12．Left-handed Writer
　　People always seemed to make me as the conversation topic in grade school. I was quiet and shy. I never got a chance of making friends.
　　"Teacher, Kimi is so strange. Why is she writing with her left hand?" One day I heard a little girl saying that again. That night I forced myself to write with my right hand. Mother (1)       the pen away from me. She said I would be fine because there was nothing wrong with left-handed writing. I asked her to give it back and then I (2)      . How I wanted to be like the other kids!
　　Another day, as I was going through the mall, I noticed the shoes with wheels. I saw the other kids trying them on and doing cool tricks. I asked my mother to buy a pair. Then she asked, "You do not usually want this sort of things. What changed your (3)      ?" I told my mother about my school and how I still had no friends for five months. My mother hugged me and said, "I will buy you these shoes, but don't let other people get into your head."
　　I went to school with my new shoes, not wanting to show them. Then I realized the other students had the shoes like mine. I found the (4)       that I was able to talk to them, but as soon as I showed them my shoes, one said, "Huh? Where did you get them? From a cheap store?" The other girls laughed (5)      . I didn't think I was close to being their friends, but I was even further from them. That day I went home crying and told my mother it didn't (6)      . She comforted me. "Don't worry. You still have us. If those friends care about you because you have cool items, they are not your true friends," she added. "If you don't have friends now, you will find one soon. Just give it some time, okay?"
　　Years after that, I began to understand my mother's (7)      . "Kimi, you're so lucky. Myth says left-handed people are talented or smart." Actually I'm neither talented nor smart, but I'm a left-handed writer. It was (8)       throughout my childhood, but now I'm in high school with friends that I thought I would never have had.

13．National Museum of Natural History
　　If you love nature and want to find out about the natural world, come to join us and you can learn a lot.

14．The Little Boy's Races
　　Once in a village lived a little boy named Jacob. He was very athletic and famous for running fast. What's more, winning a competition was the most important for him. One day, Jacob took part in a running competition held in the village. In the competition, he competed with two other young boys.
　　As the first race started, the excited crowd waved at Jacob and cried out his name. The boy called on his determination (决心) and strength, and he was the first one who came to the finishing line. The little boy felt proud.
　　Later the second race was called. Another two young and strong challengers (挑战者) came forward and ran with Jacob. As expected, he finished first again. The crowd became crazy and cried out his name. The little boy felt more satisfied. He started to shout, "Another race! Another race! I bet no one will win against me!"
　　An old man was watching all this. He stepped forward and with him he presented two new challengers. One was a weak old lady and the other was a blind man. Jacob was quite surprised and asked, "What's this?This is no race!" The old man replied, "Race!"
　　When all were set on the starting line, the third race started. In the end, Jacob was the only one to finish that race, leaving two challengers standing at the starting line. The little boy raised his arms in delight. But to his surprise, this time no one from the crowd was cheering and everyone was just looking at him silently. "What happened? Why are people not cheering?" Jacob asked the old man. The old man replied, "Race again but this time finish together with your challengers."
　　After thinking for a while, Jacob went to the starting line again and stood in the middle of the old lady and the blind man. The final race began. He took both of them by hand and started to walk slowly. At last they crossed that finishing line. This time at the end of the race, the crowd stood up and warmly applauded for him.
　　Jacob didn't understand why the crowd was not cheering for him before but now when all three of them finished the race together. So he asked the old man about it. The wise old man smiled, "Little boy, in this race you have won much more than what you won in any other race. By respecting your rivals (对手), you have won people's respect."

15．Social Media, Friends or Enemies?
　　It's no surprise that the pressure to stay on social media is a real challenge for today's teenagers. They spend too much time using QQ, WeChat and other social media. For many teens, social media can become almost addictives. Some teenagers even can't live a normal life without social media.
　　According to a study, people who used more than seven social media platforms had more than three times the risk of depression (抑郁症) than people who used two or fewer. Children who overuse social media are likely to show less interest in social activities and experience an increase in loneliness.
　　Teens often feel emotionally invested (情感投入) in their social media accounts. Not only do they feel pressure to answer quickly online, but they also feel pressure to have perfect photos and posts, which can cause a lot of worries. In fact, some studies have found that the larger a person's social circle online is, the more worried they will feel about keeping up with everything online.
　　A British study shows one-fifth of the teens have trouble sleeping at night because of social media use. They "almost always" wake up during the night and log in to social media. In addition to reporting feeling tired all the time, they also reported being less happy on average than teens whose sleep was not affected by social media. Besides, not having enough sleep can lower the immune (免疫的) system and make it more likely for a teen to get sick.
　　Overuse of social media can lead to jealousy (嫉妒) and envy among teenagers as well. People tend to post only the positive things that they experience, or make light of the bad with funny stories. As a result, another person's life may look perfect online, but offline they have struggles just like anyone else. It is easy for a teen to play the comparison (比较) game and start thinking that everyone is happier or better offline than he or she is.
　　Many teens spend so much time online checking messages that they forget to communicate with the people right in front of them. As a result, teens risk having poor relationships in their lives when social media take center stage.
　　It is important that parents understand the possible influence that social media have on their kids. For this reason, it is important to set up guides for social media use among kids. It's also important for families to have regular discussions on how to use social media reasonably and safely. When families pay close attention to the teens' world of social media, their online world will become much more manageable.

16．Friendship without Borders
　　Foreigners were awarded the Friendship Medal for their contributions to China's development.
　　Isabel Crook was a 105-year-old Canadian, born in 1915 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province. At that time, Isabel's mother began schools for the deaf and dumb Chinese. Her father, Homer, helped begin The West China Union University in Chengdu. Isabel has spent most of her life in China. On September 30th 2019, as the People's Republic of China (PRC) celebrated its 70th anniversary, Isabel Crook received the highest honor of her life — the PRC's Friendship Medal.
　　Crook's longest living outside of China was six years at the University of Toronto, where she got a master of art degree with a minor in anthropology (人类学), returning to China in 1939. From that year, she worked as an anthropologist in Sichuan and was interested in understanding people's culture and living condition. Isabel went door-to-door meeting the local people and kept detailed records of their daily life.
　　She married David Crook, a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, in 1942 and joined his party the same year. In 1947, the couple did research in a village called Shilidian in Hebei Province. The village can also be called Ten Mile Inn. Based on their study, the couple wrote a book titled Revolution in a Chinese Village: Ten Mile Inn, which was first published in London in 1959.
　　In 1948, David and Isabel began to teach English at a newly well-known Foreign Affairs School, where they would help prepare a few students for future diplomatic (外交) service. After Liberation, the school moved from Hebei to Beijing, where it became the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute (now Beijing Foreign Studies University).
　　After receiving the Friendship Medal, she told the media that she observed with her own eyes the rapid development and changes in the 70 years since the founding of the PRC. She experienced the great times of China. Meanwhile, she said proudly, "I have been lucky enough to devote myself to it and do some work."

(1)Does Isabel Crook spend most of her life in China?
      
(2)What honor did Isabel Crook receive during the PRC's celebration of the 70th anniversary?
      
(3)Where did Isabel Crook get her master of art degree?
      
(4)What did the Crooks (the couple) do in 1947?
      
(5)Why was Isabel Crook proud?
      

17．假如你是李华，你校将于下周五上午举办 "中国传统美食节" 活动。你打算邀请交换生 Peter 参加。请你用英语给他写一封电子邮件，告诉他具体时间、地点、活动安排，以及他所需要做的准备。
提示词语：dining hall, make dumplings, cook, taste, online
提示问题：
• When and where will the Traditional Chinese Food Day be held?
• What are the students going to do?
• How can Peter prepare for it?

18．题目②
新时代，每一位青少年都应该有理想、有志向、有目标、有抱负，成为中国梦的践行者。假如你是李华，你校英文报刊正以 "My Dream Job" 为题征文。请你用英文写一篇短文投稿，谈谈你未来想做什么工作，你为什么拥有这样的梦想，以及打算如何实现你的梦想。
提示词语：reporter, scientist, proud, work hard
提示问题：
• What do you want to be in the future? Why?
• How are you going to make your dream come true?
My Dream Job
　　It's important for teenagers to have their own dreams. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.