浙江省义乌市稠州中学2021-2022学年八年级上学期英语第...

Last weekend, the four members of my family spent an excellent holiday at the Magic Kingdom-Disneyland. And one thing made our visit seem1.

We got to the front of the line at Space Mountain, only to find out that our little daughter Gloria couldn't take her 2 on the ride. It was our first time to be there, so we were too 3 to remember that ice-cream was not allowed on the ride.

Gloria started 4 and we all didn't know what to do. Then Tony, one of the staff(员工) members, came over. He bent(弯腰) down and told Gloria that he would 5the ice-cream for her and give it to her when she finished the ride. Gloria said, "really?" Then she gave Tony her ice-cream, and enjoyed 6on the ride.

Sure enough, when we 7, there was Gloria's new friend 8 "her" ice-cream. Now you and I both know what happened, 9we know that an ice-cream won't last thirty 10 on a summer afternoon in Florida. Tony knew clearly 11we would get off the ride. He went to the nearest shop and 12a new ice-cream half a minute before we walked out of the exit(出口). Gloria said, "13". But I'm sure she didn't know it was a 14 ice-cream.

Thanks so much for giving us 15 and make our visit pleasant!

International Children's Book Day is celebrated every year to inspire children's love of reading and to call attention to children's books. The day is on or around Hans Christian Andersen's birthday, April 2. It is hosted by the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).

Every year IBBY decides a theme and chooses a host country. A famous writer is invited to write a message to the children of the world and a well-known illustrator is invited to design a poster.

International Children's Book Day has been celebrated in different countries for many years. Each year it has a unique theme (主题) and a beautiful poster.

If you're reading this right now, you're probably interested in learning English as a second language and think it could be a valuable skill in the future. But these days, fewer college students in the United States are studying foreign languages themselves.

The Modern Language Association (MLA), a group in the US that tracks language studies, found that the number of US college students who were studying a foreign language dropped by 9 percent from 2019 to 2021, Quartz reported.

Most of the drop was due to a decrease (下降) in the number of people learning Spanish, the most popular foreign language among US college students, while many other foreign languages such as German and Italian also lost popularity.

One reason for this could be that studying a foreign language is not seen as practical (实用的). Indeed, the decrease in foreign language studies came just after the global financial crash of 2008.

There are many majors now, such as digital arts, that didn't exist in earlier years. With more choices than before, students are less likely to study a foreign language.

But failing to master a second language could take away potential job opportunities for US students in the future, experts say.

Luckily, efforts have been made to change the situation. Starting this June, the government in New York City will allow its high school students to choose Spanish as one of the tests they must pass to graduate.

I hired a man to help me repair(修理)an old farmhouse. His first day on the job make him mad—a flat tire (轮胎)made him lose an hour of work, he cut his finger with a knife and his old truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in silence.

On arriving, he invited me to meet his family. As we walked towards the front door, he stopped at a small tree and touched the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door, his face was full of smiles and he hugged his two children and gave his wife a kiss.

Afterwards, he walked with me to the car. We passed the tree. I was so curious that I asked him about what I had seen earlier. "Oh, that's my trouble tree," he replied. "I know I can't help having troubles on the job, but one thing is for sure. Those troubles don't belong to my children and wife. So I hang them in the tree every night and ask God to take care of them. Then in the morning, I pick them up again. "

"The funny thing is," he smiled, "When I come out to pick them up in the morning, there aren't as many as those hung up the night before."

Artificial intelligence or AI, is defined as " the capability of a machine to imitate intelligent human behavior". It is around us every day. AI is set to benefit mankind in many ways. Imagine being able to hop in a car, tell it your destination, and sit back in comfort as the AI-guided self-driving car takes you there. Imagine having an AI tutor that could help you with your schoolwork. It will make everyday tasks easier and bring efficiently to various industries. AI might just prove to be one of man's greatest inventions.

______________________In February 2018, a group of AI experts got together to discuss the possible misuse of AI. What they found was that "Every AI advance by the good guys is an advance for the bad guys, too," according to Quartz.

Their biggest concern was that criminals could use AI for wrong purposes. One of the areas they looked at was the use of AI to create websites that could be used to steal people's personal information. Another possibility is that AI programs could be taught to hack software and break into computer secure systems.

There are some other concerns as well. It is possible that AI could be used to create fake imagines and videos. Chinese tech giant Baidu, in fact, has developed a program called Deep Voice that can "clone" anyone's voice by studying a 3. 7-second audio sample.

Many leading figures in the tech world have expressed concern about AI. People like Bill Gates and Elon Musk have called for the industry to be more strictly regulated, as there are few laws right now on the use of AI.

However, this is set to change. In March 2018, the European Union plans to set up a group that will discuss the moral and ethical dangers of advanced AI- and hopefully, suggest some regulations that will help us keep it safe for mankind.

Where can you learn the skill of climbing? If you think that you have to go to the (山) to learn how to climb, you're wrong. Many people are learning to climb in the city (体育场). Here, people learn about (使人兴奋的) climbing activities.

   How do people climb the wall? To climb, you need (特殊的)shoes and a harness around your chest to hold you. The harness holds you in place so that you don't fall. Then you will get some professional (训练). A beginner's wall is usually about 15 feet high. There are small pieces of metal that stick out for you to stand on and hold on to. The most difficult point is to overcome your fear. It's (合乎常理的) for humans to be afraid of falling. But when you move away from the wall, the ropes hold you, and you begin to feel safe and (自信的）. You move slowly until you reach the top.

  Climbing attracts people because  it's good (锻炼）for almost everyone. You use your whole body, (尤其）your arms and legs. When you climb, both your mind and your body can become stronger and (更好的）.

I've never been late for school, this morning I came very close. When I got out of home, the early bus had left away just in front of me. Seeing the gone bus, I ran after it at once, (hope) to catch it. At same time, I shouted "wait! Wait!", but the bus didn't stop- it was clear that the bus driver didn't hear me. Realizing that I might be late for school, I became really worried. Time went by and you could imagine upset I was. A moment later, there came another bus. It was a "wrong" bus. I had no (choose) but to get on it because they were in the same direction. I asked the driver he could drive faster and help me to catch the front bus which I missed just now. my surprise, the kind driver agreed and said he would have a try. (luck), the front bus had a stop halfway because of some passengers getting-off. The two buses met finally... I happily thanked the bus driver and jumped down from the bus as (quick) as possible. I made it! What a(n) (usual) and tiring bus ride!

The Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a large group of mountains on the North American continent (洲). The Rockies are found in the western part of North America. They stretch (连绵) from Canada in the north to the United States in the south. The southern part of the Rockies ends in the state of New Mexico.

The Rockies are the longest mountain range in North America. They have many high peaks (山峰). The highest is Mount Elbert in Colorado. It is nearly three miles high.

In summer, the Rockies are warm and dry, though it does rain sometimes. During the winter, the weather is wet and cold. Heavy winter snow falls in the higher parts of the Rockies.

Many people like to visit these mountains. They ride bikes, hike on trails, ski, or fish. A special area called Rocky Mountain National Park is in Colorado. The national park is reserved (留出) for people to visit. Visitors to Rocky Mountain National Park can see the wild animals that live there. These animals include elk (廖鹿), moose (驼鹿), mountain goats, and mountain sheep.

As a citizen of Yiwu, it's out duty to ...