社会现象类 知识点题库

     In New York City public schools, 176 different languages are1 among more than one million students.

     For 160,000 children, English is not their first language. New York's Department of Education 2 learning better for these students by providing dual-language programs. Students are usually taught3 two languages, English and 4, like Chinese or 5. Math, social studies, science and all other 6courses are taught in both languages. And they7the culture of the other country at the same time.

      Milady Baez is Deputy Chancellor of English Language Learners. She says these dual-language programs will help children 8 in the future. "The jobs of the future 9that our students know more than one language. They are going to be traveling 10. They are going to be communicating with people from all over the world. This will open doors for them."

      Shuya Zhang teaches a dual language class. She says the program helps children get ready 11work with people in other countries.   "Nowadays, America has started economic relationships with China. Lots of factories 12. They need people who 13 both practical skills and language skill."

14these dual-language programs are popular, some groups in the U.S. think English should always comes first. "We have no problem with people speaking multiple (多种多样的) languages. It's OK if people want to speak15different language at home. What we do think is schools should prioritize English."

    Each year, the famous Oxford Dictionaries chooses its Word of the Year. The word is carefully chosen depending on how popular it is and how well it explains the year. However, this year they didn't actually choose a word at all. Instead, they chose a “face with tears（眼泪） of joy” emoji (表情符号).

    This was the world's most used emoji in 2015, according to research done by the Oxford University Press. It made up 20 percent of all emojis used in the UK and 17 percent of those used in the US.

    Emojis started from Japan in the 1990s. Through the years, the simple, small pictures have changed the way people communicate online. According to New Yorker magazine, a survey in 2013 showed that 74 percent of people in the US and 82 percent in China had used emojis. About 6, 000,000,000 emoji pictures are flying around the world every day through messages. Although some worry that emojis will make people's language skills weak, fans say they are fun and help them express their feelings more easily.

    “Emojis are no longer just for sending messages to teenagers. Instead, they have become a kind of expression, which can cross language barriers (障碍),” Oxford Dictionaries said in a statement, explaining their uncommon choice. “Emoji culture has become so popular that emojis have their own way and stories.”

    Some even think emojis can take the place of words. Fred Benenson, an American data (数据) engineer, translated American novel Moby Dick into Emoji Dick. The book has even been kept by the US Library of Congress (美国国会图书馆).

    Thanksgiving Day is on the fourth Thursday of November in the U.S. and on the second Monday in October in Canada.

    For many Americans it is the most important (重要的) holiday apart from (除了) Christmas. Schools, offices and most businesses (商业) close for Thanksgiving, and many people make the whole (整个的) weekend a holiday.

    Today people celebrate Thanksgiving to remember the early days. The most important of the celebration is a traditional (传统的) dinner with foods that come from North America. The meal included (包括) turkey (火鸡), sweet potatoes and so on.

On Thanksgiving there are special (特别的) TV shows and sports games. Thanksgiving is the beginning of Christmas period, and the next day many people go out to shop for Christmas gifts.

    Are you learning English and do you need help with grammar? Do you want to learn new vocabulary or slang (俚语)? Well, you can find help online with these top 5 free English as a Second Language websites.

Dave's ESL Café

    This is a complete website that can help you learn and practice English. You can read many stories and do a lot of exercises to test yourself You can also post questions and answers onto the help center.

About.com

    You can get free English courses from About.com and you'll get regular e-mails that will help you learn English.

The Classroom by Voice of America

    You can watch videos and listen to news stories to improve your listening and vocabulary skills. You can also hear English words and their meanings.

Heinle's Newbury House Dictionary of American English

    Do you need to find the definition of a word? Use this online dictionary to find simple and clear definitions, as well as example sentences and idioms (习语). You can also find different cultural facts.

Perso nal English Portal (门户网站) on YouTube

    You can watch this series of videos on YouTube to develop your listening skills. You can also do a search for “learn English” on YouTube to find other videos. This is a good way to practice English and have fun.

    We all dream about things that we would like to do and things we hope to achieve in the future. But are everybody's dreams the same? Here are some of the findings of a survey about hopes and dreams，and thousands of students across China took part in it.

    What are the hopes of teenagers?

    We received several different answers to the question：What would you like to do after finishing your education? It seems some students would like to start work as soon as possible, so that they can help provide better lives for their parents. Other students hope to continue studying after finishing school and to go to university. Although money is important, many teenagers said they want to do jobs they enjoy. According to the survey, the most popular choice of job is computer programming.

    What are the dreams of teenagers?

    Teenagers have all kinds of dreams. Some are more realistic(现实的) than others. For example, many students said they would like to be volunteers if Beijing could hold the World Cup, maybe working as translators or tour guides. And quite a few said they dream of going to the moon one day. According to the survey, less realistic dreams are also common, but many students reported that they were willing to work hard to achieve their dreams. Quite a few dream of becoming famous, perhaps famous sports people or singers. Some said they'd like to go on exciting trips; one student said she'd love to sail across the Pacific Ocean. And then there are dreams that are impossible; three students said they'd like to be able to fly!

    Conclusion

    It was clear from the survey that teenagers have similar hopes. It seems that most students hope to have a good education and find a good job. Besides，students dream of very different things：good things, and even crazy things. It is very important to dream, so hold on your dreams； one day they may just come true.

    Frank is a student. He likes playing with his phone very much. And he keeps the phone with him at all times. His dad thinks he is addicted(上瘾的) to his phone. But Frank doesn't think so. They write to each other.

    Have you ever worked as a volunteer? Volunteers don't get paid for what they do, but the experience of helping others can be more valuable than 1. There are many charities (慈善机构) around the world. There are always in need of volunteers who want to make a difference.

    Do you want to 2 a volunteer? Think about what skills you have? If you speak more than one language or you are good at 3 broken things, you can find places to use your skills to help other people.

    Volunteering doesn't always mean doing great things. You can start with 4 things. There is a famous saying that goes, "Charity begins at home". If people help those around them. 5 will be in trouble. There are always people in your neighbourhood who need help with some tasks, such as walking their dogs. looking after their kids, and carrying their 6 shopping bags. You can also volunteer by donating 7 to hospitals. These things may seem small, but they can still make a difference in someone else's life.

    Volunteers don't 8 help people. Environmental volunteers work hard to protect the environment. They plant trees or 9 city parks. Other volunteers work for animal charities which save the homeless or injured animals. They feed the animals and show them love. They take care of the animals until they are 10 enough to be put in good homes.

    All in all, volunteering is really a good way to make a contribution to your hometown and to the world.

    It is Oct. 24. You pick up a bottle of milk. You see "Best Before Oct.23" on it. What do you do with it? Most people just throw it away. It's a big waste.

    The United Nations says that over one third of food goes to the trash. But 795 million people on Earth don't have enough to eat. To change this, people have come up with great ideas. After all, the best place for food is our stomachs, not the trash.

    Sharing food

    People say, "There's no such thing as a free, lunch." But they are wrong. Recently, "share fridges" have come to cities like Shanghai and Quanzhou, Quick meals, milk, cookies and cakes are staying in the fridges. It is just like your fridge at home. The food comes from families and shops nearby. And it is free for every passerby to enjoy! This great idea comes from the popular "food bank" practice.

We keep our extra money in a bank. In 1967， some people in the US wanted to do the same with food. They then set up the world's free food bank.

    In many people's eyes, expired( 过期的) food becomes junk. But a company from the UK thinks differently. There is a "Best Before Date "on the food bag. Before that date, the quality(质量) is the best. But after that date, the food can be still OK to eat.

    So, the Real Junk Food Project, a British company, gets such food from supermarkets and puts it in cafes again. They don't give the food a price. You can give whatever money you like. If you don't want to spend money, you can help work there.

    Most kids fall into the world of TV long before they enter school. 70%of the child care centers use 1 every day.

    The TV, as a modern invention, can be a 2 thing. Students can learn about 3 on nature shows, and parents can keep up with 4 events on the evening news. No doubt about it—TV can be an excellent educator and entertainer. 5 too much TV can be harmful. A recent survey shows that kids in the United States watch about 4 hours of TV a day. Scientists suggest that kids older than 2 should watch 6 2 hours of TV a day. If kids spend more than 4 hours per day watching TV, they are more likely to be overweight. If kids view violent events, such as 7 and killing on TV, they are also more likely to believe that the world is not safe and that something bad will 8 them.

    And, according to scientists, kids 9 age 2 should have no 'screen time'(TV, DVDs, videotapes, computers or video games)at all. The first 2 years is a very important time for children's brain to develop. Watching TV may 10 their exploring and learning abilities.

    Wang Jinyuan is an eighth-grader at Chongzhou High School, Sichuan. But thanks to an online course, he is studying with his peers (同龄人) at Yucai Middle School in Chengdu.

    In every class, he and his classmates watch online course videos from the school. "It's like I have classes together with students at Yucai," Wang said.

    Wang is not alone. Students from more than 200 schools in rural areas of Sichuan, Yunnan and Guizhou are doing the same thing. They all use the online courses made by Yucai Middle School. The school started the online course program in 2007. It records (录制) courses, makes them into videos and offers them to other schools.

    The online courses give students new ideas and broaden their horizons (拓宽视野). They can learn from their peers (同伴) studying in the city. "I remember that a topic in English class was about volunteering." said Wan Jinyuan, "Students shared a lot about their own experiences. But it was hard for me to talk about it because I had little experience. It encouraged me to do more."

    But students don't completely rely on online course. They still interact with

(和……互动) teachers. In fact, the teachers edit (剪辑) the videos before using them. "I cut off some parts, like the discussion parts," said Zhang Xiaomin, Wang's English teacher. "I will let my students discuss for themselves, rather than only watch. Then, if necessary, I will show them what their peers said in their discussions. We benefit (受益) a lot from it." Teachers further explain key points that students don't understand.

    Also, students can watch the videos again after class.

    It is difficult for the parents of every family to teach their children to be responsible (有责任的) for housework.

    The Shatian School in Shanghai is making its students do housework for their parents. The third graders(三年级学生) must learn how to cook and clean, sixth graders do the laundry(洗衣服) and seventh and eighth graders cook balanced meals with 15 yuan.

    Many parents think it's a good way for children to try housework but they don't know how to do it at home. With the following ideas, you really can get your children to help at home.

    If you want to make your children think that they can do everything quite right, please don't always scold(批评) if them but give them lots of praise at home. Talk more about what they did right, not about what they didn't do. If your child finishes some difficult work, give him or her a Sunday trip or a ball game with Dad as a reward.

We can't remember clearly since when we started to take our mobiles to a dinner table. This happens a lot, especially when we eat out. Once a dish comes, instead of lifting our chopsticks, we take out our mobiles and click. Later, we post the photos onto Weibo or Wechat, waiting to be "liked". Then we check our mobiles from time to time during the meal, to see whether we get "liked" or not. We just cannot leave our mobiles for only a meal.

Does that sound familiar to you？Do you do that often？If not, how do you feel when others do that when having dinner with you？

A recent study suggests that what we are used to doing is not so good. Spending time taking photos of food makes the food less pleasant. To test this, some researchers did an experiment. Some people were asked to take photos before they could enjoy food. As a result, it showed that the more photos they took,          . So, why not stop taking photos and just enjoy the food in front of you？

Besides the scientific result, there are also some other bad influences of taking photos of food before meals. After posting the photos onto the Internet, one will not be able to control himself and check his mobile many times. "Does everyone like my photos? I hope a lot of people like them!" It seems that your mobile secretly calls your name all the time, even when you are with real people.

So, next time you go out to have dinner with your family or friends, how about not taking photos of food? Let the food be delicious as it is and share your life with people around you. Trust me, it will be a wonderful time.

What problems do the teenagers probably have? Here is a survey showing their main problems.

    Every year, thousands of students choose to study in a country. More than 30 per cent of these students go to the United States. Around 15 per cent go to Italy, and 10 per cent go to b England and Germany. A little less than 10 per cent go to Australia, and around 5 per cent go to Canada.

    No matter where a student chooses to study, there are some things universities around the world need. First, all students must graduate from high school b they can apply (申请) to a university. Most universities also need some kind of standard (标准化的) exam, such as the SAT in the United states. Students w do not come from English-speaking countries also must take a test such as the TOEFL in the United States and Canada to show they know e English to study in English. England and Australia require students to take the LELTS.

    In most countries, students must apply to each university they h to go to. However, students applying to universities in England can use one form to apply to six universities at one time t the British Council (英国文化学会). Many students like this because it can save them a lot of time and money. For universities in other countries, students must fill in different forms for each university and pay a fee (费用) with each application (应用).

What should I do if I don't have a desk for work at home during the COVID-19?

Let's see how netizens（网民）bring their creativity into full play.

The liquor cabinet desks（酒柜）.

Emma Northcott, who is based in London, is using her liquor cabinet while she waits for a desk that she ordered online to come in. Patrick Gipson in New York had a similar idea.

The ironing board（熨衣板）desks.

Bex Holland, who lives in England, and some of her colleagues have been using ironing boards as standing desks.

The baby high chair desk.

Lan Giatti is an editor in Los Angeles and says his standing desk is a baby high chair.

The bathtub desks.

Scott Lagstrom from Morrisville, North Carolina, is working from his bathtub. He's not the only one working in the tub.

The closet desk.

Jessica Fleming's kids are noisy, so she turned the closet in her bedroom into an office.  Now she has a quiet space to take conference calls and to focus.

The SUV desk.

Joseph Kim, who works for a software company, set up a workspace in his SUV.

Dear friends, Do you you are lucky when you are sitting in a bright and having your classes or your nice food at home? Do you know many children in the western areas of China are not so as you? Lots of children don't have food to eat and they go to school and they have to work. They our help. So we'd like to collect school things and for them. You can donate(捐赠) your old pens, rulers, pencil cases and old clothes. And you can also donate some money. We will send them to the children in western areas.

We hope to raise than 10, 000 yuan, then we can help 50 students to go back to school. If you would like to donate things, please us on 83301666. Thank you.

Do you know how to babysit? Here is something about how American children babysit. Many American children learn to babysit by helping their parents take care of their younger brothers or sisters. When they get older, they may want to become babysitters. And by the age of 13, they may be ready to do so.

Schools and organizations often provide courses on babysitting. However, nothing is better than experience. Teenagers can work as parents' helpers and look after young children. They can observe(观察) how the parents talk with their children and they get to know the children before babysitting them.

In America, if the child is interested in becoming a babysitter, the parents will emphasize(强调) the responsibility for taking care of someone else's children. When he or she is asked to babysit someone, his or her parents help him or her plan the schedule. So he or she still has time for other things, for example, homework.

[1] During meal times, more and more young people take out their phones, choose a favorite show, eat while watching and burst into laughter now and then.

[2] Liu, a 19—year—old student studying in Beijing, is one of them. A foodie and a video lover, she is happy to eat while watching food programs on her smartphone. A show she has been recently watching is about two Chinese girls traveling around Japan to find delicious food, and the show has been viewed more than 26,000 times on China's top microblog platform. "The food in the show looks really attractive," Liu explains. Besides this show, she also watches many other online food programs.

[3] "It's not unexpected," said Adrien from France, who is a huge fan of Chinese food. "China and France are both keen on(热衷于)cooking and eating. As for me, I love Chinese food programs very much."

[4] Irina from Russia also loves Chinese food programs very much. She watched a reality show  ①        her friends In the show, some Chinese stars cooked seafood and crabs. "They cooked the seafood differently from us, but the dish they made looked very delicious," said Irina and her friends.

[5] Beautiful pictures, delicious food, special skills of ②       and the famous stars—all these things can make food programs a perfect meal companion(陪伴)for younger Chinese people, even when they are far away from home.

[6] "After I ③        China and started my study life in Germany, I found myself always watching A bite of China during supper," said Manling. She added that she had only been living there for only two months and she had already missed the home flavor(味道) of China. "Chinese flavors are like the comfort zone(区域) that gives me a sense of safety ," Manling said.

Now, more and more mothers wear the same clothes as their daughters, so people often mistake them for each other. According to a new study, mothers today look to their daughters for fashion（时尚）and beauty ideas. The study questioned 343 mothers and daughters, with an average age of 44 for mums and 16 for daughters.

A report from Temple University, Philadelphia also says that many children act older than their years. But they don't listen to the opinion from their parents in wearing.

Some mothers buy the same clothes as their daughters do. They like the same colour and style as their daughters. They do so because they want to keep as young as their daughters. And now many more mothers compare（与…比较）beauty with their daughters. So a strange thing happens: the woman may look like a teenager from behind, but she is already middle-aged from the front.

The report shows that if a mum is young at heart and fashion, she is more likely to view （把…视为）her daughter as a style expert and copy her. So what are the mothers going to wear in the future? This may depend on their daughters.

Cai Yanqiu, a man from China, has spent about 3 years traveling around the country. However, he is not enjoying the scenery (风景)along the way. He (help) homeless people he meets.

Cai's journey (start) in 2016. One day while Cai (walk) on the street, he saw a homeless man pass by. That man reminded him of his brother. In 1994，Cai's brother disappeared from home. Three days later, Cai's brother (find)，but he was in such a bad condition that he died soon. Cai (not forget) the hard times that his family experienced because of the death of his brother. He decided (do) something to stop other families from going through the same pain. Cai bought a used van (面包车)and filled it up with things like quilts, clothes and toiletries (洗漱用品). He left his family to look for homeless people and helped them go home. Cai (drive) over 90,000 kilometers so far and helped more than 50 people return home. For some who don't want to go back home, he just (try) his best to make their lives better.

Since Cai started live streaming (直播)his journeys around China, his kindness has won him thousands of fans. They call him a hero and support him with donations. However, Cai says he isn't interested in (be) famous or rich. He only hopes one day he (not find) homeless people anymore.