浙江省宁波市镇海区2020-2021学年八年级下学期英语期中...

My mother only had one eye. And because of this, I never wished her to show up in my school, being afraid that my classmates would 1 I had an ugly mother.

One day in primary school, I was terribly ill. My mother came. "Your mom only has one eye?" asked some of my classmates. I was so 2. I wished my mother would just 3 from this world. "If you embarrass (使……尴尬) me, why don't you just die?" I shouted at her, taking no notice of the sad look on her face. My mother just handed me some medicine and left without saying 4.

At that time, I felt 5 to say what I always wanted to say, and I didn't think I had hurt her feelings very much. That night I saw my mom 6 in her room, so quietly, as if she was afraid that she might 7 me. Even so, I hated her tears from one eye. I made a 8: I must study hard and leave my mother.

9 later, my dream came true. I was quite successful and lived 10. I never thought of going back to see my "ugly" mother 11 one day I got a letter, which said: "My son，I'm sorry I only have one eye. When you were little, you got into a(n)12 and lost your eye. As a mom, I couldn't 13 watching you live with only one eye. 14 I gave you mine. I 15regretted what I did because I love you…"

I cried out aloud. Only then did I realize how beautiful my mother was!

    Few words are spoken more often every day on the streets of Britain than "I'm sorry". This phrase has become such a common response (反应) that it has taken on a lot of meanings.

    Saying "sorry" means to apologize(道歉). This is simple and easy to understand. We learn it both as a native speaker and as a student of foreign languages.

    But in Britain, it takes on another meaning. It is a cultural expression. Imagine this: a man walks down the street, looking down at his phone. A woman is walking in the opposite direction, towards the man. She sees him, but she can't get out of the way in time. The man bumps (碰撞) into the woman. Who should say sorry? Naturally, the man should say sorry, because it was he who wasn't looking where he was going. Yet in Britain, it is common for both to apologize.

    It is known that British people, like most people, do not enjoy conflict (冲突). So to quickly calm(平息) the situation, British people will apologize to each other.

    Other times, it may sound funny to hear "sorry". My British friends say it at restaurants, as they ask the waiter: "Sorry, but can I order another drink" It is not to apologize, but just to express that we need the waiter. In Britain, "sorry" doesn't always mean exactly what you think.

    At thirteen, I was diagnosed（诊断）with a kind of attention(注意力) disorder. It made school difficult for me. When everyone else in the class was focusing on tasks, I could not.

    In my first literature class, Mrs.Smith asked us to read a story and then write on it, all within(在…之内) 45 minutes. I raised my hand right away and said, "Mrs.Smith, you see, the doctor said I have attention problems. I might not be able to do it."

    She glanced down at me through her glasses, "you are no different from your classmates, young man."

    I tried, but I did not finish the reading when the bell rang. I had to take it home.

    In the quietness of my bedroom, the story suddenly all became clear to me. It was about a blind person, Louis Braille. He lived in a time when the blind could not get much education. But Louis did not give up. By working hard, he invented a reading raised dots（点）, which opened up a whole new world of knowledge to the blind.

    Wasn't I the "blind" in my class, being made to learn like the "sighted" students? My thoughts spilled out and my pen started to dance. I completed the task within 40 minutes. Indeed, I was no different from others; I just needed a quieter place. If Louis could find his way out of his problems, why should I ever give up?

    I did not expect anything when I handed in my paper to Mrs.Smith, so it was quite a surprise when it came back to me the next day with an "A" on it. At the bottom of the paper were these words: "See what you can do when you keep trying?"

    I will never forget my experiences in the United States. I went to an American college a year ago. Yet I did not know the real American society until I was hurt in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court（法院）.

    After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very thankful and decided to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was surprised. He had good reason to charge(索价) me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible(负有责任的) for my accident, I'd have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer. Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, so I should pay him. But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients(病人) at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time. The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215. My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided(避免) seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to refuse his help. And he made me pay him $770.

    Now I had to act as my own lawyer. I told the insurance(保险）company the date I was leaving America because of my inexperience(缺少经验). Knowing that, they played for time and I left without getting a cent.

    My experiences taught me two things about America: Firstly, in a country like America, money is everything. It is more important than friendship, honor or professional morality. Secondly, foreigners are not treated(对待) the same as natives. So when we talk about America, we should see both its good and bad sides.

读有关热门 APP 的描述，然后从 A、B、C、D 和 E 中选择符合文字内容的图标。

It is a very popular APP among the young. You can not only watch interesting short videos made by others, but also create your own videos. Have a try and perhaps you will be the next Internet celebrity(网红).

It is believed that every girl uses this "camera". It can beautify the photos you've taken. Also, it's easy to edit the pictures, such as cutting, adding some words, changing colors and so on.

Staring at pages or screens makes your eyes tired? Now let your ears "read" for you. Himalaya leads you into a world of listening, which is full of novels, news, stories and even classes. It's a great idea to share human wisdom with voice.

It is a practical APP. It can record lines, time or movements when you are doing sports and provide data analysis according to your body condition. Probably, you will love exercising more and develop a better living habit with this APP.

All kinds of movies, TV shows, documentaries, and music can be found in this APP. If you are a VIP, you can watch the latest films when they are just on in the cinema.

A. B. C. D. E.

Nowadays, many students are busier on weekends than weekdays because their parents take them to  kinds of classes. Because of this, most of them are under too much . One of the main reasons why parents do so is that they are always  their own children with other children. Doctors say it is normal to want successful children, but it is  important to have healthy children. Therefore, there is no need for them to push their children so .

    Do you speak emoji? If you use a smart phone, the answer is probably yes. Emoji  a visual(视觉的) language, It can express ideas and feelings. Are you hungry? Let your friends know by (send) them food emojis, like rice or pizza.

    People use emoji a lot. One of the (popular) emojis is the face with tears of joy. It has been used more than 1.8 billion times on Twitter.

    Emoji is modern,  the idea is old. History shows that we've used symbols as language for about 5, 000 (year). One of the oldest examples of visual language is Egyptian hieroglyphs(象形文字). Ancient Egyptians (begin) using language symbol around 3250 B. C, according to John Darnell. He is  expert from Yale University.

    Who invented emoji?  1999, the Japanese company NTT Docomo took a heart picture off from its mobile system. As a result, it lost many customers. So Shigetaka Kurita, a designer(设计师), put the heart back. And he made 175 more pictures. He called (they) emoji, the Japanese word for picture characters.

Some people still do not regard(视为) emoji  a language, but it does improve our communication. Don't you think so?

注意：①短文需包含表格中所有信息，并作适当的想象和发挥。

②文中不得出现真实姓名、校名。

③词数80—120（开头已给出，不计入总词数）。

How to Get on Well with Classmates

In English class, we discussed the topic "How to Get on Well with Classmates" with each other. Here are the results.