One day a man met Socrates and said, "Do you know what I just heard about your friend?" "1a minute," Socrates replied. "Before you talk to me about2friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment to filter (过滤) what you're going to3. I call it Three Filter Test. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely4that what you are about to tell me is true?" "Well, no," the man said. "5I just heard about it and…" "All right," said Socrates. "So you don't really know whether it's true or not. Now, let's try the second filter, the filter of 6. Is what you are about to tell me about my friend7good?" "No, on the contrary…" "So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about my friend, but you're not certain it's true. You may8pass the test though, because there's one filter left—the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be9to me?" "No, not really." "well," concluded Socrates, " if what you want to tell me10true, nor good, nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
It may be hard to believe, but the American Revolution (革命) —the war that freed the American states from British control—began over a cup of tea. Tea was not the only thing that caused the war, of course, but it played a very big part.
The British people's love of tea is well-known. When the British won control over much of North America in the early 1700s, they brought their tea-drinking habits with them. Tea quickly became the continent's most popular drink. As tea could not be grown locally, just as in Britain, it was shipped into the country—mostly from India.
In the early 1700s, the Britain government made a special deal with the East India Company, an English trading company. They agreed that no other company was allowed to bring tea to Britain or any country controlled by Britain, including America. It was a great deal for the East India Company, since it meant that the company could decide whatever price it wanted for its products. And it always decided on a high price!
In North America, the local people did not like having to pay such high prices. Instead of overpaying for tea from the British, they turned to Dutch traders, who secretly brought tea to the country that was just as good—and much less expensive. Although this broke the law, the American people didn't care. They got the same cup of tea at a much lower price.
The East India Company, however, didn't like this at all. By the 1760s, they were losing millions of pounds each year to Dutch traders—a huge amount of money in a time when £60 a year was considered a good income. Instead of reducing their prices to compete with the Dutch, the company asked the British government for help and the government agreed.
In 1767, the British introduced new laws that increased the prices of all goods which were brought into America. These laws helped make the East India Company even richer and forced local people to pay much more for everything. The American leaders asked the British government not to do so, but the British refused to listen. These unfair laws increased Americans' anger about British rule and the rest, as they say, is history.
At the age of nineteen, Xiliu married Gao Sheng, who had just lost his wife and had a son named Changfu. A year later Xiliu gave birth to a boy Changhu. Before long, Gao Sheng died of illness.
Seeing Changfu didn't often go to school, Xiliu sent him to work with the poor boys as punishment. Changfu could not stand and wanted to return to school, Xiliu refused, and Changfu, like a beggar (乞丐), huddled (蜷缩) himself up with cold. Xiliu said to Changfu, "If you are ready to take a beating of 100 strokes, I'll take you back." Changfu decided that he would take the beating. Aware of Changfu's regrets for his mistakes, Xiliu did not beat him and asked him to continue his studies.
Changhu was a slow-minded child, so Xiliu asked him to quit school and work in the fields.
But Changhu was so lazy that' he often ran away from work. Xiliu then asked him to do business, but he used up all his money in gambling (赌博). At last, Xiliu sent him to luoyang to sell goods, where he was put into prison for using fake (假的) silver. In prison he suffered a lot. Xiliu told Changfu, "I gave the fake silver to your brother on purpose, intending to make him suffer. Now you go and get him out."Back home, Changhu knelt before his mother and finally gave up bad and returned to good.
On a rainy day, about 150 volunteers worked for eight hours to clean up Carson creek that is near a river. About nine tons of trash (垃圾) was taken out from there.
"We did a good job," said Alan Specter, the organizer of the event. "We've planned to come back here one more time, three years from now. Of course, we hope that there won't be so much trash next time."
The trash came in all shapes, sizes and colours: bottles, bicycles, batteries, furniture, clothing, plastic bags, dolls and even a golf bag with a full set of golf clubs (高尔夫球杆).
The dirty and tiring work was done by two volunteering groups—Save the Bay and Watch the Whales. Most of the volunteers came from a local police station and a fire station. And some of them were old people who had already got retired.
That day, it rained a little. All of them wore boots and raincoats. The work took place along a two-mile river with over 500 big yellow trash bags everywhere.
No one found anything that cost much. A five-year-old boy found an earring which he thought might be worth a million dollars. He said he'd sell it. Then he'd donate half of the money to Watch the Whales, and use the other half to buy his favourite ice cream every day.
Many people laughed at the boy's story. However, it was easily found that the environment there did become better.
Teenagers who listen to the same music often have a common look. One hot style in music and fashion is hip-hop. Hip—hop is a type of urban music with a heavy beat. Typical (典型的) hip-hop fashions are loose-fitting street clothes. The style includes baggy (宽松的) pants, sweatshirts, hiking boots, baseball caps (usually worn backward), jackets with sports logos, and expensive athletic shoes. In the hip-hop style, boys and girls often dress the same way.
African-American kids in Detroit and Chicago first made hip-hop fashions trendy (时髦的) more than 20 years ago. They wore baggy street clothes to dance in clubs. Then North American and European bands also began wearing like this. Thanks to the popularity of music videos and films, hip-hop soon became an International fashion.
Teens around the world, from Britain to South Africa to Japan, now wear hip-hop clothing. Seventeen-year-old Melanie Borrow, from Manchester, England, said, "My pride and joy in life are my Levi's jeans." In the United States, teens spend a lot of money on hip-hop fashions. David Bowen, 17, from Evanston, Illinois, has five pairs of hiking boots, each costing around S 100. David said. "They are popular because a lot of hip-hop performers wear them."
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at once interested in millions of all over the country sell out |
One day a man put an ad in most of the newspapers in England. He said that he was a young man with pounds and great knowledge. He'd like to find a girl to be his wife and the girl must be like the one in the books written by Somerset Maugham. Thousands of parents and young girls knew about the ad . Parents all went to the bookshops to look for Somerset Maugham's books. They bought those books for their daughters as presents. Girls tried to get those books to read although they weren't reading. They wanted to know what kind of person the rich man wished for. Before long all the books of Maugham and the writer was known . Who was the rich man? It was Somerset Maugham who put the ad in the newspapers! The ad saved his books and it made him famous too!
I remember when I was growing up, my mum always said, "Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others." It's so true. Friends allow us to enjoy the taste of our success and our joys and comfort us in our challenging moment. They provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I've always looked on friends as the family members. They enrich our lives. As Robert Steven once said, "A friend is a present which you give yourself."
To be a good friend，①成为一个好的听众是很重要的. Hear what your friends say first rather than making conclusions (结论) quickly. Sometimes it is useful to repeat their words back to them. It can help them to realize whether their words were what they wanted to say.
Patience is also important in being a good friend. You know the old golden rule, "Care for others the way you would like them to care for you." The support of a friend during a difficult time could make the difference between success and failure.② Encouragement and confidence are the best gifts that can change a person's life.
We should choose our friends carefully, because they can have a huge effect on our life. As someone told me, "The attitudes of your friends are like the buttons (按钮) on a lift. They will either take you up or down."
1）What is the name of the story and who is the writer?
2）What is the main idea of the story and who are the main characters?
3）Why do you like it?
要求：1）表达清楚，语句通顺，意思连贯，书写规范；
2）文中不得出现真实姓名和校名；3）词数：80左右。
The middle school days provide me with enough time to read some fantastic stories.
