Our house was across the street from a big hospital, so we rented (租) our empty upstairs rooms to outpatients (门诊病人). One evening, there was a 1 at the door. I opened it to see a truly sick-looking man.

His face looked terrible—it was swollen (肿胀的) and red. Yet his voice was 2 . He told me that he came for treatment and that he'd been searching for a spare room since noon, but no one would give him one 3 his face.

For a moment I said nothing, but he said he would be 4 to just sleep on the hallway. I agreed.

The old man had a huge heart inside his tiny body.  He told me that he fished for a living to 5 his daughter, her five children, and her crippled (残废的) husband.

He didn't complain while telling 6 his story. He was grateful that he didn't feel any 7 from his disease, which was seemingly a form of skin cancer (皮肤癌).

The next morning, he said, "Can I come back and stay the 8 time I need treatment?" I told him he was welcome to come again.

On his next trip, as a 9, he brought a big fish and some large oysters (牡蛎). In the years that he stayed with us 10, there was never a time that he did not bring us gifts like these.

My neighbor 11 me that I could lose potential (潜在的) renters by putting up the old man after he left the first morning.

Maybe we did 12 renters once or twice. But if only they could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been 13 to bear (忍受). I know our family always will be 14 to have known him. From him, we learned 15 it was to accept the bad without complaint and the good with gratitude (谢意).

It was September. I had just entered Grade Six. As a shy boy, I chose to be all alone reading books during the breaks while most of my classmates were eager to make new friends. And I was doing well until the third lesson on the first day.

A teacher had us fill out a questionnaire (问卷) with "get to know you" questions. I thought she would read them privately, so I felt safe to share who I was. However, after the teacher collected the papers, she mixed them up and passed them to the class. One by one, we read out the student's name and then our two favorite answers. My paper went to a mean kid. His "favorite answers" of mine were the two worst ones to be read out loud.

The first question was "What's your favorite movie?" While other kids wrote the latest movies, my answer was "The Wizard of Oz (绿野仙踪)." It was a film made in 1939. The next question was "Where would you like to travel?" The others had said "Australia" or "Japan." I wrote, "Wherever a good book takes me." A loud laugh broke out immediately.

My face burned. I stared at my schoolbag. How I wished I could disappear inside it!

But then, something amazing happened. A voice from the back of the room said, "Guys, cut it out!" It was Michael, a popular boy. The room went silent.

Michael then turned to the teacher, "Why are you letting this happen? What is the point if we are making fun of each other?"

Fifteen years have passed since then. I don't remember the teacher or the mean kids. But Michael was the hero in my eyes. I can't forget how it felt when he spoke up for me.

There are some computer programs out there for creating art, such as Photoshop or Microsoft Paint. But you probably wouldn't guess that Microsoft Excel is one of them.

For many of us, Excel is just a type of office software. But for Tatsuo Horiuchi, an 80-year-old Japanese man, it's his paints, his watercolors and his canvas (画布). About 20 years ago, shortly before retiring (退休), the artist decided that he needed a new challenge in his life. So he bought a computer and began making beautiful works of art with Excel.

"I never used Excel at work  but I saw other people using Excel to create pretty graphs. So I thought, 'I could probably draw with that,'" Horiuchi says. "Graphics software (制图软件) is expensive but Excel can store on most computers. What's more, it has more functions and is easier to use than Microsoft Paint."

Horiuchi also tried using Word but was limited (限制) to the paper sizing. There is far more freedom for the artist to produce his pieces in Excel. Horiuchi's colorful Excel art deeply describes that of traditional Japanese paintings. It often shows highly detailed sights, along with people, plants and animals.

"I set a goal," Horiuchi says, "that is, in 10 years, I would be able to paint something excellent that I could show to people." And he has certainly achieved that goal.

Since his discovery of Excel's artistic functions and his ability to use them, Horiuchi has got worldwide praise. He has gone on to win competitions with his work. Not surprisingly, he took first prize at the Excel Autoshape Art Contest in 2006. Having made quite a name for himself, the elderly Japanese artist was given a new name — the "Michelangelo of Excel."

Kitchens are considered one of the most dangerous areas of a home, for children and for the elderly. Many more accidents and falls happen in the kitchen. Keeping the kitchen a safe environment isn't always easy, but it can be completed through some steps.

Look at the kitchen with a critical eye and realize that what may seem perfectly harmless to you may be a potential (潜在的) danger to your elderly father. Watch out for dangerous objects that you take for granted. This can mean anything from the cookers to the cleaning objects stored under the sink (洗碗槽). Considering elderly parents, safety is the key point.

As most caregivers of elderly parents know, it's often very difficult for your Mom or Dad to change their habits. However, stress the importance of safety whenever possible. Especially, remind him or her not to place canned (罐装的) goods in the microwave or be careful with knives that just doesn't work. It's up to you to unplug (拔掉…的电源插头) the microwave and to place the kitchen knives well.

Many caregivers of elderly parents can't make such changes because they are afraid of hurting feelings. However, making elderly parent safe in the house, not just the kitchen, is important. As many elderly parents, it may be difficult for him or her to tell between safe and unsafe.

Ensure that any room in the house, especially the kitchen, has safe ways for those using canes (拐杖) and walkers. It's not an easy task, but with a little planning and a developed course of action, you can help make the kitchen one of the safest areas of the house, and not the other way around.

When Coffee Hits Paper

What would you do if you spilled (使洒出) your coffee on your desk? Many of us would quickly begin to clean up the desk and never       (后悔) about it probably. But       (德国的) artist Stefan Kuhnigk, however, thinks differently. He has used coffee stains (咖啡渍) to create his world of art       (疯地).

It all started in 2011. One day, Kuhnigk accidentally spilled his coffee on a piece of paper. Instead of       (扔) the paper away, he looked at the coffee stain for a while. The stain seemed       (痛苦的) to look back at him. The artist picked up his pen and started to draw. About       (三十) minutes later, his first coffee monster was born.

Since then, Kuhnigk has never put his pen down. Over the last nine years, he has       (画) more than 500 monsters. Some of them are lovely. Some have sharp       (牙齿) and look awful. Kuhnigk also       (想像) a short story for each of his monsters. Many people like Kuhnigk's funny creations. They say the monsters and their stories always make them laugh.

So the next time you spill your coffee or something       (别的), don't immediately clean it up. It's your chance to be an artist, too!

COVID-19 is now quickly spreading in the West. In many cities, schools and factories       (close). Charles Randolph, 13, reads the news about the disease every day. He knows many people have no masks       (protect) themselves. One day, the boy asked himself, "How can I make        difference?"

When Randolph was younger, the boy took       (class) in 3D printing. He used to make for himself on the printer. Randolph thought for a while and came up       a good idea: Perhaps he could 3D-print some masks for people        needed them.

Randolph       (find) codes (代码) for masks on the internet. He then       (glad) put them into the 3D printer. It took him about 90 minutes and cost him about a dollar to make each mask.

"The masks are the first meaningful things I've made," the boy says in a       (proud) voice. "Now I'm making more masks and offering them to others."

The boy is also waiting for        great idea to appear in his head. He wants to solve more real-life problems!

Teaching in a Different "Suit"

It's not easy for teachers to make their students listen to them carefully in class, especially third graders. But Verónica Duque does not believe this has to be true.        She recently became famous for a special lesson she had given.

It was a lesson on human anatomy (解剖). To her students' surprise, Verónica showed up with human organs (器官) in a swimsuit!        That made the lesson interesting and successful.

       She happened to see an advertisement for this "strange" swimsuit while she was shopping online. To help her students better understand human organs, Verónica decided to buy the swimsuit and wear it to class.        . Every day, the students are expected to stay with her longer.

A. It turned out to be a good idea.

B. It was printed clearly with all of them.

C. But how did Verónica get this creative idea?

D. She is a primary school teacher in Spain.

What do you think of the teacher, Verónica Duque? (不多于5个词)
      

注意：

1）短文必须包括表中所有内容，可适当增加细节；

2）词数：80—100；

3）短文首句仅供选择使用，不计入总词数。

I've done a survey about whether it is necessary to have online learning. Here are the results.