浙江省杭州市萧山区2019-2020学年八年级上学期英语期末试卷

Dear parents,

We are happy to send you the list of the books for the 2019 Summer Reading Program. All the students in our school will take part in this program.

This year, students will be required to read one book from the list. After reading the book, students will have to write an article about it.

The books for this year's summer reading program are:

♦Grade 6: The Moon and I by Betsy Byars

The writer describes her wonderful trip with a black snake.

♦Grade 7: My Dog Skip by Willie Morris

A story about a boy and his dog growing up in the countryside.

♦Grade 8: Mama's Girl by Veronica Chambers

The true life story of Veronica Chambers trying to connect with her mother.

♦Grade 9: My Secret Diary by Jacqueline Wilson

A very interesting and exciting story about Jacqueline Wilson's teenage years.

We believe that this program is helpful for our students to develop a lifelong interest in reading. We hope that your child will read these books. Thanks for your help with the Summer Reading Program.

Sincerely,

Parkland Middle School

When I was young, each family worked in our father's store. We started working by doing small jobs like cleaning, tidying shelves and packing, and later graduated (毕业) to serve customers. As we worked and watched, we learned that work was about more than living and selling things.

One day, I was tidying the toy area. A little boy, five or six years old, came in. He was wearing an old brown coat, and his hair and shoes were dirty. The little boy looked poor to me—too poor to afford to buy anything. He looked around the toys, picked up some of them, and then carefully put them back.

At that time, Dad walked over to the boy. He smiled and asked the boy what he could do for him. The boy said he was looking for a birthday present to buy for his brother. Dad told him to take his time and look around. He did.

After about 20 minutes, the little boy carefully picked up a toy plane, walked up to my dad and said, "How much for this. Sir?

"How much do you have?" Dad asked.

The little boy held out his hand and opened it. He counted the coins and said, "27 cents. But the price of the toy plane is—US$3.98!"

"That will just about do it. "Dad said softly. Dad's reply still rings in my ears. When the little boy walked out of the store. I didn't notice the old coat or the dirty shoes. What I saw was a lovely child with a treasure.

Eating less meat is becoming more common all over the world. In the US, for example, there is a campaign (活动) called Meatless Mondays. The idea is to have meatless meals every Monday. By the end of 2018, 230 middle and primary schools in the US had joined this campaign, according to Southern Weekly. These schools give students a vegetarian breakfast and lunch every Monday.

How did Meatless Mondays become part of food culture in the West? The first reason is that it's healthy. Many studies have shown that eating less meat is good for people's health. -Vegetarian diets can make some diseases (疾病), like obesity (肥胖) and heart problems less." scientist Sharon Palmer told CNN. **Even going meatless one day a week can make a difference."

But it's not only about health. A study from Nature found that animal products (制品) create a lot of greenhouse gases. Specifically, they account for 78 percent of total emissions (排放).If we eat less meat, it will be better for the environment.

In March this year, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said that all public schools in New York City would join the Meatless Mondays campaign. Joining the campaign, he said, will help us stay healthy and keep our planet green for the future.

Last week I visited my hometown. It was a small village before I left there when I was only five years old.

My village is next to Saharanpur. I went there by train. My uncle was waiting for me when I reached the station.  When I arrived, my aunt was cooking and my two cousins were playing.

It was a hot day, so I took a shower first. The cold water made me feel good. Then we had lunch together.  And it was very good for my health.

In the evening, I walked to the farm with my little cousin. I watered the crops for the first time in my life.  But soon I found a snake under my feet. I was very afraid and shouted to my cousin. He told me not to be afraid. He said this kind of snake would not hurt (伤害) people.  

Through this trip, I find farmers arc very nice.  We should respect (尊重) them and their work.

A. The food was delicious.

B. Then he took me to his house.

C. But it was necessary to keep away from it.

D. And they work really hard.

E. I felt very happy when I touched them.

Evan has to travel 20 miles a day to school by bike with his father.

The family1 to a new town in January. But no local (本地的) schools have a place for him, so he has to study at his2school, which is near his old home. "We have to travel by bike from our new home to the old school, which is about 10 miles3," said his father. "I'm worried about his safety (安全) on the road. After all, he is4six years old."

Every day, Evan has to cross the5roads with his father. The6every day is so tiring for him that he often falls asleep at school. It seems7when the weather is bad. "On rainy days we often get wet," said the father. "When we see him all wet 8 , it always makes me sad."

The family doesn't have a car. 9 there is a bus that can take Evan from the new home to school, the family is too poor to buy bus 10.

Evan's head teacher praised the father and son. He said, "Evan has done very well here and he has made a lot of progress (进步). He 11very happy. But for a child of that 12, making such a long trip in the morning and afternoon each day is really hard. We hope he can get into a 13 school."

A newspaper reported Evan's story and most people 14 it. Now, Evan will go to a place at a new place at a new school to 15in September. It's the nearest one to his new home.

I'm a piano teacher. I can feel clearly how talent and hard work affect (影响) my students.

In fact, not everybody (be) good at playing the piano when they came to this world. For example, some of my students just spend two or three months (learn) to play the piano well. But other students need to learn for years. Many of my (talent) students learn faster than I did before. But talent doesn't always bring  good result. When playing the piano seems easy to a student, he or she sometimes  find it boring and then give up (放弃) .And talented students sometimes have other things they enjoy(much), so they give up, too.

Some of my students work very hard. But they still can't play the piano(beautiful). I teach them again and again, and they practice for long. However, it just does not work for these students. In my (eye), it is not necessary to do everything very well. When you really don't have any talent something, the best way is to give up (放弃) .Then you can choose  you are really interested in. And put all your heart into it.