山西省太原市2018-2019学年八年级上学期英语期末考试试...

— Sorry, we won't. Thank you.

— I think he is ______ practicing singing in the music room. The art month is coming.

— That's true. Nothing is difficult ______ you put your heart into it.

— Because she had to look after her little brother.

— Not everyone ______ their future. Just work hard to make yourself better.

— ______. I have to visit my grandparents with my parents.

James: Susan! I'm preparing for the talk this Friday. Do you have any idea about it?

Susan: Look! There's heavy haze (雾霾) today.

James: Yes. We have to wear face masks (口罩) when we go out.

Susan: Sounds terrible. It's really bad for our health.

James:

Susan: We can plant more trees and drive less in life. "Green Travel, Green Life, Green Habits" can really help.

James: That's right. It's everyone's duty to protect the environment.

Susan: I believe the classmates will like your sharing and play a part in saving the earth.

James: Oh, great. Thanks for your advice!

Susan:

    There was once a young man in a town. He liked puppets (木偶) so much that he became an apprentice (学徒) to a great puppet-maker. Sadly, the young man was not so clever, and people around him always said he had no 1 for making puppets.

However, he enjoyed it so much that he worked day after day to 2his skills. Though he was hard-working, they would always find something wrong with his puppets. The young man was 3 but he wasn't going to give up. After thinking for a few days, he 4 to spend all his time making just one kind of puppet. As long as he found a fault (缺陷) in his puppet, he would throw it away and start again. Years passed, he was much 5 at making puppets than any other apprentice, but he kept making improvements. Living 6 that, the man wasn't making any money. Many people laughed at how poor he was.

    By the time he was an old man, his puppet was 7 wonderful. Finally, after so many years of work, he finished his puppet, and said, "8 wrong with it this time. It's perfect (完美的)". And for the first time in all those years, he didn't throw his puppet and felt so happy.

    The man's name was Geppetto. 9 he made the perfect puppet, he got more happiness than any other famous puppet-maker. His 10 tells us how important it is to keep on something.

    So never give up the things you really enjoy.

    It is usual to have a salad when an American has his meal. American people eat the salad before the main dish. A nice American thing is the salad bar. In restaurants of salad bars, the waiters do not bring you salad. You go to the salad bar and help yourself, usually eat as much as you want. You eat the salad while some people cook the main dish.

    American people know how to choose from the menu (菜单). American menus look different, because they use some unusual words. For example, potatoes most often come to "French fries" or "baked potatoes". If you order a baked potato, the waiter will ask you want on it. The answer is usually butter or sour cream. Very often, vegetables don't come with the meal, and you have to pay extra (额外的) money for them.

    You might hear that in American restaurants, if you can't finish your meal, you can put the rest in a "doggy bag" and take it home. That means when you leave so ask if you need help to put it into a little bag, or you can just ask him to do this. That's all about American restaurants. Do you want to enjoy yourselves in one of them.

    I had spent an hour in the bank with my dad to transfer some money (转账). I ask him, "Dad, why not use online banking?" "Why would I do that?" He replied.

    "Well, then you won't have to spend an hour here to transfer your money. You can also do your shopping online. Everything will be easier!" I said in excitement. He asked, "If I do that, I won't have to go out of the house?"

    "Yes!" I said. I told him how groceries (杂货) can be delivered to our doors now. And we can buy everything we need by just staying at home.

    However, he said, "Since I walked into this bank today, I have met four of my friends. I have much free time, so I like to come to the bank and meet different people. Two years ago, when I was in hospital, the store owner from whom I bought fruit came to see me. And when your mom fell down a few days ago, the bank manager saw her and helped her get to the hospital."

    He went on, "why would I want to look at my computer all the time? I like to know the person around me. Does Amazon send bonds (情感纽带) and relationships, too?"

    I didn't know what to say after hearing his words. My dad was right, of course. It's better for us to spend time with real people than computers.

    Bananas are good snacks. They are not only sweet and delicious, but also easy to carry around, so you can take them anywhere. Best of all, bananas have different things that the human body needs!

    Bananas grow best in warm places with lots of rain. They grow on plants that look like trees. The plants can grow as high as 30 feet. When they reach their full height, flowers grow out. These flowers produce (生产) bananas.

    Two or three times each year, the plants produce fruit. Then after about three months, farmers will pick the bananas. At this time, they still aren't the sunny yellow color bananas. Then the green bananas are shipped to stores. They turn yellow along the way and are ready to be sold.

    If you love bananas, you've got a lot of company (同伴). The first shipment of bananas arrived in the United States in 1876. After that, Americans showed great love for bananas. Until today, Americans still eat more bananas than any other fruit. We can see that clearly in the following chart.

    Billy's favorite color was orange. But he couldn't see what orange looked like.

    A month after he was born, his mother found that his eyes weren't as  as other babies'. "He is blind (瞎的)." The doctor said. Even so, with the hope to help Billy learn about the world around , his mother kept describing everything she saw for him.

    Not just his mother's words, Billy saw with his ears and hands to know the world, too. He had great hearing, "He probably can't see or sizes of things, but he can notice many special sides of them." Said his mother.

     Billy lived in the dark, he always believed a dream would light up (点燃) his life. He found that he was interested in computer science. So he learning it at seven years old. As a young boy, he  going to Stanford University some day. After he worked hard for years, Billy  made his dream come true.

    Many people wanted to find out he could get success. Billy replied, "Just move forward! And always believe you will be able to  yourself better step by step."

    You cannot choose what you are given, but you can choose how you make use of it.

    On December 14, 2017, the famous Chinese poet (诗人) Yu Guangzhong left this world in Taiwan. The news made many people sad. "Mr. Yu's poems often  my heart when I read them...,"Mai Luoluo, a famous writer for, said on Sina Weibo.

    Yu was born in 1928 in Nanjing, Jiangsu. Then he moved to Taiwan his family in the 1950s. After that, he lived and worked there he died.

    Xiangchou (Nostalgia) is Yu's famous poem. People the poem easily if they open Chinese textbooks in senior high school. It was written from Yu's  experience. In it, he showed how much he missed the Chinese mainland when he was in Taiwan. The poem came out in 1971. It  became popular with all Chinese around the world. Yu is also a great translator (翻译家). And he once translated English poet Siegfried Sassoon's poem In me, Past,

    Present, Future Meet into Chinese. Most of people think it is the translation of all. The famous line “心有猛虎，细嗅蔷薇” just comes from his translation.

    You spent all  life on the things he liked. Once he said, "Just because of my passion (热情) for the Chinese language, I always try my best something." He then added that his love for his mother and his motherland made this passion forever. Let's remember this great man.

词数要求：60词左右。