When you get into an elevator (电梯), there is a button (按钮) inside. After you press the button, the elevator then takes you to outer space. Does this sound like something from a science fiction film? In fact, it might become _______ in the future.

Scientists hope _______ the space elevator by 2050. The elevator has a strong cable (缆绳). The cable connects the elevator to the Space Station. The elevator goes up and down along the cable. The elevator might look like an egg. It can take 30 people. The trip is about 36,000 km. It may _______ eight days to get to space.

People can only fly rockets into space right now. But they are expensive. A space elevator would be cheaper. It can do more than just take people into space. The elevator can _______ send heavy things into space. A space elevator could make _______ easier to go into space.

Ping-pong, or table tennis is very popular in China. It might seem like an ordinary game to play with friends or family. ______ it holds a special place in China-US relations, as it has helped both countries get along for the last 50 years. This has ______ “ping-pong diplomacy (乒乓外交)”.

Judy Hoarfrost was just 15 years old when she ______ from the US to China as part of a nine-member table tennis team. The year was 1971, and for the previous (之前的) 20 years, relations between China and the US had been ______. 

Players from both countries believed strongly in the idea of ______ first, competition second. To this day, many of them remain friends. Hoarfrost thinks we should remember ping-pong diplomacy ______ understand the importance of people-to-people exchanges in establishing bonds, human bonds between peoples.

In the years that followed the historical visit, US president Richard Nixon (尼克松) made a landmark (里程碑) visit to China in 1972. Diplomatic relations ______ the US and China were fully established (建立) in 1979. 

Seeing tension (紧张局面) between two of the world’s biggest powers in recent years, Hoarfrost said China and the US ______ work together. “We have so much in common and we should improve our relations,” she added.

In 1987 a small company named Huawei was started in Shenzhen. After more than 30 years of development, the company has now beaten Apple and become the world’s second largest maker of smartphones. It has also become the world’s supplier (供应者) of 5G. In China and even in the world, Huawei is a wonder. Although it started producing mobile phones not many years ago, it has become one of the most famous phone companies.

But recently, Huawei faces some difficulties. The US government made a law to stop its sales in America. American officials said Huawei gave information that it collected to the Chinese government. At the same time, the US government planned to stop selling parts and services to Huawei. They believed that Huawei’s business would be hurt this way.

“We have never received such a request from the Chinese government and we have never tried to get into other systems to collect information,” Ren Zhengfei, Huawei’s president said. “The law would have little effect on our company. Huawei has enough ability to deal with the problems,” Ren added.

In an interview several years ago, Ren Zhengfei said, “I started Huawei with only £4000 at the beginning, but now it has become a 100 billion company. The experience was not as romantic as you imagine.”

Facing the law of the US, Huawei is growing. Huawei’s smartphone sales around the world rose 50 percent compared with a year earlier in the first three months of 2019. At the same time, sales from both Samsung and Apple fell. So far Huawei has grown into the world’s largest telecommunication equipment supplier (供应商), selling in 170 countries. It may beat Samsung as the largest smartphone maker in the near future.

   “I spent my whole life doing one thing,” Gu Fangzhou once said. Known as “the father of sugar pills (糖丸)”, Gu passed away on January 2, 2019. Eight months later, he received a national honorary-title (荣誉称号) “the People’s Scientist” for his polio (脊髓灰质炎) research.

Gu Fangzhou, a famous medical scientist, was born in June, 1926. Gu’s family faced a difficult time with the sudden death of his father. He studied hard and finally entered Peking University as a medical student in 1944. After graduation, Gu made the decision to work to help improve public health.

In 1955, polio broke out in Nantong, Jiangsu Province. It paralyzed (使瘫痪) 1,680 people, mostly children aged below seven. It spread to neighboring areas and resulted in 466 deaths. Gu was asked to lead polio research in 1957. “At that time the only way to prevent polio was to invent a vaccine (疫苗),” said Gu.

In 1959 Gu succeeded in developing the first polio live vaccine. Later, he developed the “sugar-coated pill” vaccine in the early 1960s. It not only tasted better but was more affordable and easier to keep. To test the vaccine, Gu tried the vaccine in person and later his one-month-old son was vaccinated. This inspired his team to vaccinate their kids. They became the first group of people in China to try a polio vaccine. “If we don’t believe in what we produce, how can others believe in it?” said Gu.

Gradually, the sugar-coated polio vaccine was made available in China. It saved millions of people, especially kids, from being disabled. In 2000, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that China was already a polio-free country. “We feel satisfied. I can tell people that I tried my best, and your kids will no longer get polio,” said Gu. “That’s all we hoped for. ”

With her eyes feeling increasingly tired and her vision blurry (视力模糊的), 16-year-old Tian Ting went to the hospital with her parents in January. She was shocked when she found out that her eyesight dropped from 5.0 to 4.6 in only a term. “A few of my friends have had the same experience lately,” Tian said.

In fact, poor eyesight among Chinese primary and high school students rose from 59.2 percent to 70.6 percent in the first six months of 2020, according to the Ministry of Education.

Blue light is bad for our eyes, as it can kill the photoreceptor cells (光感器细胞) we need for vision, according to Harvard Medical School. Many of the electronic devices we use every day, like our phones and computer screens, give off blue light.

Chinese government has also taken other steps to protect students’ eyesight in China. In May 2020, the National Health Commission urged schools to make sure that students have at least two hours of outdoor activity a day.

The Communist Party of China (CPC, 中国共产党) was founded in 1921, which was a difficult time in China’s history.
42．

The CPC led China to realize the goals of national independence and people’s liberation (解放) during the revolutionary (革命的) times before 1949.
43． It has also led the people to achieve many “Chinese miracles (奇迹).”

But when danger comes, they stand out and fight for the people.
45． In the battle against COVID-19, CPC members fight on the frontlines. They put the interests (利益) of the country and people above their own. They take on great responsibilities just as the older generations did.

To become a better person, we should go to school every day. So how can we become powerful and start changes in our own life? Perhaps we can get some tips from the US First Lady Michelle Obama. During her visit to China, from March 20–26, Mrs. Obama shared her views on education with students.

The first lady encouraged Chinese students to aim high and get a good education. In Chengdu No. 7 High School, she told students that having poor roots doesn’t matter   A  long as you work hard.

Mrs. Obama said her family was not rich. Like many Chinese students, her parents had big dreams for her. She felt the weight of her parents’ sacrifices (牺牲) on her shoulders and worked hard to make them proud.

Persevering was not easy, though. Sometimes she had to wake up at 4:30 a.m. and study late into the night. “But whenever I got tired or discouraged, I would remember something my mother always told me,” she said, “A good education is something that ①take, no, from, can, one, away, you.”

Mrs. Obama also encourages Chinese students to study abroad. “As the Chinese   B  goes, “②It is better to travel 10,000 miles than to read 10,000 books,” she said. “③在学校取得好成绩是不够的。It’s also important to have real experience with languages, cultures and societies different from your own,” she noted.

“Studying abroad could also gain future international relations. ④It could help young people from different country work together to deal with problems such as climate change,” Mrs. Obama said.

As you walk down the street, an object falls from a tall building and hits you. Who should be responsible for this? Or maybe you try to help someone in danger, but you
56． hurt the person. Will you get in trouble for this? China’s Civil Code (《民法典》) will give you the
57．.

China does have laws that cover these issues.
59．, all kinds of these laws are not unified. The Civil Code gathers them into one unified document and makes improvements. With the Civil Code, China hopes to set up a country under the rule of law with
60． protection for civil rights.

Some of the laws in this part deal with how new technology
62．. For example, people who use AI face swap (调换) tools to make videos may go against
63． image rights. The laws also provide data protection rights relating to possible data leaks by tech companies.

As we know, after the founding of the People’s Republic of China, there were several attempts to draft (起草) a civil code in 1954, 1962, 1979 and 2001. But the conditions
64． not good enough. In 2015, China started to work on the present code and
65． it after 5 years. This year, the code took effect on Jan. 1.

   亲爱的同学：本堂英语测试完之后，三年的初中学习生活就结束了。请你以“How to learn English”为题写一篇英语短文，把你三年来的英语学习经验介绍给下一届的初一同学，说说英语学习的重要性、谈谈你是如何学习英语的、以及你对他们学习英语的建议。

How to learn English

Dear younger sisters and brothers, as we all know, English is used very widely in the world. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________