There was a king who loved art. One day an artist came and hoped to paint a picture on 1 wall. The king happened to have a big new hall built 2 he allowed the artist to work on one of the walls.
At the same time, 3 artist came and asked to work on the opposite wall. He promised to make the same picture as the first artist's without 4 at it. He asked to have a thick cloth 5 can be put up between the two walls so that neither of them could see each other.
The following day they started 6 . The first artist 7 paint, oil, water and so on. The second one came with a towel and a bucket.
A month later, the first artist's work 8 , and the second artist said, "My wall 9 ready, too!"
The king went to see the first artist's wall. He was very 10 with it and gave the artist a lot of money. He then opened the cloth.
Amazing! Each line was exactly the same as that on the opposite wall. The king was quite satisfied with the second artist and gave 11 double money. However, he wondered 12 he had made it. "I just wipe the wall with the towel," the man said 13 . The wall was made 14 white marble (大理石). He made it shine like a mirror. The reflection (倒影) of the first painting showed up on it!
The world is also a reflection of you. 15 you are sad, the world will be sad. You are happy and the world will be happy, too.
My friends and I joined a two-day survival training course in the mountains. The first day was really 1 —there were so many things to do! Arriving at the campsite, we were divided into groups and given a tent, some food, a 2 and a compass. Standing next to a small river, Fanny suggested camping in the grassy area nearby. However, our instructor, Mr. Lee, pointed out that it might flood if it rained. In the end, we found a 3 area. Putting up the tent was not easy. 4 , Mr. Lee helped us a lot.
By the time we had put up the tent, everyone was really hungry. "We wouldn't have got this hungry if we had brought some snacks," Peter said. We all told him to stop 5 . He'd better help us 6 a fire to cook our food instead. Realizing we were having difficulty lighting the fire, he finally helped out.
The next day began early. Woken by a strange noise, Peter went to see what was happening. "Some cows have 7 our breakfast!" There's nothing left. he shouted. "That's all because you didn't 8 the food properly last night." said Mr. Lee.
Worried that Mr. Lee might be angry with us, we tried to finish our next 9 —using the map and compass to find a secret location. We made it to the location before the other groups did. We all felt very proud of ourselves.
The survival training course was a great 10 . Now I have more survival knowledge than before!
My mom's life was a busy one. Raising four kids on her own was her full time job, but she also had to work outside the home to make money. Surprisingly, she always seemed to find extra time to stay with us.
She would take us over to my aunt's house in the evening when she worked as a waitress. After school we would have to hurry so my mom would be on time for work. I thought she would pass us over to our aunt and hurry off, but that didn't happen. Instead, we would rock in my aunt's big wooden swing (秋千), my mom in her waitress uniform, and talk about what happened that day.
"I learned how to add numbers up to the hundreds," my sister Sandy would say.
"That's wonderful," my mom would reply, holding her tight.
"I learned how to write my name!" Larry, my younger brother, would shout.
My mom would get a piece of paper and a pencil out of her purse and hand it to my brother. "Show me how you do it," she'd ask softly.
"Do you have enough time to hear what I did today?" I'd ask her.
Mom would smile at me and nod. "I'm never too busy for something valuable like that!"
She gave us the gift of time again and again. When she came to live with us after her retirement (退休), my mom gave the gift of time to my children, too. They would ask their grandma if she would play with them. By then my mom had health problems, but she would always nod and sit down and read to them or tell them stories. Those moments were a wonderful gift that my children still talked about and treasured.
In the last few years of her life, I would take her to lunch or sit with her, and we would talk about the past, the dream of the future, and just enjoy being with each other. My mom would listen as I talked. I would look at her and ask her if she minded me taking up so much of her free time.
"Nonsense," she'd tell me, "I'm never too busy to spend time with you. It's one of the greatest joys of my life."
I will always remember those wonderful words and the loving heart behind them. It is a gift my mom gives to me. Whatever happened, she always spent time with me.
Teachers are often considered to be engineers of the human soul. They are expected to spread knowledge, ideas and truth. There's one person in China who is called the "teacher of teachers". He is Tao Xingzhi, a Chinese educator.
Tao was born in Anhui province, China, in 1891. Later he studied abroad for educational philosophy. When Tao returned to China in 1917 and began his own career as an educator, he did not blindly follow western education methods or theories. In fact, he changed the saying of "Education is life itself" to "Life is education". Similarly, instead of "school as society", he saw it as "society as school".
For Tao, education is an active experience in real-life instead of telling and being told. He supported "unity of teaching, learning, and reflective (反思的) acting".
Besides developing education methods, Tao also tried his best to improve "mass education". After doing surveys in Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai in 1921, Tao was surprised to learn that in China more than 70% of the people in the city didn't know how to read or write. He wanted to change the situation.
To solve the problem, Tao organized young workers and farmers to study while working. To deal with the shortage of teachers and money, in 1927, Tao set up Xiaozhuang Normal College in Nanjing to train teachers and educators, most of whom became teachers at schools in the countryside.
In January 1934, he started the "Little Teacher" movement in which young students were encouraged to serve as teachers to others, even to those older than themselves. Under Tao's guidance, over 18,000 "little teachers" were invited in Shanghai within 10 months. It later included 28 provinces and cities as a key nationwide education movement. Even in the fight against the Japanese army, Tao never forgot his dream. He founded a middle school in Chongqing and offered free education to poor children.
Maybe Tao's motto is the best explanation for his life. "Giving a whole heart, yet taking nothing in return, not even a leaf of grass."
a. He did surveys in different places in China.
b. He went abroad to study educational philosophy.
c. He began to build colleges to train teachers and educators.
d. He called on young students to be teachers to others in need.
e. He returned to China and started his own career as an educator.
Have you ever heard of character amnesia (记忆缺失)? Amnesia refers to a condition where someone loses all or most of his or her memory. It may be too strong a word to use. With character amnesia, however, it means people have forgotten to put the correct stroke (笔画) in a Chinese word or have forgotten the character completely when writing. Do you have the same problem about it?
Character amnesia is partly caused by the popularity of electronic communication. Today, most people write using computers or other electronic devices. These devices all have input software. You can easily type in a character even if you don't know how to form it.
Back in 2013, CCTV held an interesting TV contest. Contestants were given a word and then asked to write it on a screen. Some of them had a hard time writing such common words as "癞蛤蟆" and "打喷嚏". The audience at home were encouraged to try writing these words at the same time. The contest showed how widespread character amnesia had become. The audience felt surprised. For teachers, however, it was just old news.
Su Yunsheng has taught Chinese for more than twenty years. She says, "In recent years, character amnesia has become more and more common among students. I often see students write words incorrectly. The popularity of electronic devices is a major factor." Su is not the only one complaining. Many experts think not being able to write characters correctly threatens China's cultural heritage.
Written Chinese requires a good memory and a lot of hard work. But Chinese characters are a great cultural achievement. Chinese people should be proud of it. It will be a pity if we lose that heritage someday. The threat is nothing to sneeze at! This should arouse our attention.
Stop motion movies
Stop motion is a special type of movie-making. It uses real objects, instead of drawings, to tell a story. The story roles can be people, animals, or even everyday objects. You can make them out of clay (橡皮泥) or just use some small toys.
Make a movie
Give it a try, and be creative! Get your parents and friends together and show your film!
What you will need |
*A smart phone or camera that shoots videos *A support with three legs used for the phone or camera *Your imagination and a story to tell *Roles (Use action figures (动态木偶), toys, etc., or make some with clay) *A good place to shoot a movie *Whatever else you need for your story |
▲ |
Make up a short story. Make sure it has a beginning, middle and an end. Then write down your story. Pick a place where you're going to shoot the movie. Make sure you'll have enough room to take pictures. Collect or make the roles you'll need for your movie, then prepare any backdrops (背景幕布) (Even a piece of cloth will work). Set up your first shot. Put your roles and props (道具) at the right place for your first scene. Keep your "movie camera" steady (稳定的) with the three legs. Repeat the step above over and over and until you complete your story. |
Do you have difficulty falling asleep at night? If so, here is a piece of advice for you—listen to some soft music.
Scientists have found that soft music can help improve sleep quality and quantity. It works for people of all ages. Soft music can help us fall asleep faster, wake up less during the night and feel more rested in the morning. You may not notice the effects overnight, though. It could take as many as three weeks to see any improvements.
The reason aren't clear yet. It may have something to do with the relaxing effect of a good song. Music can have real physical effects, too. Soft music can lower our heart rate and slow down our breathing.
Scientists say that for most people, music that has 70 beats per minute (bpm) works best. Classical, jazz and folk music are usually more effective than other musical styles. You may need experiments to make your own playlists. If you are not sure how many beats a song has in a minute, you can find out by entering its title into songbpm. com. And remember to get the volume (音量) right. Make sure that the final piece is one that slowly fades out (渐弱).
It is very necessary to get enough high-quality sleep. Before you go to bed tonight, play some soft music. Then, just prepare to be rocked off to dreamland!
A．This prepares us for sleep.
B．Familiar songs work well, too.
C．Why can soft music help us sleep better?
D．If not, you may be woken up by the sudden silence.
E．And it works much better for people with sleeping problems.
When living in the world, everyone needs friends. Friends can give us a lot of help and we can s our sadness and happiness with them.
To make friends, you must be f to others. Smile at others more often and you are sure to get a smile in return. You should try to make a stranger feel at home whenever he happens to be. Think more of others than of y and never judge a person by his or her looking or clothes. Friends should communicate well instead of arguing with each other. When you don't agree with someone, please try to d with him patiently. What's more, never believe in those who leave you when you are in t . Remember, just as the old saying goes, "A friend in need is a friend indeed".
Why would you like to be a volunteer? | 经历、锻炼 |
What are your own advantages? | ①性格；②、③请补充 |
What do you plan to do during the weekend? | ①游玩；②、③请补充 |
注意：1. 可在问题提示的基础上适当拓展信息；2. 词数不少于80（短文开头已给出，不计入词数）；3. 不得透露学校、姓名等任何个人信息，否则不予评分。
Dear Sir or Madam,
I am Li Hua. I am writing to apply to be a volunteer to receive the British students.
……
Yours,
Li Hua
