江苏省泰州市姜堰区第四中学2020-2021学年八年级下学期...

—Yes. I have ________ changed it.

— He _____to New York on business. He _______ the airport at five in the morning.

—Well, I have many hobbies, ___ drawing, swimming and collecting stamps.

— ______, and he doesn't know what a kite is until now.

— He usually uses it ______ a game.

  —Oh, it's so exciting that I can't stop ______ the kite.

— Yes. I'm planning to ______.

—She _______ a letter from him since last Friday.

—         You can't find better beef in any other restaurant.

—____. That's what friends are for.

When I was young, I went to a boarding school (寄宿学校)in Edinburgh. It was far from home because I 1 on an island in the north of Scotland.

It was a music school, and I studied the 2. At the end of the 3, we all packed our bags and our instruments (乐器)to go home for our 4 Most kids went by train or bus. Some were 5 by their parents. But I had to go home by ferry(渡船)—14 hours overnight on the sea.

One summer, after packing my suitcase and violin, I said 6to my friends. I took the train to the ferry terminal（渡船码头）and then 7the ferry. But when the ferry8moving. I realized(意识到) a terrible thing! I9my violin on the train! Oh no! What should I do?

What would my dad say? He'd be really 10! I was so afraid that I didn't sleep all night. The next morning, I got off the ferry to meet my dad. After I told him 11, he laughed. I looked at him and couldn't believe 12. Why was he laughing？

I always had a label （标签） in my violin case 13my address (地址)and a telephone number. My dad told me, "A cleaner found your violin on the train and took it to the police. They14me and put it on a plane. It arrived an hour ago."15, my violin was safe. I was so happy!

Do you like chocolate? Maybe most people do. A box of it can be a great gift. Buy one for a friend and give it as a surprise. See how happy that person gets.

Say you just got a box of chocolate. Which piece do you pick first? A man has studied people's choices. He says they tell something about the person. Do you choose a round piece? You are a person who likes to party. Do you choose an oval (椭圆形的) one? You are a person who likes to make things. Picking a square chocolate shows something else. The person is honest and true. You can believe in him or her.

What kind of chocolate do you pick? Maybe you like milk chocolate. This shows you have warm feelings about the past. Dark chocolate means something else. A person who chooses it looks toward the future. What about white chocolate? Would you choose it? If so, you may find it hard to decide things. Some people like chocolate with nuts (果仁). These are people who like to help others.

Do you believe these ideas? Can candy tell all these things? It doesn't really matter. There is one sure thing about eaters of chocolate. They eat it just because they like it.

Do you know Miyazaki Hayao(宫崎骏)? He is a Japanese manga artist(漫画家). Even if you haven't heard of Miyazaki Hayao, you must know his cartoons. One of his most popular cartoons is Spirited Away. It was such a successful cartoon that it once won the Oscar Award for the best cartoon.

He is not only a manga artist, but also the greatest maker of animated(动画的)films. Many famous people in Hollywood are his fans, for example, James Cameron—the director of Avatar.

Miyazaki Hayao doesn't finish a story before he starts a film. He and his team don't even know the ending of the story. They just work on the film as it develops.

Miyazaki Hayao loves all of his films very much and he regards them as his children. When a foreign company wants to release(发行)his film, Miyazaki Hayao doesn't allow anyone to edit them.

When we talk about Miyazaki Hayao's films, we must also talk about Joe Hisaishi(久石让). Joe Hisaishi made music for nine of Miyazaki Hayao's films.

    Henry was a carpenter（木匠）of our village. Once I asked him to make a dining table for my wife. He made it just the right size to fill the space between the two windows. When I arrived home that evening, Henry was drinking a cup of tea and writing out his bill for his work.

My wife said to me, quietly, "That's his ninth cup of tea today." But she said loudly, "It's a beautiful table, dear, isn't it?"

"I won't decide about that until I see that bill." I said.

Henry laughed and gave me his bill for the work. It said：

BILL

One dining table June 10, 2020

Cost of wood ＄17.00

Paint＄1.50

Work，8 hours（1 an hour）＄8.00

Total:＄36.50

When I was looking at the bill , Henry said , "It's been a fine day，hasn't it? Quite sunny."

"Yes," I said. "I'm glad it is only the 10th of June."

"Me too,", said Henry. "You wait—it'll be a bit hotter by the end of the month."

"Yes. Hotter—and more expensive. Dining tables will be 20 more expensive on June 30th, won't it, Henry?"

Henry looked hard at me for half a minute. There was a little smile in his two blue eyes. I gave his bill back to him.

"If it isn't too much trouble, Henry," I said, "Please add it up again. You can forget the date."

I paid him 26. 50 and he was happy to get it.

While the start of a new school year is always exciting, this year was even more so for some students at White Cloud Primary School. They became the world's' first kids to be taught by an electronic teacher. This electronic teacher is not a human-like robot walking around the classroom. Instead, he is a computer-created head that appears, when needed, on students' computer or phone screens. His name is Bill.

Created(创建) by Technology Company Smart Machines Bill is able to show human-like behavior. He is designed to reach special program about environmental-power created by the sun and wind. This program, started in 2005, used to be taught by human teachers.

Just like human teachers, Bill is able to respond(回复) to the students, questions and opinions about the topic at once. Thanks to computer cameras, he is also able to see and react to students' physical actions. For example, if student smiles at Bill, he responds by smiling back. This two-way exchange helps get the students' attention. More importantly, it allows the program developers to improve Bill's behavior and knowledge base when needed.

The program has been a great success according to Smart Machines spokesman Robert Frost. Frost says, "What is interesting to me is the children's reaction to Bill. He really capture(赢得) their attention. "Frost thinks kids don't find the experience of being taught by smart machines as strange as older people because they have grown in a time of computers and smart phones.

It is doubtful, however, that human educators will lose their jobs to Bill any time soon. For one, this talking head's knowledge base is not large. More importantly, even the smartest computer programs can't guess and react(作出反应) to all the unexpected situations that educators face daily. Bill's future might be as "personal tutor（家庭教师）， providing kids with one-one-on-help for different subjects and topics.

— I (visit) it twice, How about going to the zoo instead?

—Sounds good. I should have a rest.

    Wang Jiaming from Beijing Chenjinglun High School says he is a lucky boy. He's happy that he's sitting the senior high school entrance exam (中考) in 2019 instead of 2020.

On Oct 22, Beijing Municipal Commission of Education (北京市教委) said that, from 2020, the English scores in the senior high school entrance exam will be reduced from 120 to 100. Of the 100 points, the listening ability scores will increase (增加) to 50. At the same time, the points for Chinese will increase from 120 to 150.

"The changes won't make a difference to me. I feel so lucky because English is my best subject," said Wang.

"The changes place the importance on Chinese in our study, and reduce students' pressure (压力)," said Li Yi, spokesman of the commission. "The changes will also push us to learn more about the practical usage of English," he said.

But being tested for fewer points doesn't mean the subject can be taken lightly. English has long been the world's most commonly used language. Former Chinese premier Zhu Rongji once said: "If you cannot communicate with foreigners, how can one be part of the world economy (经济)?"

Wang Jiaming said he understood the change. "Chinese, not English, is our mother tongue (母语)," he said, "but still, I think English is both interesting and useful."

Recent years have witnessed (见证) the returning of shared bikes across China. Now more and more people choose cycling instead of driving to school, to workplaces or to do sightseeing. Bike-sharing plans are warmly welcomed in many cities. Mobike has 5.85 million active users while Ofo（小黄车） has 1.4 million users this year.

People can unlock (解锁) the shared bikes by simply using their smartphones. All bikes have GPS and can be left anywhere in public for the next user. They are popular among many Chinese people because they help solve "last-mile" problems in cities. For example, many people find it difficult to get to the hotel when they get off trains or to travel around the city.

However, the plans have also led to problems such as illegal ( 非法的) parking, vandalism (故意毁坏) and theft( 偷窃). In February this year, two nurses in Beijing were placed under administrative detention (行政拘留) for five days for putting person locks on two shared bikes.

In fact, these problems are also shared by bike-sharing plans abroad. Started in 2007, Velib is the largest public bike sharing company in Paris. At its early period, it also met with problems of vandalism and theft. To solve the problem, the company came up with the idea of encouraging people to return the bikes to stations by providing free time for their next rides.

Now, Chinese bike-shared companies are also trying to solve these problems.

For example, Mobike sets a 100-point credit score(信用分数) for each user, but the points will be taken because of his or her bad behaviour. Once a score drops below 80, bike rental(租金) will be increased(增加) from 1 yuan to 100 yuan per 30 minutes.

When teenagers grow older, they try to understand who they are. Children start c their clothing styles, hobbies, interests and friends when they begin to find out who they are. They think they are no longer children.

   Teenagers begin to understand the world a them. They no longer just listen to their parents. They start to have the desire(欲望) to f answers themselves. And they won't obey the rules set by parents or teachers.

Sometimes, they are also confused(困惑的)about t. They can't make their own choices and d in life like adults, but they are not really the children who fully depend on (依靠)o .

At this time, teenagers still need h. They need to have a good relationship with their parents, but not just be told w to do or not to do. They need encouragement to go for their own d. They should be given more freedom to deal with something themselves. However, the freedom needs boundaries. They need s in their lives that can help them when meeting difficulties.

Changes in my hometown