浙江省杭州市保俶塔教育集团2023学年八年级上学期期中质量检...

Maria is a poor girl from Asia. She was born without legs or arms, so her parents sent her to an orphan (孤儿) home. Maria couldn't live with them from then on. But, luckily, now she lives a happy life with love.

Four years ago, the Stewarts had three children——two daughters and one son. But Mr. and Mrs. Stewart still wanted to have one more child. So they would like to take another one home. 

Mr. and Mrs. Stewart found an organization (机构) first. People there gave them a list of children. They saw many names and photos on it. Then they found the picture of 9-month-old Maria and they loved her very much. So they asked to take Maria home. About a year later, Maria finally joined her American family. Everyone welcomed her. 

Now, Maria goes to school every week. She goes to hospital every month as well. Doctors there help to make her better. Everyone loves and cares much about Maria. She likes to play with animals. She likes to listen to music too. 

"For me, the important things in the world are my family and love. A life without love is a yard (庭院) without flowers, " Mrs. Stewart said. "That's why we took Maria home. "

①Do you have a dream job? What will you choose? Here are three that will be on our list!

②Swizzels is a company that makes sweets. When the company makes a new sweet, it will send the sweet to Harry's house for him to test. He eats it, writes a report about it and sends his report to the company. And then Swizzels makes the decision about whether to make the sweet or not. Harry is one of the company's workers, but he's only 12 years old! Is Harry paid (得到报酬) for the job? Well, no. He isn't paid because he's too young to work for money. But he gets free sweets! Harry says excitedly, "When I start the job, I feel like I am in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!"

③Would you like to look after an island in the Pacific Ocean? Ben Southall gets the job. He lives by himself on the island and writes blogs(博客) every day. Many people start to show great interest in visiting this island after reading his blogs. The local government (政府) is happy with that and they pay him $111, 000 for six months' work.

④Usually, sleeping on the job is a big problem! But Roisin, from the UK, is paid £1, 000 every month to do that. A company that makes beds wants to know more about what makes a good night's sleep. So they have Roisin test the beds. Roisin spends up to eight hours a day in a bed and then writes about it. Over 600 people asked for the job, but they didn't get it!

Many people might think that if they had more money, then they would be happier in life. For example, people might look at what others have, like expensive clothes or nice cars, and wish they could have the same. But the things that money can buy cannot bring happiness to a person for a long time. 

But is that really true? Studies have found that money can, in fact, make people happier. But it's not having money that brings happiness. Instead, it's giving money to others that makes people happy. It could be buying a gift for a friend or a family member. It could be buying a homeless person food to eat. It could be giving money to a person in need. Just think about the last time you used your own money to do something for someone else. How did you feel? Whether it is a small large amount of money, people feel happier when they give. This is because making someone else happy makes the giver happy, too.

This idea of connecting (关联) your happiness to the happiness of others is called ‘ubuntu' in an African language. There is even a story about a man visiting Africa. He asked some children to race to a nearby tree. The first child to touch the tree would get a sweet treat. Surprisingly, all the children held hands and ran together. They all touched the tree at the same time. The man asked whythey did this. The children simply said they could only enjoy eating the treat if everyone had one.

Students are often very busy. It is difficult for them to get away from bad eating habits. But having a healthy diet(饮食) can help them to feel better. It isn't really hard to get started.

. When there isn't enough time to sit down and enjoy your breakfast, just have a piece of bread and some juice. You can keep some of these things in your room.

. If you really want to have some unhealthy food, you can choose it wisely. For example, choose pizza with less cheese. And don't eat French fries or fried chicken too much, because there is a lot of fat in them.

. When watching a movie at home, you'd always like to have some snacks and it is fine. However, you'd better choose snacks such as fresh fruit, but not potato chips.

. Your body needs at least eight glasses of water a day. If you exercise regularly, you need to drink more water. 

Remember, a healthy diet is important for the body. 

Answer the question: What healthy eating habits do you have? 

In children's eyes, Mother is perfect(完美的). In my1 , my mother is good at doing everything except cooking. I still remember what happened on my 2 40th birthday when I was young.

My mother made a special plan for the 3 day. She did some cleaning early in the morning and made the house pretty with some flowers. Then she went shopping for a big 4 . She began to cook just 5 finishing a long shopping list. Three hours later, only 6 dishes were served on the table——a salad and a pancake in a strange shape. We all 7 to have the roast duck as soon as possible because it was our favorite. Unluckily, the duck was neither nice in color nor delicious in 8 . How sad I felt! Feeling so 9 , my mother decided to prepare another one at once. To 10 surprise, my father didn't complain(抱怨) at all. Instead, he ate one more piece of the 11 and smiled at my mother, "Good taste. I love it! Thank you, dear! It's the 12 roast duck I have ever had!" Mother smiled happily and said, "Happy birthday, my dear!"

I couldn't understand what my father said and did at that time. Ten years has passed and my father has become a 50-year-old man. He 13 loves the food my mother cooks, though she hasn't become a good cook yet. As time goes by, I come to know that no one is perfect, including my mother. 14 is perfect, including my family. 15 love can make a difference. If there is love, home will become the sweetest place in the world.

Saegertown is in Pennsylvania, the United States. Some children living there are talking about it. 

Speaker 1: Saegertown is a small town. The weather is nice, but in winter it's as (cold) as ice. There are a lot of fun things to do here, though it is small. If you like to dance, you can join the square-dancing team. If you are interested sports, you can join one of the teams like volleyball, soccer or basketball. All in all, I enjoy (live) here.

Speaker 2: If you want to live in quiet place, Saegertown will be a good choice! Firstly, Saegertown is small, so people here know each other (good). Everybody tries to keep the streets clean. If you come here, the fresh air will surprise you. Secondly, Saegertown has a lot of wonderful places! There is a place called the "Dairy Isle". It is (popular) ice-cream shop in our town. Last year I (go) there, and it was crowded and it's not easy for me (find) a seat.

Speaker 3: Saegertown is a beautiful place. Most people are friendly. There are some big stores in Saegertown, so you can get  you need easily. There are also many restaurants. Most of them have good service and serve delicious (dish). Everyone can enjoy themselves there. 

October 5th

What a difference a day makes! Today I decided Mount Tai with my classmates John and Tom. It was sunny in the morning, so we walked up to the top. We so many green trees along the way. Everyone was . But half an hour later, it started raining. We didn't have enough for everyone. We had to wait. Because of the bad weather, we didn't take any . What a pity! For dinner, we tried the special local food. But it didn't taste good! What a terrible day!

—No, the teacher didn't tell us about it yet.

要点：

My Two Good Friends

I have two good friends, Tim and Tom. They are twins.