浙江省湖州市长兴县2019-2020学年八年级下学期英语期中考试（第二次月考）

The day was Thankful Thursday. Thursday has become my day to go out and do charity(慈善) work with my two1. On this special Thursday, we had no idea exactly2we were going to do. At noon I3to a McDonald's with my daughters because they kept telling me that they didn't have enough to eat at breakfast. There we saw some4people begging(乞讨)in the street and we decided to do something for them.

We ordered several5from McDonald's and started to give them out. We were6to see those thankful people holding up lunch bags. Then we noticed a dirty ，old woman7at the corner. We handed her our final lunch bag. When we8the car and wanted to drive home, she walked to our car and said, "Thank you, lady! No one has ever done9like this for me before. " "Well, I'm glad that we were the10 ， "I replied. "So, why don't you eat the lunch now?" I asked.

She just looked at me11her tired eyes and said, "I'm not going to eat this lunch. I have a little girl who just loves McDonald's, but I can12buy it for her because I don't have the money. But tonight she can have McDonald's!"

    I don't know13the kids noticed the tears (眼泪) in my eyes. So many times I questioned myself if our acts of kindness were too14to make a difference. However, at that moment, I15that we can't do great things but we can do small things with great love.

    When Helen left home to do some shopping, her elder daughter, 12-year -old Vanessa, was watching a movie and her little daughter, 10 month-old Alice, was asleep in the room. Helen told Vanessa to look after Alice and watch the cake in the oven (烤箱).

    Just after Helen left, Alice woke up and got out of her bed. Vanessa didn't hear her sister because the film was making a noise. She also forgot the cake. But she heard the ice cream man. She ran out of the house without taking her key and locked herself out.

    Through the window, she saw Alice in the room. At once, she remembered the cake and knew Alice was in danger. She ran to the nearest telephone box and called 999.

    When the fireman arrived, they found Vanessa crying outside and heard Alice laughing inside. They went in and found the dog, Nap, playing with Alice. He was jumping around her and the oven.

    When Nap saw the fireman, he stopped at once as if to say, “Now it's your turn. She is safe. ”The house was full of smoke then, and they believed that Nap was playing with Alice to keep her away from the oven.

Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm were two young men from Germany who loved a good story. As university students, they became interested in folktales- traditional stories that people told again and again. They began to collect traditional folktales from the storytellers all over Germany. Many were similar to stories told in France, Italy, Japan and other countries. Between 1812 and 1814, the brothers published (出版) two books in German. These included stories like "Hansel and Gretel" and "Little Red Riding Hood". The collections became known in English as Grimm's Fairy Tales.

The Grimm brothers' tales reflected ( 反映) traditional life and beliefs. For example, forests are common in Germany, and this image often appears in the Grimm's stories. In the past, many people believed forests were dangerous places. In the Grimm's stories, a forest is the home of evil witches(邪恶的女巫)，talking animals and other magical beings.

Although most people today think of these stories as fairy tales for children, the brothers first wrote them for adults. Many of their early stories were dark and a little scary. Later, the brothers changed the text of some of the original (原来的) stories. They "softened" many of the tales and added drawings. This made them much better for children. Like the early tales, though, each story has a moral: work hard, be good, and listen to your parents.

Musical Elephants

    In the town of Lampang in northern Thailand, there is an unusual group of musicians. They play many different kinds of music from traditional Thai songs to music by Beethoven. Both children and adults love this group. What makes them so popular? Is it their music? Their looks? Yes, it's both of these things, but it's also something else: they're elephants.

    These musical elephants are from the Thai Elephant Conservation (保护) Center in Lampang. The TECC protects elephants. It teaches people to understand and care for these huge, but gentle, animals. And, like many zoos around the world, the TECC encourages (鼓励) elephants to paint.

    Richard Lair works with the TECC. He knew that elephants hear better than they see. So he had an idea: if elephants are smart and they have good hearing, maybe they can play music. To test his idea, Lair and a friend started the Thai Elephant Orchestra (管弦乐队). During a show, the elephants play different instruments, including the drums. They also use their voices and trucks(象鼻) to make sounds.

    But can elephants really make music properly? Yes, says Lair. They're very creative. Humans may encourage the animals to play instruments, but the elephants make their own songs; they don't just copy other trainers or other people. There are now CDs of the group's music, which make money for the TECC. And the music these artists create is pretty amazing.

Students' views on tipping(付小费) in China

    In my opinion, tips should be given in China. Waiters work hard to serve each person. In return, people can give them tips to show their thanks. For waiters, tips not only mean more money, but also encourage them to work harder and do better.

    I don't think it's a good idea to tip in China, for there's no standard (标准) for tipping. Not every guest is rich and rich people may tip more. So waiters might choose to serve rich guests instead of poor ones.

    Chinese people don't need to give tips to waiters. In western countries, people give tips in many cases (情况). However, it can't work in China. I think Chinese people are not used to paying an extra bill(额外的账单) for services.

    In Western countries, it is really common to pay tips. It's just a tradition there. They have theirs and we have ours. And we have our own ways to live. It is not wise to follow foreigners in every way.

    Nature is very important to human beings. It gives us almost (无论什么) we need. Without nature, we cannot live. We need air, water, sunshine, food and so on. On the one hand, people (依赖) on nature, on the other hand, nature also needs people.

    However, it seems that people still can't build good (关系) with the nature. For example, people need more and more lands to live on and it (意味着) animals have fewer places. And there will be less food for the animals to eat. (最近)，weather changes greatly. It is either very cold or very hot.

    And there are a lot of reasons to (造成) pollution. The main reason is that people don't care much about nature. They only want to get more and more from nature. Then what can they do to (保护) nature? Here is some advice for people.

    Firstly, take nature and human beings as a (整体). Be close to nature and keep it safe. Secondly, try to create good living (条件). Don't drop rubbish anywhere. Lastly, live with (野生的) animals in a friendly way. No killing!

    Several years ago, I had to work overseas (在海外), so I decided to leave my cat Larry with my mother. It was (real) hard for me because I love Larry so much. I couldn't imagine living him. Besides, my mother always felt lonely, and I (hope) Larry would change that.

    Larry was already like son to me, so I asked my mother to share video of Larry online as often as possible. Two years later, I was ready (get) Larry back. Before I could do that, I got a call from my mother. She said one morning she slept much (early). Suddenly, she woke up while Larry (push) her face hard. Larry never did that before. My mother smelled (anything) strange, jumped out of bed, found the kitchen on fire. Luckily, my mother was alive of Larry. He has been protecting us in his way. I guess this is we love each other. You give love, and you get love!

参考词汇：

独立性independence悲伤 sadness

要求:

1）要点齐全，语句通顺，逻辑连贯，可适当发挥;

2）词数80词左右。(开头已给出，不计人总词数)

Mental health is very important for all of us.