浙江省绍兴市诸暨市暨阳初级中学2020-2021学年九年级下...

Getting into Harvard Law School is not easy for anyone, but Rehan, who comes from a single-parent family, truly 1 it.

Rehan's mother 2 them when he was 8 years old. His father had to do many 3 to support Rehan and his brother. Rehan's high school grades were so poor that he was refused by every 4. So he began to work at Bates Trucking and Trash (垃圾). His workmates said he was 5 and encouraged him to go back to school. The company owner Brent Bates helped make him a 6 of Bowie State University. Rehan worked hard in the state university. 7 the good grades he got, he was able to go to the University of Maryland.

Then Rehan's father had a(an) 8 during his first year at Maryland. As a result, Rehan had to 9 to work at Bates to pay for the medical bills. Instead of dropping out of school, he 10 at 4 a.m. each day to finish his work before class.

Rehan graduated in 2018 and hoped to go to Harvard Law School, but that school came with a high schooling fee（费用）. 11, Carmie McCook, a communications coach, started a GoFundMe page to help Rehan with the 12. The goal was $75,000, but it grew to over $185,000 in the end.

Rehan was finally 13 by Harvard. What makes his achievement even more amazing is his 14 journey to this moment and the kind people who 15 him all the way.

Playing with apps on smart phones is very common among young people. Let's try some special apps and enjoy them.

With most people staying at home because of COVID-19, livestreaming (直播) has taken off. It is not only fun and interesting, but has also provided a new stage (舞台) for traditional culture artists.

On video sites and apps such as Douyin and Bilibili, many traditional artists are trying livestreaming for the first time. Some of them sing Peking Opera, some show their hand-made products, while others perform classical Chinese music.

Li Jun is a laosheng (old male role) Peking Opera performer with the Shanghai Jingju Theater Company. During the outbreak, the 59-year-old started livestreaming for the first time. Unlike performing on a formal stage, Li uses everyday places as his stage, including his backyard, study room, and even the kitchen. Besides singing, Li also teaches viewers about Peking Opera in a humorous way. People can ask him questions and get answers directly.

"Livestreaming has brought this elegant (高雅的) art down to earth," one viewer said. "It allows young people to get closer to this traditional art and learn more about it." Up to now Li has more than 6,000 fans on Douyin, while one of his videos has received 42,000 views on Bilibili.

Other kinds of artists also see livestreaming as a new opportunity. On March 26, the third China Huafu Day, Bilibili livestreamed a fashion show. Performers presented beautiful clothes in traditional Chinese styles, including those from the Wei (220-265), Tang (618-907) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties. During the show, viewers not only enjoyed seeing the clothes but also watching how performers use ancient styles of make-up. For example, one blogger taught people how to draw the guiye eyebrow (桂叶眉) which was a typical make-up style during the Tang Dynasty.

As Guangming Daily noted, livestreaming has created a new way in which traditional culture can be kept alive.

A new coffee culture is forming in and around San Francisco, California. A growing number of coffeehouses there are stopping using paper cups. Instead, they are using glass cups or creating "bring your own" cup rules. The movement started among neighborhood cafes in an effort to cut down waste. Now it is receiving support from large businesses in the city—and around the country.

The Blue Bottle coffeehouse company, which uses about 15,000 to-go cups each month at its 70 shops across the U.S., is starting small with plans to stop using paper cups at two of its stores in 2020. The move is part of a promise to produce "zero waste" by the end of next year. Customers will have to bring their own cups or pay $3 to $5 for a reusable cup. They can keep the cup or return it to get their money back. The company's manager Bryan Meehan said, "We expect to lose some business. We know some of our guests won't like it—and we're prepared for that."

Kedar Korde, a small cafe owner, has stopped using paper and plastic cups since September. He decided to make the change after his 9-year-old daughter's school cleaned up waste at Lake Merritt, near his cafe. The students found his cafe's throwaway cups in the water. "We're a small coffee shop. We're not going to save the world," Korde said, but, he added, "I don't want to see our cups in the lake any more."

Today's to-go cups for hot drinks are not only made from paper. They also have plastic (塑料) to prevent leaking. This makes them hard to recycle (回收利用) . However, it is not possible that large national food and drink companies will stop using throwaway cups completely or ask all customers to bring their own. So people are looking for other solutions. Starbucks and McDonald's paid $10 million to develop the "single-use cup of the future." The result is expected to be recyclable and to break down (分解) naturally.

Green invaders (入侵者) are taking over America. Not invaders from space, but plants! You might not think of plants as dangerous, but in this case they are becoming a great threat (威胁) to the nature's food chain (食物链) . The invaders are plants brought here by people from other countries to make gardens and yards look pretty. Now there are so many of those plants, they are crowding out the native plants that have lived here since before human settlers arrived.

And that's a problem, says Dr Doug Tallamy, an insect expert at the University of Delaware. He explains that almost all the plant-eating insects in the United States eat only certain plants. Monarch butterfly caterpillars (幼虫) , for example, eat milkweed. If people cut down milkweed and replace it with another plant, the butterflies will have no food to be alive. But the trouble doesn't stop there. When insects can't get the right plants to eat and they die off, then the birds don't have enough bugs for their meals. Tallamy points out that almost all migrating (迁徙) birds depend on insects to feed their young.

"We can't let the plants and animals around us disappear," says Tallamy. "The way to protect them is to give them food to eat. But when we plant non-native plants, we are breaking the food chain, because then we don't have the insects the birds need to live." That's bad for the Earth. We need different kinds of living things to keep the planet healthy and beautiful.

The good news is: garden centers sell native plants. "Just google 'native plants' and your location, and you can find out which plants really belong where you live," says Tallamy.

Mark had been a hard-working student. But in high school he made friends with some bad guys and changed. Neither did he work hard,  (也不) listened to his parents. Finally he  (不及格) in one subject. Inside he sensed a strong  (悲伤) but never talked to anyone.

One day, the headmaster met him by the fireplace. They  (保持不变) silent for 10 minutes. Then the headmaster took out a burning piece of wood and put it in the soil. It kept  (加热) for a while and then went out. The headmaster said  (耐心地), "Son, staying out for some time didn't make it useless. Let me put it in the fireplace again." Of course, it started burning again.

The headmaster  (继续), "Mark, you are just like that piece of wood. Earlier you were an excellent student. Then you fell into bad company. However, that wood found its  (价值) again after being put back in the fire. In the same way, you can become one with great achievements."

Hearing that, Mark  (后悔) what he had done and made up his mind to make his future. Two years later he was admitted to Princeton University and everyone was  (骄傲的) of him.

The Great Wall of China is one of the greatest  (wonder) of the world. In 1987, it  (list) as a world cultural heritage（世界文化遗迹）by UNESCO. The Great Wall winds up and down across deserts, and mountains, covering about 6,700 kilometers  the east to the west of China.

In ancient China, many people built walls around their countries (protect) their land. Later, Qinshihuang, the emperor of the Qin Dynasty, had the walls joined up. project cost much money and thousands of people lost (they) lives because of hard work. On top of it, it is wide enough for five horses or ten men to walk side by side. Along the wall are watchtowers, where soldiers (use) to keep watch. Now it is one of the (famous) places around the world. More and more tourists have come to know the famous Chinese saying — "He does not reach the Great Wall is not a true man." People still wonder the ancient Chinese people built the wall without modern machines.

Creating a network of friendly relationships in your community can give you a greater feeling of happiness. Here are some simple ideas to build a better community.

Step outside your house

Sometimes, you have to leave your house to make things happen, but you don't have to go far. Meet neighbors while getting your mail or planting flowers. Try walking to a nearby shop instead of driving.    ①  .

Create a community garden

If you have a common grassy area, you can create a community garden.    ②   . Often a neighbor with some gardening knowledge can organize the work.

   ③    

See a new neighbor move in? Pay a visit with a fruit basket, cookies or a bottle of wine and a welcoming note. It also puts you in a better position when you need to borrow a cup of sugar or have someone water your plants while you're away.

Put up a book-lending cupboard

    ④   . A library cupboard may look like a big mailbox with a clear glass door and books inside. You can leave a book or take a book home to read.