13．　　I was a boy of nine in 1960. I used to mow the lawn for Mrs. Long. She paid me little for the job, but promised to give me a Chrstmas(1)      
　　I spent much time wondering what it would be. Many boys had baseball gloves or ice skates and I was eager to have any of these.
　　"It would hardly be a baseball glove," I (2)       with myself. "She wouldn't know much about baseball." So I was quite sure that she would give me ice skates. I even imagined myself upon the skates.
　　As Christmas was coming, it was (3)       for me not to ask mow the lawn Mrs. Long for my present On December 22, I presented myself at the door of the house. Mrs. Long handed me a small box which couldn't hold a pair of skates. I was (4)      . When lifting it from her, I was curious about the lightness of the present. It weighed almost nothing.
　　"What is it?" I asked.
　　"A kind of magic, " she said. Her words were enough to set my mind dancing with new (5)      
　　On Christmas morning, I had this box on my knees. With great excitement I opened the box to find inside ten sheets (纸张) of black paper, each written in colorful letters, Carbon Paper Regal Premium. "What is it?" I asked. Mum took two pieces of white paper, (6)       between them one of the black paper, and wrote my name on the upper sheet. Then she handed me the second sheet without her pencil touching. There was my name!
　　It was a miracle (奇迹) to my childish mind. In that one moment, I remembered the (7)      about the duplication (复制) of words and the printing. Thank Mrs. Long for her wisdom to guess that a boy might (8)       from a present completely outside of his ordinary experience.

15．　　Mrs. Thompson was a primary school teacher. As she stood in front of 5th grade class on the very first day of school, she told her students that she loved them all the same.
　　But that was impossible because Teddy Stoddard sat in the front row. Mrs. Thompson saw the little boy at school the year before. She noticed that he didn't play well with other children. His clothes were always messy and he needed a bath. Teddy could be unpleasant.
　　So, she was surprised when she read Teddy's first grade teacher's record, "Teddy is a bright child with a cheerful laugh." His second grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is an excellent student. He is troubled because his mother is sick. Life at home may be hard." His third grade teacher wrote, "His mother's death has been hard on him." Teddy's fourth grade teacher wrote, "Teddy is lonely and doesn't show much interest in school."
　　By now, Mrs. Thompson saw the problem and felt bad for judging Teddy. That day, she didn't teach reading, writing or math. Instead she started teaching her students how to be kind to each other.
　　Over the school year, Mrs. Thompson paid lots of attention to Teddy. His mind seemed to come alive and his grades improved. By the end of the year, Teddy was doing better in school. He also had more friends than before.
　　Years later, Teddy wrote to Mrs. Thompson. "Thank you for believing in me. Thank you for making me feel important and showing me that I could make a difference."
　　Mrs. Thompson, with tears in her eyes, replied, "Teddy, you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn't know how to teach until I met you. "

16．　　Every week, Liu Fang, a 38-year-old media worker in Beijing, goes to a store which sells near-expired (将要过期的) food in Sanlitun and returns with a bag of snacks or drinks.
　　"The price tags on these goods have caught my eye. They are often sold at 10% to 30% of the market price," Liu said. "More importantly, most of them are from big brands (品牌). Why wouldn't I love them?"
　　Liu is among the increasing number of Chinese people who enjoy buying near-expired food at much cheaper prices. According to the latest report by iiMedia Research, the near-expired food industry had a market size of over 30 billion yuan in 2020. 47. 8% of the consumers (消费者) are aged between 26 and 35.
　　Unlike the traditional thinking that buying such goods makes them feel shy, more and more young people consider it as a kind of sustainable consumption (可持续消费)that can help reduce food waste.
　　"I don't care much about the date as long as I can eat it before its expiry. It meets my needs while saving resources and protecting the environment, which is a good thing," Wu Lin, a 19-year-old college student and a fan of near-expired food, told Xinhua.
　　Actually, food waste is a great challenge for China and other countries. According to a 2020 report from the National People's Congress, about 18 billion kilograms of food is wasted every year in China's urban catering industry (城镇餐饮业).
　　"As more Chinese people choose to buy near﹣expired food, the food waste will be reduced,"said Liu.
　　According to CGTN, China had the tradition of saving food leading to the 1990s.
　　As people's lives improved greatly, many began to make or order more food than could be consumed, CGTN reported. But the trend (趋势)of buying near﹣expired food may suggest that the Chinese virtue (美德) of frugality (节约) is coming back.
　　"I've been very frugal all my life. Living through a serious famine (饥荒), I'm used to saving every grain and every penny," a woman born in the 1950s, told CGTN. "I'm happy to see more young people joining our group.'

17．　　Visit a middle or large size of company these days, and you're likely to find the staff (全体职工) members sharing a large, open space. Instead of having personal offices with doors and walls, most workers sit in cubicles that are half open. Whenever workers talk on the phone, other members of staff nearby can't simply shut their doors. In fact, sometimes they can't help but overhear everything that's said. At times, the best way to focus in this type of office is to reach for one's headphones and listen to music.
　　The open office idea is not new. It was created by a team of consultants (顾问) from Hamburg, Germany, in the 1950s. Called the office landscape (景观) plan, the idea was created to improve communication and the exchange of ideas. The design also encouraged managers and their teams to work near each other, making it easier for managers to guide projects. Now, the open office idea is often used as an excuse for companies to save money on building costs, paying no attention to the effect on working performance.
　　Many start-ups have a great interest in the open office idea. Take Chartbeat for example, the company's 50﹣plus staff members get to choose their desk and chair styles, and everyone shares an open space with the CEO sitting in the middle. The office space has both single workstations and informal meeting areas where workers can relax themselves on sofas. While this design may be perfect for workers in start﹣ups, it may not be convenient for workers who have a great need of personal space.
　　In 2011 Matthew Davis, an organizational psychologist (心理学家), checked over a bundred studies about office environments. He found that, to staff in open offices, it was harder to stay focused and more likely to get higher stress than those working in traditional offices. W hat's worse, a study in Denmark found that workers in open offices took more sick days than those working in traditional offices.
　　Even though open office plans present hidden problems on worker health and personal needs, businesses probably won't return to traditional offices. Modern office workers tend (倾向) to need both time to focus and time to work together with others. So designing offices that account for both needs may be the best way forward.

18．Panda Life in the US
　　Pandas are not just a national treasure in China, but beloved around the world.
　　On March 16, the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC, started a six-month celebration. This year is the 50th anniversary of the arrival of two giant pandas.
　　The first pandas from China in the US, Ling Ling and Hsing Hsing arrived at the zoo on April 16, 1972. In that year, China and the US established diplomatic (建立外交的) relations. China gifted the US these two pandas to show our goodwill. Over the past 50 years, eight pandas have lived at the zoo.
　　From meals to daily fun, the zoo teams have found ways to take care of the giant pandas. A food team grows the animals' favorite food — bamboo — in the zoo. Working with local landowners, it also harvests (收割) bamboo from 20 stands across Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia. Sometimes, the team receives donations from the public. Besides bamboo, the pandas receive apples, sweet potatoes and honey water. Sweet potatoes are a favorite.
　　The team also sets up fun activities and toys, which help the pandas stay active and smart. For example, there are puzzle feeders. Pandas have to take food out of the feeders by spinning (旋转) or twisting (弯曲) them. Pandas can paint with the zookeepers, too.
　　Behind the protection work is a close partnership with panda experts (专家) in China. Usually, the zookeepers and Chinese panda experts visit each other several times a year to share knowledge about the animals. During the pandemic, they have communicated through emails and video calls.
　　It has been an unbelievable experience for Brandie Smith, director of the zoo, to work with Chinese experts.
　　"After 50 years, giant pandas remain an iconic species (标志性的物种) for our zoo," said Smith. She hopes the program will continue at least 50 more years.

19．题目
假如你是李华, 你的英国朋友Peter给你发邮件说自己最近经过多次尝试终于学会了做中国传统美食一饺子, 开心不已. 询问你在日常的学习和生活中, 是否有过类似经历. 请用英语回复一封邮件, 分享一件你曾经尝试的新事物, 学到了什么以及你的感受.
提示词语:practice, overcome (克服), difficulty, proud
提示问题:
● What new thing have you ever tried to do?
●What have you learnt from your experience?
●How do you feel about it?
Dear Pele,
　　I'm glad to receive your email. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua

20．2022年北京冬奥会上, 来自世界各地的运动员们怀揣梦想, 不断挑战自我, 尽情演绎着各自的传奇．他们追逐梦想, 奋勇拼搏的精神, 令人敬佩．
某英文网站在开展以"My Dream"为主题的征文活动．假如你是李华, 请你用英语写一篇短文投稿, 说说你自己的梦想是什么, 你打算如何实现它．
提示词语:dream, challenge, realize, keep doing
提示问题:
●What's your dream?
●What will you do to make it come true?