History Fair Competition
Understanding history is vital to understanding ourselves as a people and as a nation.
History is much more than the study of dusty old objects and events long past. It is an essential part of who we are today and who we will become. Thornton Middle School History Fair Competition makes understanding history exciting, engaging, and fun!
This Year's Theme
All participants must address how communication or transportation technology has promoted the quality of life for Americans throughout history. To many people, technology means computers, hand-held devices, or vehicles that travel to distant planets. However, technology is also the application of scientific knowledge to solve a problem, touching lives in countless ways.
Individuals or groups may enter one of the following categories:
Performance
Documentary（纪实作品）
Essay Writing
Category Requirements
Performance: A dramatic presentation of the topic no more than 10 minutes long. If special clothes are used, they should truly represent a given period.
Documentary: A visual presentation (such as a video, slide show, or computer project) no more than 10 minutes long . A desktop computer, screen, projector, and loudspeakers will be available. Students must provide their presentations on CDs before Friday, March 23.
Essay Writing: An academic paper of 2,000 to 2,500 words. No illustrations are allowed. Please do not include covers. A list of references must be included.
Important Dates
January 5 Submit（提交）a topic proposal to your history teacher. The teacher may require a second proposal if the first is off-topic or unclear.
February 5 Submit a first draft of your essay, performance script（剧本）, or documentary highlights.
February 19 A committee of teachers will evaluate materials and give opinions. Students then have an opportunity to improve their products.
March 9 Submit a final draft of your essay.
March 15 Performance and documentary committee preview
March 24 Thornton Middle School History Fair Competition
7:00 A.M. -- 9:00 A.M. Participants signing in at the gym
10:00 A.M. -- 6:00 P.M. Competition and judges' review
7:00 P.M. Awards ceremony and picnic
1.What is the theme of this year's competition?
A.Technology advances science.
B.Science interacts with technology.
C.Science has made the study of history easy.
D.Technology has improved the life of Americans..
2.Among the items provided by the school for a visual presentation are ________.
A.special clothes and a screen B.a desktop computer and a CD
C.a projector and special clothes D.a desktop computer and loudspeakers
3.What would a participant have to do with an essay of 1,500 words to meet the category requirement?
A.Include more information in the essay. B.Remove the references.
C.Provide a cover for the essay. D.Explain the details with illustrations.
4.What will the committee of teachers do on February 19?
A.Preview performances and documentaries.
B.Make comments on the materials.
C.Improve the participant's first draft.
D.Collect a second proposal from the participant.
I must have always known reading was very important because the first memories I have as a child deal with books. There was not one night that I don't remember mom reading me a storybook by my bedside. I was extremely inspired by the elegant way the words sounded.
I always wanted to know what my mom was reading. Hearing mom say, “I can’t believe what’s printed in the newspaper this morning,” made me want to grab it out of her hands and read it myself. I wanted to be like my mom and know all of the things she knew. So I carried around a book, and each night, just to be like her, I would pretend to be reading.
This is how everyone learned to read. We would start off with sentences, then paragraphs, and then stories. It seemed an unending journey, but even as a six-year-old girl I realized that knowing how to read could open many doors. When mom said, “The C-A-N-D-Y is hidden on the top shelf,” I knew where the candy was. My progress in reading raised my curiosity, and I wanted to know everything. I often found myself telling my mom to drive more slowly, so that I could read all of the road signs we passed.
Most of my reading through primary, middle and high school was factual reading. I read for knowledge, and to make A’s on my tests. Occasionally, I would read a novel that was assigned, but I didn’t enjoy this type of reading. I liked facts, things that are concrete. I thought anything abstract left too much room for argument.
Yet, now that I’m growing and the world I once knew as being so simple is becoming more complex, I find myself needing a way to escape. By opening a novel, I can leave behind my burdens and enter into a wonderful and mysterious world where I am now a new character. In these worlds I can become anyone. I don’t have to write down what happened or what technique the author was using when he or she wrote this. I just read to relax.
We’re taught to read because it’s necessary for much of human understanding. Reading is a vital part of my life. Reading satisfies my desire to keep learning. And I’ve found that the possibilities that lie within books are limitless.
1.Why did the author want to grab the newspaper out of mom’s hands？
A. She wanted mom to read the news to her.
B. She was anxious to know what had happened.
C. She couldn't wait to tear the newspaper apart.
D. She couldn't help but stop mom from reading.
2.According to Paragraph 3, the author’s reading of road signs indicates ________.
A. her unique way to locate herself
B. her eagerness to develop her reading ability
C. her effort to remind mom to obey traffic rules
D. her growing desire to know the world around her.
3.What was the author’s view on factual reading？
A. It would help her update test-taking skills.
B. It would allow much room for free thinking.
C. It would provide true and objective information.
D. It would help shape a realistic and serious attitude to life.
4.The author takes novel reading as a way to ________.
A. explore a fantasy land
B. develop a passion for leaning
C. learn about the adult community
D. get away from a confusing world
I live in Hollywood. You may think people in such an attractive, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some _______ ideas about the nature of happiness.
Many intelligent people still equate (同等看待) happiness with fun. The _______ is that fun and happiness have _______ or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is _______ we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more lasting emotion.
Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun activities that help us relax, _______ forget our problems and maybe even _______. But they do not bring happiness, because their _______ effects end when the fun ends.
I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to _______, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant _______ to glamorous (迷人的) parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”.
But celebrities (名人) reveal the ________ hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and profound loneliness.
The way people stick to the ________ that a fun-filled, pain-free life equates happiness actually ________ their chances of ever obtaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equated with happiness, then pain ________ be equated with unhappiness. But, ________, the opposite is true: More times than not, things that lead to happiness ________ some pain.
As a result, many people avoid the very efforts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievement, religious commitment, charitable work, and self-improvement.
1.A.mistaken B.right C.desperate D.shallow
2.A.state B.belief C.tendency D.truth
3.A.a little B.some C.little D.much
4.A.which B.that C.what D.as
5.A.gradually B.temporarily C.consequently D.thoroughly
6.A.change B.enjoy C.refresh D.laugh
7.A.special B.deep C.strong D.positive
8.A.play B.make C.reach D.expect
9.A.signature B.participation C.access D.appearance
10.A.secrets B.unhappiness C.presentation D.disagreement
11.A.prejudice B.sense C.theory D.belief
12.A.reduces B.robs C.consumes D.increases
13.A.may B.must C.can D.will
14.A.under God B.for free C.in fact D.by far
15.A.abuse B.involve C.cause D.equal
Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
Dear Myself,
Life is scary. One day you wake up feeling like you can take over the world, and the next day you wake up 1. (feel) like all you want to do is lay in bed and hide from everything.
People walk into your life, grab your hand, and lead you to 2. (beautiful) path you've known, but sometimes the same people let go of your hand without warning, and you become 3. (strand) at a place where you never thought you'd feel lost.
Let's be honest, sometimes everything is going so great and it seems like nothing could go wrong, but right when you begin to think that, something so horrible comes 4. (crash) down and all of a sudden more problems come ricocheting（弹跳）around you and you just feel so hopeless because it's so bad.
5. is so hard to understand why such things happen in life, and I personally wish I had an answer to that "why"? you always ask yourself, but all I can say that is no matter 6. hard life gets, you have to keep going. The life around you will never stop going on.
I'll be honest and say that sometimes I feel a little bit worried and all I can think is "Will I be able to keep up? What if everything goes too fast?" But I realized 7. being scared and living with that burden of running away from problems only slow me down even more.
And I've come to the point 8. I believe that because life never stops, I shouldn't stop either. It's okay to take break and to give yourself time 9. (heal), but you cannot give up and you cannot quit.
Keep positive, fill your heart with gratitude for what you already have, and always 10. (remind) to humble and true to who you are!
With Love,
Your Soul
People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you _______ which one it is, you will know _______ what to do for each person.
When someone is in your life for a reason, it is usually to meet a need you have expressed. They have come to assist you through a difficulty, to _______ you with guidance and support, to _______ you physically, emotionally or spiritually. They are there for the _______ you need them to be. Then, without any wrong doing on your part, or at any inconvenient time, they will say or do something to bring the relation-ship to a(n) _______. Sometimes they die, sometimes they walk away, and sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand. What you must _______ is that your need has been met, and your desire _______. When their work is done, it's time to move on.
When people come into your life a _______, it is because your turn has come to share, grow or learn. They bring you an experience of peace, or make you ________. They may teach you something you have never done. They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy. ________ it! It is real! But only for a season.
Lifetime relationships teach you lifetime ________; those things you must build upon in order to have a ________ emotional foundation. Your job is to ________ the lesson, love the person, and put what you have learned to use in all other ________ and areas of your life. It is said that love is blind but friendship is sensible.
In a word, thank you for being part of my life, whether you were here for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
1.A.come out B.figure out C.break out D.turn out
2.A.partly B.firmly C.frequently D.exactly
3.A.state B.instruct C.provide D.bother
4.A.aid B.show C.lead D.take
5.A.good B.delight C.benefit D.reason
6.A.order B.action C.end D.start
7.A.realize B.try C.tolerate D.forget
8.A.shared B.fulfilled C.followed D.protected
9.A.rest B.moment C.season D.lifetime
10.A.happy B.sad C.careful D.nervous
11.A.Forget B.Taste C.Connect D.Believe
12.A.notes B.sights C.lessons D.meanings
13.A.solid B.soft C.new D.rapid
14.A.reject B.teach C.accept D.refuse
15.A.difficulties B.professions C.works D.relationships
Bangkok has become the world's top tourist destination, with 15.98 million visitors projected to visit Thailand's capital city this year, according to the third annual Global Destination Cities Index released by MasterCard on Monday. Based on data MasterCard collected from governments, central banks, related public agencies and airlines to far this year, the projection for the entire year says Bangkok is surpassing London, the previous holder of the top place, by a very narrow margin.
Monday's report marked the first time an Asian city has been projected to be the top-ranked tourist destination. London came in second, with 15.96 million visitors expected in 2013, and Paris, third, with 13.92 million visitors. MasterCard looked at 132 cities.
Other Asian cities that made it to the Top-20 Global Destination Cities in 2013 include Singapore at number four, with 11.75 million visitors; Kuala Lumpur at number eight, with 9.2 million visitors; Hong Kong at number nine, with 8.72 million visitors; Seoul at number 11, with 8.19 million visitors; Shanghai at number 14, with 6.5 million visitors. Tokyo at number 16, with 5.8 million visitors, and Taipei, with 5.19 million visitors.
The study found that Bangkok is experiencing a large increase in its number of tourists in 2013, up 9.8% from 2009. That compares to New York's increase at 5.0% and London's at 3.8%. Paris, meanwhile, saw a small dip in its number of tourists (negative 0.7%).
Caroline Liedo, who was visiting Bangkok from France, said Thailand has many offerings. "We like culture and the people are so nice. We also love shopping here," Ms. Liedo said. MasterCard Worldwide's global economic adviser Yuwa Hedrick-Wong cited（引用）overall value for money spent for why Bangkok is attractive. That is true for Thailand overall as well.
1.The word "surpassing" in paragraph 1 probably means _________.
A.being much better than it was expected to be
B.changing something slightly
C.joining or fasten to the object
D.stating that specific thing must be done
2.From the passage we can know that _________.
A.Bangkok defeated London by a wide margin
B.there are 15.96 million visitors visiting London in 2013
C.Paris is experiencing an increase in its number of tourists
D.London topped List of World's Tourist Destinations in 2012
3.How many Asian cities have made it to the Top-20 Global Destination Cities in 2013?
A.Seven. B.Eight
C.Nine D.Ten
4.What attracts visitors to Thailand?
A.People and buildings. B.Shopping and environment.
C.Culture, people and shopping D.Culture and natural scenery.
5.What can we know about MasterCard?
A.MasterCard surveyed 131 cities. B.Caroline Liedo was MasterCard's adviser.
C.MasterCard collected date from private agencies. D.It is the third time that MasterCard has released the Index.
