One day, I was riding my bike and saw a man about 250 meters in front of me. I could tell he was cycling slower than me and I decided to catch up with him and 1 him.
I started cycling faster and faster. With every block (街区)，I got 2to him. After a few minutes, I was only about 100 meters behind him,3I tried harder.
4, I caught up with him and passed him. I felt so good. I won, but he didn't even know we were racing.
After I 5 him, I found that I had missed my turn.
Isn't it just like life? We often race 6 others, trying to beat them or show that we're more 7 or more important. We spend so much time and energy running after them that we miss out on 8 own paths (小路).
The problem with unhealthy 9 is that it's a never-ending cycle. There will always be someone in front of you. 10 you should do is just run your own race and wish others well.
Anna, the school counselor, received many letters from the students. Here are some of them.
| Dear Anna, My best friend wanted to copy my homework but I refused. Now she doesn't talk to me any more. What should I do? Angel, Thirteen |
| Dear Anna, My classmates often laugh at me because I'm too heavy and can't run fast. I don't want to go to school. Shall I change my school? Sad Bob |
| Hi Anna, The exams are coming and I'm under too much pressure. I can't even go to sleep at night. Shall I go to see a doctor? Maggie from Grade 8 |
| Hi Anna, I have big problems with my father, and I don't know how to deal with it. Can we have a talk face to face? Waiting William |
In every country, there are thousands of people who want to help out. Many join organizations run by their governments. For example, the Peace Corps in the United States and Voluntary Service Overseas in Britain. Since the powerful earthquake took place in Sichuan, more than 200 thousand volunteers across China have been helping there! They do all kinds of work or come up with ways to help improve life. Some offer their professional skills for free. Others have no qualifications (资历), but they love to work hard to help.
One of the most famous volunteers in the world was Mother Teresa. She could be the best volunteer because she gave her life to helping the poorest people of Calcutta. She helped the homeless, cared for the sick, gave out food, and became the mother of those without families.
Now more and more teenagers actively look for volunteering opportunities, too. They volunteer because they think it will be fun or they will learn something. They also like the idea of being helpful to others, even if it is just handing out books for the teacher. As they get older, these reasons are still the same, but there are other important reasons for volunteering such as learning on-the-job, getting work experience, and improving their social life.
All volunteers bring joy to the people they help in so many ways. They might read books to the blind, fix up broken houses, find ways to get water for villages. Could you be a volunteer? What kind of volunteer work could you do? There is someone in the world who needs you.
There is a new study on teenagers who are between 13 and 19 years old. The study shows that today's teenagers are growing up more slowly than those before.
Scientists from San Diego State University have worked on a study on the behaviors (行为) of 8 million teenagers in seven different countries over the past 40 years. The results tell us that compared to the teenagers in the past, today's teenagers are less responsible (负责任的). And it takes them more time to do the same things than their parents did. They are also less likely to have a part-time job. What's more, when they get older, they begin to know that they should help their parents do housework, while their grandparents and parents helped do housework at a very early age. "This is a 'slow life way'," said Professor Jean Twenge.
"The development of today's teenagers has slowed down. 18-year-olds are more like 15-year-olds in the past," added Professor Twenge. "Teenagers today are taking much fewer risks than those in the past did. " Scientists have also found that more teenagers spend longer time living with their parents instead of renting (租) their own rooms or apartments.
One of the reasons for these behaviors is that today's teenagers would like to spend much time online. They keep on connecting with social media, watching videos or playing games on the Internet instead of living in the real world. Another one is that parents do much for their children and protect them too much. In fact, parents had better let their children do everything by themselves. They should try their best to make their children become independent as soon as possible.
a. their parents do too many things for them
b. it's difficult for them to do well at school
c. they don't like living in the real world
d. they spend too much time online
(①=Paragraph 1 ②-Paragraph 2 ③-Paragraph 3 ④=Paragraph 4)
B . 
C . 
D . 
My feelings were the same as the fine weather on that day when I was passing by a yard sale. I decided to stop and see what the lady was selling. The woman was an old lady with health problems.
Of all her used things on the table, the toy plane was what I wanted most. My son was sure to love it. What's more, I wanted so much to buy something from her because she was poor and suffered from illness. I was expecting to spend a few dollars until she told me that she had to take the toy plane out of them. With a puzzled expression, I asked her why.
"That is my son's fifth birthday present." she said.
"Your son's fifth birthday present?" I said in surprise. "But how old is he now?"
"Oh, he should be 50 this year, but he died 10 years ago. He used to enjoy it as a child. "
That broke my heart! At that moment I knew I had to do all I could to help her. I asked her how much all of her things would be worth. She replied, "$75."
I passed her a banknote of $100, and had left with things before she gave me her $25. I could know she thanked me ever so much. I felt good to be able to help her out.
| important remind understand decide realize |
Many young people today have (问题) in using the mobiles well. They use them too much. For example, we can't enjoy the things around us (自……以来) we started to take them to dinner tables. This happens a lot, especially (当……时候) we eat out. Once a dish comes, (替代) of lifting our chopsticks, we take out our mobiles and take photos. Later, we post the photos on Weibo or WeChat and (等待) to be"liked". Then we check our mobiles from time to time and have dinner in (沉默). To our elders' surprise, we just can't leave our mobiles for simply a meal.
Is that (情况) familiar to you? Do you do that often? (最近) a study suggests that what we are used to doing is not so good. Spending time taking photos of food makes the food less pleasant. So don't be (愚蠢的) any more, and next time you go out to have dinner with your family or friends, stop using your mobiles and (交流) with people around you. It will be a wonderful time.
Ann is a ten-year-old girl. weekends, she doesn't go to school and usually plays outside with her friends. It was Sunday yesterday and there a storm. Ann felt tired inside the house. She didn't know to do after she finished her homework. Though it was raining heavily, she wanted to go out. But her mother didn't agree.
To get much fun, Ann tried to keep (she) busy inside the house. She read a book. However, she got bored and stopped (read) after she read several passages. Then, she decided (practice) the guitar. It was one of her (hobby). She didn't stop practicing until lunchtime. After lunch, she sat by the window and watched the rain silently.
While Ann was watching the rain, the phone rang (sudden). Her father called to say he was coming home. Ann felt (excite) because her father was away on business and she didn't see her father for about a week. After about two hours, her father got home and gave Ann a present. She really had good time with her dad!
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What you often do |
What you have learned |
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at home |
do the dishes… |
· life skills ·responsibility ·…… |
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at school |
sweep the floor… |
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in community |
clean up the city park… |
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注意：
1. 根据表格中的内容提示进行写作，可适当发挥；
2. 80词左右（文章的标题和开头已给出，不计入总词数 ；
3. 字迹工整，书写规范、正确，语句通顺，注意单词的大小写和标点等；
4. 不得出现真实姓名和班级信息。
A Helper
As a teenager, it's important to be a helper in life.
