1．　　Like most children growing up in the countryside, Mike loved being outdoors and traveled around every inch of the area.
　　With a deep love of the land, he had a strong wish to (1)       it. When Mike saw rubbish floating in the rivers, he got (2)      . He knew he had to do something. While only in the third grade, Mike started a group. Its purpose was to (3)       the countryside and teach other young people about pollution and its dangers.
　　But Mike faced a challenge. As he was (4)      , he found it hard to speak out in public. However, with his mom's help, Mike (5)       dealt with his fear. He said, "I took responsibility (责任) and did what needed to be done. When your heart is into it, (6)       will stop you."
　　Mike worked hard to (7)       his idea to the public. He handed out leaflets and even appeared on radio and TV. His efforts paid off. He won (8)       from several thousand people. And his group collected and recycled more than 22, 000 pounds of rubbish.
　　Now as a college student, Mike's (9)       remains the same. He often says, "I want to create a (10)       life for my kids and grandkids. It's a beautiful countryside where I'm from, and I want my kids to see it like I see it."

3．　　On warm winter days, Yang Liheng, 89, enjoys sitting by the window and looking through old photos. These photos bring him joy and happiness once more.
　　For Yang, one of the long-expected activities during the Spring Festival is to take photos with family members. On the early morning of the second day of the Chinese New Year, when the whole family reunite, he would dress up and wait for the photo to be taken.
　　Yang became a photographer in the late 1950s. With his camera, Yang recorded the great changes of his hometown over time. "I had a painful childhood, but I got a chance to be a photographer after the founding (成立) of the People's Republic of China." Yang told Beijing Review. "I want to record, in the form of photographs, the local customs, the scenes and people's brave spirit of fighting against the hard conditions here in my hometown."
　　"I used to take pictures for everyone else, but seldom turned my camera at my family members," Yang said. "My grandson gave me the idea to record the growth and development of my own family." Taking family photos then became a tradition for Yang's family. Though now some of his grandchildren are working and living in other cities, they try their best to return home during the Spring Festival and prepare for the special moment.
　　Last year was an important year for Yang Liheng. Most of his photos were displayed in Yinchuan to show the development of the area over the past sixty years.

4．　　All aboard! Let's take a ride on the world's highest railway 一 the Qinghai-Tibet Railway (青藏铁路). Sit back and enjoy the journey. Get ready for the trip of a lifetime.
　　We're leaving Qinghai Station. The scenery along the way is some of the wildest in all of China. Keep your eyes open as we race through this beautiful land. You might see a rare Tibetan antelope (藏羚羊) from your window.
　　Before we begin our journey, let's learn about this amazing railway. It's truly one of the greatest engineering wonders of the 21st century. When it was completed on July 1, 2006, the Qinghai-Tibet Railway set nine world records, including the world's highest railway at 5, 072 metres above sea level, the world's highest tunnel (隧道) at 4, 905 metres, and the longest tunnel ever built on permafrost (冻土).
　　As we travel higher, the air gets thinner and thinner. Soon there will only be 50 to 60 percent of the oxygen which we are used to breathing. But don't be afraid. Each rail car has two separate oxygen systems. One system spreads oxygen throughout the train at all times. And each passenger can also get a personal oxygen mask just like those used in planes.
　　Here are a few more things to think about as our train leaves the station. The designers solved three main challenges when building this great railway. First, the high altitude (海拔) made the task difficult because there was no enough oxygen. Second, much of the railway runs across permafrost, a type of ground that keeps changing as the weather warms and cools. Finally, the railway goes through some of the most sensitive ecology (敏感的生态环境) in China. Great care was necessary to make sure of the smallest possible influence on nature.
　　All three challenges were met, making our trip possible. All aboard! The train to Tibet is leaving in fifteen minutes.

5．　　When I was little, I was really little. But my dream was big. I dreamed of being a basketball player. I tried out for the teams at school, but I was never given a chance.
　　As I got older, I did grow a little bigger, but not a lot bigger. On my 12th birthday, I decided to try a new sport — running. I told Grandpa, "I'm going to be an athlete."
　　"Dave," Grandpa began gently, "if you can't be big, you can do something big."
　　I ran 12 miles on my 12th birthday. On my 13th birthday, I did it again, but I added an extra mile. On my 14th birthday, I ran 14 miles. 15 on my 15th, 16 on my 16th, and you guessed it — 17 miles on my 17th birthday.
　　All this running inspired (激发) another big dream. Someday, I'd run the Boston Marathon (波士顿马拉松赛). I told Grandpa about my decision.
　　"But, Dave, you haven't trained for the marathon. Are you sure you're ready?" Grandpa asked. But he still promised to walk over and cheer me on.
　　I ran fast that day. But I fell at Mile 18 and was driven to the hospital. Later that night, I called Grandpa and told him I failed.
　　"No," he said calmly, "you didn't fail. You discovered something."
　　"I did?" I asked.
　　"Yes, you discovered that big dreams don't just come true. They take work. If you train and work hard, I promise to wait for you next year and cheer you on."
　　I trained every day, running miles and miles. Sadly, just two months into my training, Grandpa died. He wouldn't be waiting for my second Boston Marathon. I decided I'd run for him.
　　That day, I ran fast. "Keep going! You can do it!" His words filled my head as I forced my legs to make each painful step. As I crossed the finish line, I threw my arms in the air and cried, "Grandpa, we did it!"

6．　　Every year, millions of birds are killed or hurt when they fly into buildings. Why does this happen? (1)       Birds are flying into windows and tall buildings that are all covered by glass.
　　Many birds fly from one place to another. Most of the time, they live in the wild, such as forests and wetlands. (2)       They might see small trees and flowers inside a window and want to rest on these plants. The birds do not know there is glass between them and the plants. (3)      
　　Some birds fly at night. They use the moon and stars to help guide them in the right direction. Tall buildings with lights on at night can confuse (迷惑) the birds. (4)       The birds see the light, but they cannot tell that the light is coming from inside a building. They fly toward the light and crash into a building. On many mornings, there might be several dead birds lying on the ground.
　　(5)       Many office buildings now turn off their lights at night. This helps reduce the number of birds that fly into buildings and it also helps save energy.

15．
　　Mom often says, "Cooking is an important skill, and it can be fun!" But I had no interest in cooking at all (1)       I met with a cooking app (应用软件). There are different kinds of recipes (菜谱) in the app. They offer detailed instructions (2)       users can follow them step by step. Most of them even include photos or videos, which are quite useful for beginners. Last week, I picked up a popular recipe to cook fish. When I (3)      , it was exactly what I wanted and tasted delicious. Then I tried more recipes. Now I can cook a couple of (4)      . I find cooking is great fun and it seems that I (5)       cooking. My plan is to invite my friends over next weekend and show them my new skills. I hope they will like my cooking.

16．　　A hurricane (飓风) is a huge storm that forms over warm ocean water. Hurricanes have winds that move in (1)       circle. Hurricane winds are very (2)      (power), and can move at the speed from 120 km/h to over 300 km/h.
　　The centre of hurricane winds is called the eye. Winds in the eye (3)      (be) not very strong. Around the eye is an area called the eye wall. The wall is where winds are the (4)      (strong) and rain is the heaviest.
　　Strong winds and heavy rain can do a lot of damage (破坏) when a hurricane moves over land.
　　Hurricane winds can be strong enough to break (5)      (window) into pieces. The winds can even knock over tall trees, which might fall on buildings or cars. Strong winds can pick up objects and send (6)      (they) into the air, causing damage.
　　Heavy rain from a hurricane can cause floods in areas that are not close (7)       a coast. The floodwater can be very deep. It sometimes (8)      (reach) almost up to the top of houses. Water goes into the houses (9)      (quick) and does a lot of damage. Wooden structures (结构) might not be safe after a flood.
　　(10)       there is no way to prevent a hurricane, you can get prepared for it.

17．　　A library is a place to keep books and store knowledge. Recently libraries are not as popular as before because people prefer to use the Internet to find out information, rather than books. With a click of a mouse, it is possible to find out almost anything people care to know.
　　But being in a room that is full of books is a fantastic thing. Just think about how many words there are in a library. Each of those words has been thought of and carefully chosen by tens of thousands of people. That must make it a special place to be.
　　Maybe all kinds of things can happen in libraries. Sometimes, you see that a library is used for poetry workshops or guitar lessons. Also, they may have writers visiting and talking about their books. All of these activities are much better because they are in a library.
　　Lots of schools have libraries. If your school has a library, it's probably not just a place to read books. Libraries are also quiet places to be. They are calmer than the playground or the dining hall. It's the books that keep us calm and peaceful.

18．《苏州日报》英文专刊以 "Practice makes perfect" 为题向中学生开展征文活动，请你用英语写一篇短文投稿。
内容包括：
1. 你对该谚语的理解；
2. 你生活中的一个事例(例如：运动、乐器、家务、学习等方面)；
3. 你的感悟。
注意：
1. 词数100，短文开头已给出，不计入总词数；
2. 内容需涵盖所有要点，可适当发挥；
3. 文中不得出现与考生相关的真实校名和姓名等信息。
Practice makes perfect
　　Have you heard of the saying "practice makes perfect"? It means __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________