一个人可以非常清贫、困顿、低微，但是不可以没有梦想。只要梦想一天，只要梦想存在一天， 就可以改变自己的处境。——奥普拉
初中三年，你一定遇到过很多困难，但最终梦想给了你勇气，帮助你战胜了困难。某英文报社以“梦想的力量”为话题展开征文活动。请你用英文写篇短文给报社投稿，谈谈你在梦想的力量下战胜困难的一次经历，以及你的收获感受。
提示词语： dream, power, remember, defeat, proud
提示问题：
●What was your dream?
●How did your dream help you to overcome a difficulty?
●What have you learnt from the experience?
Everybody has a big dream. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
假如你是李华，在你的帮助和陪伴下交换生 Peter 即将完成为期一年的交换学习生活。请你给他写一封祝贺信，表达你真诚的祝贺，回忆你们共度的一年美好时光以及他的学习经历，并谈谈你从他身上学到了什么。
提示词语： Great Wall, museum, culture, pronounce, practice
提示问题：
●Why do you congratulate Peter?
●How did you spend the time together and his study experience?
●What have you learnt from him?
Dear Peter,
I’m very happy that you will finish your one-year exchange study life. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Best wishes to you!
Yours, Li Hua
Reading can be a social activity. Think of the people who belong to book groups. They choose books to read and then meet to discuss them. Now the website Bookcrossing. com turns the page on the traditional idea of a book group.
Members go on the site and register the books they own and would like to share. Bookcrossing provides an identification number to stick inside the book. Then the person leaves it in a public place, hoping that the book will have an adventure, traveling far and wide with each new reader who finds it.
Bruce Pederson, the managing director of Bookcrossing, says, “The two things that change your life are the people you meet and books you read. Bookcrossing combines both.”
Members leave books on park benches and buses, in train stations and coffee shops. Whoever finds their book will go to the site and record where they found it.
People who find a book can also leave a journal entry describing what they thought of it. E-mails are then sent to the Bookcrossers to keep them updated about where their books have been found. Bruce Pederson says the idea is for people not to be selfish by keeping a book to gather dust on a shelf at home.
Book Crossing is part of a trend among people who want to get back to the “ real” and not the virtual.The site now has more than one million members in more than one hundred and thirty-five countries.
1.Can reading be a social activity?
2.According to Bruce Pederson, what are the two things that change people's lives？
3.Where do members leave books?
4.How many members does this website have?
5.What do you think of the website Bookcrossing.com？
As the world becomes increasingly populated, it is also becoming alarmingly polluted. Fortunately, there are many ways that you can help deal with the negative effects that we impose(施加) on the environment. One of these is driving an electric car.
Electric cars produce about 80 percent less pollution than cars with gas-powered motors. In fact, the only reason that electric cars produce any pollution at all is that their electric energy is produced by power plants — electric cars themselves produce no waste. When energy comes from large sources such as power plants, it’s easier to control, so there’s less waste than if the energy is produced by many smaller sources, such as the gas engines in individual cars.
Furthermore, electric cars are simply more efficient than gas-powered cars for several reasons. First, electric cars have regenerative braking, which means that when you use the brakes in an electric car, the battery has a chance to recharge(再充电). On the contrary, when you brake in a gas-powered car, you actually use energy. Also, during the production of electric cars, more time and energy is spent making the design lighter and more aerodynamic so that there will be less drag(阻力) from the wind. This allows them to travel farther using less energy than a gas-powered car would use to go the same distance.
In addition to the environmental benefits of driving electric cars, there are also financial and time-saving benefits for the drivers. For one, they cost less to maintain(维修). The cost of charging an electric car is about 20 percent of the cost of gas, and electric cars require far less maintenance than gas-powered cars. This is due, in part, to the fact that electric cars have no cooling system, fan belts, radiators, hoses, or oil — just a battery. There are fewer moving parts overall, so there are fewer possible problems. Also, after the body of an electric car gives out, the engine can be reused in another body. Electric cars can also save people time. While gas-powered cars require visits to a mechanic every few months, the only routine maintenance required by electric cars is replacing the battery every four years.
Overall, there are numerous benefits of driving an electric car. It may take a little getting used to, but in the long run, the use of electric cars can help preserve the environment and give people more time and money to be put to better use.
1.What can we learn from the second paragraph?
A.Less than 80 percent pollution is produced by cars.
B.Gas-powered cars get energy from power stations.
C.Electric cars themselves don’t produce any waste.
D.It’s difficult to control energy from power plants.
2.According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A.The battery can be reused after the body of an electric car gives out.
B.Replacing the engine every four years is required for an electric car.
C.It may take no time to see the popularity of driving electric cars.
D.Electric cars cost less to maintain because of fewer moving parts.
3.What is the writer’s purpose of writing this passage?
A.To compare two kinds of cars.
B.To show a new way of driving.
C.To suggest driving electric cars.
D.To introduce a useful invention.
4.Which is the best title of the passage?
A.The Best Way to Protect the Environment
B.Electric Cars Are Worthy of a Second Look
C.The Greatest Invention in the New Century
D.Driving Electric Cars Saves Time and Money
It’s no secret that reading is helpful. But can it help kids lose weight? In the first study to look at the influence of literature (文学) on overweight teenagers, researchers at Duke Children’s Hospital discovered that reading the right type of novel may make a difference.
The Duke researchers asked overweight girls aged 9 to 13 who were already in a weight loss program to read a novel called Lake Rescue. It was carefully created with the help of pediatric experts (儿科专家) to include specific healthy lifestyle and weight management guidance, as well as positive messages and strong role models.
Six months later, the Duke researchers found the 31 girls who read Lake Rescue experienced a significant decrease (fall) in their BMI scores (-.71%) when compared to a control group of 14 girls who hadn’t (+.05%), explained Alexandra C. Russell, a fourth-year medical student at Duke who led the study.
“As a pediatrician, I can’t count the number of times I tell parents to buy a book that might provide useful advice, yet I’ve never been able to point to research to back up my recommendations,” says Sarah Armstrong, director of Duke’s Healthy Lifestyles Program where the research took place. “This is the first probable interventional (介入的) study that found literature can have a positive influence on healthy lifestyle changes in young girls.”
Obesity is becoming more widespread in children, according to the CDC (Centres for Disease Control), which reports that 16 percent of children aged 6 to 19 are overweight or obese, a number that has increased since 1980. Researchers are looking at a lot of ways to help kids stay healthy, lose weight and be more active, but Armstrong says, “most don’t work very well. The weight loss choices that are effective typically involve taking powerful medications with side effects, or require long-lasting surgical procedures.”
While the BMI decrease due to the book is small, Armstrong says any decrease in BMI is encouraging because BMI typically increases in children as they grow and develop. That’s okay as long as it follows a normal, progressing curve. In overweight kids, however, BMI usually increases more quickly. “If their BMI percentile (百分位) goes down, it means they are either losing weight or getting tall and not gaining weight. Both are seen as positive signs in kids who are trying to lose weight,” she explains.
1.The underlined phrase “back up my recommendations” probably means“_________ ”.
A.influence my research B.change my opinion
C.respect my study D.support my advice
2.Which of the following statements about the research is TRUE?
A.The researchers interviewed the girls and studied information.
B.Pediatric experts offered specific guidance to the research.
C.16 percent of children aged from 9 to 13 were overweight.
D.The girls read a certain novel and gave their reports.
3.What’s the finding of the research?
A.That the girls all grew tall and lost weight after 6 months.
B.That the girls showed great interest in reading literature works.
C.That the girls who read Lake Rescue had a decrease in BMI.
D.That the girls needed to take powerful medications to lose weight.
The students often gather together in small,closed groups.If you are not part of a group，it can be difficult for you to be accepted.This is especially true if you can't speak to the members of the group in their language.
This was the situation Sam faced each day as he went to class.Sam and his family moved to France last month. Before he arrived, he knew there would be many difficulties. But they were even worse than he had imagined.
Every lunch hour, after arriving at his new school, Sam sat alone in the dining hall.He looked at all the different groups of students around him. But he had no way to let them know that he was a good person. He simply couldn't find the right words to reach them．
Sam knew he had to find a way to change the situation. Somehow, he had to adapt （适应） to this new environment．He did a little research on the Internet and discovered that smiling is universal language, it is understood everywhere.
One morning, as Sam was walking by a group of students, he smiled at them. A boy in group smiled back at him. For Sam, this was a good beginning. Later, he noticed the boy coming towards him in the hall with a warm smile on his face. Sam returned the smile.
Soon the boy asked Sam to join him and his group of friends for lunch.
Although Sam wasn't able to say much in French，everyone smiled and laughed. Before he knew it, Sam had a group of friends，and they all wanted to help him learn French.
1.Sam and his family _____last month．
A.moved to France B.started a new school
C.accepted a new group D.taught people their language
2.What helped Sam to change his situation?
A.Sitting alone in the dining hall. B.Doing a research on the Internet.
C.Walking by a group of students often. D.Learning French in a language school.
3.What's the passage mainly about?
A.The importance of friendship． B.Difficulties in a new country．
C.The ways to make friends． D.The power of a smile．
