a new prosthetic arm — one that would turn her disability into a "superpower".
Jordan worked with designers. They used a 3-D printer to create a prosthetic arm shaped like a unicorn's horn (独角兽的角). "It was really cool to show that you can build onto your difference to make it awesome, " says Jordan.
In 2017, Jordan and her mom formed an organization called Born Just Right. They want to help other kids with limb differences. "We want to show kids that anything is possible," Jordan says.
Sure, people still sometimes stare. But Jordan uses those moments to educate others, "Your differences are amazing and you never know what amazing things you can do with them."

21． How will we save our planet?
Which topic drew the most attention from people around the world in 2019? It was climate change, according to three well﹣known English dictionaries.
The Oxford, Collins and Cambridge dictionaries chose "climate emergency", "Climate strike" and "upcycling", respectively(分别地), as their "Word of the Year". This tells us that climate change was a widely-discussed issue in 2019.
"Climate emergency" means a situation in which urgent action is needed to reduce climate change. "Climate strike" refers to people leaving work or school to call for more action to protect the environment. "Upcycling" refers to making new items out of old or used items to reduce waste.
Climate change has already affected the world in many ways. Take Venice for example. Due to climate change, Venice experienced the worst flooding it has seen in the last 50 years in 2019. Many stores, restaurants and hotels were flooded. This caused serious damage totaling hundreds of millions of euros.
Although we've known about global warming for a long time, our large companies and governments have been slow to respond to it. The year 2019 might have been the turning point that will finally encourage our leaders to take responsibility.
"Decades ago, when the science on the climate issue was first increasing, the impacts (影响) could been seen as an issue for future generations," Katharine Mach, a Stanford University climate scientist, told The New York Times. "It's definitely our issue now."
However, simply realizing that climate change is a threat is not enough, we must take real action before it is too late.

22． How to relieve pressure
Nowadays, no matter how young or old we are, we have to deal with many different kinds of things in our daily 1.             (life). Some of them can make us feel pleased or relaxed, while others can make us feel stressed out. As students, we also have 2.             (deal) with a lot of pressure from school work, interpersonal relationships (人际关系) and other aspects. 3.             (learn) how to cope with (应对) pressure is important.
First, we must be confident enough to face pressure. 4.              we don't have enough confidence, we will feel too stressed out to know how to deal with it.
Second, we can do something we like, such as drawing pictures, singing songs or playing games. Doing these things not only helps us relax, but also 5.             (develop) our interests and hobbies.
Last but not 6.             (little), we should keep good relationships with our families and friends. When we are 7.              pressure, our family members or friends can give us a hand and teach us how to face pressure with a positive and optimistic attitude. At 8.             same time, we should have conversations with our families or friends as often as possible to share the things in our hearts and opinions in our mind. This can help 9.             (they) understand us better and get along with us better.
Too much pressure is not good for our 10.             (grow) and development. Let's relieve (缓解) the pressure together to make us stronger and better.

23．新冠肺炎疫情是全球性的公共卫生事件, 你的英国笔友 Tommy 来信问候你和你的家人, 假如你是李华, 请你给他回一封邮件, 邮件内容包括以下要点:
要点: 1. 感谢他的问候;
2. 告诉他你和家人过去两个月的状况:包括学习、健康、居家生活、放松娱乐等;
3. 告诉他防护注意事项:勤洗手, 戴口罩等;
提示词:新冠肺炎 COVID-19;流行病 pandemic;口罩 face mask.
要求:
1. 80 词左右, 开头和结尾已给出, 不计入总词数;
2. 必须包含以上全部要点, 可适当发挥;
3. 文中不能出现真实的姓名和校名;
4. 条理清楚、语句通畅、语法正确、书写规范.
参考词汇: 欺凌(n. )bullying;欺凌者(n. )bully;措施(n. )measure.
Dear Tommy,
　　It's great to hear from you. _____________________________________________________________________________________________
　　I sincerely hope you and your family are healthy and happy all the time.
Yours,
Li Hua