In American schools there is something called Homecoming Day. Many high schools and colleges with a football team have a homecoming game. This can be the most important thing of the year except graduation or commencement(颁授学位典礼) day. Students plan Homecoming Day for many weeks before the day.
Several days before Homecoming, students start to decorate the schoool. There are signs to wish luck to the team, and many other signs to welcome all the students. Many people still come to Homecoming twenty or thirty years after they leave school.
During the day people like to look for teachers that they remember from long ago. Often they see old friends and they talk together about those happy years in school.
Everyone soon comes to watch the football game. When the game is half over, the band comes onto the field and plays school songs. Another important moment is when the Homecoming Queen or King appears. All the students vote a most popular student Homecoming Queen or King. It is a great honor to be chosen.
Homecoming is a happy day, but it is not perfect unless the football team wins the game. Even if the team loses, the students still enjoy Homecoming. Some stay at the school to dance, and others go to a party. For everyone it is a day worth remembering.
Sometimes people around you can change your life. Let me share my story with you. The person 1 has changed my life is Julia Masi. She has taught me so many things that I will carry with me 2 my life.
One thing I've learned from Julia is how to balance 3. Julia has shown me how to 4 ahead so that I can finish all my schoolwork, enjoy sports and 5 have time for my friends. I have also learned that you can find anything interesting 6 you connect it with something you enjoy.
Last year I hated studying vocabulary, but I loved playing computer games. Julia combined(与……相结合)the two and showed me a website called “freerice. com”where you can play a word game. Each time you use a correct word, you can donate(捐赠)5 grains of rice to the poor. Thanks to the game, I 7 about 1,000 words in just one month.
Julia had a good effect on me. Without Julia's help. I probably wouldn't have 8 how easy it is to help the poor. There are so many ways that one person can 9. I've learned to be more grateful for what I own. I am very 10 for the opportunities that I have been given. I will never give up helping those less fortunate(幸运的)in the rest of my life.
Time managements is the greatest challenge for me in high school.I have to take good care of my subjects, activities, social life and rest.I was often angry with my family members just because I didn't plan my time well.For example, I might shout at them for troubling me when I was working.And sometimes I might say something bad to them when I missed deadlines, even if it was actually my fault for cramming everything in (把所有的事情堆积起来) at the last minute.
As time goes by, I realize that time management is very important in our everyday life.The best advice to deal with time management is "break it into bits".It's really important for you to learn how to break a big project into small, manageable tasks.Then you can work progressively and have a sense of achievement whenever you've done with a small part.
Another piece of advice is to plan a timetable for yourself.It doesn't have to be the one that you follow completely.It's just there to serve as a guide.You can compare your actual timetable with the planned one to see how well you actually use your time.The final suggestion is to always set deadlines for yourself.
Education cuts(削减) have become routine(惯常的) over the past few years, which has 'made it difficult for students to learn. The results of a survey of 1,850 Los Angeles County high school students show just how much the cuts are affecting students.
Because of teacher layoffs(解雇), class sizes at some high schools have risen to 50students even in math and English classes. Some 37 percent of students report that they sometimes, don't have a desk to sit at. Sixty seven percent say crowded classrooms make them feel the teachers don't have enough time to teach, and 30 percent say they're not been able to join in a program because it's no longer offered at their school.
At a time when technology is an important skill, 52 percent of students say there aren't enough computers. Or they're often broken, and there's no one to fix them. Fifty-one percent say they've had to share textbooks with a classmate because there aren't enough copies to go around. Fifty seven percent say they had to copy information because their school doesn't have enough paper to make copies.
"We have only one science teacher for the entire(整个的) high school," writes Felix Ruano, a 16 year old student. He goes on describing how that teacher, who is only qualified to teach chemistry, is teaching physics or, at least, is trying to do so. "He shows physics videos and we teach ourselves from our textbook," says Ruano. And, as has been seen elsewhere, "all but one of the restrooms" at Ruano's school "have been closed because we don't have enough people to clean them."
Ruano notes that though faced with the challenges, 97 percent of students say they plan to go to college. But without "properly trained teachers and the best resources," says Ruano, it's not likely that every student will achieve that goal. "Unless schools fix these problems," he says, "students could lose hope."
A "Gap Year" is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent traveling or working. It can give young people useful learning experience and new skills.
Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows:
Learn about the World and Yourself
Although you don't have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experience of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better.
Face Challenges and Have Fun
A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn't always easy, but it is an important part of growing up. Only in this way can you enjoy life and have fun.
Save Money and Improve Your College Admission Chances
There's a common thought that gap years are only for rich students, but it's not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a par-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college. Clear learning goals can keep the students working hard instead of wasting time and money playing.
Imagine an admission officer trying to admit (录取) only one between two students. Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation.
Who do you think the admission officer will choose?
I've taught thousands of students since came to China in 2011. I've taught hundreds of Chinese English teachers. I've met students who have studied English for 10 years in school. Most of them still make a lot of mistakes, many of which are common grammar mistakes. Why is English so difficult for Chinese students? There are three reasons.
Recitation(背诵) is boring. But this is a method that is most often used in teaching English in China. Many teachers say to their students,
"It's not easy to learn English. You have to recite, recite, recite, recite ...”Not only is this a boring way to learn English, but it is not effective.
Teachers are not required to be fluent (流利的) in English. When I first came to China, I started talking to the head teacher of the English Department. When I spoke to her. She looked at me as if I was speaking Swahili (an African language). She knew nothing about what I was saying. I said it again very, very, very slowly and clearly. She still didn't understand.
In China, the focus is on exams. Of course, in America, language students also take exams. However, they learn faster because they learn to speak the language first. This is the natural way that language is learned all over the world. Children listen to their parents and then try to say what the parents say. Writing and reading are taught later in school.
We all know that "Practice makes perfect (熟能生巧)" is a very popular saying both in Chinese and English. It means that if you want to learn 1 , you have to practice it many times, and then you may remember 2 you learn. Also we can say the more you know something,3 you can do it, No matter(无论) what we do, those words are very 4 to us.
We can take English study 5 an example, If we want to learn some new words by heart, we must learn them and read them again and again 6 we can remember them. Sometimes it will 7 a lot of time for us to remember, but once we remember, we can use them freely. If we8our best, we will do it very well. When you take an English exam and 9some meanings and usages(用法) you don't remember, how will you feel 10 that time? You must feel sorry. So English study means that you 11 practice more and more.
We can look at 12 example in learning. When we read the same story for many times, we can remember it 13 L well that we can tell it to others. At the same time, we can also 14some stories from what we have heard, So in our study and life, we should keep the sentence "Practice makes perfect. "in our 15 , In this way, we can study well and live a better life.
Note-taking is a skill that can help you do well in all your school work. It can make you confident when you are studying. But unluckily, most students don't know how to take notes.
★Write down key facts. If your teacher writes notes on the blackboard, that's great. You can copy them or write down the most important facts of all in class. Different teachers do things differently. For example, some teachers may focus on(关注) lots of dates and facts in class, but they only write the important ones on the blackboard. Other teachers may not write anything down, but they may say something important again and again.
★Ask. Don't be afraid to ask your teacher to repeat what you miss. If your teacher speaks too fast and you can't follow what he is saying, you can ask him after class.
★Compare. Comparing your notes with your classmates' can be good for your learning. It can also help you and your classmates correct some mistakes.
★Organize. Note-taking also needs organization. Keep notes for each subject in one notebook, so that you can find everything easily when a test comes.
★Good note-taking takes time. If you decide to recopy your notes every evening, you'll surely have less time to watch TV. But you'll save time in the coming test.
Listening in class is a skill, which means you have to practice it. Just as you would have to practice basketball to be a better player, you also have to practice listening. How to listen in class?
One of the things you need to do is to make sure that your mind doesn't wander (神游). It's easy to start thinking about other things, especially when you 're not interested in the subject. So make yourself pay attention to what the teacher is saying.
Next, listen to the main ideas. If you want to catch every little piece of information, you'll be exhausted (疲惫的). It's too much work and it's impossible to do. You'll also need to look at the teacher. Not only does this show respect to the teacher, but it also helps prevent your mind from wandering. There are too many distractions (使人分心的事) when you have class. It might be a friend who is trying to pass you a note. Or it could just be someone talking to his deskmate; it can even be some birds outside the classroom windows, or a group of kids who are talking loudly as they pass by the door of your classroom.
Finally, you need to take notes because you will not remember everything the teacher says in class. So you have to have a notebook to write down key points so that you can study them after class. Taking notes also makes you focus on listening. Listening isn't always easy, but if you follow these simple steps, you'll be much more successful in your classes.
How can you be sure that you know w you know? That may sound silly but it's really a serious question. Have you ever "thought" you knew something but when it came time to write in the exam you discovered that you r didn't "know" it, after all.
Strategies (策略) you can use
When that happens, it isn't because you have a bad memory, it's because the things you are trying to rhaven't been properly learned.
Luckily, there are strategies you can use to help you learn difficult things. And scientists say that there is even a part of your brain that can "predict" whether this new knowledge has been completely u.
Judgement of learning
Scientists call this predicting, the "judgement of learning". It really just means looking over your own shoulder w you are studying and asking yourself, "Do I really get this?" And if you don't, it means adjusting your "strategy" until you do.
Here's one strategy:
⒈Set a short-term goal to learn something.
⒉Study as you normally would.
⒊Answer some test questions to g some feedback.
⒋Use that feedback to work on your weak points.
In the driver's seat
Developing the ability to "judge" your own learning needs a lot of p. But it can be a very useful skill. It puts you in the driver's seat and in charge of your own studies. In effect, it lets you know that you really know what you think you know. You know?
Do you want to be happier? Well, you can do something about it. Some psychologists (心理学家) believe that 10% of your happiness is due to life conditions and 40% is the result of your own choices. Your own choices include how you manage your time at school, your relationships, your friends, your activities and your health. So you have a lot of control over how happy you feel. Here are some tips on how to do that.
Surround yourself with positive (积极的) people. Spend time with positive people and your ideas will become active. On the other hand, good friends will encourage, support, and lift you up when you're down. That's also true for the people that we work with.
Don't try to be perfect. Remember that nothing can ever be perfect. Instead think about what you already have. Think about what you've already done. Think of where you are today as a step towards tomorrow. Don't try to be perfect, just try to do things well-with excellence.
Focus on now. Don't think about all the things that can go wrong, like failing at school or your friend leaving you. Thinking like this only results in worry and stress, which is a waste of time and energy. Just worry about making today great, because the best way to be happy is just to enjoy each day.
Compare yourself to yourself, not to other people. There will always be someone smarter, or richer, or better looking or more successful than you. There will always be someone with a bigger house and a bigger boat than you. Someone will always have more. Rather, look at what you have got and who you are, accept and value that. Work toward being a better one than you were last month or last year. And you will feel a lot happier with, and about yourself.
A. They see the best in you, and that helps you see the best in yourself. B. That way you will be pleased with the progress that you are making. C. The key is to take control by making choices and developing habits that make you happier D. You can control how happy you are, since giving always makes you feel happier. E. If you can't control tomorrow, don't worry about tomorrow. F. If you aim for perfection all the time, you will never be satisfied or happy. G. Your relationship with your parents doesn't have to be perfect before you can be happy. |
Have you ever wondered what an American high school is really like? This article will describe a typical (典型的) high school and its students.
A typical American high school has several large buildings and enough space for about 1,500 students. Every student is given a locker. When students first arrive at school, they go straight to their lockers to put away or get their textbooks and to hang up their outdoor clothes. As American textbooks are expensive, students would rather loan (租借) than buy them. Students must pay back if they lost any of them.
American students have different types of school transport. They usually take a yellow school bus or walk to school if they live close enough. Sometimes their parents drive them to school.
When they turn 16 years of age, most take a free driving class at school for one term. If students' exam passing grades in the class and also pass their state driver's exam, they can begin driving themselves to school.
Each day, students take six or seven classes. They must take science, math, English and social studies. They can choose art, homemaking, fashion design and other classes. In some schools students are required to take one or more of the following special classes: health education, physical education or foreign language studies. Students move to different classrooms for each subject. This is because cache teacher has their own classroom. There is a five-minute break between classes, to give the students the time to hurry to their next class.
The regular school day usually ends early in the afternoon. After school more than half of the students take part in after-school activities. These activities include sports, specially football, basketball, baseball and soccer or clubs, such as yearbook, speech, school newspaper, photograph or student government.
Title: in an American High School
Outline |
Details |
Introduction |
✧It gives an overview of a typical American high school and its . |
Lockers and textbooks |
✧Every student has a locker for textbooks and clothes. ✧They would rather loan (租借) than buy . |
transport |
✧Students usually go to school by bus or on foot. Sometimes their send them to school by car. ✧They can themselves to school when they are over 16 and have passed the required tests. |
Classes and classrooms |
✧Students have to take main classes, elective classes and sometimes one or more classes. ✧They go to classrooms for each subject. |
After school activities |
✧After school most of the students take in their favourite activities, including sports and clubs. |
It's well known that everyone has his own future and his own dream. But do you know what future is? I have 1 that future is now. That means we must treasure (珍惜) every minute every day. If we want to have a bright future, we should know 2 important time is and use it well.
There is an old English saying, "Gain time, gain life. " then what's time? Time is something that we can see or touch, but we can't feel it 3 by. Time is always with us. When we are at table, time passes; when we play, time goes by 4. We always say "Time is money. " But time is 5 more valuable (珍贵的). When money is spent, we can make it back. But if time is gone away, it will 6 return. So some of us even say time is priceless.
We should always remember: Future is now. For 7 students, we should try our best to work hard in order to create a great future of our own. We should make the best use of every hour and be the master of today. We should do 8 before us as well as possible. And we 9 put off what can be done today till tomorrow.
As we all know, "Time and tide (潮汐) wail for no man. " If you waste today, you will regret tomorrow. So 10, work hard. Tomorrow will be better, and your future will be brighter. Today's hard work is the cause of tomorrow's harvest (收获). Remember: No pains, no gains.
It is important to have good learning habits if you want to study and this is especially (真实的)when it comes to online learning.
What are the good learning habits you should have in online learning? Here are some good (建议).
First,it is a good idea to(准备)well for online learning. You can write down (日常的)tasks and even weekly tasks that you want to complete. By doing so,you will have a good plan for achieving your goals. (第二), you should spend as (许多)time online as you were going to regular courses. Also, always try to use extra time to communicate with other students. (除…之外) this,any post you put up online (表明)who you are. So make sure that you spell every word and write every(句子)correctly. Last,hand in your homework on time so that you don't fall(后面).
We learn lots of skills as we grow up. Some are important for making a living. Others are just for fun. Which skill do you want to learn? Let's look at some teenagers' answers from the Internet.
Wan Yufan, 16, Hangzhou I would like to learn how to set up my own website. If I can set up my own website, people can use it and maybe I can provide convenient service to them. I also want to learn page design because I want to make my website look good. I think these skills will also be useful when I look for a job in the future. Hu Yuxuan, 14, Sichuan l want to learn how to communicate better with others because of the following reasons. First of all, communication is one of the most important skills we can have. If people can express their ideas and understand each other better,there will be fewer conflicts (冲突) and the world will be better off Second, good communication skills can make life easier because people can understand you better and you can make more friends. Last but not least, people may judge(判断) you according to how you talk to them. If you are a good communicator, you will get more chances and be more successful in the future. Li Xinye, 13, Beijing The skill I want to learn most is skiing. First,we can enjoy frequent(频繁的) snow in winter in Beijing . Second, the 2022 Olympic Winter Games will be held in Beijing. l want to feel like I'm part of the event(事件). Going skiing lets me take part in it in my own way. |
Some teenagers' answers to the skills they want to learn |
||
Who |
to learn |
Reasons |
Wan Yufan |
a website designing web pages |
To provide convenient service to people. To make his website look good. To learn skills useful for his future job. |
Hu Yuxuan |
communicating |
Conflict will be much . Communication makes life easier. Communication brings us more chances and in the future. |
Li Xinye |
skiing |
To the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in her own way. |
Choose carry design habit Italy keep language open proper popular success you |
Apps(应用软件)are becoming increasingly popular nowadays, and for good reason. They can help you out in just about every area of your life, whether it's fit, communicating with friends, or even learning a language. However, you need to know how to use them to really benefit. Here's what you should think about before downloading an app for language learning.
•Learn from different sources(most just apps)
Any experienced language learner will tell you that the beauty of mastering a foreign language is the world which it up to you. This is a world of different sources of information, from newspapers and books to TV, radio, music and even real people. Would you limit to one medium in your native language?Probably not, so why do so in your new language?
•Set up your purpose and plan your
Do you want to be fluent in weeks or are you in it for the brain training?The good apps are to help you fit your studies according to your timetable. These apps encourage habit building, because a habit ensures your safe and regular return.
•Make it social
I don't mean posting your progress online. I mean social for real. I owe the speed of progress I made in to the support from Jim, my partner from Italy in study time. Find a friend to accompany you. Take an evening class. Borrow a book. Buy a book. Book a week away and attend a language school. Just don't forget your phone !
If I may speak sincerely, the combination(结合)of app, language school, Jim, evenings out, and a book or two proved rather useful.
It's important for children to get to school safely every day. For them, there is a new program(项目)called "Free Home to School Transport". It gives children free bus rides to school. But to have the free trip, people in the program have to think about how old they are, what school they go to and where the children live. Children can have the free trip if:
*They are between 5 and 16 years old;
*They go to the nearest school;
*They walk farther than the statutory distance(比法定距离远): 2 miles for students under 8; 3 miles for students aged above 8.
Children can also take the free transport if they have problems in walking or there is no safe way for them. A safe way usually has a crossing with the traffic lights.
There are also free home to school travel policies for poor children. You can find out more on the Internet and see if your children are qualified(符合条件).
⑴Alice is weak in math. She has tried her best to learn it well by herself, but she feels it too hard. Now she would like a teacher to help her with it. ⑵Tom is active and outgoing. He is fond of dancing very much. He dreams to become a professional dancer when he grows up. He needs a teacher to guide him. ⑶Lily is interested in playing chess. She often plays it with her grandfather at home. Now she hopes to join a club to play with others so as to improve her chess level. ⑷Wade likes singing so much. He often sings beautifully in Karaoke, but he never gets professional training. Now he wants to improve his singing by following a singing teacher. ⑸Sam is a middle school student. He often fails in his English exams. His parents worry about this a lot. They want to send him to learn English from an experienced teacher so that he can do better. |
A. Miss Zheng is a coach of a table tennis team in Guangzhou. She began to play table tennis at the age of six. Now sheplays very well. If you want to learn the skills of tennis, sheis the right coach for you. B. Mr. Li is an experienced math teacher from No.1 Middle School. He is very kind and helpful. He often helps those who are poor in math. C. Miss Tang is the youngest English teacher in No.5 Middle School. She started her teaching career six months ago. She is lovely and very popular with all the students in her class. D. Miss Lin graduated from Xinghai Conservatory of Music (星海音乐学院)this year. She majors in dancing and gets a lot of chances to put on performances around the country. Now she sets up a dancing training center. E. Miss Yang is a professional music teacher in No.3 Middle School. She won a lot of singing contests before becoming a teacher. She is able to guide anyone to do well in this field. F. Mr. Chen is 45 years old. He has been an English teacher for nearly 22 years. His class is lively and interesting. All his students like him and his class always comes top in his grade. G. Mr. Sun is a math teacher in Dongshen Middle School. In hisspare time he often plays chess with others in the clubwhich he set up two years ago. |