江苏省南京市江北新区玉带实验学校2022-2023学年九年级...

—He used to_______ here, but he gets used to ________ in a modern city with his son.

—When and where__________ you __________it?

—Oh, really? I _______know. I ________her for a long time.

—Yes, she has visited it ________.

— Sorry, I don't know. I _______here for only a few days.   

—It's the _________ model I have ________.

—He            home since last week.

—Yes. We're sure she can write an excellent one.

—In an hour.

 — It's 65, but I have only $40. I can't ________ it.

Jim Green has been in China for more than two years. He has been to many interesting1in Beijing, but he has not yet been to many other parts of China. Last week he went to Mount Emei in Sichuan with his2.

Many people like to travel by3, but the Greens think that travelling by train is the best. It is much4and far more enjoyable than a rushed journey by air. They had a won­derful train ride to Chengdu5they went on to Mount Emei by bus.

The train was quite nice and tidy, and there weren't too many people in their sleeping car. The Greens could stand up and walk around. It was a long journey,6none of them felt tired. They kept7the beautiful things out of the window. They talked, laughed and played cards. People nearby talked with each other. A young man tried to speak English with Mr and Mrs Green. Jim thought the train was like a big moving party. He went to sleep quite8. He enjoyed listening to the sound of the running train and then fell asleep.

When Jim woke up the next morning, the train was already9Chengdu. His train ride seemed really10, but his memory (记忆) of the pleasant journey will last a long time.

Several days ago, while I got online, my cousin's QQ head popped out(弹出). We hadn't seen each other for a few months, so I decided to start a talk with her. My cousin is studying in a college of our city. Her hobby is surfing the Internet. Every time I am on the computer, she is always online, listening to music or decorating her "personal space". I like visiting her space. It's creative and modern. I can't design such a colorful web page as hers.

When I read the sentences she sent to me, I noticed that the Chinese characters had been changed, but I could still guess their meanings. I took a strong interest in this type of new characters. Further watching made me realize that they added some common Chinese radicals(部首) to the original characters, making them more vivid（生动）, a little like Japanese. My cousin said this gives new life to the Chinese language and culture.

It is true that the Internet has reinvented our language, but I still can't accept this new change. Some Chinese characters have meanings in the shapes; one shouldn't superficially(浅薄地)change them by adding an additional radical. So I advised my cousin to change her new idea and use standard characters to communicate. And she willingly accepted my advice.

China and the Netherlands (荷兰) are long-time friends. The Netherlands is more than 41,500 square kilometres in area. It is a bit larger than the size of Taiwan, China.

The Netherlands is rich in culture and art. It is home of many great artists, for example, Vincent van Gogh. Besides fine art, the Netherlands is also called the country of tulips (郁金香). It has the world's largest tulip garden: Keukenhof garden.

Dutch people are very hard-working. There's a saying: "God made the Earth, but the Dutch made Holland." More than a quarter of the country is below sea level. So Dutch people build many dams (水坝) to protect the country from flooding. They have created almost one sixth of the country from seas and rivers!

Did you know?

◆ Rubber ducks are popular around the world. Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman created it in 2007. The yellow duck is 26 metres high.

◆ Wooden clogs (木底鞋) are traditional shoes in the Netherlands. They make good gifts for tourists.

◆ In the Netherlands, it is impolite to start eating at once. Dutch people will sometimes say "delicious" before eating.

◆ Like the UK, the Netherlands also has kings and queens.

Haiyan is 7 years old. Her parents gave her an iPad as a present for her birthday. A month later, her eyesight has gone worse. This is serious for such a young child.

Many children in China are facing the same problem: tablet and iPad using is bringing problems to make their eyes weak. The problem is so popular that newspapers even call the iPad the "No. 1 killer of children's eyesight".

"There are about 30 shortsighted children coming every day." Said Hu Dali, an eye doctor at Guiyang Eye Hospital. "Half of those children have poor eyesight because they have played with phones and iPads for too long."

Doctors and scientists say children's vision is not yet fully developed and their eyes get tired more easily. The screen of an iPad uses a very bright LED backlight. If children look at an iPad screen for a long time, their eyes don't have time to rest. This will make their eyesight worse over time.

Doctors advise that users should hold their iPads between 40-60 centimeter(厘米)away from them. The brightness of the screen should be comfortable for children. Parents should also stop their children from using an iPad for more than one hour every day.

When I was about 14, a girl in my class liked to point out(指出) my shortcomings(缺点)and I hthat. Week by week, her list grew: I was very thin; I wasn't a good student; I talked too m; I was too proud and so on. At last, I became very a. I cried and ran to my father.

He lto me quietly. Then he asked, "Are the things true or n? Jane, you want to know what you are like, don't you? Well, you now have the girl's opinions. Go and make a list of(列出一张...单子) everything she said. Then mark(做标记) the tpoints with a red pen. Pay no attention to(不在意...) the other things on the list."

I did as he told me. I was sto find that about half the things were true. I couldn't change some of them(like being thin). But I could change a lot of them. For the first time in my life, I got a clear picture of myself. And suddenly I wanted to change to be b.

I brought the list back to my father. But he didn't look at it. "That's just for you,"he said. "You know about ybetter than anyone else. But you have to learn to listen. When others' words about you are true, you will find them helpful to you. Don't close your ears. Listen to them all, but hear only the truth."

My father's advice came back to me at many important moments. It is the best piece of ain my life