16．　　I was the youngest of the three sons in my family. My (1)       were five and seven years older than me. They did most of the housework around the house. I rode my bike around our town, played basketball or walked in the woods. What I did was just (2)       fun during my childhood. But I had none of my responsibility (责任).
　　By the time I entered my early teens, however, both of my brothers had moved out of our home. My dad was (3)       ill. He was too weak to work. I soon found myself doing more work than before. I sowed seeds (播种) in (4)       and watered them in summer. In autumn I (5)      wood to keep us warm in the winter months to come. And all year round I carried water from a mountain spring (泉水) back to our house so we had water to drink and cook with. Every day, I was so busy that I felt very (6)      .
　　At (7)       , I complained to myself. But later, I began to find joy in helping my parents that I loved so much. I sang to myself while collecting wood, and I(8)       while carrying water. I even found myself (9)      my mum with the dinner dishes and cleaning. I started to realize something that I would carry with me the rest of my life: (10)       your work is done with love, it isn't work.

17．阅读短文, 根据短文内容判断下列句子的正(T)误(F)
　　Xu Yuanchong, who is famous for translating Chinese, ancient poems into English and French, died in Beijing at the age of 100 on Thursday, June 17th, 2021.
　　Xu was born on April 18th, 1921 in Jiangxi Province, China. He studied at the National Southwest Associated University in Kunming, Yunnan Province. He studied translation very hard during his college years. In 1939, he published (发表) an English translation of a poem, which was written by Lin Huiyin, Don't Cast Away. It is now known as his earliest work. Xu spent a few years in France studying French literature in the late 1940s. He then returned to China after graduation(毕业) and gave all his attention and effort to translation. And Xu was the first Chinese to translate Chinese poems into English and French in rhyme.
　　Xu devoted his life to translation for more than 60 years. For him, translated literature is "a beautiful art for all the world".

19．　　David Bennett, a 57-year-old man from the US, received the world's first pig heart transplant (移植) on January 7th, 2022. He died two months later on March 9th.
　　It may sound like a failure, but it actually is a big step forward for xenotransplantation (异种器官移植).
　　Xenotransplantation has been a hot topic in medical research for many years. Doctors and scientists look for ways to solve the big problem of organ (器官) transplant waiting lists. In the US alone, over 100, 000 patients are on a list waiting for new organs. Many of them will die before getting their chance to receive a heart, a kidney (肾) or other important organs. As a result, medical science has turned to animal organs.
　　Doctors have experimented with xenotransplantation since the early 20th century. There are few success stories. Usually, patients' bodies reject (排斥) the animal organs. Bennet lived much longer than other xenotransplantation patients. That's because scientists removed pig genes (基因) that would cause fast rejection. Then they added human genes to help the body accept the organ.
　　In fact, Bennett's case was not the only success. Doctors at New York University attached (连接) gene-edited pig kidneys to a human patient's blood vessels (血管) outside of the boody in 2021. Doctors at University of Alabama put the gene-edited pig kidneys inside a patient's body in the same year.
　　Though these successes were short-lived, they show that there may be a way forward for xenotransplantation. "A lot of new information will come out. The development of this field will benefit from it and move forward at faster speed. "Muhammad Mohiuddin, director of the transplant program, told The Guardian.

20．　　Holding conversations may not seem like a skill. After all, we talk to people every day. But many people feel nervous when making conversations. (1)      
　　Use your body language. (2)       The way you stand and act tells people a lot about you. When you're talking with someone, stand straight and look him in the eye. When you're listening, look at the other person, and lean(倚靠) forward to show that you're interested in what he is saying.
　　Try to interact (互动) with each other. A good conversation is not a speech. (3)       If you're doing all the talking, stop to give the other persons time to speak. If they don't say anything, try asking them a question. Maybe they'll say something you are also interested in and can reply to. People are excited to find others with similar interests.
　　(4)       Don't worry if the conversation has quiet moments. Think of them as chances to change the topic to something you're interested in. (5)       Or once again, you can ask a question to the other persons.
　　With any skill, you will improve on holding conversations with time.

26．
　　The weather gets colder, days get shorter, and leaves fall off the tree. When winter (1)      , people live in warm houses and wear thick coats (2)      . But what happens to the animals?
　　Some animals sleep for part or all of the winter. It is a special, very deep sleep called hibernation (冬眠). These (3)       body temperature drops, and their heartbeat (心跳) and breathing slow down. In autumn, they get ready for winter by eating (4)       food than in summer and storing it as body fat. This fat provides (5)       with enough energy while they are sleeping. Bears, snakes, frogs (6)       even some bugs (甲虫) hibernate.
　　Some animals stay active in winter. It is hard for them (7)       food. Some of them, like mice, collect extra food in autumn and store it to eat later. Some other animals eat (8)       kinds of food as the seasons change. They may live in holes, in trees or (9)       the ground to stay warm. Some birds, like wild geese (大雁), fly to the south for the winter. We call this migration (迁徙).
　　Nature (10)       full of magic. Aren't the ways that animals get through the winter amazing?

27．假如你是李华, 你的英国朋友 David很喜欢春联．正巧你市将于6月28日举行春联艺术展, 你想邀请他同去, 请你给他写一封电子邮件, 内容包括:
(1)春联的寓意和相关习俗;
(2)艺术展的内容(展览品、体验活动);
(3)艺术展的时间、地点．
注意:
(1)文中必须包括以上内容, 可适当发挥, 增加细节, 以使行文连贯;
(2)文中不能出现真实的校名、人名和其他真实信息;
(3)词数不少于80(开头和结尾已给出, 不计入总词数)．
参考词汇:the Spring Festival couplets 春联put up 粘贴 experience 体验
Dear David,
　　How's it going? ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
　　Looking forward to your reply.
Yours,
Li Hua