Mary Rodas' parents came to New York from EI Salvador. They lived in an apartment building. A man named Donald Spector lived1the eighth floor of the same building, too. He2a toy company. When Mary was four years old, Donald gave her a new toy. She played with the toy3. She said, "Oh, this is fun!" A few weeks later Donald gave her another toy. She played with it and said, "It looks beautiful4I don't like this toy. It doesn't work." She was a(an)5girl, Donald believed in her and soon they became friends. Four years Donald gave Mary many toys, and she gave him very good6about toys.
When Mary was thirteen, Donald7the little girl a new ball. The ball had a balloon inside it. Mary wanted to8the balloon with water. She wanted to painted the ball crazy9. She wanted to put rice or beans in it also to make it10. The company made these changes and11thousands of the balls.
That Christmas Donald gave Mary an incredible (难以置信的)12. He made her a vice president of the toy company. Her13was to see if the new toys were fun. She worked with new products and looked through many kinds of magazines and books. She had a big salary and14$200,000 a year. In high school she took a red car15her school to her office in New York City. She had to work for 3016a week. She also spent time with her family. Her17taught her that working hard and doing18best is very important.
Today Mary works in a19. She helps students make decisions about their careers. Today the little executive with bright ideas helps students20their future. So Mary felt busy but very happy.
Crystal was a reporter for her school's newspaper, The Red Story. She'd done several different kinds of stories before, but never anything like the story she was about to do. During an interview, the school nurse, Mrs. Jones, had told Crystal that the school had a secret basement (地下室). Crystal felt excited about it and wanted to find out what was in the basement. It could be just about anything! So Crystal asked the newspaper's adviser, Mr. Jackson, if she could do a feature (专题介绍) on the school's basement. He agreed with her that the basement might be a fascinating story, especially since a lot of people didn't even know that it existed (存在).
Crystal told the headmaster she wanted to go down into the basement and the headmaster agreed. So Mr. Jackson and Mrs. Jones accompanied Crystal when she went to explore the basement. They unlocked the basement door, and Crystal and the two teachers slowly descended the dark staircase. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Mrs. Jones turned on the light, and they began to look around.
Crystal soon discovered a large set of bookshelves with a collection of old dusty books on them. "What are those?" she wondered aloud. Neither of the two teachers knew, so Crystal made her way over to look more closely at the books. They turned out to be yearbooks from every year since the school opened. For almost an hour, Crystal, Mr. Jackson, and Mrs. Jones paged slowly through the yearbooks. They joked about the old-fashioned clothes and hair in the oldest books, and they talked about some of the people they knew. All of a sudden, Crystal knew the next feature she wanted to write. These books were the school's story just waiting to be told.
Working on a farm and taking care of crops can be hot, time- consuming and difficult. Engineers have long wanted to build robots to lighten the load. But it has proved a difficult task. Robots that walk or roll along the ground can step on the easily damaged (损坏) crops (农作物) heavily. And they have to stop working when rain turns fields muddy. "Tarzan", however, could deal with some of those problems.
Jonathan Roger is a robotics researcher at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. When it comes to a farm environment, he realized robots would face many problems." Many robots tend to get twisted (弯曲的) together or get stuck," he says. What's more, he notes, "It's very hard to leave them out for long periods without a human helping them."
What if the robot could move above the crops? Jonathan Rogers says, "The sloths (树懒) move from tree branch to tree branch without walking around the forest floor." Then his team set out to design a robot that could swing hand to hand along wires hung above the field. He named their invention Tarzan after the jungle-swinging character in a movie.
Tarzan is not the first swinging robot. Mark Spong, a robotics researcher at the University of Texas at Dallas notes that some teams have built robot that do gymnastics or copy mammals. But he says he admires (赞许) Tarzan for its using swinging movement to save energy and the idea of building a wire structure to move around above crops.
Rogers first predicted that Tarzan could help farmers monitor crops with sensors and cameras. But he also said future robots might take water to a particularly thirsty plant that needed nutritional support. And adding a third "hand" could allow such a robot to harvest fruits and vegetables. Finally the robot could move off the farm and into the city, helping deal with the traffic and security.
There once was a king who wanted to find the answers to what he considered the three most important questions in life. The three questions are: when is the right time for every action, who are the most important people, and what is the most important thing to do? The king asked his men, promising he would richly reward anyone who could answer the questions, but their answers didn't satisfy him. In the end, he decided to visit a wise hermit (隐士) who lived in the woods. The hermit would speak only with common people, so the king put on simple clothes.
When he got close to the hermit's hut (茅舍) , he ordered his bodyguards to wait behind. He went to the place and found the hermit digging. He asked the wise man his three questions, but the hermit didn't answer. Seeing how old and weak the hermit was, the king began helping him dig. The king dug for hours, but the hermit never answered his questions. Just as the king was about to leave, a wounded man came running to the hut and fainted (昏倒) before them. Then the king carried the wounded man to hermit's hut and took care of him. The king was so tired and fell asleep as well. When he awoke, he talked with the man, who said that he had wanted to kill the king but was wounded by his bodyguards. He asked for forgiveness (原谅) and promised to serve the king faithfully.
Afterwards, the king went outside and repeated his questions to the hermit once more. The hermit replied, "If you had not helped me dig earlier, you would have left and been killed by the man. So, the most important man back then was me, and the most important time was when you were digging. The most important thing to do was to be kind to me. When the wounded man arrived, he was the most important person, and saving him was the most important thing. By doing so, you made peace with an enemy." The king finally had his three answers. The most important time is the present, as it's the only time we have the power to act. The most important person is the one you are with, and the most important thing is always to ___________________.
①the most important time ②the most important person
③the most important thing ④the most important place
It happens to all of us. When it is the end of the term, your teacher will give you your report card. You look at it and your heart stops because you realize that your parents are going to be very angry. This is the classic case of a bad report card! There is nothing you can do to change the past. So, what do you do now?
A bad report card is something that almost all the students will experience at least once in their lives. Grades are how most schools evaluate (评价) students and they are pretty important. The problem is that we do not always get good grades we (or our parents) want. After a bad report card, it is important to figure out what to do next.
The first thing to do is to talk to your teacher. Find out how your grades were calculated. Was the problem a bad test, lack of participation (参与) in class, or a failure to complete homework? Next, if the problem is something you can solve on your own (such as not doing your homework), make a promise to change your behaviour (行为) ! However, if you have been studying hard and still got a bad grade, you probably need some help with your classes. Talk to your teacher and explain your situation. He or she will tell you where you can receive the extra help you need. Then, make a careful plan of how you will improve your grades. Write down the plan and have it ready when you talk to your parents. That's a good way to make your parents less angry.
While all parents want their children to get good grades, most understand that not every report card will be perfect. The important thing is that you show your parents you have a plan to improve your grades for next time. Always remember, many of the world's most successful people failed many times before they became successful. They learned from their failures, and you should too!
"BANG!" the door caused a reverberation (回声) . It was just standing there, with father standing on one side, and I on the other side.
We were both in great anger. "Jack! Never set foot in this house again!" shouted father. With tears in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.
The street lights were shining, causing my sad-feeling. I walked about, knowing nowhere to go.
A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me. I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree (无忧无虑的) .
But now ... I don't know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old. We are just like two persons coming from two different worlds. It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened. I walked in the streets. My heart was frozen on this hot summer night. I walked on, there were fewer and fewer people on the streets. When I finally reached the apartment block in which I lived, I saw that the light was still on.
I thought to myself: "Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?"
In fact, it was nothing. Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps. Perhaps he thought they were useless. I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps.
All the lights were off except father's.
Dad was always like this. Maybe he didn't know how to express himself. After shouting at me, he never showed any moments of regret. However, after an argument he has the habit of creeping up my quilt (盖被子) while I am sleeping. He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature.
The light was still on. "Am I wrong?" With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been. At last, I decided to open the door. As soon as I opened the door, tears ran down my cheeks. I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all. Love -it is second to none.
a. I opened the door and went into the house.
b. Sadly I ran out into the street.
c. I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit.
d. I walked about in the street without any aim.
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main guess necessary between twenty |
"The more, the merrier (愉快的)."You may have heard the old saying. It's usually (真实的) , but not for travel. When it comes to travel, I say, "The more, the messier."
I first made the plan about the travel a few years ago. I bought the (最便宜的) airline ticket I could find: the Philippines. It turned out great! Once, I went on a long hike and (错过) the last bus back to town. No problem! Because I was traveling alone, I was able to ride with some Swiss tourists who only had one (空的) seat in their car. Traveling alone, I was never really alone at all. It was easier to meet people. I (交际) with everyone I met.
I can really understand why people like to travel alone. It's easier to plan. Just pack your bag and go (直接地) to your dream place. If you go with other people, you'll have to think about your time and (钱) . Besides freedom, for some people, solo travel is a journey for the mind and soul (灵魂). They believe solo travel helps them (避免) different kinds of problems of daily life and (社会的) activities. "I need peace. I need quiet,"" said Suzanne Joinson in the Telegraph.
"And most of all, I really, really need to be alone."
US (作家) Henry Rollins once said: "Loneliness adds beauty to life. It puts a special burn on sunsets and makes night air smell better."
There was a famous scientist who made several important discoveries. One day he (ask) how he was able to be so creative. He (reply) that it all came from an experience he had with his mother when he was 2 years old. He was trying to take a bottle of milk out of the refrigerator. But the bottle was too slippery (滑的) and he dropped it. kitchen floor was covered in milk.
When his mother came into the kitchen, instead of (shout) at him or punishing him, she said, "Robert, what a great and wonderful mess you have made! I have never seen such a huge puddle of milk. Would you like to play in the milk a few minutes before we clean it up?"
he did. A few minutes later, they cleaned it up together. Then his mother said, "This was a failed experiment on to carry a big bottle of milk with two tiny hands. Let's go out in the backyard and fill the bottle with water to see if you can find a way to carry it without dropping it"
The little boy learned that if he held the bottle at the top near the lip with both hands, he could carry it (success). What a wonderful lesson!
The scientist then added that it was at that moment that he knew he didn't need to be afraid to make (mistake). He learned that they are just opportunities (机会) to learn something (good) and faster which is, after all, what scientific experiments are all about. Even if the experiment doesn't "work", we can still learn something valuable from it.
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词数:80~100;短文首句仅供选择使用，不计入总词数。
Sunday, March 8th, 2020 Rainy & cloudy
It has been almost a month since the online lessons started. As I stay at home all day, I finally realise it is not easy for Mum and Dad to balance work and family. I really want to help them do some cleaning and cooking, even look after five-year-old Alice. But they would rather see me study all the time and do all housework on their own. They won't listen to me and I hate to argue with them. What can O do? Maybe ... O had better write a letter to tell them what I think …
(词典: balance 平衡 would rather宁愿)
写作要点:have enough time for study relax myself while looking after Alice
practise life skills...
Dear Mum and Dad,
I know you are worried about my study, so I am writing to tell you what I really think. …
Love,
Alan
