A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it every day. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him.
Time went by…The little boy had 1 and he no longer played around the tree.
One day, the boy came back to the tree and looked sad. "Come and play with me," the tree asked the boy.
"I am2a kid, I don't play around trees any more." The boy replied," "I want toys." "Sorry, but I don't have 3 …but you can pick all my apples and sell them. " The boy was so excited. He picked all the apples and left 4 . The boy didn't come back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.
One hot summer day, the boy5and the tree was glad. "Come and play with me!" the tree said.
"I want to go 6 to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" "Use my trunk (树干) to build the boat. "So the boy cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and did not7for a long time.
8, the boy come back after he left for so many years." Sorry, my boy. But I don't have9for you any more. The only thing left is my dying roots." The tree said 10 tears. "I don't need much now, just a 11 to rest." The boy replied. "Good! Old tree roots are the 12 place to relax. Come here, please sit down with me and have a rest." The boy sat down and the tree was glad and 13 with tears.
This is a story of everyone. The tree is our 14. When we were young, we loved to play with Mom and Dad… When we grow up, we leave 15 , and only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could to make you happy.
What did you see and do in 2021? We asked students to tell us about something that they did this year. Check out what they said.
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My 2021 was a year of a lot of hard work, but also a lot of fun. I joined in many community service events to help out the old and homeless children. I went to a model UN camp, where I did real research and got public speaking skills. ——By Matthew Lee, 16, Harvard-Westlake School |
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This year, I made a huge decision about my future. I decided that I would prepare to study abroad. I started getting ready for the TOEFL and practiced my English very hard. But I do regret that I stopped practicing piano in 2021. Maybe I should keep on. ——By Zhang Keqi, 15, Jimei Middle School |
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At the beginning of 2021, I decided that I would get the top score in the Maths test at the end of the year. And I succeeded! I overcame my biggest problem this year. I asked my teachers for help and they gave me advice. Now I know I should learn from mistakes and challenges (挑战) don't look that difficult any more. ——By Zhang Yixuan, 16, Guiyang School |
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2021 was not too special for me except for one thing. My band got its sixth recording. We worked long and hard on it. It is a bit unusual these days. But we thought it made the recording all the more special. -—— By Mike Fuksman,18, Oscar School |
Think about what you like to wear on the weekend. There's a good chance that you like to put on a pair of blue jeans. At any moment, about half of the world's population is wearing jeans. But according to a new study, our love for jeans may be bad for Earth. Denim (牛仔布) might be putting some sea animals in danger.
You might wonder: Isn't denim made of cotton, a natural material? How can it become a danger to nature? Well, in the process of making jeans, cotton is treated with many types of man-made chemicals. Some improve the durability (耐用性) and feel; others give jeans their blue color. Every time we wash our jeans, tiny bits of denim come loose. They flow out of our washing machines, down the drain and into the world's rivers, lakes and oceans.
Scientists studied the Great Lakes in America and the Arctic Ocean in northern Canada. They found denim waste in all of the water they had collected. It is terrible that the harmful chemicals in denim have spread far and wide. Scientists aren't yet sure how these chemicals might harm animals.
In the study, the scientists also washed jeans to see how many bits of denim on average each pair would drop per wash. The answer was surprising: About 50,000. Not all of them make their way into the environment. Wastewater treatment plants(污水处理厂) hold back 83 to 99 percent of them. This may sound pretty good. However, one percent of 50,000 bits are still 500 per wash. Now think about the number of jeans around the world and the times each of them gets washed. As a result, a large amount of denim waste still gets into the environment.
Does this mean we shouldn't wear jeans? Probably not. "We need to buy fewer clothes and only wash them when we truly need to do it," says Sam Athey, one of the scientists. "You don't need to wash your jeans after having worn them only a couple of times."
The wife asked the husband, "In this life, what did you miss?"
When she was 25, the husband replied, "I missed a chance of finding a new job."
When she was 35, the husband angrily told her that he had just missed the bus.
At 45, the husband sadly said, "I missed the chance of seeing my closed relative before his last breath."
At 55, the husband said disappointedly, "I missed a good chance to stop working."
At 65, the husband hurriedly replied, "I missed my time to see the dentist."
At 75, the wife didn't ask the husband any more. The husband was kneeling in front of the very sick wife. Remembering the question, the wife used to ask him, this time he asked the wife the same question. The wife, with a smile and peaceful look, replied, "In this life, I didn't miss having you!"
The husband was full of tears. He always thought that they could be together forever. He was always busy with work. So much that he had never been thoughtful to his wife. The husband hugged his wife and said, "Over 50 years, how I had allowed myself to miss your deep love for me."
In the busy city life, there are many people who are always busy with work. These people revolve(围绕) their lives around their jobs. They are unwilling to spend time on health care. They miss the chance to be with their children in the growing up. They don't pay attention to the loved ones who care for them, and also their health.
Nobody knows what is going to happen one year from now. Life is not forever, so always value the things you have now. Express your thankfulness to your loved ones in words. Show your care with action. Treat every day as the last day of life. In this way, when you are gone, your loved ones would have nothing to feel sorry about.
①He forgot to see the dentist.
②He missed the bus he usually took.
③He missed a good chance to stop working.
④He didn't catch the chance of finding a new job.
⑤He missed the chancing of seeing his closed relative before his death.
Earlier this year, China's education system announced a new "Double Reduction" policy (双减政策). "Double Reduction" refers to a reduction in the total amount and time of school homework and a reduction of after-school training programs.
"The policy really helps me." Shen Yuzhe, a 13-year-old boy from Beijing said. He is happy that he has less homework than before and he can finish it at school with no need to take it home. "I'm also happy to find there are fewer exams. Besides, teachers now teach at a much slower pace so that we have enough time to understand what we have learned. We don't need to buy workbooks any more and the exercises are mainly from the textbook." Shen Yuzhe said.
"The best thing about the ‘Double Reduction' is the increased time in after-school activities such as dancing, volleyball and drama." Zhang Hangming from Tianjin is also excited. He has joined a group called "leadership development", learning all kinds of useful skills. He likes it because teachers are also giving them more chances to learn from real life. For example, they went to research plants in a field during a science class. He believes that is a much better way to learn than just hitting the books.
Some people welcome the policy while others are still worried. Yu Zhiyue, a middle school student in Jiangsu still feel tired. "With the ‘Double Reduction', I have really got less homework to do. But my mother is worried that I will lose the chance to review what I've learnt in class without enough homework. So I have lots of after-school classes. Since I can only take these classes on weekdays now, weekdays have become especially long and tiring for me. From Monday to Friday, I need to take online classes at home after I come back from school." she said, "My parents told me the rules had changed but the competition had not gone away."
B . 
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D . 
Earthquakes always happens suddenly, so it is difficult to warn people about them. Usually people have little or no idea about what to do during an earthquake. The following advice may help you.
If you are inside a building, remember not to jump out of high buildings. You can hide under a table and stay away from windows. Stay indoors until the shaking stops. Be brave and be helpful, especially when you are with other people.
If you're in a lift, try to get out at the nearest floor when it stops shaking, but be sure you're safe.
Move away from buildings when you are outdoors. Don't stand near street lights or under power lines. Be careful of falling rocks when you are in the mountains. Run away from the sea and move quickly to a higher ground.
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What to do during the earthquake |
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Inside a building: Move no more than a few steps, Drop, Cover and Hold. Stay until the shaking stops and you are sure it is safe to exit. In a lift: Drop, Cover and Hold. When the shaking , try to get out at the nearest floor if safe to do so. Outdoors: When the shaking starts, move no more than a few steps away from , streetlights, power lines and rocks then Drop, Cover and Hold. |
For many people, life is much better now than before. People have more ways to (创造) wealth. They have more spare time to enjoy themselves. They can (买得起) to use lights. But there were only (蜡烛) in the past. Medicine and diet are improving, and people are getting healthier and living longer. The (角色) of women has changed too. They can have a good (教育). And they can go to work even after getting (结婚). But communication is changing fastest of all. Today, with the (因特网), people can communicate easily with their friends all over the world. But in the past, people wrote to each other, so many (邮递员) often worked very long hours a day outside in the winter cold or in the summer heat.
Not all the changes are good ones. Although transport and travel are easier today—more people drive cars instead of riding bikes, they (很少地) take exercise every day. So they are not as fit as they were. Increasing traffic makes the roads more crowded than ever, and the air is badly polluted. We must work harder to (减少) pollution. Let's take action!
Chemistry is a subject based on experiments. In China, it's often (teacher) who do the experiments in the front of the class. in the US, we take action by ourselves.
We usually wear special glasses and gloves in the chemistry labs. (safe) is the most important! The outfit (装备) prevents us from harmful chemical materials.
Our chemistry teacher always gives us the instruction sheet the night before the lab class to let us know a lot the experiments. During the class, she first goes over the steps of the experiments and then (divide) us into groups to do the experiments.
Doing experiments is really (interest). Once we tried to burn chemicals, chemicals produced many colors of flames (火焰), including bright orange and dark green. "Wow! beautiful it is!" we screamed.
After (finish) an experiment, we need to write a report. It consists of the steps, our feelings and the final results. If there has been a mistake in the experiment, we need to analyze why it happened and what we should do (correct) it. The reporters are important. They make up around 25 percent of our term grade.
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Dear Li Hua, I have been staying home for months. I haven't studied really hard at home these days. Now I find I have too many things to go over but I even don't know how to plan time well. And I am especially weak in science. I am afraid I can't enter my dream high school. Can you give me some advice? Sarah |
注意：1）不得出现真实姓名和校名；
2）要求语句通顺，意思连贯，可适当发挥；
3）词数80—100，信件开头已给出，不计入总数。
Dear Sarah,
I'm sorry to know that you're having such a bad time at the moment.
……
Yours,
Li Hua
