Once, in a small village, lived a family with eight children. Two of the children loved1very much, but the family was so poor that2was impossible to send them to study at the art college at the same time. After many discussions, the two boys finally3a plan. They would throw a coin. The loser would4down into the coal mines (煤矿) and used the money that he would make in the mines to support his brother5at the college. Then, when the brother who won finished his studies, after four years, he would support6brother studying at the college.
James won and Jack went down into the mines. James studied with all his heart and his paintings were much better than7of most of his teachers, and by the time he graduated, he was beginning8a lot of money for his paintings.
9James returned, the family held a big dinner for his great success. Soon after the meal began, James 10up from his seat to drink a toast(敬酒) to his dear11 He said, "Jack, now you can go to the art college and your dream 12true. I will take care of you."
But Jack said13 "Brother, the four years in the mines has done too much to my hands, so it's too late. Now I can't even hold a glass. "
To show his great love and respect, James drew his brother's hands 14fingers towards the sky.
He called his drawing "The Praying Hands", 15 became very famous years later.
We've talked about snails (蜗牛) and their slow move. But much of the time snails don't move at all. They're in their shells —sleeping .
Hot sun will dry out a snail's body. So at the least sign of hot sun, a snail draws its body into its shell and closes the opening with a thin cover. Then it goes to sleep. A snail will die in a heavy rain. So whenever it rains, it goes inside its shell house and goes to sleep. A snail can sleep for as long as it needs to. It can take a short sleep. Or it can sleep for days at a time. And it spends all the winter months in its shell, asleep.
In spring the snail wakes up. Its body, about three inches long, comes out of from the shell. When hungry, the snail looks for food. It can't see very well. Its eyes, at the ends of the top feelers are very weak. But its sense of smell is very strong. It helps the snail to the new greens. Then the snail's little mouth goes to work.
A snail's mouth is no longer than the point of a pin(针). Yet it has 256,000 teeth! The teeth are so small that you can't see them. But they do their work. If you put a snail in a hard paper box, it will eat its way out. And if a snail wears out its teeth, it will grow new ones.
Mostly, a snail looks for food at night .But on cloudy days it eats in the daytime. It eats all day long. A snail can go on eating for hours and never feel full.
 | Chinese writer Mo Yan won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2012. Mo, who was born in 1955 into a farmer's family in Gaomi County in Shandong Province, is the first Chinese national to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. In his early years, life was not easy and he experienced hunger（饥饿）. These things have influenced Mo Yan's later writings. |
 | 60-year-old Park Geun-hye(朴槿惠)was elected（选举）the new President of South Korea in December, 2012. She becomes the country's first female head of state and her term will last five years from 2013. “I will become a president who puts people's living before anything else,” she told the cheering Peopl in central Seoul as she accepted her win. “I will keep my premises.” |
 | Barack Obama (born in Hopolulu, Hawaii in 1961), who was elected the 44th President of the United States in 2008, has been elected again to a second term, fighting against Republican chllenger Mitt Romney. Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School. His father was from Kenya. And his mother was born in Wichits, Kansas. |
“Who needs a shopping mall if you have Taobao?”says Wang Lin,28,a writer in Beijing.
Taobao, China's largest online shopping site, has become an important part of Wang Lin's life. She spends lots of money on Taobao.
A growing number of Chinese Internet users like Wang have found the joys of online shopping. Most online shoppers are students or young workers. More women shop on line than men. Clothing and home-use products are the most popular on line.
It was reported that more than 250 billion yuan was spent on online shopping last year, 80% through Taobao. Taobao means “looking for treasure” in Chinese. People can find almost everything they need on Taobao, from clothes to books, from candies to DVD players.
You may question the security of online shopping ,Wang Lin said, “It's very safe and convenient. Unless you receive the products from the sellers and are satisfied with them, the shop owner will not get the money .You can also get your money back if you want to return the products.”
history, choose, common, buy, mix, enjoy, way, in, drink, serve |
American summers are filled with outdoor picnics, baseball games and swimming pools. Summer in America is a time the outdoors, no matter how hot it might be. Let's take a look at some of the popular drinks.
Lemonade is the of all American summer drinks. It is made by lemon juice, water and sugar. It is usually served very cold, with ice.
Ice tea is another popular summer drink in America. Ice tea is usually in a tall glass of ice. Many Americans to add sugar to sweeten the drink. This drink is often in the afternoon while people relax in the shade. Ice tea is now also sold by the bottle, at almost any store in America.
The Slurpee, a famous American drinkrecent years, is a great to cool off in the summer heat. It is a mix of ice, sugar and fruit juices. However, the drink is mostly made of ice. They canat most small convenient stores.
Milkshakes have a long in America. It is made of a mix of ice cream, milk and flavoring.
Are you the only child in the family? If so, you are the most important in your family.But a lot of middle school students have a problem. They feel they're not as close to their parents as before..
Some students complain that their parents say a lot to them, but never listen to them. Some of them even say it angrily.
“My parents don't allow me to play computer games, but other classmates are doing that”.
Others say, when they're making phone calls to friends, their parents like to ask if they're speaking to a boy or a girl.Some students even decide to leave home because they're afraid to tell their parents when they have done something wrong, especially when they do badly in exams. Then they usually think running away is the only choice.I think they should find a good chance to talk with their parents and they needn't be afraid to tell their feelings to their parents. They can also get help from others like good friends or teachers. Keeping a diary can help them understand more about themselves and their feelings.
you'll have a happy life and never think of running away.
A. These make them very unhappy.
B. Parents are the closet people to you in the world.
C. But they don't know running away may bring them some more problems.
D. If you follow the advice,
E. They even think their parents are unfair to them.
社会现状：
部分人认为上中学时吃好穿好是应该的。走向社会后没有感恩意识。
学会感恩：
1).感谢社会提供良好的教育机会。
2).感谢父母供养自己上学。
3).感谢老师传授知识。
4).感谢朋友的支持与鼓励。
参考词汇：enter society 进入社会，sense of thanks 感恩意识，behavior 行为
要求：
1).短文应包括所提供的所有内容，可以适当发挥，不要简单翻译；
2).演讲稿中不得出现真实的人名、地名及能够透露你个人身份的信息；
3).词数：80词左右。开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
Good morning, boys and girls!
The topic of my speech today is “Learn to express thanks”.
In the future, we should never forget our society, parents, teachers and so on. At present, we should study harder in order to make our world more beautiful.
Thank you for your listening!
