It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any 1in the house. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: "Please2my dog half a pound of meat." Then she gave the paper to3dog and said gently: "Take this to the butcher. And he's going to give you what you want."
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it4and recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very5 and ate the meat up at once.
At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again6reading it, he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it7a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers.
But the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing8once again. To the butcher's surprise, it came for a third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, "This is a small dog9does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?"
Looking at the piece of paper, he10that there were not any words on it!
As the saying goes, "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." This is the way the charity organization Heifer International (国际小母牛慈善组织) wants to end world hunger.
It began in the 1930s when an American farmer, Dan West, went to Spain to help people in need. He tried to feed the people with milk. But it seemed that there would never be enough milk. It made him think that what they needed was "not a cup, but a cow".
Dan West returned to America. He worked together with some friends to find ways to end hunger. He believed giving animals and providing training would stop world hunger. With his help, Heifer International was set up.
On Heifer International's website, you will see a list of animals like cows, chickens, pigs and even fish and bees. You can offer help by buying some animals for one certain family. Those animals will have babies get better lives, they will pass on the act of kindness to others. More importantly, you are buying the resources (资源) for programs run by Heifer International to help more families.
The programs also help small-sized farms. As a rule, each farmer must give his animal's first female (雌性) baby to another in need. Heifer International also provides training on animals' health and feeding. And these farmers all agree to teach others what they have learned as another rule.
However, there is still a long way to go. The milk may run out. But if families have their own cows, they can get plenty of milk to feed themselves. The organization wants the farmers to go on working together, helping each other and learning from each other. Maybe hunger can really be stopped.
Cars make our lives more convenient. But they can also be a problem. For example, fossil fuel (化石燃料) cars mainly cause air pollution.
To improve the environment, many countries are developing electric vehicles (EVs, 电动车). Among them, China is taking a leading role and has created the world's largest EV market.
Last year, over 40 percent of the 753, 000 EVs sold in the world were sold in China, more than twice as many as the number sold in the United States.
"Filling up a fossil fuel car with gas (汽油) is more expensive than charging (充电) an electric car, " said Wu Hao, who bought an electric car this year.
However, there are still some problems. It can be hard to find charging piles (充电桩) and the cars can't go far before needing to be recharged.
Some of these problems are being solved. In 2014, China had 31, 000 charging piles. Now China has the world's largest EV charging network, with more than 167, 000 charging piles in total.
Developing EVs is one of many efforts that China has made to cut down pressure on its environment after the government promised to stop increases in carbon dioxide emissions (二氧化碳排放量) by 2030.
"As China goes, so will the world's car industry, " The Wall Street Journal said. China has taken a leading role in the world's electric vehicle industry.
Project Hope is an education program to help students. It builds school in the poorest parts of China and it helps poor families afford an education for their children.
Since Project Hope started in 1989, it has done very well. By 2012, Project Hope had raised 8.73 billion yuan. With this money, it has aided 4.5 million children to go to schools and it has built 18, 992 Hope primary Schools.
Project Hope has made important contributions to both the education and the health of children. For more than 20 years, Project Hope has encouraged the moral development and modern thinking of students. As a result, the students in Hope schools respect their teachers, aid the poor, and help one another. Project Hope is the best-known and most successful education program in China. Without Project Hope, there is a risk that many children would have an unhappy future.
When I was a junior high school student in 1980, God gave me a gift, it was happiness.
One weekend, I went to visit my grandparents in the countryside. .
Several days later when I woke up at the hospital, I realized I had to spend the rest of my life without arms. Even I was full of fears. But slowly I knew I had to face the fact and got over it. I couldn't get my arms back even though I cried every day.
However, it's easier said than done. I got so much from my past story. From then on, I could treat my life with a normal mind. But in our daily life, I often see my classmate get worried about little things: their bus comes late; they don't have a mobile phone but others have. But I only enjoy life, I was lucky to realize from an accident: It's a waste of our life to focus on what you have lost. We should always think of what we have. So why are so many people unhappy? Someone may say, "My whole life would improve if I have a new car." But when you get the car and what happens? For a whole week you are walking on air. Then you go right back to being unhappy.
It's in our heart. It's a state of mind, even though you own the whole world, you may still feel unhappy. Happiness comes from mastering the art of appreciating (感激) and taking pleasure in what you really have.
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A. Happiness depends on what we have. B. They get a bad grade on a test C. How sad I felt at that time! D. On my way home a car ran me over and cut off my arms because of its high speed. E. Maybe it was just a joke for me. F. It took me nearly half a year to get out of the sadness completely. G. Happiness is everywhere around us! |
Do you know that Stonehenge is not only one of Britain's (famous) historical places but also one of its greatest (mystery). But no one knows who (build) Stonehenge. For many years, historians believed Stonehenge was a temple where ancient leaders tried (communicate) with the gods. However, historian Paul Stoker thinks this can't be true because Stonehenge (build) so many centuries ago. Another popular idea is that Stonehenge might be a kind of calendar. The large stones were put together a certain way. On midsummer's morning, the sun shines (direct) into the center of the stones. Other people (believe) the stones have a medical purpose. They think the stones can prevent (ill) and keep people healthy. No one is sure what Stonehenge was used for, most agree that the position of the stones must be for a special purpose.
For this month Young World magazine, I interviewed 19-year-old Asian pop star Candy Wang. Candy told me that she used to be really shy and took up singing to deal with her shyness. As she got better, she dared to sing in front of her class, and then for the whole school. Now she is not shy anymore and loves singing in front of crowds.
I asked Candy how life was different after she became famous. She explained that there are many good things, like being able to travel and meet new people all the time. "I didn't use to be popular in school, but now I get tons of attention everywhere I go." However, too much attention can also be a bad thing." I always have to worry about how I appear to others and I have to be very careful about what I say or do. And I don't have much private time anymore. Hanging out with friends is almost impossible for me now because there are always guards around me."
What does Candy have to say to all those young people who want to become famous? "Well," she begins slowly, "you have to be prepared to give up your normal life. You can never imagine how difficult the road to success is. Many time I thought about giving up, but I fought on. You really require a lot of talent and hard work to succeed. Only a very small number of people make it to the top."
Students these days often have a lot of worries. Sometimes they have problems with their school-work, and sometimes with their friends. What can they do about this？Some people believe the worst thing is to do nothing. Laura Mills, a teenager from London, grees. "Problems and worries are normal in life, "says Laura." But I think talking to someone helps a lot. Unless we talk to someone, we'll certainly feel worse.
Laura once lost her wallet, and worried for days. She was afraid to tell her parents about it. She ever walked three miles to school each day because she didn't have any money. She just kept thinking, "If I tell my parents, they'll be angry! In the end, she talked to her parents and they were really understanding. Her dad said he sometimes made careless mistakes himself. They got her a new wallet and asked her to be more careful. "I will always remember to share my problems in the future!" Laura says.
Robert Hunt advised students about common problems. He feels the same way as Laura. "It is best not to run away from our problems. We should always try to solve them." He thinks the first step is to find someone you trust to talk to. This person doesn't need to be an expert like himself. Students often forget that their parents have more experience, and are always there to help them. In English, we say that sharing a problem is like cutting it in half. So you're halfway to solving a problem just by talking to someone about it.
⑴Do the students have a lot of worries these days?
⑵What is the first thing to do if you have a problem?
⑶What is the first thing you should do when you want to solve a problem?
Who is the best person to talk with?
⑷Why can our parents give us good advice about our problems?
There is a conversation between a stone lion and a flower.
FL: Look, there are so many people visiting us. We're so popular.
SL: I don't want to see them at all. Look at my body. It's full of wounds. People like drawing on me. Sometimes they even carve (雕，刻) their names.
FL: Umm...in fact, many of my friends have been picked. Even the grass has been badly stepped.
SL: How I wish people can value us! Never do such things to hurt us.
FL: I hope so. I expect them to behave themselves during the trip.
Chairman Xi ever says, "Clear waters and green mountains are as valuable as mountains of gold and silver (绿水青山就是金山银山)." please write a passage about "how to behave yourself during the travel" according to conversation above. Try to express your ideas clearly in about 90 words. The title has been given.
Suggested words and phrases: step 踩踏, break off 折断, spit at any place 随地吐痰, carve 刻, historical sites 古迹scenic areas (景区)
