There was once a couple named Sue and John. Both of them were______.

In the late autumn, John was badly ill and became bedridden (长期卧床的). After the doctor visited John several times, he told Sue, “His condition is quite______. John seems to have lost all will to live. If he doesn’t want to live, medicines will not help him.”

Sue tried her best to______John. She sang and danced, she painted their favorite pictures, she told jokes, but John did not respond (回应).

“Five,” he said______one day, as he looked out of the window. When Sue asked what John meant, he explained slowly. “There are… only______leaves left on the tree now. When the last leaf falls, I... shall go with______.” Upon hearing this, Sue couldn’t help crying. She went to their neighbor, Mr Smith, who was also an artist.

Mr Smith was sorry about John’s poor health. He______his friend to get better, then he painted a leaf.

Over the next few days, it rained heavily, but the last leaf on the tree held on firmly (坚固地). Every day, John would look______and see the same lone leaf on the tree.

Then, one day, the doctor came in and said John’s______was improving. John said to Sue, “I’ve realized that life is hard, but I shouldn’t give up. That leaf has stayed on that tree for so long. It has taught me to______!”

The doctor smiled, so did Sue.

Yang Hongwei, 56, was born into a kite-making family in Weifang. When she was young, she often saw kites with bright colors and different shapes in her grandfather’s workshop.

“Every time I see these beautiful kites, my bad feelings go away,” said Yang.

Yang learned to make kites from her grandfather at the age of 16. After practicing the skill for 10 years, she started her own shop in 1992.

“Many places around the world have a tradition of flying kites,” Yang said. “But I think the cultural idea behind our kites is special.”

On Yang’s kites, people can see not only common pictures like butterflies and birds, but also some prints telling Chinese myths, legends and history. For example, she once made a kite with a phoenix(凤凰). On each side of the phoenix were 50 images(形象) of famous women from Chinese history. Each woman was different in look, clothes and makeup.

“It took me a lot of time,” Yang said, “but when I explain the stories of the kites to foreigners, I feel a great sense of achievement.”

In her free time, Yang travels to countries such as Germany, Australia, the United States and New Zealand. She tells the stories of Chinese kites and the traditional ways they are made. “It is an important job of mine.” She said.

Do you ever find yourself standing in front of rubbish bins, not sure whether the piece of waste in your hand is recyclable or not? To solve this problem, four Hong Kong high school students have invented a smart rubbish bin that uses AI to sort(分类) the waste. The students named the bin Waste Collection Point.

Connected to a computer, the bin uses a camera to tell the kind of the waste it receives and sorts it into plastic, paper, glass, or other kinds. To make sure the bin can sort waste correctly, the team tested every product in the school shop and took at least500 pictures of each one. “To train the AI, we had to take many photos from different angles(角度), so it has a better rate of accuracy,” said one of the students who built the AI system.

The idea of the smart bin was born two years ago, when the students were in Grade Ten. At that time, people from the city crowded into their village because of the COVID-19. They left behind a lot of rubbish and caused more pollution.

“All the bins were full, and there was even rubbish on the mountain,” the students recalled, “Every weekend, we had to join the villagers in picking up the waste.”

The students decided to develop a special recycling bin that would encourage people to protect the environment. Although school ended at 2 pm, the team would continue to work on their invention until 6 or 7 pm at school. Even when their school was closed last year, they would still meet and work together online.

“Our bin is now in its third generation(代). Before graduation, we hope it can be widely used in the city.” The students said, “Then it will be easier than ever for people to recycle and protect our environment.”

A．

B．

C．

Socrates was famous in ancient Greece for his knowledge. One day, one of his friends went up to him and said, “I’ve just heard something about your friend, do you want to know?”

“Well,” Socrates said, “Before telling me anything, I’d like you to pass a test. It’s called the triple filter (三重筛选) test.”

“Triple filter?”

“That’s right,” Socrates continued, “Before you talk to me about my friend, it is a good idea to think about what you will say. The first filter is ________. Are you sure what you are going to tell me is true?”

“In fact, I just heard about it and…” the man said.

“All right,” Socrates said, “So you don’t really know whether it’s true or not. Now let’s try the second filter—goodness. Is what you are going to tell me good?”

“No, on the contrary (相反)…” the man replied.

“Okay,” Socrates continued, “The last filter is usefulness. Is what you are going to tell me useful to me?”

“No, not really.” The man said.

“Well,” Socrates ended, “If what you want to tell me is not true, good or even useful, why tell it to me at all?”

One day, a little boy came into a shop. He
61． to the shop assistant(售货员) and said, “I’d like twelve exercise books of six cents each and nine pencils of ten cents each. How much are they?”

The shop assistant wrote these
62． down on a piece of paper and thought for a minute. Then she answered, “$1.62.”

“If I give you $10, how much money will I get back?”

“You will get $8.38 for change. Here you are. These
63． the things you want.”

“No, thanks. In fact, I don’t need to buy anything. This is
64． math homework.” The boy looked at the piece of paper and asked
65．, “Can I take it away?”

为创造美好的生活，青少年在成长的过程中应不断学习新的生活技能（如烹饪、种植、救护方法……)。请结合下列提示和自身的需求，以“Little Life Skills Are a Big Help”为题写一篇短文，在英语课堂上分享。

Little Life Skills Are a Big Help

Life skills are necessary for us teenagers. To live more healthily and happily, we are supposed to learn more new skills...