Mr. Chen was puzzled（闲惑的）and a little suspicious（怀疑的）. He sat in the office and studied a letter apparently（看似）from Mrs. Wang, the mother of one of the pupils in his class. There was something about it which worried him.
"I don't understand," he said to himself. He shook his head as he circled four mistakes in the letter. "Mrs. Wang is an educated woman. She wouldn't make mistakes like these even if she did write the letter in a hurry. "Mr. Chen took out his class register(名册)and said to himself, "Yesterday was Thursday. Let me see. Ah, yes. I thought so. David was absent on Thursday last week and the week before. Hm. Why is he so often absent on Thursdays? Was he really ill yesterday? Could it be a coincidence(巧合)?”
Mr. Chen stared at the register as if the answers to his questions were hidden in it somewhere. Then he took out a copy of the timetable(课程表)for his class.
"I wonder." he told to himself. "I wonder if his absence has anything to do with one of these lessons."
Mr. Chen looked at the subjects for Thursday: Mathematics, English, P. E. He thought about P. E. He knew that the pupils had P. E. twice a week: once on Monday, when they usually played games on the school field, and once on Thursday, when they did exercises in the gym.
Mr. Chen glanced round the office to find Mr. Long, the rather strict P. E. teacher, but he was not there.
"I'd better have a chat with Long and David, "Mr. Chen thought.
The bell rang. "I can't do anything right now," Mr. Chen thought. "It's time to go to Class 2. I'll do it later on."
Mr. Chen picked up his books and walked off to teach Class 2.
Later, on Friday, Mr. Chen spoke to Mr. Long, the P. E. teacher. Mr. Long agreed that it seemed strange for David to be absent so often on gym days. They thought about it for a while.
"David is a good athlete(运动员)," Mr. Long finally said, "but he's afraid of heights. I was hard on him once because he wouldn't climb more than a couple of meters up the rope. Do you think that's why he's been absent recently?"
"Yes, I think so," Mr. Chen said. "I'm going to talk to him this afternoon before he goes home."
"Well, I've got a suggestion to make," said Mr. Long. "If he's scared of heights, he'd better come and see me after school. Quite a few people suffer from (遭受) vertigo. I'll be glad to help him."
“That's very kind of you," said Mr. Chen. "I'll get him to come and see you on Monday or Tuesday."
We know people can be nice, but what about animals?
Scientists say that some animals are capable(有能力的)of being nice. Animals that live in groups-like foxes, chimpanzees(大猩猩), and elephants-follow rules. They have to follow rules to get along and to survive(生存). However, animals can act nicely, even when they don't have to. Here are some surprising stories about animal behavior.
Most people usually walk away when someone is unkind to them. Marc Bekoff, a researcher at the University of Colorado, saw a female(母的)red fox do just that. The female fox was unhappy because a male(公的)fox played roughly(粗鲁地)with her. When she walked away, the male fox showed her that he wanted to play nicely. He lowered his head and rolled on his back. The female fox gave him another chance, and this time, he played more gently.
Geza Teleki is a scientist who studies chimpanzees in Tanzania. One day, Teleki hiked far away from his campsite. He didn't have any food. Teleki wanted some fruit from a tree, but the tree was too tall. A young chimpanzee watched him curiously as he tried to get something to eat. The chimpanzee climbed the tree, picked the fruit, and gave it to him!
An elephant in Kenya hurt his trunk(象鼻子). He needed help because he couldn't put food into his mouth. Researcher Kayhan Ostovar watched silently. He saw the hurt elephant show his sore trunk to a healthy elephant. The healthy elephant didn't need any more information. He took a bush and put it carefully into his new friend's mouth.
Hippos(河马)and crocodiles are usually good friends. They hang out together in rivers. But Karen Paolillo, a wildlife expert in Zimbabwe, saw something surprising. One day, a crocodile tried to eat a monkey that was next to a river. A hippo ran quickly to the crocodile and chased it away. Why did the hippo attack(攻击)the crocodile? Paolillo says hippos sometimes protect other animals from crocodiles.
Misunderstandings
A man, wearing dirty clothes, with dirty hair and only 35 cents in his pocket, got on a bus and headed straight for the restroom. He thought that if he hid in the restroom, he could ride to New York without paying. But a passenger at the back of the bus saw him. She tapped(拍)the person in front of her on the shoulder and said, "There's a bum in the restroom. Tell the bus driver. "That passenger tapped the person sitting in front of him. "Tell the bus driver there's a bum in the restroom," he said.
The message was passed from person to person until it reached the front of the bus. But somewhere along the way, the message changed. By the time it reached the bus driver, it was not "There's a bum in the restroom" but "There's a bomb(炸弹)in the restroom. "The driver pulled over to the side of the highway(高速公路)at once and called the police. When the police arrived, they told the passengers to get off the bus and stay far away. Then they closed the highway. That soon caused a 15-mile-long traffic jam. With the help of a dog, the police searched the bus for two hours. Of course, they found no bomb.
Two similar-sounding English words also caused trouble for a man who wanted to fly from Los Angeles to Oakland, California. His problems began at the airport in Los Angeles. He thought he heard his flight announced, so he walked to the gate, showed his ticket, and got on the plane. Twenty minutes after take-off, the man began to worry. Oakland was north of Los Angeles, but the plane seemed to be heading west, and when he looked out his window all he could see was ocean. "Is this plane going to Oakland? "he asked the flight attendant. "No, "she said. "We're going to Auckland-Auckland, New Zealand."
Because so many English words sound similar, misunderstandings among English-speaking people are not uncommon. Most misunderstandings are much less serious. Every day, people speaking English ask one another questions like these: "Did you say seventy or seventeen?" "Did you say that you can come or that you can't?"
Similar-sounding words can be especially confusing（混淆）for people who speak English as a second language. When a Korean woman who lives in the United States arrived at work one morning, her boss asked her, "Did you get a plate?" "No." she answered, wondering what in the world he meant. She worked in an office. Why did the boss ask her about a plate? All day she wondered about her boss's strange question, but she was too embarrassed to ask him about it. At five o'clock, when she was getting ready to go home, her boss said, "Please be on time tomorrow.
You were 15 minutes late this morning." "Sorry," she said. "My car wouldn't start, and…"
Suddenly she stopped talking and began to smile. Now she understood. Her boss hadn't asked her, "Did you get a plate?" He had asked her, "Did you get up late?"
Auckland and Oakland. "A plate" and" up late". When similar-sounding words cause a misunderstanding, probably the best thing to do is just to laugh and learn from the mistake. Of course, sometimes it's hard to laugh. The man who traveled to Auckland instead of Oakland didn't feel like laughing. But even that misunderstanding turned out all right in the end. The airline paid for the man's hotel room and meals in New Zealand and for his flight back to California. "Oh well, "the man later said. "I always wanted to see New Zealand."
Time Management
Do you ever wish you had more time? Everyone gets the same amount of time each day. But here are some ways to use those hours better. As a popular saying says, "Work smarter, not harder."
The most important way to manage your time is to set priorities（优先权）.Also, consider whether or not they are urgent—if they need to be done right away. It can be easy to forget important tasks that aren't urgent, so make time for them.
Decide ahead of time what you're going to do at certain times each day. Schedule times not only to meet people but also to do things alone. Then you can make sure everything gets done.
Are you smarter in the morning, afternoon or evening? Schedule difficult tasks for times you feel good, saving easy ones for when you're tired.
Write down what you need to do and when. I keep two to-do lists: one for the present tasks and one for larger projects I'm working on. And I don't get discouraged by looking at a long list of items I can't finish. I focus on the shorter list of each day's tasks.
When someone wants to give you a task, think carefully. Is it really important enough to spend your precious（宝贵的）time on? Could someone else do it instead?
If you're in charge of running a meeting, keep it short. Reading articles or talking to friends online can also use up much of your time. Don't allow it.
In the end, using time well is about making a good plan and sticking to it.
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A. Think about the time of day you work best. B. That way I can make sure I don't forget anything. C. Figure out（弄明白）which of your tasks is the most important. D. Often, managing time means saying no to things that aren't so important. E. Meetings also tend to be a waste of time, so avoid them whenever possible. |
Mr. Lee, the head teacher of Starlight School, （write）an email to all the teachers and students.
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Dear teachers and students, We are almost at the end of the second term. It (be)a busy term and you al deserve(应得)a break. But there is still plenty happening at school. Please read the following. Classroom change We are fixing the windows in Classroom 6. The work (expect)to take a couple of weeks. In the meantime, all lessons which were in Classroom 6 are now in Classroom 15. Library Please (return)all the books and DVDs you've borrowed from the school library before the end of term. You cannot borrow any books during the holiday, but you can read them in the library. School play This year, the school play is Snowy Days. Students can buy tickets from the entrance of the school. Friends and family are welcome. Pets aren't allowed. If you like, you can hand in your play and we (take)a look. If it is good enough, you can act it out. School trip Mr. Williams (plan)an exciting school trip. Forty students from Year 7 and 8 will go to South America (visit)a school. The school is on top of a mountain. They will make new friends, and learn about new cultures. If you are interested, talk to your teacher before the end of next week. I do hope that all of you have a good break. Remember (bring)your sports clothes with you at the beginning of next term. Best wishes Jack Lee, Head teacher |
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A. Although B. Noiselessly C. As a result D. Sometimes E. prefer to stay F. keep away from G. become silent, watchful and suspicious H. As soon as I. will never see J. However |
There are wild elephants in Malaysia, Thailand and several other countries but most people them. Elephants dislike the hot sun. They in the cool shelter of the jungle, coming out at night to feed on the vegetation on the fringe of the jungle.
they are big animals, elephants can move silently when necessary. When there are no hunters(猎人)near them, elephants often make a lot of noise. They tear up young bamboo shoots and eat noisily. But as soon as hunters appear, the elephants . A big bull elephant stretches out(伸展)his sensitive trunk and moves it round slowly, searching for the scent of his enemy. His large ears protrude from the side of his head and he listens for the slightest sound. he detects(察觉)any danger, the bull taps on the ground with his trunk. Tonk! Tonk! This is the danger signal(信号).the elephants disappear into the protection of the jungle.
an elephant will attack(攻击)human beings, particularly if it is defending(保护)its young or it has been wounded. An angry elephant can trample an enemy to death or pick him up with his trunk and smash his hated enemy on the ground. Sometimes hungry elephants damage
(毁坏)crops but usually they human beings. In recent years, poachers have killed huge numbers of elephants in Africa to get their ivory tusks., many countries have banned(禁止)trade in objects made of ivory., elephants are still in danger of disappearing completely from many countries where they have lived peacefully for thousands of years.
要求: 1）仿照阅读理解第一篇材料写作手法，采用叙述、对话或二者结合的形式续写故事；
2）内容要涉及A篇中的信件、缺课等相关信息以及Mr Chen的建议;
3）观点正确、条理清晰、表达流畅；
4）题目与开头已给出, 不计入总词数。
A Talk with David
At the end of the day. Mr. Chen spoke to David about his absence.
