浙江省金华市义乌宾王学校2023-2024学年八年级上学期期...

Once a farmer got in fight with his neighbor. During the fight, the farmer got so angry that he said many bad and 1  things to his neighbour. 

After some time, the farmer realized his mistake and wanted to take his words back but didn't know 2 to do. Just then, he got to know that a saint (圣人) was visiting his village. So, he decided to go to the saint and ask for 3 .

He went to the saint and told him 4  and asked him to tell him a way to take his words 5 . 

The saint said to the farmer, "First, go and collect a lot of feathers in a(n) 6 basket and then keep them in the middle of the village and go home. "

The farmer did the same and the next day went to see the saint again. 

The saint said, "Now go and bring those feathers to me. " The farmer went to get those feathers, but when he got there, all the feathers had flown away because of wind.

The farmer returned to the saint with his hands 7 and told him, "I couldn't bring back those feathers because there were none left in the 8 as they were all blown away by winds. "

The saint told him, "The same thing happens to the words spoken by you. You can 9 say them but can not take them back even if you want to. Before saying something bitter and bad to someone in anger, you should always remember that your words can not be taken back. Therefore, it is better to keep 10 when you're angry. "

Words can hurt others too. So always think before you speak. 

Have you ever heard of an avalanche(雪崩)?The avalanche is a kind of sudden natural disaster like earthquakes. During an avalanche a lot of snow and ice rush down the mountain. As they rush, the snow and ice move faster and faster. In fact, snow from an avalanche can move as fast as two hundred miles an hour. That is three times faster than a car on a highway!

Most avalanches happen after big snowstorms. In the mountains like the Alps and the Himalayas, there is snow and ice all year round. After big snowstorms, new snow puts more pressure on the snow that is already in the mountains. It can make the old snow rush down. 

Avalanches are very dangerous. Heavy snow moving down the mountains may pull trees and rocks along. That can cause great damage, such as pushing down houses and killing people. Luckily, no one lives in the mountains where avalanches are easy to happen. So not many people die from avalanches each year. 

Most people who may lose their lives in avalanches are skiing lovers. It's important for them to stay safe while having fun in the snowy mountains. Scientists can usually tell whether an avalanche might happen or not. If you are a skiing lover, remember to pay attention to scientists' warnings before you go skiing. 

If you meet a British person in the street, it is very likely that he or she will apologize whether it is his or her fault(过错) or not. 

It seems that Britain is becoming a nation where everyone is saying sorry. Almost each person says sorry about eight times each day-and one in eight people apologize as many as 20 times day. 

As you may have seen, the British apologize more often than members of other cultures. A research shows that in many cases, people's love of saying sorry in Britain goes a little further that it does for Americans. For example, about 15 British people would say "sorry" while only 10 from the US would do this if they sneezed, if they corrected someone's mistake or if someone knocked into them.

In the old days "sorry" was used to express regret and sadness for having done something wrong. But now British people use the expression as a way of showing good manners. For example they might say "sorry" instead of "excuse me", "pardon", "what" or "whatever".

People in Britain also use sorry when they share the same feeling with others-so they might say "sorry about the rain".

However, British people's use of "sorry" may make things very confusing(迷惑不清)and difficult for foreigners who are not familiar with their ways. But actually, people in Britain pay much attention to the feelings of others. This is the very reason why they apologize every day.

Katie's father was at the airport waiting to meet her. She was going to spend a week with him, and usually she really enjoyed their visits. But this time was different: her dad was getting married, and Katie wasn't at all sure if she liked the idea.

On the way from the airport to her dad's house, Katie almost kept silent. Finally, her dad asked, "Do you want to talk about it, Katie?"

For a moment, Katie sat silently. Then she said, "I'm sorry, Dad. I just don't think I want you to get married."

"I thought you liked Celia," Katie's dad said.

"I do like Celia," Katie answered, "It's not that at all. I just don't know if I want her for a stepmother — that's totally different."

"It really is different," her dad agreed, "But I hope you'll get to like having Celia as a stepmother. She likes you a lot, you know, and I'll bet Megan will, too."

"Who's Megan?" Katie asked. She hadn't heard that name before.

"She's Celia's daughter," her dad replied, "She is your age, actually, so maybe you'll even have something in common."

After dropping Katie's luggage (行李) off at her dad's house, Katie and her dad went to meet Celia and Megan at a restaurant. They were going to have dinner together. When they got to the restaurant, Celia and Megan were already there. Celia introduced Megan to Katie. At first, Katie didn't know what to say to Megan. But then, Megan said, "Mom, don't forget I have swimming practice tomorrow."

"You like to swim?" Katie asked hopefully.

"I love it—I'm on our school swimming team," Megan answered excitedly, "Do you swim?"

"I love to swim, too" Katie said with a smile. Maybe having Celia as a stepmother wasn't going to be so bad after all.

John Allen, an American scientist once said, "the Internet is the world's largest library, but all the books in it are on the floor!" What he meant is that the Internet is full of (信息) . But it can be difficult to find what you really need. The Internet has another disadvantage. Anyone can set a website. So you can find websites about whatever you can imagine. (不幸地), a lot of what is written on them is not always true. At the same time, the Internet provides many other things. On some websites, you can download music and films. They are usually very c and some are even free. On some other websites, you can connect with people from all over the world. And there are some great online stores too. For example，on eBay, people can (卖) used clothes, CDs, and even cars at very low prices .
The Internet has changed the way we work and communicate. But we should not depend on it too much. Some people are also afraid that the Internet has taken the place of other healthier activities, e for young people. Whether you love it or hate it, you'd better get used to it.

The summer vacation is coming soon! If you want to study  interesting subject this summer, and improve your English at the same time, Highbury College is offering three very good courses. 

The first one is English Literature, and it  (main) talks about writers in the 1900s. The second one is British Culture, and teachers will take students to some museums. The third one is Modern Architecture, and students can visit one of  (famous) buildings in the city during their stay. 

All the courses begin on June 14th and end on July 12th. Classes are  9:00 a. m. to 3:30 p. m. , so you will have enough time for other (activity) in the long summer evenings. Fridays are also free for you  (have)a rest because there are lessons on Saturdays and Sundays, too. 

The total price of three courses  (be)£425. It includes your accommodations(住宿)at the college, all books, all meals and full use of the library. But you need to buy tickets(you) if you want to take the school bus. 

All the courses are for beginners, don't worry if you know little about these courses. I'm sure you will have an(enjoy) summer if you come to join us!

We live in a world full of many different kinds of people. We want to get along well with others. We also want other people to like us. Here are some pieces of advice to make people like you. 

Smile as often as possible. Your smile tells others that you are kind. Your smile is like the sun breaking through the clouds. Try to smile before you start to talk with people. 

Remember people's name. A person's name is the sweetest sound in any language. Usually people are glad to be remembered by others. If you remember a person's name, the relationship(关系)between both of you will become much closer. 

Learn to listen carefully. It is important to be a good listener. Most people like to talk about themselves and they need good listeners. The more you listen, the more friends you have. Ask questions to make people talk and you listen to him or her carefully. 

任务A：根据所给信息，完成后面的表格，每空一词。

任务B：请你用英语给出与文中不同的建议，不超过10个单词。

Try to give another piece of advice. 

Dear Peter, 

Yours, 

Tony