Give water, save lives
A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.
Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan, Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked(裂开), and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.
After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.
Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi' an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.
The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water. Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou, Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.
“I've heard that some children in drought-hit areas don't have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. “I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water,” he said.Why did a serious drought happen in Southwest China?
__________________________________________________________________How much water did the students in Yuhua Primary School buy with their pocket money last week?
_________________________________________________________________What did people do after learning about the drought?
__________________________________________________________________What did the people in drought-hit areas need most?
___________________________________________________________________What has the serious drought made students realize?
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Katie Steller has her own salon （美发院）． She often wheels her red chair and scissors around the city to give free haircuts．
Edward was her first lucky customer． He looked to be in his 60s． He was balding and missing a few teeth． While she was cutting his greying hair， he told her about moving closer to his adult children．
Till now， Steller has offered about 30 such haircuts． These people are all living a hard time， and she is aware of the power of her cleanup job．
"It’s more than a haircut，" she says． "I want it to be a gateway， to show value and respect， but also to get to know people． I want to build relationships． "
Steller knows that a haircut can change a life． As a teen， she had a very serious disease and her hair thinned terribly． Her mother took Steller for her first professional haircut．
"To sit down and have somebody look at me and talk to me like a person and not just an illness， it helped me feel cared about and less alone，" she says．
After that， Steller knew she wanted to have her own salon so she could help people feel the way she’d felt that day． In 2019， she began her Red Chair Project．
She says， "I can’t fix their problems with free haircuts，but maybe I can help them feel less alone for a moment．"
Early this year she started the Steller Kindness Project， in which people who do acts of kindness （volunteering for snowstorm relief， helping neighbors in need） are invited for a free haircut at Steller’s salon． In exchange， they tell their stories， which Steller shares on her website． Her hope is that by reading about kind acts， others will spread their own．
So far Steller has had people reach out from around the country．
（1）Why did Steller start her Red Chair Project？
A． To help her neighbors in need．
B． To attract customers to her salon．
C． To help the lonely people feel less alone．
D． To invite customers to tell their kind acts．
（2）What does Steller mean by the sentence "It’s more than a haircut" in Paragraph 4？
A． A haircut can fix people’s problems．
B． A haircut is what people need most．
C． Haircut stories are well reviewed on her website．
D． A haircut is a simple act to show care， value and respect．
（3）Which best describes Katie Steller？
A． Lonely and inactive．
B． Kind and thoughtful．
C． Doubtful and generous．
D． Serious and careful．
（4）Which sentence best expresses the theme of the story？
A． Simple acts of kindness like a free haircut will spread．
B． Haircuts need practice and practice makes perfect．
C． It’s heartbreaking to see how lonely people look．
D． We can win great respect by giving free haircuts．
As a kid， I walked to the library several times a week and stayed up late reading． I checked out so many books and returned them so quickly the librarian once snapped， "Don’t take home so many books if you’re not going to read them all．"
"But I did read them all，" I said．
In college， when I created my online dating（约会） profile， in the " favorite books" section I put One Hundred Years of Solitude， A Moveable Feast， White Fang and so on． But I realized I hadn’t read most of those titles for two years．
David was my first online date． David read about a book or two a week． When we compared libraries， we had only four titles in common．
On our seventh date， David and I visited the library．
"I have a game，" he said， taking out two pens and Postits（便利贴）． Let’s find books we’ve read and leave reviews in them for the next person． "
We stayed there for an hour．
Before leaving， I said， "I will tell you something． I’ve only read one book this year． "
"But you like books， "he said． "You like bookstores． You like libraries． Read a book!"
Back home， David's charge to "read a book" echoed in my head． I bought books whenever I got the chance， but I hardly read them． They sat on every surface until my house appeared to wear books the way one wears clothes．
I picked up one． Whenever I wanted to give up on it， I thought of David．______________
"How’s your day？" David texted．
"Good． A little tired， "I replied． "I stayed up late and finished my book． "The last time I'd pulled an allnighter to read， I was 12 and the book was Little Women．
David suggested we visit the library again． He pulled a book from the shelf， dropped to one knee， and opened it． Inside， his Postit read："Karla， it has always been you． Will you marry me？ "
His proposal had rested in the book for over a year．
（1）How do the first two paragraphs help develop the story？
A． To show how rude the librarian was．
B． To show Karla was always a reader．
C． To prove Karla just liked borrowing books．
D． To prove it’s better to buy books than borrow books．
（2）Which is the correct order of what happened to Karla？
a． She had a game with David．
b． She created her online dating profile．
c． She was shown the Postit written to her．
d． She told David she only read one book that year．
e． She found they had only four titles in common．
A． dbeac
B． baecd
C． beadc
D． dbase
（3）Which sentence should go in the empty box in Paragraph 5 from the bottom？
A． I just loved the idea of reading．
B． I tried to appear to be a book lover．
C． I painfully realized most of my books went unread．
D． I felt him pushing me to be more of the person I used to be．
（4）What’s the best title of the passage？
A． Falling in love by the book
B． Buying books for yourself not for your shelf
C． A true lover of books knows no time
D． Love books enough and books love you back
20，000 local sea creatures，from dolphins to otters（水獭）， await you at Aquarium（水族馆）of the Bay， San Francisco， CA（California）． When you see a river otter in the wild， you know that water system is healthy． Plus， they’re fun to watch! Here come the Aquarium’s popular and lovable river otters：Tahoe， Ryer and Shasta．
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Me： I was born at the Oakland Zoo． I'm the halfbrother of Ryer． February 20， 2016 is my birthday and I joined the Aquarium，s river otter family in January， 2017． I'm named after Lake Tahoe， CA． How to find me： My fur is reddish in color． I am the youngest but the longest of the group． Hobbies： I enjoy playing with rope and toys， running and jumping around． |
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Me： I'm a male river otter named after Ryer Island，CA．I was born in February，2013 at the Oakland Zoo and joined the Aquarium's otter team in 2014． How to find me： I have the widest head and the fattest face． Hobbies： What could be more fun than playing with my food and balancing rocks， and curling up with a warm blanket for a nap （a short sleep）？We river otters can sleep up to 18 hours a day． |
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Me： I'm a 7yearold male river otter named after Mount Shasta， CA． I was saved from the fur trade in Louisiana and found a new home at the Aquarium in 2013． How to find me：I'm the largest of the otters．I have large closeset eyes．Which of the three is me？ Hobbies： I enjoy long afternoon naps， throwing leaves and sticks into the water． |
（1）The passage mainly talks about ．
A． how to play with the otters in the zoo
B． how to protect river otters in the wild
C． the importance of protecting river otters
D． the river otter family at Aquarium of the Bay
（2）Which of the following is TRUE about Ryer？
A． He was born in February， 2014．
B． He has large closeset eyes．
C． He is the halfbrother of Tahoe．
D． His fur is reddish in color．
（3）What do the three otters have in common？
A． They are all named after a place in California．
B． They were all born at the Oakland Zoo．
C． They can sleep at most 8 hours a day．
D． They enjoy playing with food and rocks．
The Millennial Trains Project is a non﹣profit （非营利性的） organization that makes it possible for young people to take part in creative projects． The organization leads crowdfunded（众筹的） train journeys．These journeys provide young people with the chance to help different communities． The organization has already completed two journeys． Twenty﹣four people are now getting ready to be a part of the third．
To get a place on the train， each person has to raise﹩5，000 and have an idea for a project． At each stop， they get off the train to explore a different town， city， or wherever their projects take them．
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Amy is planning to visit bookshops and libraries． She wants to find out what they are doing to encourage more people to read， and what technology they are using．She also wants to know if they are using social media （媒体） to connect with people．
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Tom wants to make a difference to the education system． He knows that universities are becoming more and more expensive each year， and that many people think higher education is no longer affordable． Over the next 10 days he is visiting seven universities． He wants to see what they are doing to meet these challenges．
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Jenny's project is natural disasters．At each stop，she is going to interview local leaders， workers， and computer game designers．She then plans to create a game that will help people prepare for disasters．She believes people are more likely to remember something important when the information is fun．
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These 24 people are strangers now， but not for long． The next week is going to be a life﹣changing learning experience for many．
回答下面5个问题，每题答案不超过5个词．
（1）Who can get the chance to take part in the projects？
（2）How many journeys are mentioned in Paragraph 1？
（3）Where is Amy going to visit？
（4）How will Jenny help people prepare for disasters？
（5）What do you think of the Millennial Trains Project？
Words are the key to language． And if you want to improve your ability to speak， listen and write in English， you have to learn lots of words． Here are some ideas to help you．
1．Recording words
Important words
Some words are more important than other words． For example， the high frequency word （高频词）"rain" is very common and can be found in a number of important expressions． For example，rainbow， raincoat， rainforest， rainy， pour with rain…Where possible， pay special attention to the high frequency words and all their associated （有关联的）forms．
Sentences
When you want to record a new word or expression， remember to write it out in an example sentence． This will give you useful information about the way the word or term is used， and the other words often associated with it． For example， a） Rain ﹣ It's been pouring with rain． b）
Raincoat ﹣I put on my raincoat．
2．Learning words
Some words are easy to learn． For example， the English word"sofa" is similar in Chinese（sha fa）． Other words are more difficult， but these ideas might help you．
Word sounds
Use the power of the similar sounds between words! For example，imagine you wanted tolearn the word"whale"． Simply think of a word that sounds like"whale" in English or in your own language． Then， make a sentence with this word． For example，"The whale has a long tail．
Funny sentences
Use the power of humour! Simply make a funny sentence with the word． This will help you remember the word more easily． For example， "William the whale was using his tail to sail the boat．"
Pictures
If you're really having problems learning your word， draw a picture of your funny sentence．
This will really help you remember it． And the funnier the picture is， the better!
Repetition （重复）
Finally， repeat the sentence many timces to get it engraved （铭记） in your heart． Repetition is a fantastic way of memorizing things．
Try these methods and find your own ways to learn words and expressions．
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（1） to learn words |
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Introduction |
You need to learn lots of words if you want to improve your English because they are the（2） to language． |
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Ways |
To（3） words |
Pay attention to the（4） frequency words and their associated forms． Write a new word out in an （5） sentence． |
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To learn words |
Use the power of the similar （6） between words． Try to make a（7） sentence with the word． （8） pictures to help you remember the words． Repeat the sentence many times（9） you remember it． |
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Conclusion |
Find your（10） ways to learn words and expressions． |
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