"What worries you, Tom ?" asked Mrs. Bell. He had a 1 in his hand and tears (泪水) in his eyes.
"Our teacher asked us to recite (背诵) the poem ‘Little Jim'. The student who can recite it 2 will get a prize. But I don't think I can do it well." said Tom.
"Why not?" asked Mrs. Bell.
"The boys say that I can't, " said Tom in a 3 voice.
"Don't mind what they 4 . Let them see that you can make it," said Mrs. Bell.
"But I don't think I can," said Tom. "The poem is so long and difficult. I may not try for the prize, but I want to try my best to recite it, because the boys 5 me. They call me ‘Slow Tom'."
"Well, dear," said Mrs. Bell, "Look at that snail on the wall. How slow it is! Watch it. You will see it will get to the top at last. So just try a few 6 each day, and you may get the prize in the end."
Tom thought that 7 he could not catch up with the boys, he might run a race with the snail. So he decided to try it.
At last, the day came. The teacher called up the boys to recite the poem. After five or six boys had recited it, it was Tom's 8 . Most of the boys laughed at him because they thought he could be a 9 . But to their surprise, Tom did not 10 miss a word. His heart was full of joy when the teacher said, "Well done, Tom!" After the rest of the class had tried, the teacher said Tom had done best and he gave Tom the 11 .
"And now tell us 12 you could recite the poem so well," said the teacher.
"A snail on the wall gave me a lesson," said Tom.
The classroom suddenly got in chaos (混乱) when Tom said this. But the teacher said, "Don't laugh! We can learn a lot from things such as snails. How did the snail 13 you, Tom?"
"I saw it crawl up the wall bit by bit. It did not stop, but went on and on. And I thought I could do the same. So I recited it bit by bit, and did not 14 ." said Tom.
"Well done, Tom!" said the teacher. "Now boys, let us give a good cheer for Tom and the snail on the wall." The classroom rang with loud 15 . Everyone was glad that "Slow Tom" won the prize at last.
Jessica from America is a big fan of Harry Potter. She began to read the books when she was still an 8-year-old girl. They have influenced her life a lot. She has collected some other fans' stories about the influence of the books on them.
| Like Harry, I lost my mother. Harry Potter helped me face it. I began to read it at the age of 12 after my mother's loss. I remember staying up to read it and ending up crying as Harry's mother said to him - "You've been so brave." Those are the kind of words you want to hear when you've lost a parent. They hit your heart sometimes. I think I can be a lot stronger than before. |
| I didn't want to read until my friends told me about a wizard called Harry. I didn't like reading until I heard a lot of my friends reading Harry Potter. I read it from the first page to the last page at the age of 11. As Harry, Hermione and Ron grew up, I grew up, too. Harry Potter showed me that reading could be enjoyable. It changed my life because it led me to love reading. |
| I was lonely and Harry Potter helped me get better. When I entered high school, my family moved away to another city. I lived with my uncle and his family. At that time, my whole world was gray, but Harry Potter gave me something to look forward to. The books helped me understand that I could talk to my friends, and they were always helpful. And the books taught us to care about others. |
A thirsty crow (乌鸦) comes across a bottle of water, but the water is out of reach. The bird then drops some stones into it until the water level rises (上升) within its reach and it starts drinking.
"It's just a story," you may think. However, a new research has found that crows may be sometimes smarter than 6-year-old children.
In a recent experiment (实验), American scientists Corina Logan and her team caught six crows to test them. The crows and children had to choose between two kinds of tubes (管子)—a red one or a blue one. Both children and crows had to drop in stones to reach the water.
When they dropped a stone into the red tube, the water level rose in a connected (连接的) bottle. The blue tube, however, had nothing to do with the rise or fall of the water level in the connected bottle. Children aged 7 to 10 were able to find out the rule quickly. But children aged 4 to 6 failed. Five of the six crows failed the test. But Kitty, a 6-month-old crow, passed it. She put most of the stones into the red tube.
So, could a bird be cleverer than a kindergartner? Don't be too quick to say no.
Teachers and schools try different kinds of ways to stop students from cheating in exams. But some students always find new ways to cheat in their exams. It's like a race between them.
Recently, a university in the Philippines has come up with a new way to stop cheating. That is: The university asks its students to create their own anti-cheating hats to wear during exams. This new idea to stop students from cheating soon became very popular.
The method came from Mary Joy Mandane-Ortiz, a professor of the university. And she got inspiration from a university in Thailand. She saw a photo on the Internet, showing a room of students at the Thai university taking test papers while wearing "ear flaps". They were made from pieces of paper and stuck to each side of their heads to stop seeing others' papers. So Prof Mandane-Ortiz decided to ask her students to do the same. The students were excited about the work. They made their hats out of cardboard, egg boxes and other recycled materials (可回收的材料).
The method worked out pretty well. The students did better this year, because the strict examination conditions made them work harder. What's more, most of them finished their exams early, and nobody was caught cheating Prof Mandane-Ortiz also called on schools and universities in other parts of the country to encourage their own students to wear anti-cheating hats. "Again, the anti-cheating hat not only reminds students not to cheat, but makes them study hard," said Prof Mandane-Ortiz. "Let us value integrity and honesty (正直和诚实)."
Anna hated helping with the cooking. What she loved best was riding Copper. Since Mum died, Dad has made it clear to her that she should be safe. Anna never had the chance to drive the cattle on Copper.
After washing cups and going to her bed, she listened to the men talking about the next day's work.
"A storm's coming" Dad said. "The cattle will be afraid."
Anna tried to sleep but couldn't. "The men will need my help!" She thought. But when she asked Dad, he refused her offer, Anna crossed her arms and looked at the sky. The stars disappeared (消失) under a blanket of clouds. The wind blew hard. The cattle were nervous (紧张的，焦虑的).
The camp slept —everyone but Anna. Tears ran down her face, Why couldn't Dad understand? She knew he had gone through much pain about Mum's death, but how could he try to protect (保护) Anna from everything? Anna felt a few drops of rain. She got up, took her hat and went towards her horse. "Copper!" She whispered. The horse seemed to understand her. It walked close to Anna and she rode slowly into the darkness. Pulling her hat down against the rain, she lost herself in memories of riding with her parents.
A loud sound of thunder (雷声) shook Anna from her thought. Copper became nervous, too. As lightning (闪电) lit the land, Anna saw the cattle and felt the same fear. More lightning crashed. The cattle became more nervous and at last, some young ones began to run wildly. Stampede (动物惊跑)! All of them were coming to the camp!
Anna turned Copper around and raced back, shouting loud. Anna saw the men trying to get out of the way. The lightning was bright as daylight. At full speed, Anna led (引领着) Copper toward the cattle.
She raced forward with the cattle, shaking her hat at them and trying to change their direction (方向). It was hard, but slowly more and more followed. Finally, the camp was safe. Dad and all the other men came along and helped lead the cattle back.
Later when Anna was making coffee to warm them, Dad looked down at her seriously. Something different was in his usually gentle brown eyes. "Good job!" Finally he pulled Anna into a bear hug (拥抱). "If you forgive (原谅) an old man for loving his girl too much, I'd have you ride with us tomorrow."
a. Anna saved the whole camp.
b. Anna's Mum died.
c Dad refused Anna's help.
d. A storm came, along with the stampede
e. Anna was sad and rode out alone.
The popular TV series Meet Yourself show the beauty of some intangible cultural heritages (非物质文化遗产) in Dali, Yunnan province.
Wood carving (木刻)
Jianchuan wood carving has a history of over 1,000 years. It has rich culture meanings. The carving usually uses patterns like flowers, plants and dragons. Each piece of wood carving carries great efforts from the masters.
Tie-dyeing (扎染法)
Tie-dyeing is an old dyeing skill. But now, tie-dyeing has modern things on clothing and bags, selling at home and abroad.
Flower cake
It has a history of more than 300 years Even the Qing Dynasty emperor Qianlong was its big fan. The most special part of the cake is that it has flowers in the cake.
The traditional skills not only stand for Chinese wisdom,
A. Let's take a look at a few things. B. It started as early as in the Tang Dynasty for a small part of people. C. but also add colors to our modern lives. D. Flower cake is no doubt the most popular snack of Yunnan province. E. This type of wood carving is widely used in people's buildings. F. After taking one bite, the pleasant smell of rose spreads around, leaving endless aftertastes. |
few more less big predict |
Ms. Steen: OK, now I want to hear all of your about the future.
Gina: Well, I think there will be cars.
Ms. Steen: You do?
Gina: Yes, people will use the subways . So there won't be traffic jams.
Ms. Steen: That's a great idea. Let's hear another one.
Jerry: There will be pollution.
Ms. Steen: That will be good for the earth!
Gina: I think cities will be really and crowded because there will be a lot more people.
On another planet, a very strange-looking alien met us. This alien took my friends and me to see its master. I saw another alien (sit) on a very high seat. That must be their master. It looked like all the others but its head was much (small).
The strange unknown planet looked like a prison. There were many (build) and we could hear terrible screaming and crying coming from them.
We were (scare). They gave us food which smelt like fish. The smell was strong that we had to hold our breath. No one dared to touch the food.
The next day, the aliens told us to do a long list of things a language that we could not understand at all. Even (bad) they did experiments on us. A few of us (die) but the rest of us were put back into the prison.
One day, the aliens forgot (close) the door so we escaped through the door. Soon we found our spaceship and (fly) back to Earth.
Dear Li Hua,
How's it going?
Things in 2023 were so unforgettable for me. I went to Beijing as an exchange student and visited many places of interest. It was so much fun. Did you go anywhere interesting in 2023? And what did you do there?
2024 is coming. I have made some resolutions, such as learning Chinese and doing more sports. Do you have any plans for the new year? Can you tell me about them?
Hope to hear from you soon. Best wishes!
Yours,
Mike
注意：(1)需回复来信询问的要点，可参考提示词，适当发挥；(2)文中不能出现真实姓名和学校；(3)词数：80~100词（短文开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数，可以选择使用）。
提示单词： places of interest, learn about, improve
Dear Mike,
I am so happy to hear from you
Yours,
Li Hua
