学进去

I always remember the date when there was no light in my home for more than 10 hours. My family were watching TV at 4: 00 p.m. on February 15th. ________ the lights went on and off for a few times. It was clear that there must be something ________ with the circuit (电路). Before my father went to have a look, the room became completely dark. So we had to use the ________ to find out what happened.

There were strong winds and rain outside. We could even feel the coldness through the ________. After several hours, we ________ that the power (电力供应) wouldn’t come back in a short time. When we prepared to go to bed, my sister shouted, “Look! It ________ to snow.” It seemed that the snow ________ last (持续) for a long time. ________ there was still no power, we went to bed earlier than usual.

The snow ________ the next day. The trees were covered with snow and the road became ________. Luckily, the power came back in the morning. After a long-time darkness, many people went out to buy some necessary things while kids were playing happily in the snow.

We’ll finally grow up some day, leaving our parents and facing the challenges in life. Parents may not be able to solve every problem for us. Instead, we should have enough life skills to deal with the problems that come our way.

This is what our country tries to do now: Helping more students get working spirit. To stress（强调）the importance of education on the hard-working spirit among students of different ages, the government released（发布）a guideline（纲要）recently.

The guideline calls for students to respect work. Students should learn basic life skills and form good working habits through such education.

The government has been trying to stress the importance of education on the hard working spirit. But this has been overlooked in recent years. Many students do not value the importance of working hard and are not interested in doing so.

According to a study of nearly 3, 000 students that was done by Evening News, only 22 percent of the students help with everyday housework.

Schools and families play an important role in teaching students about the value of working hard, the guideline says. Schools should provide students with hard working spirit classes every week, according to the guideline. Schools can also hold activities to give students real-world work experience. For example, schools can teach children how to plant trees on Tree-Planting Day.

As children’s first teachers, parents should also encourage children to learn how to do housework. Students should get one or two life skills every year. These skills can include cooking, washing their own clothes and tidying their rooms.

Once there was a famine（饥荒）. A rich old man sent for 20 of the poorest children in the town and said to them, “In this basket there is a steamed bread（馒头）for each of you. Take it, and come back to me every day at this hour till we live through this famine.”

The hungry children quickly gathered around the basket and started to fight over the bread. But Gretchen, a poorly-dressed little girl, did not join in the fighting. She stood far away quietly and waited until the children left. Then, she took the only steamed bread in the basket, kissed the old man’s hand, and went home.

The next day the children acted the same as before, and poor Gretchen got an even smaller steamed bread. When she came home and her mother cut the steamed bread open, many pieces of silver（银子）fell out of it. Her mother was very much ashamed, and said, “Take the money back to the good old man at once. It must have got into the bread by accident.”

As the little girl gave the money to the old man, he said, “No no, my child, it was no mistake. I put the silver pieces into the smallest steamed bread to reward（奖赏）you. Always stay as happy and thankful as you are right now. Go home now, and tell your mother that the money is your own.”

The first emperor of China, Qin Shihuang, completed a huge number of projects during his rule. Between 221 and 210 B.C., he started the building of the Great Wall. The emperor also ordered the building of a huge army of life-sized terracotta soldiers (兵马俑). These, he hoped, would protect his tomb(坟墓) after his death.

Lost in Time

The soldiers in Xi’an’s terracotta museum are today light brown, but they weren’t always. They began as an army of red, blue, yellow, green, white, and purple. Sadly, most of the colors did not last to the present day. After they were exposed(暴露) to air during digging, the coating under the paint began to fall off. The paint disappeared in less time than it takes to boil an egg, taking away with it important pieces of history.

New Technology

Now new technology is starting to show the army’s true colors. Archeologists(考古学家) have recently discovered an area with more than a hundred soldiers. Many of these still have their painted features(特征), including black hair, pink faces, and black or brown eyes. Chinese and German researchers have developed a chemical liquid (液体) to help save the soldiers’ colors. After they find a soldier or another art piece, archeologists put the liquid on it. They then cover it in plastic(塑料).

Back to Life

Archeologists are also finding colors in the dirt(泥土) around the soldiers. It’s important not to do anything with the dirt, so the colors won’t be lost. “We are treating the dirt as an art piece,” says Rong Bo, the museum’s leading archeologist. The next challenge, says Rong Bo, is to find a way to use the colors onto the army again. Once that happens, artists can bring Emperor Qin’s army back to its full, bright colors.

After school on Friday, I waited at the school gate to walk home with Jemma as usual. Then I saw her talking and laughing happily with some other girls, She glanced(瞥了一眼)at me and left me alone there. I knew right then that I had _______ my best friend.

After dinner, Mom asked, “Is Jemma coming by tomorrow?” I shrugged(耸肩)and said nothing. The next morning, Mom asked, “Today is _______. What are you and Jemma going to do?” I shrugged again. “How is Jemma?” Mom took a look at me. Then she said, “Will you take these magazines to Grandma, please?” As I walked down the street a new girl in the neighborhood came towards me, smiling. But I just went _______ her. Grandma welcomed me at the door with a warm hug.

Sitting on the sofa, I noticed a(n) _______ of kids in old-fashioned clothes on the table. Grandma _______ at a girl with short fair hair. “That’s Beth Lambert” she said, “My best friend. Until a week before we took this photo” I was surprised at that, “Beth and I were best friends on school. We did everything together. Then one day, she made new friends and she didn’t want to hang out with me any mere. Nothing _______ more than that.” I didn’t say anything. I couldn’t. I knew I’d start crying if I opened my mouth.

Grandma hugged me again. “Simone, sometimes friends grow _______. It might happen to anyone,” the continued. “Then, see him?” Grandma’s finger moved to a boy with glasses in the photo. “He lived near me. When I was walking home by myself. I said ‘hello’ to him. And we became friends.”

“So if we want to start a new friendship,” she smiled, “One _______ is all it took.”

As I was heading home, that new girl appeared again. I went toward her and spoke “Hello”.

The People’s Republic of China celebrated the 70th anniversary of its founding in October last year. China held its largest military parade (阅兵仪式) in Tian’anmen Square on October 1st. People from home and abroad watched the military parade through different ways. They were all surprised at China’s progress. Looking back at the past, the great changes have taken place in China.

In the past, most people lived a hard life. Many people died of wars and hunger. Generations (几代人) of the family ever lived in a very small house: Usually, children couldn't have their own rooms and the younger seldom had new clothes. During the 1960s to 1970s, China fell far behind because of many kinds of reasons.

However, in 1978, China started to carry out the reform and opening-up policy (政策). It was an important turning point for Chinese people. Since then, China has developed rapidly.

Now, people’s life is very different from that in the past. The country tries its best to help poor areas so that all Chinese people can live a good and happy life. China also pays great attention to compulsory (义务的) education. Everything is changing in a surprising way.

So we have very good reasons to believe China’s future will be better and better.

随着祖国的飞速发展与日益强大，人民的生活水平也发生了翻天覆地的变化。假如你是李华，你的美国笔友Emily给你发来一封电子邮件，询问你家乡近五年的变化。请你给她回复一封邮件，简单介绍你家乡发生的变化。

I’m glad to tell you that great changes have taken place in my hometown over the past five years. Here are some changes.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Best wishes! I’m looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours,

Li Hua

Days passed, and winter came. Mole left his home to look for the ________ house alone. “Oh, dear,” he thought, “I’ve taken a wrong turn. Shall I go ________ , or shall I go through the Wild Wood?”

He was ________ the Wild Wood, but he was also tired(疲惫的), and it was a long way back. He ________ Rat was with him.

Rat was at home. He wanted to see Mole, so he went outside to ________ him.

“Mole!” he called. After a few moments, he ________ found Mole.

“What are we going to do?” Mole asked. “I don’t want to go into the Wild Wood, but I am so tired. I ________ walk all the way back to the river.”

“It’s quicker ________ the Wild Wood,” Rat said. “Be brave.”

The two friends went into the Wild Wood. They could ________ the wild Wooders laughing.

Rat and Mole walked and walked all that day, and the next, and the day after that. They were completely lost(彻底迷路), and the weather was getting ________. They were beginning to think that they would never ________ the Wild Wood when Mole felt something ________ his foot. He looked down. It was the bell(门铃) at the entrance(入口) to Badger’s underground(地下的) ________ .

“Oh, how foolish(愚蠢的) we’ve been,” he said. “All this time we’ve been walking in a circle(圆圈).”

“We’ll be ________ now,” Rat said. “The Wild Wooders are afraid of Badger. He’ll help us.”

And Rat ________ the bell.

Of the many famous French foods, crepes (可丽饼) are among the most popular. Different types of crepes are prepared around the world. Let’s look at where these delicious French foods came from and their influence on food culture.

As one story goes, a thirteenth-century housewife in Brittany, France, carelessly dropped some porridge (粥) onto a hot cooking stone in her kitchen. The lucky result was a flat and thin pancake that was made of wheat appeared, and wheat later became the key ingredient in traditional crepes. According to another story, crepes date back to the fifth century. The Roman pope (教皇) offered them to French visitors at that time.

The word “crepe” comes from the Latin word “crispa”, which means “curled (弯曲的)”. The food can be served in many different ways. Sweet crepes can include fruit, chocolate or cream. When they are served as part of a light lunch or a dinner meal, they may include ingredients such as meat, cheese or vegetables. Usually, crepes either appear in a half-moon or triangle shape, or rolled up like a newspaper.

Food and culture go hand in hand. ________

The best crepes should have a smooth taste. To produce smooth crepes, the batter (面糊) must be very thin and light. Even with the smoothest batter, the first crepe out of the pan is usually not a success, so it is traditionally offered to the dog or the cat raised by a family. Since crepes come from France, French people have a special holiday just to celebrate this food. The Day of the Crepes falls on February 2. On the day of the holiday, one tradition is to throw a crepe and catch it in the pan held in your right hand while holding a gold coin in your left hand. If you succeed, you will have good luck all year round!

Crepes might be the result of a “happy accident”, but it is not by accident (偶然的) that this delicious food has been filling stomachs for centuries.