1．　　It started 30 years ago with a squirrel. A few months after I had moved into a downtown (1)      , my next-door neighbor, Nicole Figaro, knocked, asking for help with a squirrel that had gotten into her flat.
　　I frightened the unexpected (2)       away and made a new friend. Soon Nicole was inviting me over for dinner or (3)       home-made food at my door. When I went to my beach house, Nicole helped (4)       my mail and water my plants. And when she traveled as a flight attendant, I did the same for her. Wherever she went, she'd (5)       to bring me wonderful gifts, but her smile has been the greatest of all.
　　In 1997, I had a lovely child and it was Nicole who took care of me and him. Years later, I returned the favour. I helped out when her husband was sick, (6)       her and giving her support. More and more, we drew inspiration from each other.
　　(7)      , the pandemic hit. My husband was out of work and my son couldn't be back to Britain because of the virus. I was (8)       about them. Nicole helped my family to prepare for the pandemic and shared necessities with me. Without her, I couldn't go through (9)       times.
　　A (10)       might separate our flats and masks can separate the viruses, but nothing is able to separate our hearts.

2．　　Shashiyu was once a poor village in Hebei Province, but now it has changed into a rich and livable place.
　　In the 1940s, villagers in Shashiyu had little food and few clothes, but they had a strong wish for a better life. Zhang Guishun, the Party secretary of Shashiyu, encouraged his villagers to do their best to pull themselves out of poverty. "In the ancient Chinese story, Yu Gong could move mountains with his strong will and hard work, why can't we? Nobody was born to be poor." Hearing his words, the villagers decided to make a difference.
　　Led by the Communist Party of China (中国共产党), the villagers carried water and soil to their village from faraway places to improve their land. From 1966 to 1971, they reclaimed (开垦) lots of land and greatly improved their life.
　　However, the village encountered a new problem two decades later as the environment became heavily polluted by chemical plants and mine refineries built in 1990s.
　　The polluting factories were shut down in 2004, and villagers started grape cultivation, which soon became a main industry in Shashiyu.
　　In 2009, the city-level government invested over 1 million yuan (＄152, 723) to change the village's exhibition hall into a museum in memory of development efforts made by earlier generations.
　　After 10 years, the village was called "National Forest Village".
　　Zhang said that the village started a yearly tourism festival in 2015 to attract travelers to pick grapes. "The grapes could be sold at a better price once Shashiyu becomes famous through this festival. Our villagers can then live even better lives," he said.

3．　　When I was a girl growing up, I cannot once ever remember either my mum or my grandma wasting food.
　　Anything we didn't eat at one meal was leftovers (剩菜). I can remember my grandma making a huge pot of potatoes. We would all eat until we were full enough, but there were always about half of the potatoes leftover. A few days later, Grandma would take those potatoes out of the fridge, boil some noodles, add some vegetables and mix them all together. And I also remember when I watched my mum fry bacon (煎培根) for us in the mornings, she would always take the oil carefully and pour it into a bottle. Then she would use it later to add flavor to so many other dishes. I was an adult before I realized that potatoes didn't actually taste like bacon!
　　I learned their lessons well, and after I grew up, I tried to never waste food myself. I always planned the week's meals ahead of time and only bought what was on my shopping list so that nothing went to waste. Every meal went into our stomachs and any leftovers were later eaten by either myself, my boys, my husband or my dogs. To me, throwing food into the bin was just wrong.
　　However, when it comes to living, there are no leftovers. Life is just like a feast. Each moment that you don't live is lost forever. Life cannot be saved or stored. Each day is a fresh beginning. Live each moment of your life to the fullest, then.

4．　　Can plants talk? Modern research has found something amazing: They do communicate with each other.
It has been known for some time that plants use chemicals to communicate with each other. This happens when a plant gets attacked by insects. The plant gives out chemicals from the leaves that are being eaten. This is like a warning, or a call for help: "I'm being attacked!" When another plant gets the chemicals, it starts to give out its own, different chemicals. Some of these chemicals drive insects away. Others attract the wasps (黄蜂; 蜜蜂)! The wasps kill the insects that are eating the plants. Scientists hope to learn more about this plant warning system, so that we can use it to grow more crops.
　　More surprisingly, plants also use sound to communicate. People can't hear these sounds, but plants are making them. Some plants make noises with their roots. Corn and chili plants do this. Some trees make clicking noises when there is not enough water.
　　Most surprisingly of all, plants have an amazing system of communication that can link nearly every plant in a forest. Scientists call this system the "wood wide web". The wood wide web is linked underground by fungi (霉菌). It links the roots of different plants to each other. It is in some ways similar to the Internet we use. Using the wood wide web, plants can share information and even food with each other. However, it may lead to bad effects. Plants may use it to steal food from each other, or spread chemicals to attack other plants. Perhaps one day scientists will learn how to create a "firewall" to help prevent these attacks within the wood wide web.
　　Scientists are learning more every day about the secret ways in which plants talk to each other. Maybe one day we will know enough about plant communication to be able to "talk" with them ourselves.

8．深圳是一座科技之城、创新之城，为培养学生对科技的兴趣，你的学校上周举办了科技节。假定你是你校英语报的小记者，请你编写一篇新闻报道，介绍这次活动。
要点：
1. 活动目的；
2. 活动项目：
①模型制作比赛
②……
3. 活动亮点：学生发明的服务于校园的机器人(外表, 功能)
4. 学生感受。
提示词：
1. 科技节 science festival
2. 实验 experiment
　　Shenzhen is well-known as a city of technology and innovation. Last week, ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________