— Great! Let's make a snowman together.
— Yes. It began from the Han Dynasty.
80 years ago, I was about 13. Paul was the same age as me, his sister Renee was two years younger, and they lived in France. Then I wrote the first1to them. I was interested in languages, so I was pleased when my French teacher made2pen pals.
It was quite exciting to get a letter from a foreign country,3I looked forward to receiving their reply. Because they weren't good at English, we were all writing in4, which helped me get a good knowledge of their language.
I decided to go to France on holiday in 1949 to meet them, but Paul was in the army, and Renee was away skiing. The first time I met Renee, she picked me up at the station, and she drove me to so many places of interest.
I5met Paul, which was really a pity for me in my whole life. In 1955, I got6news from Renee. She told me that Paul had died shortly after leaving the army, before I had a chance to meet him for the first time.
Renee and I7writing to each other, and our friendship became deeper. We talked about our families and our hobbies in life. Later, I moved to South Africa for a while, married, had children, and changed jobs.
Renee never married and worked as a nurse8half her life. As I continued to visit, I got to know her whole family, including her distant (远方的) cousins all over France. I was so welcomed into their home life that I never felt like a tourist.
I'm 93 now and I still write to Renee. She has9writing now, so she phones me to reply. Most people don't seem to have the time for letters anymore, but it gives me great pleasure to write.
My letters with Renee have10 a different and wonderful picture of what's happening outside the UK to me. More importantly, this is the most precious friendship I have ever had.
Pea sprouts, also known as "豌豆尖", are a popular dish in China. These sprouts are easy to grow. You can grow your own pea sprouts at home just by following the steps below! |
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Step 1: Leave the peas in water for about 8 hours. Change the water every 2-3 hours to stop the peas from going bad. |
Step 2: Spread some soil (about 1 inch) at the bottom of your container ( 容器), and put the peas on the soil. Cover the peas with some soil. Place the container somewhere dark and cool until sprouts appear in about three days. |
Step 3: After the peas sprout, move the sprouts to a sunny place and water them daily. Pick the pea sprouts when they are about 7 cm tall. |
American teenagers hear it all the time from their parents, "Are you listening to me? Turn down that music or you'll hurt your ears." A new study has found the parents may be right.
The study has found that many young people in the United States do not hear as well as they used to. One out of five American teenagers have some hearing loss. That is a 30% increase in the past fifteen years. One out of twenty teens have a large hearing loss. That is a fifty percent increase.
The study has also found that boys are more likely to have hearing problems than girls. The age of the teens had no influence on their chances of a hearing loss. The researchers say they are not sure why some teenagers are losing their hearing. Not enough studies have been done and more are needed. Some say the reasons may be found in their diet or in their DNA. Others believe that listening to loud music on MP3 players with earphones is the main reason. Researchers think that some teenagers do not realize that they are listening to music at very loud levels. Researchers suggest parents stand next to their children while they are wearing earphones. If the parents can hear the music, the sound is too loud. Teenagers should set the volume (音量) control on their music players to somewhere between one half and two thirds the highest level, never louder.
Even a small hearing loss can influence a child's social development. Communication skills and grades in school can also be influenced. Doctor Eavey says, " What we are seeing is a big jump in the chances of hearing loss in a very short time."
a. teenagers' diet
b. teenagers' DNA
c. listening to much music with earphones
d. listening to loud music with earphones
On the night of January 14, Tongliang Chinese Dragon Dance & Lantern Art Festival started at Tongliang Qicai Dream Garden. Every year, as a part of traditional Chinese culture, the dragon dance is used to pray for peace and good luck for the new year. Tongliang Dragon Dance appeared in the Ming Dynasty and became extremely popular in the Qing Dynasty.
Among all the dragon dances in Tongliang, Fire Dragon Dance is the best-known.
According to local beliefs, the Tongliang Fire Dragon Dance has the power of driving away disasters, and offering wishes for the local community.
The iron is heated to 1,600℃ in eight ovens which are placed in a circle. Sixteen shirtless men spray( 喷洒) the liquid( 液体) iron into the air, creating flower-like flames( 火焰). Fireworks hidden in the bodies of two gold dragons are lighted. Then you can see fireworks fly from the bodies of two golden dragons held by 20 shirtless men as the dragons fly up and down and back and forth through seas of fire. Along with the iron fireworks and music, the two fire dragons dance around to offer New Year wishes.
The Fire Dragon Dance in Tongliang was listed in the national intangible cultural heritages in 2006 and one of the city's cultural symbols. It is known as China's No.1 Dragon Dance.
Tongliang Fire Dragon Dance has shone both at home and abroad. It has taken part in major national events such as 1984, 1999 and 2009 National Day celebrations, as well as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Moreover, Tongliang Fire Dragon Dance has visited Britain, France, and Japan, South Korea and more than 20 countries to spread Chinese culture.
Nowadays, both dragon-making and dragon dances have changed in recent years. They have created income for local people. There are 35 dance teams, 10 dragon-making teams and tourism, which make about 1 billion yuan ($154.6 million) a year.
And this ancient tradition, Tongliang Fire Dragon Dance, seems set to continue to fly into the future!
a. Fireworks hidden in the bodies of two gold dragons are lighted.
b. Dragons fly up and down and back and forth through seas of fire.
c. The iron is heated to 1,600℃ in eight ovens placed in a circle.
d. The liquid iron is sprayed into the air by sixteen shirtless men.
Have you experienced bullying (欺凌)? In a study of young people in the UK aged 12-20, half of them said they had been bullied.
Bullying is not just physical, like hitting or kicking someone. Bullying can also be with words – saying or writing things that are not nice. Another type of bullying is social – choosing not to include someone, embarrassing someone or telling other people not to be friends with them. Bullying can happen at school, when you're walking home, online ... in fact, it can happen anywhere. Bullying involves (涉及) an imbalance of power – one person (or a group of people) that is more powerful than another. Maybe this person is more popular, or maybe they are physically bigger and stronger.
▲ There are the people who bully and those who are bullied. Sometimes other people help the bully or they join in. Then there are the kids that support – they don't bully anyone directly, but they support the bullying by keeping silent. They encourage the children who are bullying in other ways. This is why it's important for everyone to work together against bullying. To stop bullying we need everyone to be brave and take a stand (立场).
What can we do to prevent bullying? Why don't we create a student anti-bullying group? This group can do many things. Let the head teacher know how well the school is doing with fighting bullying and give them advice. Choose an anti-bullying slogan (标语) for your school, make posters or take over the school's social media for a week to send out anti-bullying messages.
Bullying is a social problem and it needs everyone to work together. The next time you see someone being bullied, take a stand! Don't laugh at others or ignore ( 无 视 ) what's happening – tell an adult as soon as possible and help everyone to understand that bullying is not OK.
① There is one thing in the world that's smaller than your fingernail. But without it, almost all of our electronic products might not work. It's the microchip! It is one of the most important inventions in human history. Here is some information for you to learn it.
②What are microchips? Don't be confused with potato chips. Microchips are very small electronic devices (设备) people use to keep and deal with information. A microchip is a set of connected electronic components (组件) that are imprinted (刻) on a very small chip. There are mainly two kinds of microchips: logic chips and memory chips.
③ Logic chips are the "brains" of electronic devices – they deal with information to finish a task. Memory chips store information.
④When asked who invented the microchip, you may be surprised that two men invented almost the same thing at nearly the same time. But they didn't even know what each other was working on. They were US engineers Jack Kilby and Robert Noyce. From 1958 to 1959, both of them were working on an answer to the same question: how to shrink the devices.
⑤In designing ( 设 计 ) an electronic device like a computer, it is always necessary to increase the number of components. However, as there are more components, the machines will be big and heavy. How to include these components in a smart way was the problem they wanted to solve. In the end, Kilby used germanium ( 锗 ) while Noyce used silicon ( 硅 ) to make their microchips, which can include more components in a smaller size.
⑥ Where are microchips used? We can see them in many electronic products, from computers to cell phones, TVs, cameras, cars and airplanes. They are also used in GPS devices and ID cards. However, it's not easy to make them. A chip may need to "travel" to many countries and areas before it becomes the final product.
A. I watched the movie Full River Red. B. We got there on Sunday. C. What did you do? D. We got there by plane. E. Did you go to Dali? F. How much was the ticket? G. Was there anything interesting? |
A: Hi! Dan. How was your winter holiday? B: It was fantastic.
A:
B: I went to Dali with my family.
A: Wow! That's amazing.
B: Yes, we danced with local people, and tried some delicious food. A: How did you get there?
B: It took us about 2 hours. How about your holiday?
A: Not bad! It's a great movie.
B: Really?
A: 65 yuan, but it was worth the price.
Tracy Austin, tennis player
When Austin was a child, she was shorter than most girls. Her dream was to become a tennis player. Although many people doubted that, she didn't give up and when she was 15, she was given a car as a prize in a tennis competition. In 1979, she beat Chris Evert in the final of the US Open. Then, at the age of 17, the American became the youngest sportsperson to earn a million dollars. Before long, she was the world's number one player. Although her career was full of ups and downs, she still found her way to fight on.
Gaurika Singh, swimmer
Gaurika is from Nepal, and she was the only under-14-year old to take part in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, making her the youngest athlete in Rio at the age of 13. In the beginning of her sports life, few people thought she would succeed, but she didn't care about their words. Year after year, with great efforts, at the 19th National Swimming Championship (锦标赛), she broke 8 national records in 7 events. Home for Gaurika these days is in the UK, and she trains at the Copthall Swimming Club.
Nadia Comaneci, gymnast (体操运动员)
When Romanian ( 罗马尼亚的) gymnast Nadia took part in the Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada, in 1976, she was only 14, but immediately became one of the most famous sports people in the world. She got perfect scores of 10.0 in seven different gymnastic events. Before that, nobody thought that she could do this, because 9.9 was the highest score. Her story showed people that success had nothing to do with what others said but your own hard work.
The little boyto be lonely.
Tina go to the cinema with her friends?
The fireman's parents aretheir son.
The doctor told Vivian that she shouldin healthy ways.
Children areyoungmake their own decisions.
During ancient times, children didn't have a smart phone, iPad or computer to enjoy themselves. However, they came up with many interestingto play in their childhood.
Kicking stone ballsKicking stone balls is one of the best examples of such games. During the Qing Dynasty, kicking a stone ball around was very popular, especially in the northern part of China. As it was too cold there in winter, people often played stone balls to keep . Stones were made into small balls and kicked with feet.
Flying kitesKites have quite a long history - it was invented in the Dongzhou Dynasty. At that time, there was no paper, so the earliest kites were all made of wood of it. Nowadays, the three most famous kites are the Beijing kite, Tianjin kite and Weifang kite, which each has its own colors and sizes.
Playing hide-and-seekHide-and-seek is another traditional game for children. There are two ways to play. One way is covering a child's eyes while other kids run around to tease (逗弄) him. If he catches a player, the player will take his place and continue to catch others. The second way is more common. Players hide first and one child must try to find.
Watching shadow playsThe most similar thing to watching a film or television for fun during ancient times was to watch a shadow play. Folk artists control puppets (木偶) behind the screen, telling stories music on.
Playing diabolo (空竹)Diabolo, often called Chinese Yo-Yo, is quite popular in Beijing. It is often made of bamboo or wood. When playing diabolo on ropes, you can hear a special but musical
. It can be very challenging to play diabolo. But with years of efforts and practice, an excellent performer can throw and catch diabolo on a rope easily, just like a magician.
Playing "eagle (老鹰) & chicken"One acts as the eagle, one as the mother chicken and the rest as chicks. Chicks stand in a line behind mother chicken. Each chick holds the clothes of the one in front. the mother chicken's job is to protect the chicks with her arms, the eagle tries hard to catch the chicks. If one chick is caught, it should the role with the eagle and the game will restart.
要求:
1)80-120 词。
2)文中不能出现自己的姓名和所在学校的名称。参考信息:
1)起因,经过;
2)结果,感悟;
3)……
Looking back at my 2022, I remember many things.