NEW word in 2020
Coronavirus is this year's Children's Word of the Year． This is very interesting given that the 500 Words competition closed on 27 February 2020， the day before the first case was documented in the UK． This shows the influence of important events around the world on children's creativity．
Highlights
•The word coronavirus appeared for the first time in the 500 Words stories in 2020． It is not a word that has been used before．
•The word has been used 459 times in the stories in 2020， with 287 of them as coronavirus， 168 as corona virus， and 4 as corona﹣virus．
•It is amazing that many of the themes young writers explored in fiction soon became a reality with the world in lockdown．
Examples
The nurses came running over． I felt a pain in my neck， I started to gasp for air． My body started shaking I couldn't control myself． My eyes rolled to the back of my head， a mask covered my mouth， my temperature raised and I have the coronavirus．
（The Ex， girl 13）
A few years later he finally landed on earth …but when he landed he found out a deadly virus had struck earth， the corona virus …
（Bob's Trip Around the Universe， boy 10）
（1）This passage is most probably part of ．
A． a language report
B． a science report
C． a book review
D． a film review
（2）The result is based on the findings from ．
A． a 2019 survey
B． a 2020 survey
C． a 2019 competition
D． a 2020 competition
（3）What can we learn about the word coronavirus？
A． Most children like the word very much．
B． Most children use the word very often．
C． Children first used it in stories this year．
D． Children first used it in stories years ago．
The world we live is full of amazing things. Do you know the following things?
Chocolate tastes nice but it may make the little dog die.
We may sleep for eight hours at a time but a snail (蜗牛) may sleep for three years.
Our ears and nose become bigger when we grow up but eyes keep the same after a person is born.
Food usually goes bad easily in summer but you don’t need to worry about how to keep honey (蜂蜜) because honey doesn’t go bad.
Most animals will die soon without the head. But a cockroach (蟑螂) can live for nine or ten days without the head.
Not all birds can fly. About forty kinds of birds can’t fly, like the penguin (企鹅) and the ostrich (鸵鸟).
| Little dogs |
|
| A snail |
It may sleep for |
| Our eyes |
The size of the eyes doesn’t |
| Honey |
It doesn’t go |
| It can live for nine or ten |
|
| Birds |
Most birds are good at |
Mr. Brown is a very old man. Every morning he goes for a walk in the park. And he comes home at 12:30 for his lunch. But today a police car stops at his house at twelve o’clock. Two policemen help him out. One of them says to Mr Brown’s daughter,“ The old man can’t find his way in the park. He asks us to take him home in the car.” The daughter thanks the policemen. After they leave, she asks her father, “ Dad, you go to that park every day. But today, you can’t find the way. What’s wrong with you?” The old man smiles like a child and says, “ I can find my way home. I don’t want to walk home today, you know?”Every day Mr Brown comes home at .
| A．twelve | B．eleven |
| C．twelve thirty | D．twelve ten |
Today Mr Brown comes home by .
| A．bus | B．car | C．bike | D．taxi |
The policeman says Mr Brown .
| A．doesn’t want to walk home | B．can’t find his way home |
| C．finds his way | D．knows the way |
Mr Brown’s daughter thinks .
| A．he wants to go home |
| B．he wants to have lunch early |
| C．he doesn’t want to go to the park |
| D．something is wrong with him |
Mr Brown says.
| A．he can’t find the way home | B．he wants to go home on foot |
| C．he knows the policemen | D．he doesn’t want to walk home today |
We live in an amazing world, reading the following news and you will find it yourself.
News 1: Bao Xishun is the tallest man in the world. He is 2.36 metres tall. He Pingping is the shortest man in the world. He is only 0.73 metres tall. They are Chinese. On July 13th, Bao Xishun married (娶) a girl and He Pingping took part in their wedding ceremony (婚礼).
News 2: In the USA, a seventh-grader, Aidan Murray Medley went fishing in the sea one morning. The 12-year-old boy caught a 250-kilogram shark! It took Aidan 28 minutes to catch the shark. It was so hard that his body lost all feeling. Aidan now has the Florida(佛罗里达洲) record (记录). He beat (打破) a 232-kilogram catch from 1981.
News 3: A young sheep climbs a tree to feed on leaves in a park in the southern Swedish town of Lund. The sheep climbed to a height (高度) of seven metres and spent an hour and a half in the tree before returning to the ground. Where do the tallest man and the shortest man in the world come from?
| A．China. | B．America. |
| C．Sweden. | D．Florida. |
How old is the boy who caught the fish?
| A．13. | B．12. | C．250. | D．7. |
How long did it take Aidan to catch the fish?
| A．Nearly half an hour. | B．Over half an hour. |
| C．An hour and a half. | D．12 hours. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．Bao Xishun married He Pingping. |
| B．The tallest man and the shortest man are not both from China. |
| C．The boy caught the biggest fish in the world. |
| D．The sheep climbed very high and spent a long time in the tree. |
Which can be the best title?
| A．The Tallest Man’s Wedding Ceremony |
| B．The Amazing World |
| C．A Boy Caught the Biggest Fish |
| D．A Sheep Climbed a Tree |
Saturday, June 16th
In the morning, we went camping in Green Natural Park. We were happy because it was a sunny day. We were looking forward to a wonderful two-day holiday. On the way, we kept singing and making jokes.
However, in the afternoon, when we finished our picnic at one o’clock, it was dark and windy. Soon, there was a shower(阵雨). Unluckily, none(没有人) of us brought an umbrella. We ran about but we could find no place to hide.
Twenty minutes passed and it was still raining. There were hours to go before we reached the campsite (野营地). It was even worse that our small compass (指南针) showed that we went to the wrong way. We lost our way!
We had to make a quick decision（决定）because it was raining heavily. Chris said we could put up a tent to hide in, so Mary and Tom helped to put up the tent. Chris and I tried to make a fire to keep us warm. But we weren’t able to light(点燃) the fire, because everything was wet. We dried ourselves, chatted and waited inside the tent. At about five o’clock, it stopped raining. We decided to give up (放弃)the camping trip because all of us were very tired.
This camping trip may not be successful (成功的) but we know each other better. And the most important thing I’ve learned from this camping trip is team spirit(合作精神).
Answer the following questions with No More Than 4 Words
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The best way of learning a language is using it. The best way of learning English is to speak it as much as you can. Sometimes you’ll get your words mixed up (混合) and people will not understand you. Sometimes people will say things too quickly and you can’t understand them. But if you keep your sense of humor (幽默感)，you can always have a good laugh at the mistakes(错误). Don’t be unhappy if people seem to be laughing at your mistakes. It’s better for people to laugh at your mistakes than to be angry with you, because they don’t understand what you are saying. The most important thing for learning English is: “Don’t be afraid of making mistakes because everyone makes mistakes.”
| A．writing | B．listening |
| C．using it | D．learning grammar |
| A．Be careful not to make any mistake. |
| B．Write as quickly as you can. |
| C．Laugh more often. |
| D．Speak English as much as you can. |
| A．not care | B．be angry |
| C．feel worried | D．be unhappy |
| A．Only foolish (愚蠢的) people make mistakes |
| B．Few people make mistakes |
| C．People never make mistakes |
| D．There is no one who doesn’t make mistakes |