This is a story about a monkey. An old man had a monkey. The old man liked the monkey very much. The monkey was very clever. When birds came to the garden, he drove (驱赶) them away. He also helped the old man in many other ways. On a hot afternoon, the old man was asleep in his chair in the garden. A fly (苍蝇) came and sat on the end of the old man's nose. The monkey drove it away. Soon the fly came back again and sat on the old man's nose again. Again the monkey drove it away. Again and again, the monkey became very angry. He jumped up, ran to pick up a large stone. When he came back, the fly was on the old man's nose again. The monkey hit it with that stone. The fly fell off, but the old man's nose was broken.
Well, many people, even our friends, sometimes do things just like the monkey. They do things too quickly but they don't think much before they do. Maybe they sometimes bring us trouble, though they mean to do something good.
The Goal of the Mind
It was an unforgettable night.The noisy Mexico City gradually 1.The main Olympic stadium was in darkness.
2 he finished making the scenes that the marathon (马拉松赛跑)winners celebrated the victory,Greenspan,a world famous documentary producer,found the stadium 3.He was leaving for the hotel when he suddenly saw a man running into the stadium.The man ran out of breath.4 he didn't stop.After he got to the goal,he fell down on the ground.
Greenspan 5 this was a marathon athlete,so he went over to ask why the athlete ran to the goal with such a difficulty.The young man replied,”That my 6 sent me here is not to let me start of a race in the competition,but to make me 7 the game I have fallen behind all other runners,but I have a goal 8 them.I will run to the goal because my motherland is watching me from behind.”
Moved by what he said,Greenspan 9 the most touching scene in the history of the Olympic Games to every Corner of the world.
Life should have a 10 of reaching the peak (顶峰),yet the most important is not whether we can reach the peak but whether we have made the greatest efforts﹣to reach the goal in the mind is a success.
Should children be allowed to get bored? Children need time to stand and stare(凝视). They should be allowed to get bored so that they can develop their ability to be creative(有创造力的).
Children are expected by their parents to be reading a textbook all the time. However, research shows that it may hamper the ability to imagine, because boredom can give them opportunities to develop creativity.
Boredom often comes with loneliness, but a writer named Meera Syal said boredom had helped her in developing her mind. She told researchers about her childhood. Having few things to do, Syal often talked with her neighbours. She also tried to do things like learning to bake cakes. "But importantly, I thought and wrote a lot, because I was bored," Syal said. She kept a diary, filling her time with short stories and poems she made up.
Grayson Perry, an artist, grew up in a family with little money. During his childhood, he enjoyed himself by making up stories, drawing pictures for his stories and reading many books in the library. Bored but free, he spent hours looking out of the window, watching the changing clouds and seasons. Perry filled up his free time with what he liked. He became creative, because he could think freely.
Dr. Belton is doing researches on boredom. "Boredom could be an uncomfortable feeling," she said. "But some young people cannot do with that boredom creatively. So sometimes they may break a classroom window, or drive a car out very fast. "
Usually, when children have nothing to do, they would turn on the TV, the computer, or the phone. Their time on these things has increased, yet they need to have time to think about their experiences through playing or just watching the world around them. It is this kind of thinking that can inspire(激发) the imagination. On the other hand, the TV or phone may cut short the thinking process. That can be bad to the development of creativity. "For developing the ability to be creative," Dr. Belton advised, "perhaps we need to stand stare, and stay off-line from time to time."
I like English very much. I think English is very important and 1 . Here are my opinions of 2 English well.
I think there are many ways 3 1earn English. For example, asking the teacher 4 help is very helpful. One of my good 5 said he had trouble 6 English. His 7 English is very poor. So he reads aloud every morning. Now he can speak English very well. Watching English Shows on TV can also be helpful. You can 1earn many words 8 them. Remember "Where there is a 9 , there is a way." Believe you can do it 10.
When you are learning a language, listening, speaking and writing are important, but reading can also be very helpful. When you read, not only can you learn some new words, but also you can learn how to use them. When you read, it gives you a good example for writing.
Here are some good reading tips.
Firstly, try to read at the right level(水平). Read something that you can understand. If it is too hard for you, it cannot attract you.
Secondly, try to increase the number of your new words. If there are four or five new words on a page, don't use a dictionary. Instead, try to guess their meanings as you read and write them in your own vocabulary book. Try to look them up in the dictionary and remember them later.
Thirdly, try to read for a short time once a day. Fifteen minutes or half an hour every day is better than two hours every Sunday. For example, you can read before you go to bed, or before you get up or at lunchtime. If you continue doing that, you will improve your writing.
Lastly, read something that interests you. Choose a newspaper, a book or a magazine about a subject that you like. It is easy enough for you to understand. There is something interesting in it.
Fights at school sometimes happen. But how can you keep away from a fight? Here's something you can do.
Be calm(冷静). Sometimes, you feel so angry that you really want to teach somebody a lesson. But being angry can't solve problems. Neither can a fight. Instead, it may bring you more problems. In the school, everyone involved(卷入) in a fight will be punished, no matter who started it. There are no winners in a fight.
Shout loudly. If you know someone is coming up behind you to attack, turn toward the person with your hands up in front of your body and loudly say "stop" before walking away. Loud voice can usually make the attacker calm down. If the person doesn't stop, cry for help by calling out the name of a teacher whose office is nearby.
▲ Your friend may ask you to join in a fight. Learn to say no. Helping him fight is not really helpful to him. If you really want to give him a hand, try to ask him to give it up. Also, you can tell him if he gets involved in a fight, he may get hurt and be punished. Then, try to learn why he wants a fight and help him find a right way to deal with the problem.
Homework is your teachers' way of evaluating(评估) how much students understand the lessons in class. As a student, you always have too much homework, but you have to finish it. Here are a few tips to make homework less.
★Make a homework plan. First, write the task down in your notebook. If you forget it,please ask the teachers again. Second, use any extra time in school to work on your homework.
★Watch where you work. Find a table at home which doesn't need to be very large, just big enough to put your school things on it. You'd better not do it before a computer or on your comfortable bed. It's hard for you to concentrate on(集中精力于) your homework.
★Get to work. When you start your homework at home, do the hardest problems first. Later, when you feel tired, you can do the simple ones. Don't spend too much time on a difficult problem. You can ask an adult or an elder family member for help, or call or email a classmate for advice.
★Have a rest. Having a 15minute rest every hour is good for you. After you finish your homework, check it over. Be sure to put it safely away in your backpack. Now you're free to play outside.
We each have a memory. That's why we can still remember things after a long time. Some people have very good memories and they can easily learn many things by heart, but some people can only remember things when they say or do them again and again. Many of the great men of the world have got surprising memories.
A good memory is a great help in learning languages. Everybody learns his mother language when he is a small child. He hears the sounds, remembers them and then he learns to speak. Some children are living with their parents in foreign countries. They can learn two languages as easily as one because they hear, remember and speak two languages every day. In school it is not so easy to learn a foreign language because the pupils have so little time for it, and they are busy with other subjects, too.
But your memory will become better and better when you do more and more exercises.
Learning Colour Words
In the first few years of their lives, children brought up in English-speaking homes successfully master the use of hundreds of words, including those for objects, actions, emotions, and many other aspects of the physical world. However, when it comes to learning colour words, the same children perform very badly. If shown a blue cup and asked about its colour, typical two-year-olds seem as likely to come up with "red" as "blue".
Cognitive (认知) scientists at Stanford University in California supposed that children's inability at colour-word learning may be directly linked to the way these words are used in English. They are used mostly in pre-nominal position (e. g. "blue cup"), in contrast to post-nominal position (e. g. "The cup is blue."). The difficulty children have may simply come down to the challenge of having to make predictions from colour words to the objects they refer to, rather than from the objects to the colour words.
To explore this idea further, the research team recruited (招募) 40 English children aged between 23 and 29 months and carried out a three-period experiment. It included a pre-test, followed by training in the use of colour words, and finally a post-test that was the same to the pre-test. The pre- and post- test materials contained six objects that were unfamiliar to the children. There were three examples of each object in each of three colours-red, yellow and blue. The objects were presented on trays (托盘), and in both tests, the children were asked to pick out objects in response to requests in which the colour word was either a pre-nominal ( "Which is the red one?") or a post-nominal ( "Which one is red?").
In the training, the children were introduced to five sets of familiar items (balls, cups, crayons, glasses, and toy bears) in each of the three colours. Half the children were presented with the items one by one and heard them labeled with colour words used pre-nominally, while the other half were introduced to the same items described with a post-nominal colour word. After the training, the children repeated the selection task on the novel items in the post-test. Correct choices on items that were consistent (一致的) across the pre-and post-tests were used to measure children's colour knowledge.
According to the assessment, children's performance was consistent when they were both trained and tested on post-nominal adjectives, and worst when trained on pre-nominal adjectives and tested on post-nominal adjectives. Comparing the pre-and post-test scores across each condition showed a significant decline in performance when children were both pre-and post-tested with questions that placed the colour words pre-nominally.
When you are reading something in English, you may often come across (偶然遇到) a new word. What's the1way to know it?
You may look it up (查找) in an English-Chinese Dictionary. It will2you a lot about the word: the pronunciation (发音), the part of speech, the Chinese meaning and3 to use the word. But how can you know where the word is?
4the English words are put in alphabetical order (字母顺序). In the dictionary you can first 5 the words beginning with A, then B, C, D…That means, if there6two words—"big" and "pig", "big" will certainly (一定) be 7 "pig". Then if there are two words both beginning with the 8letter, you may look at the second letter (字母), the 9, the fourth… For example, "pardon" is before "people". The dictionary will be your good10. Now can you use it?
Do you want to do well in exams?Sometimes your knowledge is not enough, you also need good strategies. Here are some for you:
●Before you answer the questions, if you feel a little nervous, take a few deep breaths to help you relax.
●Always read the question carefully and make sure that you understand it. Read it a few times if possible.
●Find out how much each question is worth or how many points you need.
●If it asks to give one answer, only write one.
●If there is a difficult question, don't worry. Go on to the next question and come back to it if you have time later.
●Try not to leave questions unanswered when you finish the test. Sometimes a guess may get you points.
●When you finish, go back and check your answers. You will need to check your writing for spelling mistakes.
Why is setting goals important? Because goals can help you do, be, and experience everything you want in life. Instead of just letting life happen to you, goals allow you to make your life happen.
Successful people in life imagine how their life should be and set lots of goals. By sitting goals you are taking control of your life. It's like having a map to show you where you want to go. Think of it this way. There are two drivers. One has a destination in mind (her goal) which can be found on a map. She can drive straight there without any wasted time or wrong turns. The other driver has no goals destination or map. She starts off at the same tine from the same place as the first driver, but she drives aimlessly around, never getting anywhere, just using up gas (汽油). Which driver do you want to be?
Winners in life set goals and follow through on them. They decide what they want in life and then get there by making plans and setting goals. Unsuccessful people just let life happen by accident. Goals aren't difficult to set—and they aren't difficult to reach. It's up to you to find out what your goals really are. You are the one who must decide what to achieve and in what direction to aim your life.
Research tells us that when we write a goal down, we are more likely to achieve it. Written goals can be reviewed regularly, and have more power. Like a contract (契约) with yourself, they are harder to forget. Also when you write your goals in a particular way, you are able to make yourself continuously aware of situations that will bring you nearer to your goal.
"Life's a long, long journey." so we are told, and most of us would not set off on a journey, even a short one, without some ideas of where we wanted to go. Yet many people travel on life's journey with no sense of direction at all.
Setting personal goals can give your life a sense of direction. Goal setting is used by top sports players, successful business people and achievers in all fields. Before you set personal goals, think about what you want to achieve with your life.
Try to set goals in some of the following categories (类别):
Education—Will you achieve the educational goals after finishing high-school? Are you still growing and learning?
Family—What kind of relationship do you want with your parents and other family members?
Creative—Do you want to achieve any artistic goals?
Career—What job do you want to take when you grow up? What do you need to make your dream come true?
Public Service—Do you want to make the world a better place?
Physical—Are you fit enough to do the things you want to do?
Pleasure—How do you want to enjoy yourself?
To help make the process more manageable, divide your goals into smaller tasks. For example, if you want to reach a main goal in five years, set a three-year goal, a one-year goal, a three-month goal and a one-month goal. Then create a daily To-Do List of things that you should do today. When a goal is achieved, take the time to enjoy your success. This helps you build the self-confidence.
Remember, your goals can change as time goes on. But be sure your goals are things you hope to achieve, not what your parents, family or teachers want.
A. Ask others for help. B. Come up with new ideas. C. Have a good attitude. D. Keep your promise. E. Try to help others. F. Keep learning all the time. |
No matter who you are and where you live, the most important thing is what kind of person you are. There are many good qualities that can benefit(有益于)you a lot in your life. Among them, the following qualities are the most helpful ones.
Life is not always a bed of roses. When facing difficulties, don't lose heart. Do you know what can help you overcome difficulties? It's your attitude(态度). Cheer up! Life is like a mirror. When you smile in front of it, it will also smile at you.
Maybe you are used to your present life. Every day you have so much work to do that you can't find any time to learn. However, the world around you is changing all the time. Never be satisfied with yourself, or you will fall behind others.
In the modern world, the students who have creative thinking are needed most. Being creative means coming up with new ideas and having creative imagination. Those who are creative have more choices in their life.
Learn to be honesty (诚实). Nobody likes a person who tells lies. A liar is always looked down upon and regarded as a black sheep by the people around. The one who keeps his word is popular everywhere.
Being friendly and helpful to the people around you. Do something nice for them. When they are in trouble, don't forget to give them a hand in time. It will make you feel good about yourself.
As long as you have these qualities above, you will be excellent and make a difference to the world.
Jim's Timetable(课程表)
Time |
Period |
Monday |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
Friday |
8:00-8:45 |
1 |
Chinese |
Math |
English |
Chinese |
English |
8:55-9:40 |
2 |
English |
Chinese |
Math |
English |
Math |
10:00-10:45 |
3 |
History |
English |
Biology |
Math |
Chinese |
10:55-11:40 |
4 |
Math |
P.E. |
Politics |
P.E. |
Geography |
14:30-15:15 |
5 |
Biology |
Music |
Chinese |
history |
Art |
15:25-16:10 |
6 |
Geography |
Art |
Biology |
Computer |
Class meeting |
【点评】
【小题解析】
American schools begin in September after a long summer vacation(假期). There are two terms in a school year: the first term is from September to January, and the second is from February to June. Most American children go to public schools(分立学校). High school students take only four or five subjects at a time. They usually go to the same classes every day, and they have an assignment for every class. After class they have many activities. After high school, many students go to college.
Are you the person sitting in the corner of the classroom during the break time hoping no one will come up and talk to you? If this sounds like you, you're not alone. If you want to become more socially confident, follow the advice.
Accept your personality. Many people happen to be introverted, meaning that you're more comfortable spending time alone. If this sounds like you, don't force yourself to completely become an outgoing, social person. Doing so can lead to stress, worry, and even heart disease. Instead, spend time in social situations you already enjoy and try to have meaningful conversations.By accepting your introverted nature, you can focus on the quality of your social communications.
Understand the importance of confidence. You can become socially confident by attracting other people in a way that interests them and makes them feel heard. These skills, are known as social ability. Practicing social ability can create chances for yourself to get close to others.
Avoid negative (消极的) thoughts. If you don't see yourself as socially confident, it can be easy to look for things that confirms your thoughts. Catch yourself thinking negative thoughts, and ask yourself what you see or hear can prove the thought. For example, imagine you're thinking, "I know everyone here thinks I'm boring because I have nothing interesting to say." Stop thinking that and ask yourself what proves the negative thought.
New rules and behavior standards(行为规范) for middle school students came out in March. The middle school is going to use a new way to decide who the top students are.The best students won't only have high marks. They should not dye(染) their hair, smoke or drink because they are students. The following are some of the new rules.
Have you ever copied anyone else's work in an exam? Don't do that again! That's not anything an honest student should do.
Do more at school. Good students love animals and care for other people when they are in need. April is Bird-loving Month in China. Is your school doing anything to celebrate it? You should join! And you can learn more about animals and how to protect them. Be friendly to the people around you. Try to think of others, not only yourself.
Be open to new ideas. Do you think people can live on the moon? Maybe you'll find another earth someday. Don't look down on new ideas. Everyone's ideas are important. You should welcome them, because new ideas make life better for everyone.
Protect yourself. Has someone ever taken money from one of your classmates? Don't let it happen to you. If you have to go home late, you should let your parents know.
Use the Internet carefully. The Internet can be very useful for students. But some things on the Internet aren't for children, so try to look at web pages that are good for you.
Everyone has a hobby. My hobby is keeping a diary (日记) in English.
When I was nine years old, I began to keep a diary in English. At first it was hard for me, but now it is easy. I know it's possible to learn English well. After school I often go to the school library to read English stories or articles (文章). Sometimes my English teacher introduces (介绍) some interesting things to me. I collect information for my diary by doing these.
After I finish my diary every day, I always try to correct mistakes with the help of the dictionary. Now my English is very good.
I love my hobby. Keeping a diary is one of the best ways to learn English well. It helps me a lot.