For most of us Chinese, Rick Clay might not be so popular. However, his name is widely known in the sports field. Rick Clay ________ in Wellington, New Zealand. He is ________ of the world’s top athletes. He first became famous six years ago ________ he broke the 400m world record.

Rick has won five medals in the last few years. However, this has been very difficult for Rick. In May, he had bad luck because he hurt ________ by accident while he was preparing ________ the Tokyo World Championships. He was taken to the ________. The doctor said it was not serious but would still take some time for him to be right again. Ever since then, he has not run in ________ more races.

Rick has tried to be positive about his health. “It’s been a hard year, but I’m getting ________ than before, though it takes time,” he said. “I love green plants and flowers. There are many in my yard. I have done lots of gardening and ________ more time with my family. So that’s good.”

The next world competition is in Sydney in December. “I really want to go. ________ I’m not sure if my leg will be ready for the game. I do hope it will be by then.”

Chinese Culture Centers Abroad

We offer Chinese language courses and activities of Chinese culture.

How are you? It’s been two weeks since I returned to America, but I’m still thinking of the exciting city life in Chengdu. In America, life is totally different. I miss the delicious hot pot so much.

The weather has been bad these days. Yesterday I got a cold and didn’t go to school. I hate taking medicine but I have to take it. I must get well soon because I will have tests on science and geography next week. I must prepare for the tests so that I won’t fail again.

I remember that you like our local chocolate, but it is quite expensive in Chengdu. I bought you some last weekend and I’m sending it to you. It’s much cheaper here than that in Chengdu.

The Dragon Boat Festival is coming this year. It’s time to have zongzi and watch the dragon boat races. I wish I could be there and have fun with you.

Best wishes.

Yours,

Alex

By September 20 more than 870,000 people had applied to volunteer for the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics (残奥会). Organizer of the Olympic Winter Games plans to recruit 27,000 volunteers, some of whom will continue to serve the Paralympic Winter Games. Recruitment (招募) opened on December 5, 2019, and will end on June 30, 2021.

Among the applicants 71.5 percent are female, 91.72 percent are aged 18-28, 1.07 percent are foreigners, and 0.21 percent are people with disabilities. Teng Shengping, chief of the volunteer section of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, said that volunteers should have three qualities: good health and strong will, sufficient time and energy to attend training course, and good manners and competence to present the new image of China.

Three-two-one, fire!

At the moment of 9:43 a. m. on Tuesday, June 23rd, 2020, at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center（卫星发射中心） in Sichuan Province, the last satellite of the third-generation network（第三代导航系统）was sent into space. It is the 55th member in the family of Beidou. It belongs to China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System（BDS北斗卫星导航系统）.

So far, 59 satellites, including the first four test ones, have been launched from Xichang. With the development of China, we have already owned three other famous satellite launch centers-Jiuquan, Taiyuan and Wenchang.

After a period of tests in space, this new satellite has started to work with other Beidou satellites together. It is designed to work for at least 12 years. So far, China has completed the third-generation network of China’s BDS. It was a new milestone in the nation’s research work. The launch showed our country has completed our largest space-based system. It’s one of four global（全球的）navigation networks, including the United States’ GPS, Russia’s GLONASS and the European Union’s Galileo.

BDS has been widely used as public resources（资源）in our daily life. It has been shared by the whole world. It will provide more services around the world. BDS is the common wealth of the development of human beings.

Mao Junfang is a bamboo craftsman (手艺人). In 1974, at the age of 17, he began to learn how to make bamboo weaving crafts (竹编) from his father.
41． and started to sell bamboo crafts as a street vendor.

Ten years ago, making bamboo weaving handicrafts could not support his family, so he had to work as a gatekeeper for a factory. He could take a one-day break every other day.
42． An over 10-meter-long bamboo can be magically turned by Mao Junfang into food steamers, baskets, food covers and other kinds of tools. With his fine craftsmanship, Mao has won great respect among his countrymen.
43．

Bamboo weaving crafts requires both skills and patience.
44． Every day, Mao Junfang gets up early and begins his work at 6 a.m. and stops after 9 p.m. However,
45．

“Life is hard for a bamboo craftsman. I don’t want anyone else to experience the same hard life as I do, and I don’t want the traditional craft to disappear, either.”

An old man went to India. When he got there, he saw some fruit for
46．. Most of it was very cheap. The
47． thing was a basket of red fruit.

“How much per kilo?” the old man
48．.

“Two rupees（卢比）,” the shopkeeper answered. Two rupees in India is almost nothing,
49． the old man bought a whole kilogram and started eating it.

However, as soon as he started eating, his mouth began
50．, his eyes began to water, and his whole face became as red
51． the fruit. As he coughed and struggled to breathe, he jumped up and
52．, screaming, “Ah! Ah! Ah!’

And yet he continued to eat the fruit. Some people who were looking at him shook their
53． and said, “You are crazy! Those are chili peppers（ 辣椒）!You can’t just eat them by the handful!”

The old man said to himself, “I paid for them, so I must eat them.

This old man seemed pretty stupid. But are we so much smarter? All of us have spent money and time on something—maybe a relationship, or a business, or a job—and sometimes, we still continue with it.

What we can learn
54． the old man is this: if you’ve lost a lot over something that doesn’t work, let it
55． and move on. It’s better than continuing to lose.

A giant panda-themed museum opened to the public in Chengdu, the capital city of southwest China’s Sichuan Province on March 3.

Surrounded by huge touch screens, the Chengdu Giant Panda Museum provides an immersive (虚拟现实的) experience and various facts about the precious species of giant pandas including their history, and the measures China has taken to protect them.

The museum, covering an area of 7179 square meters with seven exhibit sections, has been built by the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding.

Visitors can get various information about giant pandas by tapping on the screen. The museum aims to improve public awareness of animal protection.

烦恼伴随着青少年的成长，精神压力是主要体现形式。为了让学生快乐学习，健康成长，我校英文报刊将开展以“How to Lower Stress”为题的征文比赛。请根据提示内容，用英语表达自己的观点。

How to Lower Stress

We teenagers have a lot of pressure while growing up. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________