—No, _______________ are white. Maybe they're Jenny's.
—In two days.
—No. He ______ the park. He ______ there half an hour ago.
—He _______________ with his father in the park.
—Yes, madam!
My First Day of School
Fear started taking over. I was walking into my first school in America. I had a long journey from India to join my parents, who had been here for three years, hoping America would help my future.
On the first day, I was already confused because back in India the teachers switch according to periods while most of the students have the same periods, but here it was totally1.
With anxiety (焦虑) on one hand and fear on the other. I opened the door2.Since I was a bit late, everyone's eyes were on me as I entered the room. Without paying attention to them, I went straight to the teacher and asked if this was the right class. With a soft voice he answered, "Yes." His voice3me a little. Then he asked me to choose a seat. I didn't actually want to4a scat. In India we had assigned (分配的) scats, so I never needed to worry about that.
I was confused about which buildings to go to, but I5to get to my classes without asking anyone. I was very confused about when I would have lunch. It was already noon. The bell rang and I entered my next class. Again, I asked the teacher if I was in the right class. Then I chose a seat, sat down and waited for the6to begin. The teacher looked at me with a puzzled face, "Why don't you go for lunch?" But the bell just rang." I said. "That is the lunch bell," she said. Without another word I7for the cafeteria (餐厅). I felt lucky because we didn't have this in India.
Every confusion seemed like a difficulty I had to get through to reach my8.At the end of the day, at the school gate I found my bus and sat down inside happily. I was thinking, today wasn't so bad. I couldn't wait for the next day to come.
Have you collected anything since you were young? These people have!
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Tony from Germany has collected more than 290,000 pens from 140 countries. He has collected pens for more than 10 years. The most expensive pen in his collection is made of gold! He also started a pen collecting club. |
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Angelika from the UK has collected Barbie dolls since she was a child. She has collected 1,125 dolls. She changes the dolls' clothes once a month and often brushes their hair! She also collects dolls of Barbie's boyfriend. |
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Ron from the US likes collecting key rings (钥匙扣). He has collected twenty-four thousand key rings since he was young. His key rings are all different-that means no two key rings are the same! He has been a world record holder for 13 years. |
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Zhu Yue from China has collected erasers for 20 years. At the age of 11. she visited Shenzhen with her parents. For the first time Zhu Yue was fascinated (被迷住的) by erasers after she saw them in a shop. Ever since then she has collected every new kind of erasers. Now she has collected 100,000 erasers. |
I had a very special teacher in high school many years ago. Her husband died of a heart attack. About a week after his death, she shared some of her insights with us.
The class was nearly over. She said, "Before class is over, I would like to share with all of you an important thought."
"Each of us is put here on the earth to learn, share, love, appreciate and give of ourselves. We must make the most out of every single day."
Her eyes began to water and she went on, "So I would like you all to make me a promise. From now on, on your way to school, or on your way home, find something beautiful to notice. It doesn't have to be something you see-It could be a good smell or the sound of the gentle wind."
"Please look for these things, and cherish them. They are what is in life. We must pay attention to noticing them, for at any time it can all be taken away."
Every once in a while, I think of that teacher and try to appreciate all of those things that sometimes we don't notice.
Take notice of something special you see on your lunch hour today. Walk along the beach at sunset. For as we get older, it is not the things we did that we regret, but the things we didn't do.
Money is what people use to buy things they need or want. A long time ago, people didn't use money. So how did they get the things they wanted? Well, there is a long and interesting story about this.
At first, they would exchange something they had for something they needed. For example, if the shoemaker needed some bread, he would give the baker shoes and the baker would give him bread. This was called "bartering". Bartering worked fine for a while. But after the baker had too many shoes, the shoemaker still needed more bread. What could they do? The solution to this problem was money.
Money is basically an agreement among people. People agree that some metal or paper will be worth a certain amount of bread or a certain number of shoes. There were many earlier forms of money, such as cattle, salt, grain and shells. But it was not easy to move them or store them.
So coins began to take the place of things. Coins had a set value and could be stored long. A coin says right on it how much it is worth. Different coins are worth different amounts. It became possible for people to trade in a standardised (标准化的) way.
About three hundred years ago, paper money came into wider use. Paper money is cheaper to make than coins. It is also easier to carry around. Now people use paper money and coins in most countries. We call these kinds of money cash.
Cash has been popular for hundreds of years. But these days, things seem to have changed. Cashless payment has come into our lives and changed our world.
China was the first country in the world to use paper money. Now, centuries later, analysts (分析家) believe that China may soon become the first cashless society. Cashless payment apps such as Alipay and WeChat Pay are becoming more common in China. The buyer just scans (扫描) the Quick Respond Code (二维码) of the seller, or the other way around. Then they can get the things they want. No physical money is needed in this process. Is tomorrow already here?
① Coins ②Bartering ③ Paper money ④ Cashless payment
⑤Cattle, grain and shells
The children at the top of the class succeed by knowing a few basic skills that others can easily learn. According to the education experts and students themselves, here are the secrets of top students.
Study is the first thing. Once the books are open or the computer is on phone calls are unanswered, TV shows unwatched, snacks unnoticed. Study is business; business comes before everything.
Study anywhere or everywhere. Study times are different for different children. Some work late at night when the house is quiet. Others wake early. Still others study as soon as they come home from school. However, all agree that consistency (持之以恒) is needed.
Get organised. Don't waste time looking for a pencil or missing paper. Keep everything right where one can put one's hands on it. Even for a student who doesn't keep his own study area organised, a bag or a drawer (抽屉) is needed to put things in to save time.
Learn how to read. The secret of good reading is to be an active reader — one who continually asks questions that lead to a full understanding of the writer s message.
Use your time best. Even the best students put off their work sometimes. But when that happens, they face it. "If you want to be at the top. make sure to finish the work on time." says Christi Anderson, a top student at Lyman High School.
Take good notes and use them. Reading the text is important, but the teacher is going to test you on what he or she emphasised (强调). That's what you find in your notes.
Another kind of important "secret" of the top students is not so secret at all. For almost all of them, their parents' help is important.
I was a schoolgirl in Grade 7 when Danny came to my school and became one of my classmates. He was handsome with blond hair, so many girls in my class liked him very much. Every day, his parents picked him up in an old car. We all realised he was from a poor family. I had a poor family as well, but I just hid it from everyone. I was afraid the kids in my class would leave me if they knew the truth.
One day, our teacher, Mr. Smith, announced that we would have a field trip. We decided to go to an amusement park. My classmates were excited. I sat back and looked at them, knowing that my parents did not have the money to send me. To my surprise, Danny stood up and said simply, "I won't go with you. My dad hurt his back and lost his job. I am not asking my parents for money。
Danny, I'm very proud of you for understanding the situation that your parents are in, "Mr. Smith replied. "But the trip is at the end of the month, and we have plenty of time to raise money for it." While walking home from school that day, I noticed three boys talking with Danny. I was a little worried that they were giving him a hard time. But as I got closer, I found they were only discussing how to raise money for the trip.
By standing up and admitting (承认) he was poor, Danny changed my life. I no longer felt I had to lie about my family's situation. As for Danny, I will remember his courage and honesty forever.
题目①
假如你是李华，你们学校要举办一场关于京剧的讲座，你打算邀请你们班交换生Peter参加,请用英语写一封电子邮件，告诉他讲座时间和地点以及需要做什么准备。
提示问题:●When and where will you have the lecture?
●What do you advise Peter to prepare for it?
提示词语: lecture (讲座), invite, information, question, online
Dear Peter,
How is it going?
There'll be a lecture on the Peking Opera in our school.
If there is anything that I can do, please let me know.
Yours,
Li Hua
题目②
宽容是一种美德。人与人之间难免会有磕磕绊绊。面对矛盾,多一份 包容和谅解，生活就会多一缕阳光。
某英文网站正在开展以"包容、谅解"为主题的征文活动。假如你是李华，请用英语写一篇短文投稿,谈谈生活中你原谅他人的一次经历，主要内容包括:你们之间发生了什么，你为什么原谅对方，以及原谅对方之后的感受。
提示词语: hurt, realise, forgive (原谅) ,happy
提示问题:●What happened between you and him/ her?
●Why did you decide to forgive him/ her?
●How did you feel after forgiving him/her?
