—____ .They only wanted someone with experience.
—Of course not. _______.
— ____. I'm sure he will grow up one day.
—l guess so.I ____ somebody singing loudly in the next room just now.
—He is not in the office today.I ____ you try calling him tomorrow.
—It must be Brad.He ____ in Nashville，the home of country music，since he was a child.（）
—Whatever your choice is，we are ____ you all the way.
—Exciting？I think ____ of them is exciting.I almost left halfway.
—It should be stored in a cool and dry places，away from ____ sunlight.
—It ____ young people's hope for simple happiness.
—Very serious，though he ____be funny at times.
—Oh，I forgot to turn it off when the telephone rang.
—The little girl wanted to see if she could ____any skills.
On a trip to an island of Canada，my husband asked our taxi driver what made him most proud to be from there. "Our sense of being1 !"He replied with a strong accent. "If your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere，someone will stop to2 ."His words 3 in my mind.Little did I know we were about to 4 that kindness soon.
As we walked and 5 the beautiful sights，two women with sunglasses stopped.They'd heard us discussing different routes （路线） and asked if we'd like 6 .They seemed to be in their 40s，and both wanted to share their 7 information.We listened and took notes in mind8 one of the women asked， "You have a car，right？"
I explained that there were no cars available，so we had to 9 taxis.
"Oh，no!" she said， "You need a car." And then，she said， "Take mine!" My husband and I stared at each other in 10 .
"Why not？" She 11 . "You need a car to get to know all these places."
"But you don't even know us，" I said.
"That doesn't matter，" she laughed.
Finally，we 12 into her car.And then we spent the rest of our 13 discovering different areas of this beautiful island.But it wasn't the groups of whales we saw that made this place so14 ，but the kindness from a 15 that made us realize how different this place really was.Next year there's no doubt where we'll be taking our summer vacation.
| Young Artists Bridge Cultural Divide Through Their Works The 2023 "Chinese Bridge Chinese Proficiency Competition-Calligraphy（书法）and Painting Challenge" received many entries from Chinese language lovers worldwide.The challenge offers a chance for Chinese language lovers around the world to meet new friends，show their artistic skills and have deeper understanding of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting，organizers said. |
| ____ Eight years of studying paper quilling（衍纸工艺）has given Yue Shun the ability to turn scraps（屑）of paper into artworks.Yue added local parts in Heze，Shangdong province to his works and uses special skills to fill them with a 3 D quality.Recently he worked on a project-a large flower basket.To achieve the expected effect，layers of paper rolls were glued together. |
| A Wound Inspires Artisan to Be a Cut above the Rest Yang Li，from the Miao ethnic（民族的）group，created leaf-vein embroidery（叶脉刺绣）three months after a leaf cut her hand.She took in traditional different kinds of embroidery，creating unique art.The veins are processed with over 30 steps，and then embroidered by skilled artisans.A single piece sells for from 1，000 yuan to 10，000 yuan. |
Could you imagine being in a car driven by a computer，not a human？Recently，China has made a big step toward self-driving technology.Since August，2022，driverless taxis can run on roads in Wuhan，Chongqing，Shenzhen…
Why do we develop self-driving cars？Self-driving cars give us many benefits（好处）.They use computers to sense the things around them and make better use of space.This means fewer traffic jams（堵塞） and better parking of cars.For disabled or blind people，self-driving cars can also help them get around more easily.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention，each year more than 135 million people are killed on roads around the world.Many more get hurt.Self-driving cars could reduce road accidents by 90 percent and save governments a lot of money.The main cause of car accidents is human error.By using computers，self-driving cars don't make poor decisions or lose focus like humans do.
But self-driving cars aren't perfect.If something unexpected on the road happens，self-driving cars can't react（反应） as fast as a human driver could.Also，during weather events like heavy snow，self-driving cars would be difficult to see the lines on the road.It might lead to an accident.The car's computer system could also get hacked（非法入侵） by someone，causing it to crash or change its destination（目的地）.
It's clear that there is a lot of work to do to make self-driving cars a common and safe sight（景象） on roads.And China is taking the lead in making this happen.
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Time flies when you play on your smartphone.But when you get down to the real business of work and study，one hour feels like a year.Why are we so attracted by smartphones but easily bored by studying？
It all boils down to something small and hard to see：dopamine （多巴胺）.Dopamine is a "pleasure chemical" that makes people feel good.Our brains give it out when we eat yummy food，after we exercise or when we get a prize.
Compared with studying，playing on smartphones causes our brains to give out more dopamine.For example，checking your phone for a text leads to a 400 percent increase in dopamine.But why？
When we visit social media，we don't know what we'll see next，or who will give opinions about things we post.This "magic of maybe"，makes the dopamine system active.We get excited wondering if we have messages from our friends.When our expectations are met，dopamine is given out.
And to find more dopamine，we continue checking our phones.Studying doesn't provide such magic.Without this excitement，we get bored much more easily.
Can we do something to change that？According to scientists，apps can become less attractive if we turn off notifications or change the screen colors to black and white.We can also set time limits on apps to avoid overusing them.
"As for studying，you could check your progress daily or weekly and reward yourself for it"，said Daniel Wong，writer of The Happy Student， "You could also search for interesting topics connected with your textbook.Use what you've learned to make an influence in the real world.This will make knowledge much more interesting to learn".
discover；hit；shot down；popular；prefer；turned down；rules |
Brennan did some warm-up exercises before his last cross-country race of the year. The season had been long，and he was h that it was almost over. In fact，Brennan didn't ever want to race again. He was tired. Brennan had raced in every 5 K and 10 K around. The（excite）was wearing thin.
"Way to go!" called Coach Thompson. He always e Brennan. In fact，Coach Thompson was a big reason Brennan had stayed the team. He didn't want to let Coach Thompson down.
Brennan finished the last lap （圈） of the course and（head）out for the cross-country part of the race. The race went over the hills and dunes （沙丘） of the desert. It wasn't unusual to find desert（animal）passing by. Brennan was a little depressed （意志消沉的） when he ran. The runners ahead of him were in front by a good distance. He would really have to p himself if he wanted a medal.
Just then，Brennan looked down and saw a snake in the path ahead of him. It was hissing（发出咝声） .
"Oh no!" cried Brennan，and he jumped in the air over the snake. Brennan t off in a sprint （冲刺） like he never had before. Brennan kept running until he got p the leader. Racing down to the finish line，he could hardly believe it.
"Nice finish!" shouted his coach. "How did you m that？I didn't know you had it in you!"
"Just a little motivation （动力），"Brennan smiled. Racing suddenly felt good again.
内容提示：
What activities were held at school？
What is the most unforgettable part and why？
How do you feel about the past year？
Something more about your 2023.
注意：文中不得透露个人真实姓名和学校：词数60-80；标题已给出，不计入总词数。
Looking Back to 2023
