16．　　The December day started like any other. Papa came back with his boat full of fish. Mama made breakfast for the family. Seven-year-old Joonas was doing his homework, while his two little brothers ran around the yard. That day seemed peaceful, but Alejo (1)       better.
　　Alejo felt shaking in his legs, and his ears perked up (竖着), listening for what had already (2)      . Alejo made a crying sound, and Mama said, "Sh!" Alejo barked (吠), and Joonas complained, "Quiet! I'm trying to (3)      ."
　　Suddenly, a strange roaring (轰鸣) sound began. Papa ran to a nearby building's roof (屋顶) to (4)       what was happening. But Alejo knew better. The shaking of the ground (5)       up his padded paws (肉掌). He wanted to run, but he didn't dare to leave his family.
　　"Why were they (6)      ? Didn't they know that a great earthquake had roared under the ocean and would soon bring strong waves onto the land?" Alejo thought.
　　And then Papa shouted with (7)       from the rooftop, "Tsunami (海啸)! Run!"
　　Mama cried, "Sons, come on!" She grabbed (抓) a little one under each arm. "Joonas, run! You're fast and strong. Follow me up the (8)      . Fast!"
　　But the roar had got louder, (9)       her words. All that Joonas had heard was, "Run!" And he ran back home where he thought he would be (10)      . Alejo barked and barked, but the tsunami made it (11)       to hear his voice, too.
　　Alejo gently bit (咬) Joonas's feet, but the boy wouldn't move. "(12)      ," Joonas pushed the dog away, but Alejo would not give up. He grabbed Joonas's shirt in his (13)      . He pulled and pulled until his mouth broke. With all his strength, he pulled Joonas back outside and hit him from behind. Finally, the boy (14)      .
　　Alejo ran toward the hill, looking back to make sure Joonas was following. They raced uphill as the huge wall of (15)       ran after them. Alejo and Joonas didn't stop running until they reached higher up the hill and met their family. And they had a mother-father-brothers-dog thankful hug.

18．　　All through grade school, I got extra help with schoolwork. If I got a D, I was very happy. If I got a C-minus (C -), I had achieved greatness. As and Bs were a kingdom I could never enter.
　　Once my teacher, Miss Mills, had given me a list of ten spelling words. My mother and I went over the list until I knew those words. I felt great. I thought, "Wow! This time I'm going to pass". The next day, I went into the classroom and began to write down the words. The first word was carpet. I wrote that one down: c-a-r-p-e-t. I was feeling pretty confident. Then came neighbor — I wrote down the letter n. Then rhythm — I knew there was an r. Suburban — I wrote s-u-b. My confidence failed me. I had gone from 100 percent to maybe a D-minus. Where did the words go?
　　Some people talk about information sliding off your brain. That was my life. I was an underachiever (未能充分发挥学习潜力者).
　　Now I know I have dyslexia (诵读困难症). A person with dyslexia might see "the" as "teh", and "bird" as "brid". My brain learns differently. A learning disability can really change the way you feel about yourself. Now I know that even if I learn differently, I can still be filled with greatness.
　　Today when I visit schools as an actor, director, and co-author of children's books. I tell children that everyone has something special inside. It's our job to find out what that is and get it out, and give it to the world as a gift.

19．　　Boris, a foreign student at Communication University of China, often shares his experiences of Chinese culture on his vlog (视频博客).
　　In one video, for example, Boris shared how he had learned the Chinese word "dongxi". He translated each part separately into "east west". And he introduced one theory (说法) about how "dongxi" came to mean "things". He told people that all marketplaces in ancient Chinese cities were set up along a single road that ran from east to west. So when you would say "qu mai dongxi", you'd be saying, "I'm going to buy things."
　　Some other videos show him reading Chinese poems and performing kung fu in Chinese traditional costume, which are quite welcome among his 40,000 followers.
　　"Many of my followers are learning Chinese," Boris said. "But sadly, they know little about Chinese culture and the country."
　　Like many foreigners, Boris once believed that all Chinese could perform kung fu, flying onto roofs and walking over walls. He thought the country was not that developed. But after he got a scholarship (奖学金) to study in China in 2019, his view changed. "China has entered a new period, but many people's impressions of China are still stuck in the 1970s," Boris said. "That's why I started to shoot vlogs to share Chinese culture in 2019."
　　Until now, Boris has posted more than 40 Chinese culture vlogs online. But making these vlogs is not easy. Take reading the poem Second Farewell to Cambridge by Xu Zhimo as an example. "I can understand and read every word in the poem," Boris said. "But to touch readers, I need to use proper feelings while reading." So he needed to look for much background information and make his feelings suit each part of the poem.
　　Though shooting these vlogs takes lots of time, the young man feels proud that his vlogs have inspired many people. Boris said that he wanted to continue bridging the differences between two cultures. "This goal may not be achieved easily, but I will spare no efforts to do my part."

21．　　Erie Green has always wondered about things that live in the ocean. When he was (1)y      , he loved to swim. He liked to watch all kinds of underwater animals and plants through his mask (潜水面罩). When he grew up, he wanted to (2)l       for new things in the ocean.
　　Today, Mr. Green is a marine ecologist (海洋生态学家). He studies how underwater animals and plants connect with each other and need each other to stay (3)a      .
　　Mr. Green studies coral reefs (珊瑚) in the Pacific Ocean. A coral reef is like a big underwater (4)t      . Thousands of animals and plants live there. They compete for food and space there. As a result, the beautiful coral reefs get (5)i       easily.
　　Mr. Green also studies how people's actions can change coral reefs. Sometimes people pollute the water or overfish, so the (6)w       that all the living things are joined together has been changed.
　　If coral reefs get hurt, many animals have to find new homes. Some animals' (7)n       drop low, and some animals just disappear. Mr. Green wants to (8)p       this from happening.
　　Mr. Green believes that all living things in a coral reef should be (9)k       safe. "Underwater ecosystems are like airplanes," Mr. Green says. "They need all of their parts to work correctly. "
　　"To take better care of marine homes, we first must (10)k       them. Only through that, can we understand the great influence humans have on these places." Mr. Green says.

22．假如你是李欣，你与Bob叔叔及其家人约定了一起去北京旅行。请你给Bob叔叔写一封英文电子邮件，告知你的旅行安排。
内容要点如下：
1. 6月30日下午2:00机场见；
2. 酒店已预订好，直接前往；
3. 第二天观看升旗仪式；
4. 游长城，吃北京烤鸭；
5. 补充一两点与旅行有关的信息或想法。
注意：
1. 文中不得透露个人真实姓名和学校；
2. 词数60一80，开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：book v. 预订 directly ad. 直接地 flag-raising ceremony 升旗仪式

From: Li Xin
To: Uncle Bob
Subject: The trip plan
Dear Uncle Bob,
　　I'm so glad to hear from you about visiting Beijing. Here's the trip plan. ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
　　Look forward to meeting all of you in Beijing.
Li Xin