In modern society(社会) there is a great deal of argument about competition. Some value it highly, for they believe that it is helpful for social progress and richness. Others say that competition is bad, and that it sets one person against another and leads to unfriendliness between people. I have trained many children who held the belief(看法) that their self worth came from how well they performed at tennis and other skills. For them, playing well and winning are often life and death matters. Sadly, they forget to develop many other human qualities. However, while some seem to be lost in the strong wish to succeed, others think quite the opposite. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary(普通) players, they strongly blame competition, especially youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures(压力) from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often find that they even choose to fail. They seem to choose failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse, “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” In fact, they are worried that if they had really tried and failed, the failure would mean that they were worth nothing. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self worth comes from how well one performs in comparison(比较) with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. We can only discover a new meaning in competition as such worries and fear begin to disappear.
Title: Opinions about competition
Main argument Some believe that competition can push society , while others think competition
unfriendliness between people. Children’s performances Some children
care about performing well and winning.
Some children give up trying to prevent themselves from .Reason behind They think one can prove his self worth only by performing better than others in competition. Writer’s
to children Understand the new meaning of competition.
I’m 14, a year younger than most of my classmates.
A week ago one of my classmates, Nitin, asked me for help with math homework. We ended up talking about computers and file-sharing(共享文件). As we talked I found that he was more experienced and could teach me about file-sharing and networking. We went to his room and watched a movie about robots that he’d downloaded. The math homework was forgotten.
The next day he came again for homework help “What do you do on weekends?” he asked. The truth is, when I have work to do, I do it. I have no special time to kill with friends. I was embarrassed about this. I expected him to think I was boring and said, “Get a life!” He said, “OK. You’re having trouble getting along with people I can show you. I’m old than you.”
Later, he checked my computer. He even connected me to an Internet chess server(服务器).He was becoming like a big brother.
But when I thought about it, I didn’t really want Nitin’s help” His big-brother idea began to bore me.
“I’ll get you some cool computer programs(程序)”.
“I’ll teach you how to talk to girls.”
He meant what he was saying, but I don’t know why it didn’t make me feel good. Since then he’s hardly talked to me; we seem to have forgotten each other. I don’t think he can “teach” me much, and I don’t think much of him. But I could be wrong·What did Mitin help me do?
A.He helped me with my homework. |
B.He helped me with math problems. |
C.He taught me about file-sharing and networking. |
D.He introduced some fiends to me. |
What does the underlined word “kill” in Paragraph 3 mean?
A.杀死 | B.浪费 | C.消磨(时间) | D.打猎 |
Which is NOT the reason why the writer doesn’t want Nitin’s help?
A.He has no special time to kill with friends. |
B.He forgot his homework because of playing with him. |
C.He thinks his ideas are not useful to him. |
D.He has another big brother. |
Can you use a word to describe the writer?
A.Unfriendly. | B.Boring. | C.Independent.(独立的) | D.Lazy. |
Choose a title for this passage.
A.I Don’t Want a Big Brother! |
B.No Time to Kill |
C.My Big Brother |
D.My Life After School |
There is a one-day holiday in most western countries on New Year’s Day. The real celebration begins on New Year’s Eve-the night before New Year’s Day. There are several interesting customs(习惯)in the west, and there are many differences in different countries.
Though Christmas is a good time for families to get together, New Year’s Day is a time for some western people to be with friends. On New Year’s Day, there are always parties. At such parties, there is food, drinks and dances until New Year comes
At midnight, people often say “Happy New Year! ”to each other. In many western countries, fireworks are let off at midnight and some people like to shout aloud to drive away evil spirits.People begin to have great celebrations for the New Year on___________.
A.New Year’s Day | B.the night before New Year’s Eve |
C.the night of New Year’s Day | D.New Year’s Eve |
In the west, ___________on New Year’s Day.
A.friends always get together |
B.friends write to each other |
C.people can have a week’s holiday |
D.people go from one country to another |
On New Year’s Eve, western people don’t often____________.
A.say “Happy New Year” to each other |
B.let off fireworks |
C.sing a Scottish song |
D.shout aloud to drive away evil spirits |
This passage mainly(主要)tells us___________.
A.western people drink together on New Year’s Day |
B.how western people celebrate their New Year’s Day |
C.what western people eat on New Year’s Day |
D.western people have a good time on New Year’s Day |
Live Music——Late Night Jazz
Enjoy real American from Herbie Davis, the famous trumper(小号)player.
Place: The Jazz Club Dates: June 15-23 Price: $100-150 Time: 10p.m.till late Tel: 4668736 |
Scottish Dancing
Scottish dancing is nice and easy to learn. The wonderful dance from Britain will be shown.
Place: Jack stein’s Dates: May10-20 Price: $150 Time: 7-10p.m. Tel: 4021877 |
Shown——Anhui Museum
There are 12,000 pieces on show here. You can see the whole Chinese history.
Place: Anhui Museum Dates: 1 March-30 June Price: $60($30 for students) Time: Monday-Friday 9 a.m-8 p.m Weekends 9 a.m-9 p.m Tel: 4886888 |
If you want to watch dancing, you can call__________________.
A.4668769 | B.4021877 | C.4886888 | D.4686788 |
You can see the whole Chinese history at ____________________ in April in Anhui Museum.
A.3.p.m.every day | B.9 p.m.from Monday to Friday |
C.7 a.m. at the weekend | D.9 p.m.every day |
You can enjoy _________________ at Jack Stein’s.
A.American jazz | B.Scottish dancing |
C.12,000 pieces on show | D.A, B and C |
You have $70, and you can_____________________.
A.listen to American Jazz |
B.watch Scottish dancing |
C.go to Anhui Museum to see Chinese history |
D.watch magic shows in Anhui Museum |
Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Products (产品) arc not produced in a "green" way and people haven’t realized the importance of buying and using environmentally-friendly products. These lead to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of waste like glass, paper and plastics is produced (生产). The waste problem is difficult to deal with.
However, today, more and more people are choosing “green” and expecting that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these: “Will this soap be bad for the environment” “Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”
Over 20,000 people took part in a web survey (调查) on buying environmentally-friendly products. Among them, 8129 people say that they now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it. That is to say, companies must change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that the products are “green”.
A few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels to show that they are green. Some companies have made the clean and safe products their main selling point in advertisements.
The growing need for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. The public will no longer accept the old idea of “buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it”. As a result, the companies have to take action.Is it easy to deal with the waste problem?
What do more and more people consider before they buy products?
In the survey, how many people prefer green products in the supermarket now?
Is it possible or impossible to get green products in the supermarket now?
Why do the companies have to rethink how to do business and take action?
was born in Brussels, on June 25th, 1928. His real name was Pierre Culliford. At first, he almost became a dentist’s assistant. Luckily, he got a job in a cartoon studio. There he met and worked with some of Europe’s most famous comic book artists such as Franquin and Morris. Unfortunately the studio closed down and Peyo decided to become a full-time comic artist. He found himself a pen name from his childhood nickname ‘Pe- yot’.
Peyo became successful as a comic (连环画) artist. He decided to draw what he really loved,
stories based in the Middle Ages. He created the character Johan and drew some Johan strips (漫画) for the Belgian daily newspaper ‘Le Soir’ and then for ‘Spirou’ magazine. Johan soon became a huge success and one of the magazine’s main characters.
For Johan’s ninth book of adventures, Peyo needed a group of imps (小精灵) to build a magic flute. At a meal with his friend Andre Franquin. he asked Franquin to pass him the salt. But he couldn’t remember the word so he said, “Pass me the … um… the smurf!”. Franquin handed it over and answered, “Here’s the smurf. Onee you’ve smurfed with it you can smurf it back to me!” And so the name and language of the little imps were invented. The readers soon fell in love with these little smurfs, who love having fun, live in mushroom-shaped houses and speak a strange and wonderful language.
The Smurfs films were first seen on Belgian television and then in France and the Netherlands. In 1981. The Smurfs was on the American NBC TV Channel for the first time, but the success didn’t stop there. The success of the Smurfs became planetary in the 80’s because of the cartoons. There are few regions left where people don’t know smurfs, but their name changes in every county; the Smurfs, die Schlümpfe, Los Pitufos, I Puffi. de Smurfen, les Schtroumpfs… and 蓝精灵 in Chinese.
In August 2011, the Smurfs make their return to the big screen again, this time in 3D! Peyo left us on December 24, 1992, but the Smurfs have continued their many adventures and are today looking forward to a bright and even more exciting future.Peyo’s real name was .
A.Pierre | B.Franquin |
C.Morris | D.Johan |
Peyo tried many different jobs except .
A.as a dentist’s assistant | B.the one in a cartoon studio |
C.as a full-time comic artist | D.as a newsagent |
The Smurfs .
A.are a group of blue imps from Peyo’s book |
B.are serious and hate having fun |
C.soon became one of the ‘Spirou’ magazine’s main characters |
D.will be in the movie on December 24th, 2011 |
The last paragraph tells us .
A.The Smurfs have come back to their big screen home. |
B.Peyo has left for another country. |
C.The Smurfs’ story stops after Peyo left us. |
D.There might be more works about Smurfs in the future. |