浙江省台州市路桥区2022-2023学年八年级下学期英语期末...

Mr. Xie lives next to me in my new neighborhood. He grows different kinds of 1 in his big garden and shares them with others. Mr. Xie likes to say, "Méi guānxi." It sounds like this: "May gwon-shee."

One weekend, Mom had to work. She asked Mr. Xie to watch me, "I'm so sorry,2 we don't know our other neighbors yet." "Méi guānxi!" Mr. Xie3 . That afternoon, he gave me a basket of lemons.

"What will we do with so many lemons?" Mom asked, looking 4 , after a day's work. "Méi guānxi!" I said. "What does that mean?" she asked.

I realized I didn't know. So the next time I asked Mr. Xie about it. "It means ‘no problem'," he explained, "or ‘Don't 5 !'"

How could someone not worry? I worry about 6 ! I worry about making friends at my new school. I worry about answering a question7  in class.

"You never worry about anything. Not like me." I said.

"Oh, I used to worry all the time!" said Mr. Xie, "8 , my stress made me sick. So I 9 my job and bought this house. I started sharing the fruit from my garden. It really made me happy. You know, the gift is in the10 , not receiving!"

The next day, a student, even 11 than me, came to school. He looked so shy. I wondered if we could be friends. I wanted to talk with him but felt nervous. But then I12 Mr. Xie might say with a smiling face, "Méi guānxi!"

In my lunchbox there was a beautiful, 13 orange from Mr. Xie's garden. I picked it up and walked to the new student. "14 !" I said. "Would you like an orange?"

He looked at me for a few15 . When my legs got ready to run away, I heard him say softly, "I love oranges. Thank you!"

"Méi guānxi!" I said.

I'm Micah Johnson from Indiana. I have played baseball for 24 years. I am one of the top players in a professional baseball team. Once I get a dream, I don't care if it takes 100 years to achieve and I'm going to try everything I can to do it. And when I make it, I think, "OK, what's the next thing I'm going to do?"

I started painting in 2016, when I was in a baseball club. Every time when I came back from a game and still felt excited, I would paint. I was just so crazy about painting that I couldn't put it down.

In 2018, I retired(退役) from my baseball team. I'd fallen in love with art. So I thought it was time to give that a shot. I started drawing young black kids as astronauts after I heard a young black kid asking if astronauts could be black. Painting these pictures was really meaningful. I wanted to get in touch with more people. So I made this 3D character named Aku. He's a brave and confident black boy with a large space helmet( 头盔). The helmet helps him to travel through different areas. In 2022, Aku was on the cover of the TIME magazine. Later, I made him into an NFT. NFTs are special digital(数字化的) art works. People can buy and sell them online.

I changed my baseball bat for a paint brush and found what I loved to do. Kids can also find a meaningful way of life by showing their talents, working hard, and going deeper into the things they care about.

In 2021, an NFT of Aku was taken to the International Space Station. That's something I could never dream of before! So, as you can see, if you keep working towards something you like, chances are going to appear in a way that you can't even imagine.

Do you live in cities or countries? Do you want to live in cities or countries? It's not a question until the COVID-19 hit the world. It has made people think about their living places. Many have said they would like to live in a bigger home, with a garden and in a smaller neighborhood. However, city lovers say they would never leave. Since then, a big argument has started.

Some say the cities are full of lives and the best places to live in. They think the city is a magical place. You can go for walks after dark with the street lights on and enjoy beautiful buildings. It's exciting to think of all the work and people, past, present (现在) and future. People may think about the long difficult time it takes to build a city and make it great. Cities are full of chances to experience different things and meet people who are not like you. People (especially the young) from all over the world are interested in cities and many different cultures live there. They share parks, offices, schools and hospitals. A recent study shows that city mice are cleverer than country mice. Even nature is more interesting in the city.

However, some people like to live in the countryside better than in the cities. Wouldn't you like to have more space, cleaner air and to know your neighbors? The answer is "Yes" for sure. With more space, cleaner air, and closer neighbors, country life can improve the health of people who live there. Country lovers say people are human beings not human doings. Country living means people can do less and enjoy more. In the country, people experience the changing seasons. The city doesn't stop when the night falls or winter sets in. During COVID-19, the city was dull and lifeless without any fun. That's why people in cities wanted to leave.

So what do you think? Will you live in the city or countryside in the future?

①Being confident(自信的) isn't just about what you know or think; confidence comes from how you feel in your body, too.

②How you hold yourself matters. How you sit or stand--your posture( 姿 势 )-- makes a difference from your feelings. For example, if your shoulders are hunched( 弓 背 ), your head's down, you feel different from the way you feel when you're sitting or standing straight with your head up and your shoulders back. Try the 2 postures now and ask yourself, "How do I feel now?"

③____. Research has found that when you're hunched with your arms and legs crossed, and looking down, your body sends you chemicals( 化学物质) that can make you feel more stressed or worried. Doctor Maria Evans says your body and brain are connected. "When you stand with your back tall, legs apart, hands on waist(腰部) and head up, your body sends the message to your mind that you feel confident and strong."

④Take a power pose. Your body language doesn't just affect( 影 响 ) how you feel, it tells other people how nervous or brave you feel, too. Bring to mind a movie or TV character you like. Think about how they show being brave or strong and how they sit, stand or walk. See if you can do the same. Do you feel nervous before a test or when doing something new? Try a "power pose" and you can feel more confident. Sit or stand up straight with both feet on the ground, and put your hands on your waist. Keep your head up, looking straight ahead and smile. Do this for a couple of minutes. Evans advises kids to do a power pose for a few minutes before school, "Notice how your feeling has changed and how you become more confident."

Do you know a traditional kind of clothes called hanfu ( 汉服)? A piece of news has(报道) that a group of young people took part in an event in Beijing days ago. They wore different kinds of hanfu.

Miss Lu, born in 1980s,(主动提供) to help in the event. She said, "My love for hanfu came from two of my friends. They are ( 粉丝) of traditional Chinese clothes." Her interest grew as she learned more about the culture behind it and then she tried to make the first hanfu costume (服装) by (她自己). She set up a hanfu club to have a better communication with someone else in 2011. Since then, she has been a (志愿者) to work for the group.

At first, if someone wore hanfu, others might laugh at them and asked why they wore ( 奇怪的) clothes. Slowly, more and more young people began to wear hanfu because they regarded it as the best way to keep the tradition fresh in the (现代的) society.

Yang Kunming was born in the 1990s. She opened an account(账号) on Bilibili so she could share her love for hangu online ( 无论何时) she liked by posting videos about wearing the traditional clothes. She has got (千) of messages and likes. Many people find her videos wonderful. "Social media has made hanfu culture popular in China and (在国外)." Yang said. She is looking forward to taking part in more activities with the theme of hanfu this year.

Jim works for a tea factory. Last year he helped save (he) workmate Tony. Tony was in his fifties and he (ride) a bike to work every day. One afternoon, Tony was having a break in a quiet meeting room. When Jim walked into the room, he saw Tony sitting in a chair, looking seriously ill. "He was breathing with (difficult)." Jim said, "He was feeling terrible,I called for an ambulance(救护车)."

When waiting for ambulance to arrive, Jim made sure that Tony sat comfortably in the chair. "As Tony felt very (worry), I knew that I needed to keep calm(冷静)," Jim said. "I told him that help was its way and that he might feel better if he tried controlling his breaths."

Jim also wanted a workman (find) out where the AED(自动体外除颤器) was. Jim followed the advice from the doctor on the other end of the phone, and gave Tony some medicine. Soon the ambulance arrived and Tony was taken to hospital.

(lucky), Tony was saved in time and went home not long after that. Jim's quick actions saved a life. He said was necessary to learn first aid(急救). So far, he has helped people with different problems.

It's International Whale Shark Day on August 30th, so let's find out about these fantastic fish. Whale sharks are the world's largest fish. It can be 12 meters long, as big as a bus! They live in tropical(热带的) and warm seas around the world. Every shark's spots and stripes are different from each other. They can help scientists know who they are. Although they are really huge, whale sharks can't bite or chew(咬和嚼)! They just open their mouth widely when swimming, and let lots of water come through their gills(鳃) to catch small shrimp and fish for food. Being slow swimmers, whale sharks hardly travel more than 5 kilometers per hour, but they sometimes go on great migrations(迁徙) that are hundreds of kilometers long. Surprisingly, they can live to be more than 100 years old. Wow!

要求：
1）短文必须包含表格中所有要点，可适当发挥。
2）80-100 词左右，开头和结尾部分已经给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Sir,

My name is Li Hua, and I am always willing to help others!

……

I hope I can be accepted into this meaningful activity.

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua