Since the beginning of the time, people have had illnesses and doctors have tried to cure them. In the days when people knew very little about medicine, some very strange and horrible cures were tried. Here are some of the worst.
Toothaches
Ancient Egyptians who had a toothache didn't use to go to the dentist, because there weren't any dentists in those days. So they used to find a dead mouse and put it in their mouth. They left there for a few hours. Did it take the toothache away? Who knows!? But aren't you happy that there's a dentist near you ?
Backaches
A backache is no fun at all. People who suffer from one have a lot of pain. Sometimes it's because a bone in the back is out of position. In ancient Greece, doctors used to cure a backache like this: They tied the patient to a ladder, pulled the ladder up high and then let it fall to the ground. Bang! The Bone went back into the place. Well, that was the idea, but this “cure” probably just made the backache worse!
Baldness
OK, it's not really a disease at all. But men whose hair is falling out are never happy about it ,are they? The ancient Egyptians had the solution. What did they use to do ?They took the fat of a lion, a hippo, a cat and a snake, mixed them together, and then rubbed the mixture into the man's head. Maybe it stopped baldness, maybe not, but the man's head certainly didn't smell too good afterward.
A little boy was playing in his sandbox on a Saturday morning. While he was building roads and houses in the soft sand, he discovered a large stone in the middle of the sandbox.
The little boy pushed and pulled, but every time he thought he had made some progress, the stone tipped(倾斜) and then fell back into the sandbox. The little boy tried his best, but his only reward was to have the stone roll back.
Finally the boy cried. All that the boy's father watched him from his living room window. The father came to the boy and the sandbox. Gently but surely he said, "My son, why didn't you use all the strength that you had?" The boy said sadly, "But I did, Daddy, I did! I used all the strength that I had!"
"No, son," corrected the father. "You didn't ask me." With that, the father reached down, picked up the stone and removed it.
Do you have "stones" in your life that need to be removed? Do you realize that you are too weak to lift them? There is someone who is always ready to give us the strength we need. Isn't it funny how we try so hard to do things all on our own?
Look up in the sky. Do you see any clouds? What do they look like ?Some clouds are fluffy（绒毛状的）and white, like cotton balls. Others are dark, almost black, and make you hold an umbrella. At sunrise and sunset, clouds can look red, purple, or yellow，as if they were colored with crayons. But what are clouds anyway?
You can't reach out and touch the clouds, but you can make your own in a bottle.
You need :
An adult helper
A huge, empty glass container（容器）
A metal strainer（滤网）
Hot water
Ice
Do these:
Step1. Have your helper fill the container with hot water ,leave it there for two minutes, then pour out most of the water, leaving just an inch or two at the bottom of the container.
Step2. It's your turn now. Put the strainer over the mouth of the container. Fill the strainer with ice. Watch the container.
What happened?
A cloud formed in the container! Some of the hot water at the bottom of the container turned into the hot water vapor. The water vapor rose and met with cold air coming off the ice. When the water vapor condensed（凝结）,it formed a cloud. Hot air rises ad carries with it lots of water vapor. The higher the air rises, the more it cools down. Soon the cold air can't hold all the water vapor so it starts turning into tiny water drops, and becomes a cloud.
New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact, they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States.
The cost of shoeing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith's job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse's foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse's leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very strong. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses—for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and, as he puts it, “It's a good way to make a living.”
Plan your time. Be active in school. Talk about problem. Don't be too disappointed if things go badly Expect to work . Do today's work today. |
Your schooldays should be some of the best and happiest days of your life. You shouldn't waste this wonderful opportunity to learn. Here is our advice for you to have a happy school life.
Advice 1:. Don't say things are difficult or boring. Be interested in school life and your school subjects. Join lots of activities. Be quick to put your hand up.
Advice 2:.School is not a holiday camp. If you are not working, you are not learning, and you are wasting your time at school. Teachers can not make everything enjoyable.
Advice 3:. Do today's work today. Do not say you will do things tomorrow. If you get behind the class, it is very difficult to get back in front. You can not finish a race if you rest all the time.
Advice 4: . Sometimes they are only the result of misunderstanding . Don't be too embarrassed to ask for help. You are young. No one thinks you can do everything!
Advice 5:. Don't waste life lying in bed on Saturday morning. Go and play a sport, learn the piano, work on a project, read a book, practice English, or help someone with problems. There are always a lot of things to do.
注意：
①根据以上的内容写一封感谢信，不少于80词。
②说明邀请理由，以及要求的信息。
③文中不能出现考生的真实信息。
Dear Alex,
Next Sunday is the Chinese traditional holiday--the Mid-Autumn Festival.
I hope you can come.……
Li Qiang
