11．　　A girl at the window looked very upset. She was having some (1)       in her life. She did not know what to do and just wanted to give up.
　　Her father, a cook, took her to the kitchen. He (2)       three pots with water and put each on a high fire. He put carrots in the first pot, eggs in the second, and coffee in the last. Then he let them boil. He just waited, without saying a (3)      .
　　The girl (4)       what he was doing. Twenty minutes later, he (5)      the carrots and put them in a bowl, the eggs on a plate, and the coffee in a glass. Turning to his daughter, he asked, "My dear, what do you see?"
　　"Carrots, eggs and coffee," she (6)      .
　　He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots, break the eggs and taste the coffee after boiling." What does it mean, Dad?" she asked seriously.
　　He told his daughter that (7)      each of them met the same adversity (逆境) — boiling water, they had a (8)      result. The carrots went soft, the eggs became hard, and the coffee (9)      the water.
　　When adversity knocks on your door, which one will you (10)      to be? A carrot, an egg or the coffee?It all depends on yourself!

12．　　Julia Lorraine Hill is an environmentalist (环保人士). She was born in 1974 in America. She began college courses at the (1)      of 16 and opened her own restaurant when she was 18. After a (2)      car accident in 1996, she began to rethink about her life's goal. Traveling west, she found a new (3)       of her life in California's redwood (红杉) forests.
　　For 738 days from December 10, 1997 to December 18, 1999, Julia lived in a tree, but not just any tree. She lived in Luna, a redwood tree in northern California's Humboldt County.
　　Luna is huge, measuring (4)      61 meters tall and about 12 meters across. The (5)       redwood has stood in Humboldt County for more than 1, 000 years. But that didn't stop the Pacific Lumber Company from wanting to (6)      this kind of tree.
　　So Julia did what any extreme (极端的) environmentalist would do — she (7)      in! Julia lived in the tree for over two years. She only came down from the tree when the Pacific Lumber Company agreed to (8)      Luna with a special agreement.
　　Julia's main goal was to bring international (9)      to the importance of protecting natural resources (资源). So we can safely call Julia "a tree hugger" , and surely she would (10)       that as the highest praise.

13．North Ryde Toy Library
Who can borrow? Any child over 7 years old with their library cards. North Ryde Toy Library Rules:
*One child can borrow three toys for up to three weeks.
*When you return the toy, the workers in the library will check if it works well.
*Library workers will send an email to you when the toy is overdue. And you need to pay some money when you don't return it on time. So remember to return the toy on time.
Opening Hours:
*Tuesday:10:00 a. m. — 5:00 p. m.
*Monday, Wednesday and Thursday:12:00 p. m. — 8:00 p. m.
*Friday:12:00 p. m. — 5:00 p. m.
*Saturday:9:30 a. m. — 12:00 p. m.
*Sunday: Closed
For more information, please call 9952-8377.

14． 　　AI is the science of giving computers and machines the ability to think and work like humans. AI scientists and engineers have made a lot of cool technologies.
　　AI is rapidly catching up with the human ability to read faces. As a result, facial recognition (人脸识别) is used a lot in the world. Chinese police use this technology to find out the criminals. It also checks the ID of online ride-hailing (网约车) drivers and lets people pay for things with their faces.
　　AI is also used in self-driving cars, which are believed to be the future of driving. Most drivers may wave or nod at passers — by to let them cross the street, but self﹣driving cars don't have this ability.
　　Car makers are testing a light signal system to help them "speak" to humans. The system can show what self-driving cars will do.
　　Service robots also show you how powerful AI is. Imagine this — you come back home from school
and your robot housekeeper (管家) is waiting for you at the door. After dinner, he teaches you to play the piano, just like a real music teacher. Such thoughts will soon happen in the real world. In the future, more and more service robots will become good home helpers.

15．　　In choosing a friend, one should be very careful. A good friend can help you study. You can have fun together and make each other happy. Sometimes you will meet fair-weather friends. They will be with you as long as you have money or luck, but when you are down, they will just leave you alone. So how to find good friends?I look for certain qualities (品质) when making friends.
　　Among these, understanding is the first on my list. A good friend tries to understand how another person feels. He tries to learn from others. He puts himself in the other persons' places, and he is also a good listener.
　　Also, a good friend needs to be honest. He looks for faults (缺点) in others, but notices the good points, too. In short, a friend will try to understand me and accept me.
　　Another quality of a friend is reliability (可靠性). If he tells me he will meet me somewhere at a certain time, he can be sure that he will be there. If I need help, he will do his best to help me. If I am in trouble, he will not get away from me.
　　When I meet someone who is understanding, honest and reliable, I know I've found a true friend!

16．　　Famous cartoonist (漫画家) Tsai Chih-chung, better known as C. C. Tsai in the West, has created many comic books on ancient Chinese classics since 1984. (1)      And these books have been translated into 26 different languages.
　　(2)       He is already 73 this year, but he has no plans to slow down. He keeps a special schedule (日程安排). He goes to bed at 5 p. m. and wakes up at 1 a. m. (3)      
"I can create a book in no more than five days," he said. "We cartoonists don't work like writers who have to write one word after another. (4)      " Though he is in his seventies, Tsai said that he still worked a long time every day. In fact, his goal is to complete about 500 new books in five years.
　　Tsai is well-known for describing Chinese classics with simple stories and cartoon characters. "His characters are sharply drawn (轮廓鲜明). His humor is in the right place. And his subject is profound (深刻的). (5)      " Larry Gonick, writer of The Cartoon History of the Universe, wrote about Tsai's books like this.

17．　　Laurence J. Brahm is an American documentary filmmaker. When kung fu (1)      (mention), he will think of non-violence (非暴力) first.
　　"Kung fu, in (2)      (I) eyes, is a mirror of Chinese culture, " Brahm said. "The traditional values of kung fu are (3)      (actual) in the minds of all Chinese people. China always tries to avoid (4)      (fight) with other countries. Why does China want to get on well (5)      other countries? It's a (6)       (nation) psychology (心理)."
　　Brahm also believes (7)      today's world greatly needs to start equal (平等的) exchanges between countries again, and kung fu can serve as a great way of (8)      (communicate). He said, "Ping-pong opened relations for China with the West in (9)      1970s. In the same way, kung fu can be the new medium (媒介) in our time, bringing people together (10)      (share) skills and culture with each other, and promote (促进) understanding."

18．　　Eating habits are different in different countries. The Chinese have a saying "Eat good things for breakfast, eat a big meal for lunch, but eat less at dinner". Many Americans agree that one should start the day with a good breakfast, but their ideas about lunch and dinner are different.
　　Most Americans only give themselves a short time for lunch because they don't have so much time to have a rest at noon. So they eat a small lunch. After work they will have more time to eat a big dinner, also a quiet dinner at home. With all the family talking about their days is a way to take a good rest after a long, hard day of work.
　　Eating at restaurants is also different. In China, people like to talk and laugh while eating. Very often you can hear people talking and laughing loudly, and no one will stop them doing so. In America, it's not like this. They want a quiet place where they can eat a good meal. If some people are talking too loudly, the manager of the restaurant may come out and ask them to be quiet.

19．假如你是九年级一班的李华, 临近毕业之际, 你们学校要举行一场毕业生告别晚会, 你将作为班级代表在晚会上发言．请你根据以下内容提示, 写一篇发言稿．
内容包括:
1. 发表演说的心情;
2. 你想感谢的人及感谢他们的原因;
3. 你对未来的期待．
要求:
1. 短文须包含以上内容, 可适当发挥;
2. 短文中不得提及真实的人名、地名和校名;
3. 词数不少于80词, 短文开头已给出, 不计入总词数．
参考词汇:role model 榜样
Dear teachers and classmates,
　　I'm Li Hua from Class 1, Grade 9. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________