Brittany Amano wants to make sure every child in the US has enough to eat.
Brittany Amano, now 18, knew how it felt to go hungry. Her mother tried to find a 1 in Honolulu, Hawaii to support the family. Her grandmother helped out as much as she could. But the family 2 had to depend on a local food bank to live on, and for that she was 3 .
When they lost their home, Amano's family had to live in a friend's basement （地下室）. “I could feel how hunger and homelessness 4 my family.” Amano told a reporter from TFK. “The experience made me want to give 5 to others in the same situation.”
In fourth grade, she and some of her friends started a good project. They 6 $ 700 and collected 800 pounds of food. 7 twelve, Amano set up the un profit （非营利的）group Hawaii's Future Isn't Hungry. She hoped to raise $ 10,000 8 she finished high school. She ended up raising more than $ 500,000 in four years.
With the 9 collected, the nonprofit group, now called The Future Isn't Hungry, can offer fresh fruits, vegetables, and other 10 foods to school kids on Fridays. This is to make sure that the kids and 11families have enough food to get them 12 the weekend. So far, the effort has helped more than 750,000 people.
In the fall of this year, Amano will 13 Duck University, in North Carolina on a full scholarship. After that, she plans to return to 14 the city that gave her so much. “It doesn't matter if you help one million people 15 just one person,” she says. “The smallest action can make a huge difference.”
Leon was a postman. Every day wake up and feed his 37 cats. Leon didn't really want 37 cats, but one by one they had appeared on his doorstep, and Leon had taken them in.
Every day, after feeding the cats, Leon would collect the mail from the red postboxes in the village and take it home. “If only I had 37 helpers instead of 37 cats, my job would be so much easier, ” Leon thought. Just then, the cats started meowing for their dinner. That gave Leon an idea. That night, Leon worked late making 37 cat-sized postal backpacks. Then, he went around to each postbox, putting up signs that read: postbox closed! Please use the postal cat service.
The next day, Leon put a backpack on each cat and dropped off the cats around the village. Leon knew that the cats would be happy walking around all day. He also knew that they would always come home for dinner. Leon spent the day relaxing, waiting for his helpers to return. Leon was right. The cats did return, but they did not bring home many letters. Some got the letters wet. Some bit off the corners of the letters. Some even lost their backpacks. “”Cats are just too unreliable（不可靠的）,” Leon thought.
Just then, a strange sound came from the outside of Leon's door. A dirty dog was waiting to be invited inside. That gave Leon an idea.
Luca Gramberini has been scuba diving since he was a kid. His family owns a scuba company. For the past three summers, Luca has added gardening to his underwater activities. He helps run Nemo's Garden, a project to grow plants in the sea.
From May through September, Luca and other divers are working on Nemo's Garden in the Mediterranean Sea, 150 feet from the coast of Noli, Italy. Five large balloon-like objects, called biospheres（生物圈）, hold plants such as beans and strawberries. The biospheres are filled with air and placed 20 feet below the surface. “My father came up with the idea because he loves gardening very much,” Luca said.
According to Luca, the sea is a good place to grow plants because underwater temperatures remain stable, changing little from day to night. The biospheres act like greenhouses. Inside the air-filled biospheres, fresh water keeps evaporating（蒸发）, providing the plants with a good environment to grow in. “We have already seen the plants, grow faster and better,” Luca says. “And there are fewer storms that can knock down the biospheres during the summer.”
Luca hopes Nemo's Garden will provide a new way of growing crops. “There is not enough land on the Earth,” he says. “And in many developing countries, bad conditions make it difficult for crops to grow.”
Though the project has just started, Nemo's Garden has achieved success and is moving to different areas. “We're going to try growing other plants.” Luca says. “We hope to set up biospheres in other countries. There are many possibilities.”
Some English words have more than one meaning. These are called multi-meaning words.
Multi-meaning words have the same pronunciation with different meanings. For example, let's look at the word “ball”. You could have a “ball” which means you would have a good time. You could toss a “ball” which means you throw an object. You could be on the “ball” which means you know what is happening. You could go to a “ball” which means a dance.
______Take the word “can”. You “can” ride a bike which means you are able to ride a bike. You have a “can” of soup which means the soup is in a round-shaped holder. You can do the “can-can” which is a dance from the 1920s. And you might get “canned” if you do a poor job at work, which means you might lose your job.
How about “fly”? You can “fly” an airplane or you can hit a “fly” that is on your food in your house. Or, you can “fly by the seat of your pants” which means you don't make a plan before taking an action. And, you know that the “fly” of a zipper（拉链）is the top part of the zipper.
There are hundreds of words that are multi-meaning words. The word “set” has more meanings than any other word in the English language. When you have time, why don't you try to think of all the ways the word “set” is used?
If you look at the title of this book Can a Fly, Fly? ... you know that the answer is “Yes” because you have seen an insect named a “fly” go up in the air and move around through the air…which is what “fly” means. Can a Fly, Fly? Of course, it can!
Once, Louis the Twelfth, the King of France, happened to walk into the kitchen of his palace. There he found a small boy busy at work and singing happily.
The boy had bright eyes, and a happy, sunny face, and his looks and manners pleased the king. With a smile Louis asked him his name. He replied that his name was Simon. In answer to further questions, the king learnt that the boy was an orphan; both his father and mother were dead.
“Are you content（满足的）to do this kind of work?” the king asked, pointing at the bowls which the boy was washing. “Are you willing to spend your time in the kitchen when so many of the others work upstairs?”
“Why not?” answered the boy, with a twinkle in his eye. “I am doing as well as the best of them. The king himself can do no better.”
“Indeed!” said the king, no little surprised at the boy's words. “How do you know that?”
“Well, sir, the king lives, and so do I. I am content with my life. Can the king say that he is content with his life?”
Louis walked away, his mind full of strange, sad thoughts. No one knew better than he did that kings seldom feel content.
The next day, much to Simon's surprise, he was called before the king. He was still more surprised when he found that his visitor of the day before was Louis himself. The king talked with him about many things, and found him to be a very quick and clever boy.
After that Simon was made to serve the king directly. Step by step, he rose from one important task to another, until he became one of the best soldiers of that time. He is known in his history as General La Roche, and considered as one of the greatest men of France.
If Simon had not, early in life, learnt to be content with his life, he might never have been given those chances. The king did not want people who were always unhappy because they did not have as good a place as some others. You cannot too soon learn that only those who are content are happy.
① He served the king directly. ② He found the visitor was the king.
③ He became one of the best soldiers. ④ He had a chat with a visitor in the kitchen.
⑤ He is a well-known man in French history.
among jacket discover main necessary |
Alison Lapper, a very unusual painter, paints pictures for a living. She doesn't use her （手）when she paints. She uses her mouth! Alison was born （没有）any arms. Her physical problem caused her to spend the first （十七）years of her life in a hospital. But this didn't stop her from making her dreams in life come true. She （认识到）that even though she was disabled, she could express herself as freely as （正常的）people. This was what got her to start drawing paintings.
Although Alison lives （十分）a different life from others, she believes that she can （成功）as others. Her paintings are excellent and they do not look like they were drawn by （某人）who used her mouth. Alison has become a symbol of （勇气）. Her active way of living has encouraged many disabled people around the （世界）and will continue to do so in the future.
Dear Auntie Em,
Great news! Mrs Mumford just told me I had been chosen as one of the school (student) to visit the University of Cape Town in South Africa this summer! She said the program (design) for some of the brighter teenagers to experience a different culture. a good chance!
The only problem is: mom and dad (simple) won't let me go. They said it was dangerous for me, a girl, (travel) alone. But my guess is that they think it too expensive. I (keep) telling them I had been on a plane on my own before. They needn't worry about (I) because this trio would be almost the same as that time when I had visited you in Texas. ，they just won't listen!
Will you help, Auntie Em? It will be very important experience to my personal growth.
Love, (and love you even (much) if you manage to make mom & dad agree with me.
阅读下面有关企鹅活动的周期表，在短文的空白处填入或选择恰当的词，完成对其活动的介绍。
The Penguin Calendar
The chart above shows five activities of penguins over a period of one year, month by month. They are hole staying, nest building, , chick raising and moulting. The penguins stay in the most of the year, from January to October. In July, they begin to build nests, just (before/ after) they lay eggs. Chick raising lasts five months, from September to the next . After chicks come out of the eggs, they begin to lose their baby hair, which is called moulting. It usually takes about months, from February to May.
英语课上，你们开展了一次以”What can we do to make home a happier place?”为主题的讨论，同学们把自己的想法写在卡片上。请结合卡片信息，用英语写一篇短文，向校刊Englihsh Learning 投稿。
注意：1）短文必须包括卡片所给的信息，适当发挥，并谈谈自己的想法。
2）文中不得出现与你身份相关的信息。
3）词数：80~100。短文首句仅供选择使用，不计入总词数。
短文首句：In our English class, we had a discussion about what we can do to make home a happier place.
