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British couple John and Sarah had always been kind. They believed in making a 1 to someone's life, especially those in need. One day, they 2 a heartbreaking news article about a 3-year-old boy Ahmed from Syria who had lost his family in the ongoing battles.

Without a second thought, John and Sarah 3 decided to adopt Ahmed and give him a new start in life. When they first met Ahmed, he was quiet and 4 , having spent most of his young life in a refugee camp (难民营). It took time for him to 5 to John and Sarah, but they were patient and kind with him, communicating their love and care through  6 and affection.

7 the difficulty in their communication, John and Sarah were determined to help Ahmed 8 from his emotional damage. They took him to a doctor and taught him coping mechanisms (应对机制) to 9 his anxiety. They made sure Ahmed felt safe and 10 in their home, providing him with a comfortable bed and his favorite toys.

It wasn't easy, but with time, Ahmed stopped waking up screaming at night, nor did he 11 with fear when hearing loud noises. He began to trust the couple and respond to their 12 . Smiles reappeared on his face, a sign that he was slowly healing from the inner trauma (创伤) he had 13.

Today, Ahmed is a happy and healthy child, thanks to the love and care of John and Sarah. The couple has been 14 by Ahmed just as much as they have helped him. Seeing Ahmed grow in their care brings them 15 joy and satisfaction. For John and Sarah, adopting Ahmed was one of the best decisions they ever made.

How can we get rid of procrastination (拖延症)

Procrastination is a common challenge that many people face. However, there are practical methods which help people beat the bad habit.

It is helpful to understand exactly why you've been procrastinating a specific task. Are you afraid of something? Fill in the sentence: "I'm avoiding this task because I'm afraid that… "And see what shows up. Identifying your fears can help you realize the monsters in the closet aren't as bad as you think.

Sometimes people put way too much on their To Do list. One way to stop procrastinating something is to decide you're never going to do it. What can you take off your To Do list? Try crossing something off your list simply because you realize you don't really need to do that thing ever.

Experts highly recommend A Power Hour, which consists of putting away all distractions and working in a concentrated period of time. Science has discovered that our brain naturally goes through cycles with peaks (高峰) and valleys. To maximize your output, it is vital that you honor these peaks and valleys by balancing focused time with relaxation.

After completing a task or meeting a deadline, reward yourself with something you enjoy. Research shows the human brain responds to reward stimulus and this can be a good way to create habits.

This guide gives suggestions on stopping procrastinating; now, it's up to you to use them.

A. Give yourself permission to let it go.

B. Rewards provide motivation and a sense of achievement.

C. Procrastination only occurs when tasks appear confusing.

D. Maybe you feel overcome by it and don't know where to start.

E. It can prevent success in the long run and is not easy to overcome.

F. Effective ways to cure people of the habit are easy to get from the Internet.

G. Short rest is necessary in this period in order to make best use of your brain and body.

If you hold up a seashell to your ear, you will hear the sea, no matter how far inland you currently are. In fact, it is not the case. So, what's actually going on here?

One popular explanation is that you are listening to your own blood coursing through you. Popular as this blood theory is, it doesn't hold water. "Press your ear to a shell and listen, then run around on the beach for a few minutes to increase the blood flow all through your body, and again listen to your magic shell," Kruszelnicki wrote. "You'll find that the loudness of the ‘sound of the sea is still the same'."

If we truly were hearing the sound of our blood rushing through our bodies, that wouldn't be the case: exercising makes your blood pressure rise, which would thus increase the supposed sounds being "reflected" by the shell. The fact that we don't hear a difference before and after exercise, therefore, makes quite an evident statement.

There's another idea that the "sea" you can hear in a shell is actually air-air flowing through the shell and out again, which creates the noise. "In a soundproof room, you won't hear anything from a shell," confirmed Andrew King, director of the University of Oxford's Centre for Integrative Neuroscience. "Background noise must be present." That's the biggest clue as to what's really going on here: the sounds we hear "inside" seashells are not coming from inside our bodies, but rather around them.

"You are hearing surrounding or background noise that has been increased in amplitude (振幅) by the physical characteristic of the seashell," King explained, "the specific sounds we hear within a shell depend on the exact shape of itself-the hard, curved surfaces inside the shell cause the sound waves that enter to bounce around, increasing some frequencies while reducing others."

Seashells may be the most poetic of ways to experience this resonance (共振), but they're definitely not the only method - pretty much any convex (凹面的) surface will do.

Long before the pandemic(疫情), many adults turned to toys from Legos to collectible items to tap into their inner childhood for comfort. But all the stresses from the health problems stimulated(刺激)and strengthened the trend, according to Jim Silver, editor-in-chief of a toy review site.

This so-called "kid-adult" market is significant. Ages 18 and older represented 14% of U. S. toy industry sales, or $5. 7 billion in 2022. It grew 19% compared with that in 2021, according to the NPD Group Inc. , a market research firm. This group also enjoyed the second-fastest increase after customers aged 12 to 17.

Last year, Build-a-Bear launched a website called Bear Cave for the 18-year-old and over, highlighting items like toy rabbits holding a bottle of wine. And Basic Fun took a high-tech on the traditional Lite Brite toy from the 1960s and recreated it as wall art with thousands of pegs and 45 LED lights aimed at the adults in time for the holidays-with a $99 price tag. McDonald's tapped into this group, releasing adult Happy Meals in October with toys designed by the fashion brand Cactus Plant Flea Market.

Loren Brereton,61,was recently visiting the American Girl store with her granddaughter Alana,7. She said that during the pandemic, she took comfort looking at her own daughter's dolls. She also pulled out some of her son's Lego's and other toys and played with them. And she was thinking of buying a few playthings for herself. "All of those games have brought me comfort when I was a kid, but, you know, sort of changed you at different times when you needed it,"she said. "And you needed it. "

"The pandemic certainly served as a stimulus for this trend as adults found themselves stuck at home with nothing else to do with a lot of time in their hands"said Genevieve Cruz, senior director at Lego, "But we do believe that the trend goes beyond the pandemic. "

Paul Wittgenstein had been born into an upper-class Austrian family on November 5, 1887. He grew up in a mansion full of activity and music. His great-uncle, Josef Joachim, was a famous violinist, and as a youth, Paul often accompanied him on the piano. He also studied with Teodor Leschetizky, who had taught many great pianists.

Music critics (评论家) had predicted an admirable future for Paul Wittgenstein as a concert pianist, but that was before he was forced into the Austrian Army near the beginning of World War I. In August of 1914, a bullet broke his right arm and the doctor amputated it.

It seemed Paul's dream of being a concert pianist was over. At first, the thought of playing the piano with one hand seemed a cruel joke. After further reflection, he thought, why not? His depression turned to determination, and he decided that his missing right arm wouldn't end his music career.

Near the end of World War I, Paul gave his first left-handed piano recital (演奏会). The critics were surprised. His playing had improved, they said, despite his missing arm. Paul's strong determination to play concert music inspired great composers to create works intended for the left hand. They were touched by his courage and excited by the challenge of writing music for a one-handed pianist. Paul performed their compositions throughout Europe.

When it was over, the audience rose for a standing applause and cheered wildly. They recognized that a master composer had written a masterpiece for a master artist. A few weeks later in Monte Carlo, Paul again performed the concerto, and again he received high praise.

The Concerto for the Left Hand, which Maurice Ravel wrote for Paul, has become part of musical history. Great pianists everywhere perform it. But it's more than wonderful music — it is also a monument (见证) to the courage and persistence of a man who could have given up because of his injury, but didn't.

St Patrick's Day: All you need to know about your local parades

Thousands of people will crowd around cities, towns, and villages all over the country on Friday for the annual St Patrick's Day festivities.

Cork

Cork City's St Patrick's Day parade will start at 1 pm, with the event also live-streamed from 12:45 pm for those unable to be there in person. Featuring Cork's long-established bands and hundreds of sports and dance groups, the parade will also have a special multi-cultural focus, in the form of the migrant support group Together Razem.

Limerick

A huge turnout is expected in Limerick on Friday to watch the parade which kicks off at midday from O'Connell's St. Serving as Grand Marshall is Limerick native and star of D'Unbelievables and the Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin, Jon Kenny, who is looking forward to his "starring role" in this year's celebrations.

Waterford

Following the success of last year's first-ever three-day festival, Waterford City is hoping to top the 2022 celebrations. The fun kicks off with live music in the Cultural Quarter on Thursday night. On Friday, the parade will set off from the Quays at 1 pm, led by Grand Marshall, boxing champion Kelyn Cassidy. The rest of the weekend will be filled with more music, workshops, and dancing, and there will be a fairground for the kids to enjoy.

Clare

Beginning at 11 am from Clare County Council's headquarters, the parade in Ennis will celebrate the commitment of Clare's sporting heroes to their local communities. The parade's hosts are former president of Ennis Rugby (英式橄榄球) Club Jimmy O'Brien, Barefield athlete PJ Purcell, and great-grandniece of Kilnamona boxer Michael McTigue, Aisling Rynne.

One day, when I was reading, I received a call from the principal (校长) of my high school to invite me to give a talk as a representative of alumni association (校友会). He asked me to speak to the group the next morning. I felt so honored to have got such an opportunity and immediately replied yes. But after the call, I became nervous and panicky.

The whole night, I polished my speech again and again, and practiced before a mirror until I could deliver the speech fluently. Even though I had made full preparations, I could not sleep with great anxiety. What if words failed me and didn't attract audience at all? What if I forgot the words in the middle of the speech?... I was hesitating to call the principal with regret and tell him that I could not come. Finally, I gathered some courage to go. I thought, "If I miss this opportunity, surely the school will never invite me again to any of their programs."

Anyway, I reached the school on time. Before giving the talk, my whole body was trembling. When my turn came and I started speaking, my heartbeat increased and my mouth went dry. I wasn't even able to read the written speech properly. I was not aware of where I was standing and what I was reading. I just managed to finish the speech in a low voice. That was the day when I realized my biggest weakness, Public Speaking Anxiety.

注意：1. 词数应为120左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

After my speech, I met with the principal and explained what happened to me.

Around one month later, I was invited to give another speech.

注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Miss White,

Yours,

Li Hua

Suzhou, home to a collection of classical gardens, is one of the most attractive (city) in China, featuring (elegant) and exquisiteness. There are currently more than 60 well-preserved gardens in Suzhou, nine of have been listed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasty, the gardening art in Suzhou reached (it) peak. The classical gardens (design) to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, because designers intended to contain rich scenes within their (limit) spaces. Mini versions of things like rocks and trees were brought together (create) impressive landscapes in the tightest corners.

Owners of the gardens were often government officials attempting to escape from policital life. The Humble Adiministor's Garden is a typical example of Suzhou classical gardens. It was (original) set up by Wang Xianchen, scholar and minister in the Ming Dynasty. He resigned from the court and returned to his hometown. As a Taoist, he respected nature enjoyed the harmonious relationship with nature.

The sound of the music floated through the ruins of the school corridor. Its 1 melody filled the empty classrooms. I put all of my sorrow and pain into the music I played on the piano, which magically 2 the air attack. As I gently struck the 3, horrible scenes kept flashing through my mind.

Like millions across the city, I woke up to the sound of the 4 last night. I remembered waking up, my body trembling with 5. I just hid behind the couch and 6 my head with my hands. I could hear the terrible screams and cries. On the street, many 7 in panic without warm clothes overnight, some still wearing just their pajamas.

The next morning, I looked out of the window and saw the 8 of my school. Although my family had already packed necessary belongings for evacuation (撤离), I decided to help clean the classrooms where I had studied for the last 10 years before leaving. I wasn't 9 to come to the school at first, as I worried that there could be more dangers. But thinking of the fact that the place where I had my most vivid childhood memories was a bomb crater, my fear turned into 10.

It was the war that left millions of children without 11 to education, security and a happy childhood. What was supposed to be a place of 12 and hope became a shaky and 13 shell. Only the piano was left behind, which I had planned to play at my graduation ceremony. But the war 14 any hope of celebration.

Finishing the song, I silently stood up and slowly walked away. "How I wish my school could be 15 soon. I really want peace to come. I will work on my knowledge harder. This is my frontline fight." Whispering these words to myself, I waved goodbye to my school.