13．
Beethoven's Birthday
Jan, Sarah, and Andrew opened their eyes wide. Their piano lesson room looked strange. It looked ready for a party!
"Hi, kids!" said Mrs. Almott. "I have something (1)             for us to do today. Do you know what today is?"
The children shook their (2)             .
"Today is Beethoven' s birthday! We will eat cakes, and then we'll play a game. Does that sound like fun?"
The children sat down at the table. On each table there was a plate, a cup of milk, a (3)             and a piece of paper. Then the teacher put a cupcake with a candle on each plate.
"What are these for?" Andrew pointed at the pencil and paper and asked.
"They must be for the (4)            ," said Jan.
"That is right," said Mrs. Almott. "How much do you (5)             about Beethoven?" she asked, lighting the candles. "We will play a game about what we have learned about him."
They sang "Happy Birthday" together. Then they blew out the candles and (6)             the cupcakes. They were sweet and delicious.
"Let's play the game now," said Mrs. Almott. "You need to try to think of (7)             about Beethoven and write them in alphabetical order (字母顺序). The one who writes the most words will get a prize (奖品).
The children all worked hard. When Mrs. Almott told them to (8)            , she looked over their lists.
Sarah thought of Beethoven, German, music, piano, symphony and Vienna. Jan wrote Austria, (9)             , deaf and opera. Andrew wrote Beethoven, German, Ludwig, piano and symphony.
"Sarah had the most. After her came Andrew and Jan," said Mrs. Almott. She handed a small package (包裹) to Sarah. When she (10)             it, she saw a CD of Beethoven's music.
"Thank you, Mrs. Almott," said Sarah. "I like Beethoven! I will listen to it every day."

15．　　Two friends, Emily and Wendy, were having coffee in a cafe. There was a man sitting at a table near them. As he stood up to leave, his cell phone rang. He answered it and walked away.
　　Emily and Wendy found that he had left his briefcase (手提包). They looked at the briefcase for a little while and both jumped up from their chairs. Wendy ran after the man, shouting, "Hey, sir! Sir, you forgot your briefcase!"
　　Emily stood next to the briefcase and waited. She wanted to be sure that nothing happened to it before the man got back.
　　When the man heard Wendy, he stopped and ended the call. "My briefcase! I cannot believe I forgot it! Thank you so much!"
　　They went back to his table. The man smiled at Emily. "Thank you so much," he said. "This briefcase is full of important documents and some photos of my family. I am so glad I did not lose them!"
　　Wendy and Emily smiled. They were also happy that the man did not lose his things.
　　"Let me pay for your coffee." the man said. "You have really saved me today!"
　　Wendy and Emily thanked him and refused (拒绝). They were glad no one took his briefcase. No one wants to lose important things.

16．　　Don't touch! We are English!
　　English people think that you should avoid (避免) physical contact (接触) with strangers. When they ride on an underground train or stand in a crowded lift, they keep themselves to themselves. They read on trains or buses so that they don't have to talk to people they don't know. They try to avoid eye contact with other people.
　　Research has shown that the English are much more aware (有意识的) of their personal space than other nationalities, especially the Irish or the Scots. The Irish and the Scots look relaxed and comfortable with physical contact. The English don't like much physical contact, even with friends. And they can be unhappy if you touch them unexpectedly (出乎意料地). You should never, for example, touch an English person on the shoulder if you want to catch his or her attention (注意力). It's safe to cough or say, "Excuse me?"
　　When the English meet people for the first time, they shake hands, but then move further away very quickly. Other nationalities, such as Spanish people or Egyptians, move closer to someone they are speaking to, but not the English. The English think you shouldn't get too close because it shows you want to have a close connection with them. And they almost never kiss people they have just met at a party when they are leaving.

17．　　Shopping is a necessary (必须的) part of life for almost everyone. Some people shop for fun while other people go shopping to buy the necessary items (物品) in order to live. The weekend is usually a good time to go shopping because people have free time from work. At this time the shops are usually very busy because people try to get the best items for the lowest price.
　　Some people look around in shops even when they do not have much money. This is called window shopping. It helps people to plan ahead and save money for the things they want to buy in the future or wait for the items to drop in price. Some people spend a lot of time looking for bargains while others do not think of the price and are happy to spend a lot. Some people believe that the more expensive the item, the better the quality (质量), but this is not always true. It is clever to buy items which you have enough money to pay for, but some people use a credit (信用) card or borrow money from the bank so that they can buy the items they really want.
　　Shopping online is often popular with people who have a busy lifestyle. People are able to order their items comfortably at their own home, or even on the move. Delivery (运送) is usually free and items are often cheaper than in shops on the high street. The only real problem is that the item may be different from what they hoped for. This means the buyer may become disappointed (失望的) with the item they receive and will need to spend money to return it. When people go to shops to do their shopping, they can see the products clearly and they often pay on machines to save time. However, it can be disappointing when the machine has a problem and the sales assistant cannot help.

18．　　A young cheese maker
　　16-year-old Pat Tulloch has an unusual hobby. She makes cheese on the family farm in Australia. She began by making yoghurt with her mother when she was little. Then she started watching her father's workers make cheese. When she was ten, she made some cheese herself for the first time. "It wasn't great," she says, "but the workers told me what I was doing wrong and that helped me to slowly get better."
　　Pat always needs good milk for her cheese, but she doesn't have to buy it. Her parents keep 100 cows on their farm. Pat can just ask them when she needs more. Last year, Pat's neighbour gave her a young cow to keep and look after, but it doesn't produce milk to make cheese yet.
　　Pat and her family make several types of cheese. Recently they won a prize for one of them. "It's been great for helping customers (顾客) find out about us." says Pat. "Last month we started selling cheese in New Zealand. People there read about our prize in a food magazine. Soon we're going to do some advertisements (广告), too."
　　Pat's next idea is to post some online recipes (烹饪法) for cooking with cheese. "One of my favourites is cheese with eggs for breakfast. It's great! Our cheese is also lovely with pasta (意大利面食) 一 I hope a restaurant might buy some one day." But right now Pat is still at school. "Making cheese is fun and winning a prize for it is great, but doing well in my studies matters more for now."

24．暑假马上就要到了，在这个防控疫情的特殊假期，作为中学生，你既应该做好个人防护，同时也要规划好自己的学习和生活，过一个安全、充实的假期。
你校英语网站正在开展以“My plans for the summer holiday”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，谈谈你暑假打算做些什么，为什么想做这些事，你的暑假将会过得怎么样。
提示词语：mask (口罩), go over, draw, housework, fun
提示问题：
●What are you going to do?
●Why are you going do these things?
●What is your summer holiday going to be like?