The holidays are a time to give. These charities — and many more — are looking for volunteers and donations. Read on to learn more about them. Then, talk to your parents about how you can help.
National Military Family Association
Each year hundreds of Americans serve both nationally and overseas to keep our country safe. This holiday season, we can help serve them. Through donations, National Military Family Association helps to support the wellbeing of military members and their families with scholarships, camp programs for kids, and more.
www. militaryfamily. org
Network for Good
The website allows its users to donate to charities and discover volunteerism. After the natural disasters, the Network for Good has provided a system of help and charity for those affected. The site also offers tips for kids who want to give. Click the link below to find out how you can help make someone's holiday season shine bright.
www. thenetworkforgood. org
Make-A-Wish Foundation
Sometimes all it takes is one wish ensured to make someone smile. The mission of Make-A-Wish Foundation is to meet the wishes of children suffering from life-threatening illnesses. Through support and donations, the foundation has made dreams come true for hundreds of thousands of children.
www. wish. org
World Wildlife Fund
The World Wildlife Fund is helping to protect endangered species all over the world, and you can too! The WWF offers many ways to take part in, including the Species Adoption program. Those who "adopt" an animal will receive an adoption certificate and photo of their species. Anyone can support endangered species year round by buying WWF clothes and more.
www. worldwildlife. org
My name is Lwazi Nzimande. I started my schooling at Thukeyana Primary Farm School in Underberg, KwaZuluNatal.
I had a favourite teacher in primary school. Her name was Miss Dube. She taught me natural science and human social sciences in grade six and seven, and had a way of pushing learners to be able to think for themselves. She made sure that each and every learner took part in every lesson. She used pictures, diagrams (图表) and other things to make learning easier and more unforgettable, moving at a pace that was suitable for all students. As a teacher, she showed patience, respect, open-mindedness, and reliability (可靠性). Now you see why she was my favourite teacher in primary school, don't you?
In my opinion, patience, respect, open-mindedness, and reliability are some of the things that all teachers should have and show. A patient teacher is one who understands that some learners need more explanation than others to understand something in class. He or she should always be willing to help learners. An open-minded teacher will go beyond what is found in the textbook. A teacher who is respected will find it easy to control a class. Respect is earned through what a teacher says to learners or how he or she deals with them in general.
Miss Dube often told us not to badmouth or make fun of others. She also did so. She never badmouthed other teachers in front of us. Also, Miss Dube never made fun of her learners. She thought making fun of learners in front of others would hurt them and damage their confidence.
Miss Dube was also very honest. From my point of view, that's also what a good teacher should be like. If she didn't have an answer to a question, she would let her learners know. This set a good example to the learners.
Machu Picchu was a city of the Inca Empire （帝国）. It is sometimes called the "lost city" because the Spanish never discovered the city when they controlled the Inca in the 1500s.
One of the most amazing things about Machu Picchu is its location. It is 8 ,000 feet above sea level on top of a mountain in the Andes in southern Peru. Three sides of the city have cliffs that drop over 1,400 feet to the Urubamba River. At the fourth side of the city is a high mountain.
Researchers believe that the city was first built around the year of 1450. Building work likely continued on the site until the empire was controlled by the Spanish in the middle 1500s.
Machu Picchu was built as a place for the ninth Inca King, Pachacuti. Researchers aren't sure why he built it, however. There are a number of ideas as to the reason. One idea is that it was a vacation place for the king. It is in a Vacation place than the capital city of Cuzco. It is also in a beautiful location and would have been a nice hiding place for the king. Another idea is that it was built as a religious site. Machu Picchu was not a large city. Probably only around 1,000 people lived there.
Most of the buildings were built with stones that were fitted together tightly without the use of mortar （砂浆）. This style of building helped the buildings to stay complete during earthquakes. The Inca didn't use the wheel, so most of the hardwork was done by people. It would have taken hundreds of workers to move the large stones around the site.
The city was rediscovered in July 1911 by an explorer Hiram Bingham. He was led there by a local boy named Pablito Alvarez. Later, Hiram wrote a book about the city called Last City of the Incas.
Many of you have probably had this experience: You get on a train and are ready to take a nap or read a book, only to find that the passenger in front of you is watching a TV show on his cellphone without headphones. The child next to you won't stop crying. And the old lady behind you talks on her phone during the whole trip.
Wish the train could be less noisy? There might be a solution for you. The Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway, one of China's busiest high-speed rail lines, will have "quiet" carriages starting from Dec 23, Xinhua reported.
In quiet carriages, onboard videos will be muted and announcements will be made at a lower volume. Doors at the ends of the carriage will be kept closed to reduce noise from other carriages, CGTN noted. Train attendants will be responsible for making sure that passengers remain quiet and follow the rules.
Passengers who are willing to obey the rules can choose the quiet carriages when booking their tickets, according to China's national railway operator.
Some people have pointed out that this kind of quiet environment should be offered in all carriages. They say that having quiet carriages might give people the impression that they don't need to be quiet in non-quiet carriages.
While some Internet users are upholding the new service, it has also sparked discussion about just how quiet travelers should be in quiet carriages. Many people have raised questions such as "What if I snore?" and "Can we talk to our travel companions if we need to?"
Don't think it's an impossible task to pass your reading tests. Lots of people have shared their successful reading secrets here.
Read a passage twice before looking up an unknown word.
If you're reading to gain new vocabulary, you should treat it as a "fill in the blanks" exercise. At first, you'll have to read every paragraph twice. The second time you read it, focus on the words you don't know. Try and work out what each word means from the sentences before and after. If you had to guess the meaning, what would it be?
Whenever you are reading in English and learn a new word, don't let it slip away! Write it down with a short definition (定义)or a little drawing. Some students like to keep a specific notebook for this—their own personal dictionaries! Several studies have shown that writing a piece of information down on paper helps you to remember it more easily.
Read out loud.
If you're going to put time in your reading skills, you may as well get some extra practice for your speaking skills too! It's a great way to get used to speaking English too.
Divide your time into skim reading and deep reading.
You should spend some of your reading time "skim - reading texts". This way, you learn how to get a general sense of what's going on without understanding every single word. This is when you really focus on understanding everything that's going on.
A. Write down new words.
B. Try reading some passages out loud to yourself.
C. It's normal to forget how to read words correctly.
D. Reading resources should be a little hard for you to skim.
E. You should spend the rest of your reading time "deep reading texts".
F. Follow these tips to make use of your reading time as effectively as possible.
G. The first time, you'll probably get the general idea but be confused by a few words.
For one hour twice a week, I sat patiently and watched my son have his martialarts (武术)lessons. I started to see martialart's1effects on him. What I didn't know was that it would change me, too.
One evening, I sat2my son's martialarts lesson. At the moment, martialarts seemed like such a beautiful art. I thought I might3to do this. Two weeks later, I stepped nervously into the martialarts world at the age of thirtysix. I4completely nothing about martial arts. The first class was the hardest, I5that first class feeling silly. I left feeling silly and helpless, as if keeping any balance was far out of my6. I was fairly7that I would never go back again, in spite of having already paid the first month's fee.
However, I 8to the very next class, not because I wanted to, 9 because I wanted to set a good10for my child. I am so glad I did. In the years since those first silly and nervous11onto the training ground, I've learned a lot of important lessons. I learned that I don't have to be 12in everything, that even though something doesn't come easily. It doesn't mean it isn't worth learning, and that having 13with myself is far more important, and far more difficult, than having patience with14.
Two months before my fortieth birthday, I15a physical and mental test and came out with a black belt.
At the time they were created, the Impressionist (painting) were controversial, but today they are accepted as the beginning of we call "modern art". This is because the Impressionists encouraged (art) to look at their environment in new ways. There are scores of modern art styles, but the Impressionists, many of these painting styles might not exist. On the one hand, some modern art is abstract; that is, the painter does not attempt to paint objects as we see with our eyes, but instead concentrates certain qualities of the object, (use) color, line and shape to represent them. On other hand, some paintings of modern art are so realistic they look like photographs. These styles (be) so different. Who can predict what painting styles there will be in the future?
"Jordi, wake up!" my father calls in the hallway.
I quickly get up and pull on the uniform for our team. All my life, I've watched my parents compete. But I will participate in the human pyramid building for the first time today!
When we get there, the town square is already crowded. While we wait for our turn to compete, my friend Tomeu comes to stand with me. He and his family are also part of our team. Tomeu has competed before.
"What if I'm not ready for this, Tomeu?" I ask.
"We are never ready, Jordi. None of us who compete in the human pyramid building knows for sure how it will go," he says and gestures toward the pyramid going up in front of us. "Just like those people, you must have faith in those below who lift you up, and you must trust yourself. "
I nod my head to show that I understand. I will do my best to follow his advice.
Soon, it is our turn. I gather with my team in the center of the square and turn my attention to the task at hand.
We must first make the base for our pyramid. My father and three of the strongest men stand in a circle facing each other as they hold tightly to each other's arms. Four more strong men step behind, each holding his arms around the chest of a man and giving him a bear hug. Then as many as fifty more men and women crowd behind them and begin pushing on their backs to keep them tightly together. Four smaller men climb onto the backs of the original base group and stand on their shoulders. They then grab onto each other's arms and hold firmly, creating a strong second level. I can see that my father's face is red as he works hard to be strong for the person on his shoulders. Our pyramid is growing taller and taller and eventually it is my turn to climb to the top of the pyramid and stand on my mother's shoulders.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Climbing up the first two levels is easy.
"Focus. Balance," My mother whispers to me.
