浙江省杭州市萧山区金惠中学2019-2020学年八年级上学期...

Fryderyk F. Chopin was born in March, 1810 in Poland. He was one of the greatest musicians in the world. In 1831, when he went to Paris, no one knew he could play the piano very well.

At that time in Paris the most popular musician is the Hungarian (匈牙利) pianist Franz Liszt.

One night, at a concert, when Liszt went to the piano and all the people shouted his name. When the worker turned off all the lights in the concert, a wonderful piano concert started. The music was so good that the listeners were all greatly interested.

They kept praising (夸奖) the pianist and thought that Liszt was much talented in playing the piano. It felt like that he had already reached something new in playing the piano.

At last, all the lights were turned on again as the music came to an end. And there stood a young man but not the famous Hungarian pianist Franz Liszt.

Liszt planned all this. When the lights were turned off, Liszt left his chair and let Chopin take his place, so with the help of Liszt and his own talent, Chopin soon became famous.

British people are famous for drinking tea. But brother and sister, Sarah and Bobby Green, became young millionaires when they opened a chain of American-style coffee shops in the UK.

Having the idea

It started when Sarah took a weekend trip to New York to visit her brother Bobby. One evening, in a Thai restaurant, Sarah told Bobby how much she wished she could buy American-style coffee in London. Bobby suggested they started their own coffee shop. Sarah fell in love with the idea.

Doing the research

Back in London, she spent a whole day on the London subway, getting off the train at different stations to taste the coffee. "It was terrible, and I knew there was a gap in the market." So in 1995, they opened their first Coffee Republic shop in central London.

Making it work

The first year was very difficult. British people were not used to the names of American coffees, like latte and macchiato. But being successful was their dream and they were not going to give up. Today, there are many Coffee Republic shops all over the country and the company achieves great success.

Advice for others

Sarah has now written a best-selling book about their experience, called Anyone Can Do It! She hopes it will help other young people to start their own businesses. She says, "If you think you have the energy, then get out and follow your dream."

Almost all cultures celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another year in some ways. Different cultures celebrate the beginning of a new year in different ways, and at different times on the calendar.

In western countries, people usually celebrate New Year at the midnight on December 31^st -- January 1^st. People may go to the party, sometimes dressed in formal (正式的) clothes, and they may drink champagne (香槟) at midnight. During the first minute of the new year, people cheer and wish each other happiness for the year ahead. But some cultures like to celebrate the New Year by walking up early to watch the sunshine better. They welcome the new year with the first light of the sunrise.

Many cultures also do special things to say goodbye to bad luck at the beginning of the new year. For example, in Ecuador, families make a big doll and burn it to show the bad things from the past year are gone and the new year can start. Other common traditions to keep away bad luck in a new year include throwing things into rivers or seas, or saying special things on the first day of the new year. Other new year traditions are followed to bring good luck in the new year. One widespread Spanish tradition for good luck is to eat grapes on New Year's Day. The more grapes a person eats, the more good luck the person will have in the year. In France, people eat pancakes for good luck at New Year. In the United States, some people eat black-eyed peas for good luck -- but to get good luck for a whole year you have to eat 365 of them.

When I was a junior high school student in 1990, God gave me a gift. It was happiness.

One weekend, I went to visit my grandparents in the countryside. On my way home a car ran over me and cut off my1 because of its high speed.

Several days later when I woke up at the hospital, I realized I had to spend the rest of my life 2arms. How sad I felt at that time! Even I was full of tears. 3slowly I knew I had to face the fact and got over it. I couldn't get my arms back even though I 4 every day.

 However, it's easier to 5 than to do. It 6me nearly half a year to get out of the sadness completely. I got so much from my7story. From then on, I could treat my life with a normal mind. But in our daily life, I often see my classmates get 8about little things. They get a bad grade in a test, their bus comes 9, they don't have a mobile phone but 10 have and so on. But I only 11 life. I was lucky to realize from the accident. It is a waste of our life to focus on (关注) what you have 12. We should always think of what we have. So why are so many people unhappy? Someone may say. "My whole life would improve 13 I have a new car." But when you get the car and what 14? For a whole week you are walking on air. Then you go right back to being unhappy.

Happiness depends on (取决于) what we have! It's in our heart. It's a state of mind, even though you own the whole world, you may still feel 15. Happiness comes from mastering the art of appreciating (感激) and taking pleasure in what you really have.

Nowadays Wechat (微信) is more and more popular. I often talk to my English friends on Wechat to help me speak English (good) than before. And I can read lots of (information) on Wechat that can make me know more around. Some news also makes me become more careful. Sometimes I feel Wechat is like mirror that helps me see something (clear). , Wechat brings me some trouble as well. Some friends put photos of the real things on Wechat to tell what they sell is really good. I am angry about (that) advertisements (广告). Because some of them may be not true. As a (say) goes, "Seeing is believe." I know people are cheated (被欺骗) by some news easily. What's worse, some news always asks us (send) it to others. This makes me (comfortable). So I am thinking about never (use) Wechat on my phone again.

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Yours,

 Zhang Mingming