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A. experts B. pleasure C. funny D. choose E. possible |
Reading for pleasure is the easiest way to become a better reader in English. It is also the most important way. Some students say they don't want to read for . They say they want to use their time to learn the rules of the language and new words. They say that pleasure reading is too easy.
Many say pleasure reading is very important for learning English. Dr. Stephen Krashen, a famous expert on learning languages, says that pleasure reading helps you learn many important things about English. Students learn more grammar and more words when they read for pleasure. They also learn more about good writing. Dr. Krashen tells us that pleasure reading helps each student to learn something for himself. Pleasure reading makes it for each student to learn what he or she needs.
Reading for pleasure is not the same as studying. When you read for pleasure, you your own books, and you don't have to remember everything. There are no tests on your pleasure reading books. Pleasure reading will help you：
•learn how English speakers use English
•read faster in English
•find examples of good writing in English
•learn new words
•learn about the cultures of English speaker
A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and lay around it every day. He climbed up the tree, ate the apples, took a nap in the shadow. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. As time went by, the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy. "I am no longer a kid, I don't play around trees anymore.'' The boy replied, "I want toys. I need money to buy them.'' "Sorry, but I don't have money, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money. The boy was very excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.
One day, the boy returned and the tree was so excited. "Come and play with me, the tree said. I don't have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?" "Sorry, but I don't have a house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house."
So the boy cut all the branches off the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the boy never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.
One hot summer day, the boy returned and the tree was delighted. "Come and play with me!" the tree said. "I am sad and getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" "Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy." So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time. Finally, the boy returned after he left for so many years. "Sorry, my boy, but I don't have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you, the tree said. "I don't have teeth to bite" the boy replied. "No more trunk for you to climb on …," "I am too old for that now." the boy said. "I really can give you anything ... the only thing left is my dying root, the tree said with tears.
"I don't need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years." The boy replied. "Good! Old tree root is the best place to lean on and rest. Come, come to sit down.
There are some easy things you can do to protect the environment and theEarth. Choose ideas from the list or come up with a few of your own.
Plant flowers, grass, or trees.
Whenever you visit a park or abeach,1 what you bring there—keep rubbish in a baguntil you can put it in a dustbin.
Turn off the lights, TV sets2you leave the room. This saves a lot ofelectricity.
Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth.You can save some water by not letting it run. You should3usea glass cup instead of a paper cup because this saves paper.
Keep the doors and windows4 in winter to keep warm air in.
Give your old books and5 toa library instead of throwing them away.
Giveyour old clothes to poor children you know instead of throwing them away.
Use both sides of paper.
Stop pouring6 water into the rivers or lakes nearby.
7all your friends to do the samethings you do to help protect the Earth. You don't have to wait until Earth Dayto do these things. Make every day Earth Day. If everyone protects theenvironment, the world will become much more beautiful.
Some of the world's biggest l trees are the giant sequoias (红杉）in northern California in the USA. They are close r of pines. Many giant sequoias measure more than 60 meters from their roots to their tallest b. The biggest one is an enormous tree which is 83 metres tall and has a trunk more than 31 metres round. Some giant sequoias are about 3,000 years old. The trees are cwith red bark (树皮) which is up to 60 centimetres thick. This p them from fires, allowing them to live longer. Since these trees are so huge, some have had holes made in their bases. These holes are w enough for cars to drive through.
Once a boy wanted to fly. He made a pair of wings. He used some wax (错) to keep thefeathers on the wooden frame. He flew and flew, and flew too close to the Sun. TheSun melted the wax, and the feathers were blown off by the wind. Down came theboy into the ocean.
This is just a story. But it tells us that man has always dreamed offlying. In 1783, this dream came true. Two French brothers invented the hot-airballoon. It rose a thousand feet high.
It took almost 100 years for man to move from the hot-air balloon to thefirst airship. The first airship was invented in the late 1800s. It was apowered (装有发动 机的) balloon.
In North Carolina, less than twenty-five years later, the WrightBrothers flew the first airplane. This first flight, in 1903, lasted less thanhalf a minute! It covered just a few feet.
By the 1960s, man had moved from airplanes to spacecrafts. Today, space craftscan go around the world in less than two hours. Tomorrow. Who knows?
