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Joe was a farmer. His farmland was so poor that he hadn't had good harvests for years.
"If God lets me 1 the weather, then everything will get better," he complained. "I'm a farmer. I know what's the best for crops to grow than God does"
God heard his words. "Well, I give you one year. " he said, "You will be in control of all kinds of 2. Let's see what your crops will grow like. "
On hearing this, Joe was excited and 3 right away, "Sunny!" 4 the clouds went away.
He was pleased and shouted again, "5! " The sky was covered with dark clouds at once, then after a while, the field was filled with water.
In the following year, he changed the weather between sunny and rainy. Watching the seeds growing bigger and bigger and becoming crops, Joe felt really 6.
Then the harvest season came. He went to the field to get his crops 7 his heart suddenly went down when he found the crops even hadn't grown a grain（谷粒）. He was quite shocked and started to cry，Once again, God heard him.
"Do you want to know 8 you still don't get the good harvest you want?" God said. "You never asked for wind, rainstorm, snow and ice, or 9 that could make the air fresher and the roots stronger. Without strong roots, of course the crops won't grow any fruit. "
After he realized this, Joe asked God to 10 the power. It turned out that only through life's challenges would we harvest the fruit of life. It takes both ups and downs to get satisfactory results.
When I was in primary school, I got into a big argument with a boy in my class. I forgot what the argument was about, but I will never forget the lesson I learned that day.
I thought that I was right and he was wrong-and he thought that I was wrong and he was right. The teacher decided to teach us a lesson.
She brought us to the front of the class and asked him to stand on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large round ball. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked the boy what color the ball was. "White," he answered.
I couldn't believe he said the ball was white, when it was obviously black!
Another argument started between us, this time about the color of the ball.
The teacher told us to change places and then asked me what color the ball was. I had to answer "White". It was a ball with two differently colored sides, and from his side it was white.
From my side it was black.
Sometimes we need to look at problems from the other person's view in order to truly understand his or her ideas.
Natural scenes often become the themes of poetry. Poets watch nature closely and present its beauty in their poems. For example, pets may describe natural scenes such as spring day or a snowy day. Besides, poets often express their feelings about nature by creating lively images (形象) in poems.
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Who Has Seen the Wind? by Christina Georgina Rossetti Who has seen the wind? Neither I nor you. But when the leaves hang trembling, The wind is passing through. Who has seen the wind? Neither you nor I. But when the trees bow down their heads, The wind is passing by. |
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| | Night by William Blake The Sun descending in the west, The evening star does shine, The birds are silent in their nest, And I must seek for mine. The moon, like a flower, In heaven's high bower, With silent delight Sits and smiles on the night. |
With images, poets can describe details (细节) of something colorfully and clearly. Readers, on the other hand, can connect their own experiences with the images in the poems so that they can share the poets' idea. Now let's read the poem "Who Has Seen the Wind?"
When we read the lines "When the leaves hang trembling" and "When the trees bow down their heads," they remind us of a windy day. The poet successfully creates an image of the wind by describing details of the scene. These help readers think of the moment when the wind passes by. We might even how our own heads, imagining that we are the trees.
In the poem "Night", Blake describes many details of a night scene. People know very well what they can see at night, like stars or the moon. However, Blakes sees more than just the moon itself, he sees the moon as a flower, smiling at us from up in the sky. So the moon is really compared to a flower and personified as a smiling person.
B . 
C . 
D . 
① Seeing natural scenes as humans.
② Using imagination
③ Praising the same natural scene.
④ Describing details of the scenes.
⑤ Creating images by hearing and touching.
A big parade is held to mark the birthday of the PRC. XINHUA
The year 2019 marked the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Over the past 70 years, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC), China has experienced historic changes and made great achievements.
The nation has experienced great economic (经济的) growth in the past seven decades (十年).
In 1978, China's GDP was the 11th highest in the world. In 2010, China overtook Japan to become the second-largest economy in the world after the US. The country is still in that position now.
With China's entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, the country has become a major power for world economic growth. Since 2002, it has helped the world economy grow by nearly 30 percent on average (平均). The entry into the WTO also allowed less expensive foreign foods, such as American grapes and Japanese veal (小牛肉), to be sold in Chinese supermarkets. At the same time, many foreign electronics factories have moved to China, making these products cheaper. Today China is the world's largest exporter (出口国) and the second-largest importer (进口国), according to China Daily.
In fighting poverty (贫穷) in recent decades, China has made historic achievements and become a major contributor (贡献者) to the improvement of people's lives around the world. To reduce (减少) poverty, the Chinese government has done a lot of work. It built roads, created jobs, and gave people better education and medical services. The country has promised to eradicate (根除) extreme (极端) poverty by 2020, and to date, more than 800 million Chinese have been lifted out of poverty, China Daily noted.
As for education, many Chinese are going abroad to study and do research. Over 600,000 Chinese went abroad to study in 2018, according to China Daily. China has also set up 536 Confucius Institutes (孔子学院) in more than 150 countries. Many foreign students are learning Chinese language and culture there.
On Feb 26, when an Italian lawmaker (议员) went into the country's Lower Chamber with a mask to prevent the novel coronavirus, he was criticized (批评) by his colleagues for "causing panic (恐慌)". Articles from Western media carry headlines such as "No, you do not need face masks to prevent coronavirus. " You might be surprised, as in China and other Asian countries, people have willingly put masks on during the outbreak.
Western thoughts about masks
In the West, people are taught to wear masks only when they get sick. Masks are seen as a tool to protect sick people and prevent the disease from spreading, so healthy people don't need to wear them. Therefore, during the novel coronavirus outbreak, overseas Chinese students said that they would be "stared at like a virus spreader" if they go out with a mask. According to a survey done by Global Times among some European and American people, wearing a mask in public can make them feel "worried", "shy", and "afraid of being looked at differently. "
But as the number of COVID-19 cases continues to grow around the world, many people in the West are changing their attitudes. In the US, for example, the need for masks is very high now. The US surgeon general (卫生局局长) has been asking people to avoid hoarding masks, as they are more needed in hospitals than by the general public, for this reason people should buy enough for their needs.
Mask culture in the East
In Asian countries like China and Japan, there has been a long tradition of mask-wearing. In China, for example, when doctor Wu Liande invented the modern medical mask during the pneumonic plague (肺鼠疫) in 1910, the mask became a symbol of China's position as a modern, scientific nation, according to Scottish medical anthropologist (人类学家) Christos Lynteris. The 2003 SARS epidemic again led to the wide use of masks as a form of anti-viral protection in China and elsewhere in East Asia.
In Japan, wearing masks has long been seen as a manner to reassure (使安心) others when one catches a cold or flu. Some Japanese also turn masks into fashion accessories (配饰), with different colors and patterns to match their clothes. Wearing masks is also a way to "hide" for young women when they don't have their makeup on.
In more collectivist (集体主义的) cultures in Asia, wearing masks might also be a symbol of solidarity (团结) during the outbreak, according to Lynteris. "Mask culture [in Asia] creates a sense of a fate (命运) shared, common obligation and civic (公民的) duty. " People wear masks "to show that they want to stick together" in the face of danger, Lynteris wrote.
I recently watched a TV program Real Sports where the presenter looked into the culture of handing out participation（参与）trophies to children. There's no doubt that today's kids live in a world of scoreless games and everyone gets a trophy. Sometimes when a league decides to award（奖励）just the winners instead of all participants, the parents buy their own trophies for the whole team!
However, when we try to protect children from losing at the early ages, are they less prepared when real competition kicks in? People who support giving trophies say they want to make each child feel special, but how does this make them feel special? Stanford University looked at this recently and found that although kids react positively to praise-they enjoy hearing that they're talented, smart and so on, they break down at the first experience of difficulty. Discouraged by their failure, they say they'd rather cheat than risk failing again.
There are also endless social-science studies showing the harmful effects of easy competition, not just on the psyche（精神）but more surprisingly on achievement. If children know they will get an award simply by showing up, what is the reason for improvement? Jean Twenge, writer of Generation Me, warns that when living rooms are filled with participation trophies, it's part of a larger cultural message: to succeed, you just have to show up. In college, those who've grown up receiving these endless awards do the required work, but don't see the need to do it well. In the office, they still believe that attendance is all it takes to get a promotion（晋升）.
When I was a child, I earned my fair share of trophies but none of them was for just showing up. I also missed out on even more and had to watch my friends collect them while I stood by and clapped. I realized that in life, I'm going to lose more often than I win, even if I'm good at something, and I've got to get used to that to keep going.
When children make mistakes, our job should not be to turn those losses into decorated（装饰性的）victories. Instead, our job is to help kids overcome difficulties, to help them see that progress over time is more important than a certain win or loss, and to help them politely congratulate those who succeed when they fail. To do that, we need to refuse all the meaningless trophies.
Biking is a popular form of exercise because it's healthy and environmentally friendly.
Many cities have made efforts to make cycling (easy) and more popular. In the US, Bike to Work Day (hold) on May 20th every year. The aim of the day is to encourage more people (ride) bikes.
Copenhagen, the capital Denmark, is the world's most bike-friendly city. During rush hour, traffic-lights are always green for bikes. When it's snowy, people clear the snow in bicycle lanes (one), and the car lanes come next.
In Amsterdam, people can rent bike almost anywhere in the city. You can always find bike rental companies near busy (area).
In China, we have bike-sharing companies. They make more convenient for people to use bikes. However, biking is not that easy in many Chinese cities. Cars often take up Bicycle lanes and(bike) have to ride next to cars in car lanes. It is very dangerous. Chinese government is doing it can to improve the situation.
