How do students spend their spare time after finishing their homework? Watch TV, play computer games, or go outside to relax? Here’s a good example.
Tim and Kerry Meek are both teachers. They live in the UK with their two daughters: eleven-year-old Amy and nine-year-old Ella. Recently, the Meek family has become the focus of the whole country after they completed 100 different outdoor activities in one year.
The Meek couple didn’t want their children to spend all their free time in front of the TV and become “couch potatoes”. So about one year ago, the Meeks decided that watching TV and playing computer games were not permitted . Instead, they set 100 tasks for the two girls to do outside. Although Mr. and Mrs. Meek are not outdoor activity fans, they took part in all the activities to encourage their daughters. It turns out that the two sisters really had a good time joining activities.
Every holiday and weekend, whether it’s sunny, rainy or snowy, the Meeks’ would set off to try the activities on their list, including hiking, sailing, climbing , skiing, and so on. The two little girls not only had a wonderful time, but also learned a lot of skills from the activities. They were even able to stand up in front of their school to give a talk for charity. “Our friends spend a lot of their free time doing things which are harmful to their health. Luckily, we’ve had the chance to experience something different.” Amy and Ella also helped their parents to draw up a new list of challenges for the next 12 months.
1.请用中文出现的词语将下列句子补充完整，使句子意思连贯。
As a student, you should do more outdoor exercises in order not to__________________.
2.Why did the Meeks become the focus of the UK?
_______________________________________________________________________________
3.When did the Meeks go out to do the activities?
_______________________________________________________________________________
4.请将稳中划线句子翻译成汉语。
_______________________________________________________________________________
5.Please tell us what you have learned from this passage with two sentences in your own words.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Do you think that living a hungry life is last century’s story? Well, it may be this century’s headline.
The world has growing worries about a global food shortage. Right now, there are still 870 million hungry people in the world, according to a survey of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Children can’t escape this, either. Around fifteen million children die of hungry each year.
What’s causing food shortages? There are several reasons.
There are now more droughts and floods. This is very harmful to farmers and their ability to grow food.
Besides, with the growing population, feeding everyone becomes more difficult. There are a little more than seven billion people in the world. By 2050, the world population will be more than nine billion.
Another reason is food waste. The average person throws away 50kg of food every year.
How can we help with food shortages? The easiest way is to cut down on food waste.
Next time before throwing away the food on your plate, just think how much work has been done to make it. By buying less, we waste less. This takes the pressure off producing so much food. And it helps to solve the problem of food shortage.
You can also ask your schoolmates to join you.
In 2013, researchers at Kansas State University in the US put up short anti-waste slogans(标语) in dining rooms “Think Before You Waste”. Guess what happened? Students wasted fifteen percent less food after that!
The author of the study said, “You don’t need a huge activity to make a difference.”
Reasons of food shortage | 1._________________________________ |
The growing population. | |
2.___________________________________ | |
Ways of 3.___________ | 4.___________________________________ |
Ask the other students to join in your anti-waste work. | |
Your understanding of the last sentence. |
5.__________________________________ |
New changes have taken place in Paris in recent years. Paris used to be among Europe’s busiest cities. Traffic jams could be seen all the time. But now there is a new 2.5 kilometre-long car-free area inside the city. The Louvre(卢浮宫) attracts world tourists. People visit there not just for the art works, but also enjoy the roof of the building which is like a flying carpet. The world’s most beautiful city is now even more beautiful.
Lijiang River National Park, China.
Lijiang River is in Guilin. It is well-known for its clear water, limestone(石灰岩洞) and green hills. The hills have beautiful names depending on different shapes, such as “Elephant Trunk”. These attract many Chinese poets and artists. The best way to enjoy Lijing River is to take an 83 km boat trip from Guilin to Yangshuo in summer.
Zurich, Switzerland
What do you think Zurich is famous for? Great banks? Yes. People can find many Swiss banks and foreign banks here. But the city is of great interest to many people for another reason. Zurich hosts Europe’s largest street party each year. Its Street Parade has overtaken London’s Notting Hill Carival. What’s hot in the city in 2014? In August, Zurich will host the European Athletic Championships. This gives tourists a chance to see the world’s top athletes making new records.
Adelaide, Australia
Many people may know Sydney or Melbourne. They are big cities in Australia. But Adelaide wins people’s hearts with great festivals and tasty food. Adelaide Fringe Festival is the largest art festival in Australia. Every February and March, people celebrate with outdoor art works, dance performances and live music. Adelaide has many kinds of foreign foods. British fish and chips, Italian pizza and German pork can be found in most restaurants.
1.Tourists enjoy the art works as well as _______of the Louvre.
A. the busy street B. the shape of its roof
C. the car-free area D. the flying carpet
2.Many Chinese poets and artists are attracted by________ in Guilin.
A. elephant trunks B. warm weather
C. the highway to Yangshuo D. the green hills and limestone caves
3.Compared with London’s Notting Hill Carnival, the Street Parade in Zurich is _______.
A. even worse B. exactly the same C. much better D. less popular
4.When and where will the 2014European Athletics Championships be held?
A. In August, Paris B. In February, Europe
C. In March, Adelaide D. In August, Zurich
5.Betty is studying art at college. She’s travelling to some place to enjoy art work and taste foreign foods. She could go to_____
A. Adelaide B. Lijiang River National Park
C. Zurich and Paris D. the Louvre
Thomas Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light. Without him, the world might still be in the dark. However, the electric light was not his only invention. He also invented the motion picture camera and 1200 other things. About every two weeks he created something new.
Thomas Edison was born in 1847. He attended school for only three months. His mother taught him at home, but Thomas was mostly self-educated. He started experimenting at a young age.
When he was 12 years old, he got his first job. He became a newsboy on a train. He did experiments on the train in his spare time. Unluckily, his first work experience did not end well. They fired him when he accidentally set fire to the floor of the train. Then Edison worked for five years as a telegraph operator, but he continued to spend much of his time in experimenting his first patent(专利权) in 1868 for a vote recorder run by electricity.
Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other, but he thought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways. It kept conversations short, so that he could have more time for work. He always worked 16 out of every 24hours. Sometimes his wife had to remind him to sleep and eat.
Thomas Edison died at the age of 84. He left a great many inventions that greatly improved the quality of life all over the world.
1.How often did Edison make a new invention?
A. About every fourteen days B. About every seven days
C. About once a week D. About twice a week
2.The underlined word “fired” in the passage means “__________”
A.Gave somebody a job B. Set fire to somebody
C. Let somebody down D. Forced somebody to leave his job
3.Edison considered his deafness as______.
A. something bad B. a gift from god C. a kind of ability D. a disadvantage
4.which of the following sentence is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Edison had only 8 hours rest each day after his deafness
B. Edison got his education mostly by self-teaching
C. Edison had his first job in 1869
D. Edison’s inventions greatly improved the quality of people’s life
5.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The function of the electric light B. Edison and his experiments
C. The importance of inventions D. The whole life of Edison.
Friends play an important role in our life. Most people hope that their friends will always be there. They _____ friendship to last forever. ____, even the best friendship can end.
As time goes by, many friendships end because of a(n) ______ in personality or way of life. The friendship slowly loses importance and finally_______.
Tommy wrote, “I didn’t even know the friendship was over until I caught myself thinking of Alan as a former friend.”
Peter explained. “We _____ seeing each other less and less. The friendship was just over.”
Sometimes friendships______ suddenly from a disagreement or move to another place.
Alice said, “The end of our friendship was a gradual thing. I moved from one side of the city to the other. Since then we _____ made a phone call. We met less and less. At last our friendship ended.”
Jack said, “ When I moved to Seattle after college, our friendship died. Both of us were always____ with new jobs, so we didn’t keep _____ touch with each other. Our friendship was so dead that I didn’t call him_____ I went home.”
Yet the biggest problem to a friendship is change. Lillian Rubin in her book Just Friends say, “Generally it’s______ that friends will accept each other if they both remain what they were when they met, or change in similar directions. If they change or grow in different ways, the friendship most likely______ lost.”
No matter why, when, or how friendships end, there is always_____ pain of loss. When nothing can be____ to keep the friendship, it is important to forget the pain. Then move on_____ new friendships.
May new friendships bring you pleasure and happiness!
1.A. hope B. expect C. decide D. prefer
2.A. Unfortunately B. Luckily C. Then D. So
3.A. interest B. experience C. change D. Suggestion
4.A. forgets B. disappears C. appears D. improves
5.A. finished B. practiced C. continued D. started
6.A. break down B. break away C. break off D. break in
7.A. often B. seldom C. always D. never
8.A. struggling B. satisfying C. pleased D. fed
9.A. at B. by C. on D. in
10.A. even if B. while C. before D. since
11.A. strange B. true C. false D. impossible
12.A. will be B. is C. will D. to be
13.A. little B. some C. any D. no
14.A. thought B. checked C. carried D. done
15.A. to ask for B. forming C. to build D. beginning
---Would you mind not_____ noise? Alice is sleeping.
–---Sorry, I didn’t know. I________ she was awake.
A. make, think B. making, thought C. making, think D. make, thought
