浙江省绍兴市诸暨市浣纱初级中学2020-2021学年九年级下...

A young man was on a train. As the train turned a corner, it 1 down and then a big house came into sight. The house looked 2 different from the grey apartment buildings of the city that everybody on the train turned to look at 3. Some passengers on the train showed great 4 and began to talk about it.

The young man was 5 interested in the house. He decided to 6 at the next station and make his way to the house. When he got there, the 7of the house told him that he was trying to sell the house. 8 no one would buy it, as the noise of the trains passing nearby made it 9 to live in.

The young man decided to 10 the house right then and he spent $30, 000 on it. He used it for 11, as the house faced the railway bend. The 12 had to slow down at the bend, giving the passengers plenty of 13 to look at the house.

The young man went to several big companies and 14 the advantages of placing advertisements on the side of the house, 15, one company agreed to place some ads. The company paid the young man ＄180, 000 for three years of advertising.

In this world, turning disadvantages into advantages is the key to success.

"Please don't travel to Wuhan unless it's absolutely necessary," Zhong Nanshan, a famous respiratory(呼吸科的)expert, reminded the public when the novel coronavirus first hit Wuhan. But despite the danger, he, 84, rushed on an overnight train to Wuhan to fight the disease.

Known as the hero who defeated SARS in 2003, Zhong's image and messages are flooding social media. Many people say they "trust every word of Zhong". He has given Chinese people confidence in winning the battle.

★A great doctor and honest scholar(学者)

Growing up in a family of doctors, Zhong lives by a simple motto(信条): save lives and always be honest. In 2003,when SARS hit China, he volunteered to treat patients and asked his colleagues (同事) to send their most serious cases to him. After months of work, his treatment plan for SARS was adopted(采纳）by China and then the whole world, saving thousands of lives, People's Daily reported.

Zhong is also known for being an honest scholar. In 2003,when authorities(官方)said that the SARS virus was under control, he publicly refuted their announcement. "I couldn't help myself. I said it's not all under control, "Zhong said in a later interview. His honesty won widespread praise from the Chinese public.

★Back to the frontlines

Seventeen years later, Zhong is once again leading an expert team to study the novel coronavirus. Although this new virus is known to be more dangerous to the elderly, Zhong doesn't seem worried about his own safety.

On Jan.18, he took a high-speed train from Guangzhou to Wuhan. Two days later, he became the first expert to make certain that the new virus can be spread between humans. On Jan.29, he and his colleagues spent over four hours online checking five patients who were in serious condition. The next day, he chose the treatment for those patients. Under his guidance, his team developed a rapid test kit(快速检测试剂盒)for the disease that can show results within 15 minutes.

As People's Daily wrote, "the 84-year-old Zhong Nanshan shows his-professionalism as a scholar, courage as a soldier, and a sense of duty as the backbone(脊梁)of our nation."

It's too easy to find ourselves in a mess if we surround(围绕) ourselves with too many things. For our family, with children who have December and January birthdays, the Christmas season can become overwhelming(无法抗拒的) and finally lose meaning and fun. Believe it or not, it's not fun to be surrounded by piles and piles of things. But I love to give gifts. I love to surprise my children and make them happy. I can't help it.

Still, while I'm not above buying one or two very special toys for them, I remain to keep Christmas free. I do this through three types of gifts: consumable(消费型的), charitable(慈善型的), and experience(体验型的). Today, I'd like to share some fun "experience gift" ideas:

Travel

This could be as big as those exciting "We're going to Disneyland! "ads or as small as" We're going to check out a museum in a neighboring town! ". It's fun to go to new places-near or far.

The arts

Give gift of creating or discovering. Whether it is painting a plate, taking a music class or seeing a dance, exploring the arts and creativity can be a wonderful experience to treasure and reflect on throughout the year.

Get moving

Last year, my son received karate lessons as a gift. It has been fantastic! Classes are great. So are trips to an indoor gym or a discovery center. Going on a family hike, a boat ride or a fishing trip is another wonderful way to get active together and make it something special!

Fun with friends

Give your husband tickets to a ball game.    ▲    ,one ticket for him and one for a friend. The choice is limitless. Spending fun time with people whose company we really enjoy is a beautiful gift to give or receive.

How do you like to keep Christmas special and clutter-free?

The Internet is an amazing invention. Because of its getting into almost everyone's life, the world will probably never be the same.

People can log onto the Internet 24/7 in search of whatever they need. An elderly woman who is unable to drive can use the Internet to shop, and even chat with her grandchildren without leaving the house. Collectors no longer have to go to markets or yard sales on weekends to find useful things to add to their collections. All they have to do is log onto E-bay and post a bid(出价).

As a teacher, I have found the Internet is very useful in preparing the teaching plans. The Web has many sites created for teachers to share ideas and exchange information. Perhaps young people get the most from using the Internet. Besides, they can also use the Net for school projects and homework. Being able to express themselves and show creativity on sites like My-Space and Twitter is another big advantage of using Internet.

As a saying goes, "Every sword has two edges." I think that students sometimes depend too much on the Internet. They don't seem to understand that just being on Google doesn't make it a trusted source(信息来源). I cannot count the number of times a student has turned in a paper that contains incorrect facts from sites.

What's worse, chat rooms have become the new playground for bad guys. The Internet gives them the anonymity (匿名) they need to draw the attention of children and lead them to improper conversations and in some cases meeting up with them. Children may also find sites that are improper for them. Even adults can fall prey to (深受……之害) stolen passwords (密码) if they aren't careful about the things they are downloading onto their computer.

Animals are our good friends. We live in the same Earth. Animals and people can't be separated from each other. If there's no animal, we will not live, (也). Animals succeed in making the world (色彩斑斓的). Every animal has its place in the balance of  (自然界). If we destroy a kind of animal, we will have many other problems very soon. For example, when farmers kill a large number of hawks (鹰), the mice will destroy their stores of rice. Because hawks eat mice.(没有) hawks, the number of mice is becoming larger and larger.

But many people don't（意识到) this. Along with the increase of population, they kill lots of(野生的) animals for food, money and other things. They also destroy the animals' living environment. It (包括) living places and food situations.

More and more animals are(濒危的). Giant pandas, a kind of ancient animals which live in the forests and live on(竹子) leaves, are one of them. Thanks to the government, now, they can just live(安全地) in the natural protection zones. And our government has made laws to protect animals.

Protecting animals is the duty of each of us. Let us take action!

People usually eat fruits such as apples, pears and bananas. Strawberries look very nice, but a light pressure can make them out of shape. Nowadays, there are many young people who are just like strawberries. They (easy) break down when they face difficulties. They don't know what  (do) when they are in trouble. They have a common name — strawberry kids. 

 are many students so easy to break down? Parents and schools are a main reason. Parents do almost everything for them in their daily life, while schools care more about their grades instead of  (develop) their personality.

Liu Yue is now 13 years old and he is from Fujian. His mom hardly criticizes (批评) him and he always  (feel) good about himself in daily life. When a teacher criticized him heavily, he got a  (surprise) and felt sad. He began to doubt his ability. And little by little, he hardly had confidence (信心) to face the trouble in his study and life.

Students should do something to make  (they) mentally (精神上) strong. An expert said, "When you are in trouble, don't ask for help right away. You should try to deal  problems first by yourself. I also advise you to take  active part in sports and social activities. That can make you mentally strong."

Growing up is not just a happy process. Pains also go along with it.  is very important to face the pains bravely and learn from them.

Jellyfish and Crocodiles（水母和鳄鱼）

Hi, my name's Ben. My family, that's Mum, Dad and me, live in Broome in Western Australia. Western Australia is about 80 times larger than Italy, but only 1.5 million people live there.    ①    

It has a population of about 12,000. It's right on the coast and is known for its famous Cable Beach, which is 20 km long.

We live in the town in a house with a large garden. When we are free, we drive to Cable Beach and look for a quiet place to swim or to fish. We don't go swimming from October to March because there may be box jellyfish in the water. The box jellyfish is one of the most dangerous jellyfish.

    ②    If you are attacked by one, the best thing to do is to pour vinegar（醋）over the area of your body where you are hurt. That's why we always take a bottle of vinegar with us.

    ③    A year ago I went camping in the bush with my friend Bill and his dad. We wanted to do some fishing and set up camp about 20 meters from a river.   ④     Bill's father told us to get up and we quickly got out of the tent and ran to the car, which was only 10 meters away.

Bill's dad started the car and turned on the headlights. In the light, we could see a big crocodile pulling the tent into the river!