Lily loved school. However, there was one class Lily worried about more than any other—art. She didn't know why she just wasn't any good at drawing, painting, or cutting.

Ms. Clay, the art teacher, stood at the front of the room. "Class, next Friday our school is going to have an art competition," she announced. Ms. Clay was a great teacher, and Lily liked her a lot. But this announcement made Lily nervous. "Everyone in the school will create a piece of artwork to show in the library. You can use the different types of artwork we have been studying." Ms. Clay was quite excited when she spoke while Lily found herself sinking lower in her chair.

Lily had the whole weekend to work on her project, but she could not think of anything to do. On Monday, Lily felt frightened, so after school Lily asked Ms. Clay if she could write an art paper instead of doing an art project.

"I understand this project scared you, Lily," Ms. Clay said. "Just remember, you can create any kind of art you want." Ms. Clay smiled at her. "Art is a person's way of expressing his or her feelings—it isn't always painting, drawing, or cutting. I know you will think of something very creative, and I can't wait to see it."

When Lily arrived home, she took out a piece of paper and a pencil. She remembered Ms. Clay's words. "Art is a person's way of expressing his or her feelings." Lily wrote the word "terrified" on her paper. She crumpled (揉皱) the paper and threw it to the side of her desk.

Then Lily stared at the crumpled ball. Suddenly an idea struck her.

Paragraph 1：

Why not create something out of crumpled paper?

Paragraph 2：

On Friday, Lily carefully carried her project into the library.

Max Du won the Canada-Wide Science Fair. His project is a drone (无人机) to save people who go into cardiac (心脏的) arrest. Max got the inspiration during Christmas break last year. "I got a toy drone from my parents, but I couldn't fly it because it is snowy." Max said. "So I played with it at home, and it got me thinking how a drone could be used as an indoor robot that could help people."

About 35, 000 people have cardiac arrests in Canada each year. Most of those happen outside of a hospital, of whom fewer than 10 percent survive. Max believed a drone could offer faster support and life-saving medicine, but he had to build it himself to know for sure.

Testing his drone took about six months. Max's parents had to deal with their son's constantly flying and crashing in the home. Every time Max would create an exciting innovation, such as an extendable arm, it would add extra weight to his drone, causing it to break apart. Then Max would have to buy all new parts. Max tested using more lightweight materials until his design was more balanced.

Through trial and error, the 14-year-old boy finally got it right. His drone can open a door handle, fly in the air and then land softly on the ground. A new extendable arm can be released to administer a shot or hand a patient lifesaving medicine. A built-in camera could directly conference with an emergency response team whose members could monitor the patient remotely.

Max plans on applying for a patent (专利) so he can make connections in the health-care industry to get it made for real. He's spent his summer learning about artificial intelligence at California's Stanford University as one of 32 kids selected worldwide. He'll head next to the University of Pennsylvania to take a college-level robotics class before returning to high school in September.

It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.

My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I'm so glad I did.

On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big hums (脊背) in the distance.

On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn't believe it—there aren't any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.

The little baby whale—actually as big as our boat—was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools (漩涡) and waves. "She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side," my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe—and to give us a trusting (信任的) look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.

In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.

(2023陕西西安高一练习)

Donald opened the door of his pet parrot's cage and slid in his index finger(食指).Donald's parrot,Sunshine,jumped excitedly onto the finger."How are you doing today,Sunshine?" {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Sunshine munched(用力咀嚼)happily on the grass while Donald put the bird on his shoulder and walked across the room to his desk.

"I need to earn some money,Sunshine," Donald said to the bird,which was now placed atop Donald's head."But who will hire someone of my age,and what am I good at?"

{#blank#}2{#/blank#} "I'm responsible," he said to Sunshine as he wrote,"and I like people and animals,but,on the other hand,I'm too young to drive,and I don't have much experience in performing most jobs."

{#blank#}3{#/blank#} After a couple of rings,the phone quieted,so Donald knew his mother had answered the phone.He heard an unclear conversation from the room as he continued his job musings(沉思).

{#blank#}4{#/blank#} She laughed when she saw Sunshine stay happily on Donald's head."That was Mrs.Johannson on the telephone," she reported.She wants to know if you would be willing to take care of their two parrots while the Johannsons are out of town next week.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Donald grinned(咧嘴笑) from ear to ear.

A.She's even willing to pay a little.

B.You might be too busy to take the job.

C.Donald was worried about his future job.

D.Donald asked as he held out a leaf of grass to the bird.

E.A few minutes later,Donald's mother walked into his room.

F.Donald was thinking about his options when he heard the telephone ring in another room.

G.Donald tore a sheet of paper out of a notebook and began writing down the things he was good at.

It was the middle of winter some 30 years ago. I was a young father with three little mouths to 1 . My college education, however, didn't help me to 2 a well-paid job. I was working in a woodcutting business for just above the 3 wage. Working outdoors for 8 hours a day had caused my4 to split (裂开) and bleed at their tips in the cold, dry air. 

That day at work was harder than normal. We 5 workers. Worse still, the machines kept breaking down. When the day finally ended, I took off the gloves and 6 my painful hands. The splits were 7 than ever and I had bled through the band-aids again. I tried to 8 my back but it hurt badly. I had never felt that tired and 9 before, wondering why life was so tough and how long I could keep doing this. 

I tried to 10 a smile as I got home. My daughter ran up to me merrily, yelled "Daddy!", and 11 her little arms around my neck. My heart exploded with 12 . My aches and tiredness disappeared into her13 . And the joy in my heart 14 the depression away. At that moment I knew I could continue on and that things would get better. 

We all have 15 fingers and band-aid days in our lives here. But with love we can make it through them all.

It is getting hot. It's time to put on 1 clothes and open up the windows.

Yesterday brought a(n) 2 visit to the kitchen during the brief time we were out. Two daring sparrows had 3 into a dangerous territory—our kitchen.

When you come across such sudden callers, you are 4 to sense it as an action of intruding (入侵) into your comfort zone, or you might 5 it as a lovely shining moment of life. We 6 —the second option, with no hesitation. After all, we've never stopped feeling urgent to strengthen the relationship with our sparrows more and more each day.

We can't stop 7 and celebrating their dance from our window. We fed them with the 8 on our tablecloth after every meal. And we have 9 them with every kind of bases and stands on our terrace (露台).

10 , they feel at ease in our backyard. And that has led them to 11 courage to slip into our house. Perhaps because they have the feeling that we don't consider them 12 , but friendly neighbors, who only leave some wastes from time to time.

The presence of our dear sparrow holds magical consistency with real life. And we've been having lovely sparrows coming over lately, whose presence 13 us out of our dull daily routines and shows us the hidden beauty and charm.

Like different human beings, these sparrows often take different forms. We've met sparrows like those, of all shapes and colors. And they're everywhere. Perhaps all of them are willing to call our 14 making us know they are there. They only ask from us not to be afraid of them or feel uneasy to their 15 .