Eric was a nine-year-old boy who lived with his single mother, Stacey and sister, Lily. They lived a hard life. Eric felt bad for their situation but worse for himself, especially in school.

Eric's leather boots were worn out. They didn't protect his feet from the rain, and his socks became totally wet as water went through the holes in his shoes. Stacey attempted to fix the holes but it was no use. Eric still walked to school with that pair of broken shoes. How much he wished he could also have new comfortable and expensive shoes his classmates wore!

One day, Eric returned from school and complained to Stacey, "It was raining today. Water has leaked into my shoes again. I hate my boots! Why can't you get me new ones?" Stacey was sad and helpless. "I spent our last savings on your sister's medicine. She's sick. Eric you know that. You need to act like a responsible big brother!" she answered. Tears welled up in Eric's eyes. "I hate you!" he shouted. "You only care about Lily! You don't love me!" Then he cried and ran to his room.

After preparing dinner, Stacey went to his room with his dinner plate. "I'm sorry, Eric," she whispered to comfort him. "We're going through a very tough journey recently. But I'll get you new shoes in the future." However, Eric refused to listen to her.

The next day, when Eric went to class, he took his seat quietly and hid his feet under his chair, as usual. He was embarrassed to show his boots. As the math teacher Mrs Fletcher entered the class, all the students greeted her. "Today, we have a very special friend with us," she smiled. "Everyone, please welcome Ben, your new classmate." Soon after, a boy with a pair of crutches(拐杖)entered. The new boy only had one leg. Eric was shocked. He and all his classmates thought how unlucky Ben was and that he must be very shy and sad.

注意：1.续写词数应为150左右;2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1: At that moment, Mrs Fletcher asked Ben to introduce himself. 

Paragraph 2: Inspired by Ben, Eric realized he should appreciate what he had. 

D

With the completion of the Human Genome（基因组）Project more than 20 years ago, and the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA enjoying its 70th birthday last year, you might assume that we know how life works. Think again!

Evolution has a 4bn-year head start on us. However, several aspects of the standard picture of how life works-the idea of the genome as a blueprint, of genes as instructions for building an organism, of proteins as precisely tailored molecular（分子）machines and more-have wildly reduced the complexity of life. 

In the excellent book How Life Works, Philip Ball explorers the new biology, revealing life to be a far richer, more delicate affair than we have understood. Ball explains that life is a system of many levels-genes, proteins, cells, tissues, and body modules-each with its own rules and principles, so there is no unique place to look for an answer to it. 

Also, How Life Works is a much more appealing title than the overused question of "What is life?". We should be less concerned with what a thing is, and rather more focused on what a thing does. Defining a living thing implies an unchangeable ideal type, but this will run counter to the Darwinian principle that living things are four-dimensional, ever changing in time as well as space.

But it's an idea that is deeply rooted within our culture. Ball points out that we rely on metaphors（比喻）to explain and explore the complexities of life, but none suffice. We are taught that cells are machines, though no machine we have invented behaves like the simplest cell; that DNA is a code or a blueprint, though it is neither; that the brain is a computer, though no computer behaves like a brain at all.

Ball is a terrific writer, pumping out books on incredibly diverse subjects. There's a wealth of well-researched information in here, and some details that are a bit chewy for the lay reader. But the book serves as an essential introduction on our never-ending quest to understand life.

Strategies to Overcome Self-Doubt Once and For All

Being self-confident is not easy and not everyone can do it, but it doesn't need to be that difficult. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

Going through life can be very challenging at times. When we were young, no one told us how hard it will be in the future but here we are {#blank#}2{#/blank#} And it is unpleasing and can kill your confidence levels if not controlled from the beginning.

We will all experience some self-doubt, which is natural. {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It happens to us during normal days or whenever we are going to start a new job, a new task, or a new relationship, anything new in life will make you self-doubt. This sort of feeling puts you into dark days when nothing seems to go right and you might feel like giving up, and that is the time to be strong.

 {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Self-doubt is when you are unsure about one or more aspects of yourself. For example, when starting a new job, you might feel inexperienced or might think that you are not fit enough for the job, and this is a prime example of self-doubt.

 {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Low-level of self-criticism is actually good for you. It motivates you and pushes you to be better in life, to become greater than yesterday. This type of feeling will push you to work harder and faster than before and will also increase your productivity, but it should be a low level of self-criticism. You don't want to punish yourself over things that are beyond your control.

A. We needn't take it seriously.

B. It's impossible for us to deal with it.

C. One of the big problems of adult life is having self-doubt,

D. Self-doubt isn't all that bad, let us tell you why.

E. Let's explore to find ways to remove self-doubt forever.

F. It will take long for us to solve this problem.

G. There are some people mistaking self-doubt for something else.

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 .

Cruz Genet,11, and Anthony Skopick, 10, couldn't agree. Were the birds out on the ice ducks or geese? So on a 1 January evening last year, the two friends ventured onto the 2 pond near their homes, to get a better look. First they tossed a rock onto the ice to3 it. Then they stepped on it. 4 the ice would hold their weight, Anthony took a few steps, then…FOOMP. He crashed through the 5 frozen surface." There was no sound, no crack," he recalled,"I just fell through instantly". Cruz 6 to help his panicked friend. FOOMP— the pond 7 him too.

 The boys were up to their necks in icy water and quickly losing feeling in their limbs. Any chance of their 8 themselves was slipping away. Cruz was sure he was going to die. Anthony's older sister was nearby and started screaming for help.

 John Lavin, a9 driving nearby on his way home, heard her. He quickly 10 . Seeing the boys, he grabbed a nearby buoy (救生圈), 11 off his shoes, and ran into the cold water, chopping(劈) his way through the ice with his free 12 .

 Lavin made his way to Cruz and Anthony and pulled them back to land. When in hospital, doctors discovered that their five- minute 13 in the water had lowered their body 14 nearly ten degrees.

 Fortunately, the boys have fully recovered, though they are still a little awestruck by their 15 neighbor." Just to think," says Cruz," If he weren't there, we could have died."

Growing up in poverty in rural Kenya,Nelly Cheboi watched her single mother work tirelessly so she could attend school. 

From an early age,she realized that her family,along with others like hers in their village, was1 a cycle that left them little hope. Cheboi attended college.2 a scholarship in the United States,worked odd jobs to support her family,and discovered her3 for computer science. She4 the success in finding jobs to her computer literacy. She knew she wanted to share it with her5 back home. 

Today,she's giving 4,000 kids the chance for a6 future through her nonprofit, TechLit Africa. The organization uses recycled7 to create technology labs in schools in rural Kenya. 

In 2018,she began8 recycled computers. She started small,carrying the machines to Kenya and9 customs fees and taxes herself. TechLit Africa now works with shipping companies to10 the donated computers so it's more cost11 . The donated hardware is12 to partner schools in rural Kenya,where students aged 4 to 12 receive daily classes and13 opportunities from professionals and gain skills that will help improve their education and prepare them for future jobs. 

"My hope is that when the first TechLit kids graduate from high school,they're able to get a job online14 they will know how to code,"Cheboi said. "The world is your oyster when you are educated. By bringing the resources,by bringing these skills,we are15 the world to them. "