浙江省金华市兰溪八中2023-2024学年九年级上学期学习能...

When you hear the word "hero", you may think of someone like Mahatma Gandhi or Nelson Mandela. But there are also "everyday" heroes--they may not be1 to the public, but they do what they can to help2 people's lives as well. Everyday heroes are normal people who are working to make the world a better place.3 them is Robert Lee.

Lee grew up in a big city.4 his family was not rich, he learned from a young age the importance of avoiding the waste of food. When in college, he was part of a student group that gave out leftover(剩余的)food to 5 people. This experience made him realize how 6 the problem of food wastage actually was.

After he left university, Lee and a friend set up a(n)7 called Rescuing Leftover Cuisine(RLC). Its purpose is to collect8 food from restaurants and send it for free to shelters and food kitchens. Volunteers9 the food from restaurants around the city and hand it out to those in need.

RLC operates easily. Using an app developed by Lee's team, restaurants 10 how much leftover food they have each day. Then volunteers are sent to get it. The11 is usually short, so volunteers can just do their deliveries(递送) by walking from the restaurants to the shelters. Lee believes this is a quick way of delivery.

So far, Lee and his team have successfully12 over 150,000 kilograms of food, serving almost 300, 00013 to people who need them. Lee has shown that a14 action can help people around us greatly.15 may have a greater influence(影响) than we imagine. When Lee is asked what his next plan is, he says there's still a lot to do. "It's just the beginning.With more restaurants, who knows how much more we can do."

My parents have always loved tennis and they're members of a tennis club. My older brother was really good at it and my parents took him to lessons all the time. So I guess when I said that I wanted to be a tennis champion (冠军) when I grew up, I just wanted them to notice me. My mother laughed. She knew I couldn't possibly be serious, because I was just a 4-year-old kid!

Later, I joined a tennis club and then took part in my first big game. I knew I was a good player, but I lost the game. I didn't even want to see anyone. When my coach asked what happened in the last few minutes of the game, I didn't know what to say. I knew I made a few mistakes. I didn't defend (防守) the other player's attack (进攻) in the right way.

After that, I decided to listen more carefully to my coach because he had lots of useful advice. I realised it is  ▲     to keep a good mindset in a game. When I play a game, I have a plan but sometimes the other person will do something unexpected so I'll have to change it. And when I lose a point, if I don't try to forget it, I'll most probably lose the next one.

In the games, sometimes you will have to play against someone who is angry. Players can get angry easily — including myself sometimes. Once I got so angry that I nearly threw my tennis ball. But my coach has helped me develop ways to control those feelings.

With the help of my coach, I'm getting good results: my skills have improved greatly and I'm beginning to realise that with hard work there's a chance that I could be a champion one day.

In many countries around the world, May 1st is a holiday which is called Labor Day or Workers' Day. It is an interesting holiday that honors working people and their jobs. But do you know how it started?

During the late 1880s, in many parts of the world, people worked for fourteen to sixteen hours a day in factories, but made very little money. Later, in the United States and Canada, working people got together to set up unions (工会). The union leaders asked factory bosses for shorter working time and higher salaries(工资), but many of the bosses   ▲    ,

On May 1st, 1886, men and women in the United States and Canada stopped working and went onto the streets. They walked through cities and towns to force bosses to let them work eight hours a day. In the city of Chicago, several people died in fighting with the police. Over the next few years, people in cities around the world stopped working on May 1st to honor workers everywhere. By the early twentieth century, the first of May became a national holiday in many countries.

However, in the United States and Canada, May 1st is not a holiday. North Americans celebrate Labor Day on the first Monday in September. Today in the United States, Labor Day is mostly about having fun. People enjoy a long weekend and often celebrate it by having picnics with friends or family. In many parts of the United States, Labor Day is also the last day of summer vacation, and students return to school the next day."

Did you know that vocabulary is more important than grammar? If you have good vocabulary, you can communicate successfully, even if the grammar is not perfect.

However, one common problem is learning new words and then forgetting them. So when you want to use a new word in a conversation, you can't remember it at that moment. Does this often happen to you? The reason for this difficulty is that most students try to learn vocabulary by studying lists and dictionaries and remembering the words. But it may not work if you don't have a very good memory.

The best way to learn vocabulary and remember the words successfully is to learn new words and use them at once. You can do this with a very simple exercise. Every time you learn a new word, for example, from an English lesson or an article, write it down in your vocabulary notebook. Writing is more active than just reading a definition (释义). You should write the word, the definition in English or translation, one example sentence from the article or dictionary and one example sentence that you create.

Imagine you just learn the word "generous", write in your vocabulary notebook: generous (adjective), definition—giving or willing to give freely. Example one, from the article: Thanks for paying for my dinner, you're very generous. Example two, my example: My brother is generous because he volunteers at the animal shelter on weekends. It's best if your example sentences are true to your life, because this creates a personal connection with the new word. The next day, read your vocabulary notebook again and try to add one more example sentence using the new word. It's helpful for you to remember it. These two simple steps—writing the word and using it at once—help you remember and use new words.

I can't forget that day. It was a cold snowy morning after the winter (假期). I got up early and went to a new school. It is the most famous one (在…之中) middle schools in New York. I was walking alone slowly and worried about lots of things because it was the first time for me to stay (在国外). It was early, so it was (寂静的) outside.

Suddenly a girl who was riding her bike got into trouble. She fell off the bike and tried hard to get up but she (失败，未达到). Without thinking, I went over and helped her. She said "thank you" with a smile and then rode away. Her words warmed me a lot.

Finally, I got to school. The teacher introduced me to the (全部的) class. Then he asked me to sit down beside a girl. I felt so nervous that I didn't look at her. Soon the bell (响铃) for the first class. Their textbooks were different from those at my old school. While I was (考虑) asking the teacher for help, an English book appeared in front of me. "Let's share," the friendly girl next to me said. "Hi, I'm Carrie." To my surprise, it was the girl I helped that morning. Later on, we became good friends.

From that I learnt: To help others is actually to help ourselves. What life teaches(我们) is not only (知识) but also experience. So I hope I can always help others in my life.

Travelling itself is helpful to you, because it(simple) improves your knowledge and  (make) you realise the importance of exploring(探索). In fact, traveling alone also has great advantages. 

Helping you know (you) better

It provides a chance for you to follow your own heart. As a result, you will discover your true self, and know how many things you are good at and how much you are unable (do). 

Helping you make new (friend) easily 

Traveling alone makes it much (easy) to communicate with local people and develop new friendships. The locals are more interested in someone who is travelling alone and are ready to help him or her out

Helping you learn how to depend on yourself

If you are on the road alone, you(have) to make decisions to depend on your own, sometimes even in difficult situations. That will give you great help when it comes to taking important step in your life.

Good for your health

Travelling costs money,it makes you happy. It helps manage stress(压力). Calm your body and mind and also shows you one of the most important reasons we live on this planet: to be part of every beautiful place onearth. 

The Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a large group of mountains on the North American continent(大陆). They are called the Rockies for short. The Rockies are found in the western part of North America. 

The Rockies are more than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) long. In some places they are 300 miles (480 kilometers) wide. Mount Elbert, in Colorado, is the highest peak(山峰)in the Rockies. It is 14,433 feet (4,399 meters) high. 

In summer, the Rockies are warm and dry, though it does rain sometimes. During the winter, the weather is wet and cold. 

 Many people like to visit these mountains. A special area called Rocky Mountain National Park is in Colorado. Visitors can see lots of animals like American elk, mountain goats, mountain lions and large birds.

What's more, the Rockies were one of the last parts of North America to be explored by Europeans. In 1793 the Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie crossed the Canadian Rockies.

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