A good way to practice your writing and be recognized by professionals and scholars is to enter writing contests. There are a variety of different writing contests open to teens who enjoy writing essays, fictional stories, poems and other written pieces.
Creative communication Essay Contest
The Creative Communication Essay Contest is sponsored by Creative Communication, an organization which promotes and encourages creative writing in students. The contest is open to students in grades four to 12. To enter, submit an original , non-fiction essay of 100 to 300 words on a topic of your choice. The contest is held three times a year with a fall deadline in October, a spring deadline in February and a summer deadline in July. Winners are chosen each time, one in each of the three divisions—grades 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12.
American Library of Student Poetry Contest
The American Library of Student Poetry Contest 
is open to students in grades three to 12. To enter, submit an original poem of 20 lines or less. Poems are judged on originality, creativity and artistic quality, and submissions are accepted throughout the year, with the winners being announced in September. First-,second- and third-place winners are chosen within each of the four grade categories, grades 3-5,6-7, 8-9, 10-12.
YCteen Essay Contest
The YCteen Essay Contest is hosted by YCteen, a life style magazine for teens. The contest is open to American teens , ages 14to19, and is held twice a year with the first deadline being in October and the second in December. To enter, submit an original, non-fiction essay of about 800 words answering a given essay question. Past questions have focused on issues such as climate change and activism. All winning entries will be published on the YCteen website and in the print version of the magazine.
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards
The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is an art and creative writing contest hosted and sponsored by a group of more than 100 literary art organizations across the United States. The contest is open to teens in grades seven to 12 going to school in the United States and American sch
ools abroad . Pieces can be submitted to any of 28 available categories, including humor, poetry, critical essays, journalism and more. Submissions are accepted starting in September, and the deadline ranges from December to January depending on your region.(地区)
1.In what way is the American Library of Student Poetry Contest different from the other writing contests?
A. Poems must be submitted in September.
B. It is for students from different grades.
C. There is no deadline for submissions.
D. Winners are chosen within each grade category.
2.The YCteen Essay Contest accepts essay______.
A. on a specific topic
B. with past questions
C. from a lifestyle magazine
D. on a topic of your choice
3.The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is open to ______.
A. American students in all grades
B. foreign students in the United States
C. American schools at home and abroad
D. students in the literary art organizations
4.The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. tell teens how to enter writing contests
B. show the benefits of writing contests
C. offer tips on how to win writing contests
D. introduce writing contests for teens
The Washington post – NASA’s newest space habitat looks sort of like a kids’ moon bonce, a big, bright, inflatable globe that could be lots of fun to play in. Soon astronauts on the International Space Station could get the chance to try . The expandable habitat made by Bigelow Aerospace recently passed NASA’s strict certification requirements and is scheduled to be flown to the station in September.
Called the BEAM ( Bigelow Expandable Activity Module), the habitat would be attached to the space station, where it would stay for two years. While there, it would be tested to see how it handles the rigors of space – the radiation, the station’s movement and even how it stands up to the debris (碎片) flying around in orbit.
The private Las Vegas company, founded by millionaire real estate mogul(地产大亨) Robert Bigelow, won a $17.8 million contract from NASA to provide the module to the space station.
“Today is the first step, but it’s a big step,” said Bigelow’s George Zamka. Replace the space station or make it larger. It also hopes to build the habitats on the moon. Its B330 module would be even bigger, with 330 cubic meters of internal (内部的 ) space. The modules could be connected. Creating research facilities, the company says, or even space hotels.
In an interview ,NASA’s William Gerstenmaier, said he was eager to see how the module performs , and said he was especially pleased “ to see how the private sector can step up and help us meet our requirements.” The module will be flown to the space station by SpaceX, the first commercial company to res
upply the space station.
1.What would be the best title for this passage?
A. NASA’s space habitats flown to the station.
B. NASA’s space habitat it the station.
C. NASA’s new expandable space habitat.
D. NASA’s newest inflatable globe.
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. NASA’s newest space habitat is a kids’ moon bounce.
B. Astronauts of Bigelow Aerospace could get the chance to try the space habitat.
C. NASA was founded by Robert Bigelow.
D. The B330 module to be built on the moon would be with an inside space of 330 cubic meters.
3.The underlined word “rigors” in Paragraph 2 refers to “_________”.
A. difficulties B. environments
C. movements D. changes
4.The passage is most probably taken from ________.
A. a newspaper B. a booklet
C. a magazine D. a science fiction
Throughout the world, clothing has many uses. It is used to provide protection from cold. It is also worn to prevent others from seeing specific parts of one’s body. However, the parts of the body that must be covered vary widely throughout the world. Some clothing is worn to provide supernatural protection.
People in all cultures use clothing and other forms of bodily decoration to communicate status, intentions and other messages. In North America, we dress differently for business and various leisure activities. North American women usually are much more knowledgeable of little difference in messages communicated by clothes than men. At times, this leads to silly mistakes of understanding of female intentions on the part of men. Of course, clothing styles also are intended to communicate messages to members of the same gender.
Long before we are near enough to talk to someone, their appearance tells their gender, age, economic class, and often even intentions. We begin to recognize the important cultural clues at an early age. The vocabulary of dress that we learn includes not only items of clothing but also hairstyles, jewelry, and other body decoration. In most cultures, however, the same style of dress communicates different messages depending on the age, gender, and physical appearance of the individual wearing it.
Putting on certain types of clothing can change your behavior and the behavior of others towards you. This can be the case with a doctor’s white lab coat, or an army uniform. Most uniforms are clearly symbolic so that they can rapidly and unmistakably communicate status. For instance, the strange hairstyle and clothing of the English “punks” are essential aspects of their uniforms.
【小题1 】Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A. Clothing and Culture.
B. Ways of Sending Message.
C. Communication through Clothing
D. Clothing and Social Behavior
1.What is the purpose of some people wearing lucky shirts to take an exam?
A. To hide their fear for the exam.
B. To provide protection against bad weather.
C. To make them more comfortable.
D. To call for supernatural help.
2.According to the passage, what can change others’ behavior towards you?
A. Age. B. Dress. C. Status. D. Gender.
3.What can we learn from the passage?
A. Clothing plays an important role in social activities.
B. Words of dress are unable to communicate different messages.
C. Dress is better than language in communicating messages.
D. Messages communicated by clothes are the same in different cultures.
Singapore’s public transport system is one of the best in the world, so you should have no problem finding your way around like a local. There are three main forms of public transport that you would find in any other major city--trains, buses and taxis.
TRAINS
Trains run from 6:00 a.m. to midnight. Single trip tickets start 80 cents. If you buy an EZ-Link card for $15, you can ride the trains and buses as you like.
BUSES
There are several bus services in Singapore and fares start at 80 cents. Be sure always to ask the driver the cost of your ticket as he can not give change.
TAXIS
There are three main taxi companies---City Cab ( 6552 2222), Comfort (6552 1111) and Tibs (6552 8888). Booking can also be easy by calling the numbers listed above.
RENTAL CARS
Driving in Singapore is a pleasure and if you like to travel at your own pace, renting a car is a good choice. Renting takes away the hassle of getting to places around Singapore. Just sit back and enjoy the city . It also means you’ll get to see a lot more that a train or a bus won’t let you see. For car rental , call Avis on +65 6737 1668.
1.With an EZ-Link card, you can take______.
A. both buses and trains B. only trains
C. both buses and taxis D. only rental cars
2.When you take a bus there, always remember to ______.
A. take your own license with you
B. ask the driver how much your ticket is
C. buy the bus map of Singapore
D. book your ticket ahead of time
3.What does the word “ hassle” mean in Chinese?
A. 麻烦 B. 乐趣 C. 景点 D. 费用
书面表达
假如你是光明中学的李华，今年夏天你去农村朋友家玩，看到大量良田被废弃，你觉得很可惜。请你根据下列要点，给某英文报社写一封信，以此呼吁政府采取措施，来解决这一问题。
要点：
1．看到的现象；
2．分析可能的原因: 大量年轻人弃乡进城；干旱的天气；工业污染等。
3．呼吁政府采取措施。
注意：1．词数100左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3．开头语和结语已为你写好。
Dear Sir or Madam,
I'm I.i Hua,a student from Guangming Middle School.
Hoping to receive your early reply.
Yours.
Li Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处语言错误，每句中最多有两处，错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：把缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Nowadays Senior 3 students are general faced with a lot of pressure, which is rather common. To reduce it，the followed suggestions may help. First of all，know exactly what lead to your pressure，and then you can take measures to deal with it. Secondly, set up a goal what is not too high，in another words， don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Thirdly, find a way to relax you occasionally, for example，you can listen to music, go swim or just simply go walking. Eventually, make friend with others，for example，your classmates，your teachers，your parents. They will understand you and come to your help when you are really in the trouble. In a word，never get yourself stuck in the pressure for“impossible is nothing”.
