学进去

It’s Sunday today. But Jack is busy. He can’t play at home because he must go to a singing class in the morning and have an English class in the afternoon. Is he not happy? No. Art and English are his favorite subjects. They are interesting for him.

Mr. Smith is Jack’s art teacher. And his English teacher is Ms. Cindy. They are his favorite teachers. Jack’s father wants Jack to be a doctor like him, but Jack doesn’t like it. He wants to be a musician (音乐家). He learns to sing and play the piano. He is very busy, but he is very happy. He says, “It is worth (值得) being busy for my dream (梦想).

1． July, 2021, China carries out (实行) the “double reduction” policy (“双减”政策) for students in primary and middle schools. Do you have more (更多) time to do 2． favorite things after school? Some students talk about them. Let’s see what they say.

Wang Lei, Shanghai

With the “double reduction” policy, I have more time to do after-school activities (课后活动). I like 3．. I have a soccer ball and a tennis bat. Now, I can 4． them with my classmates on Saturdays. I often watch soccer, volleyball, tennis and other sports games on TV, 5．. It’s really 6．.

Li Xin, Chongqing

The “double reduction” policy really helps me. I do my homework of all subjects for only two hours. I can 7． it at school, so I 8． need to take it home. I like cooking (烹饪) and I think I have a good eating habit. For dinner, I eat chicken and vegetables.

The eyes are the window of the soul (灵魂). Eye language can show different feelings. People from English-speaking countries have more eye contact (交流) when they are in conversation. When Americans are talking, they usually look at each other in the eye. But there are many rules about eye language: Whether to look at the other speaker or not; when it is the time to look, how long they can look; who they can look at and who they can’t. All these have different meanings.

Americans put great importance on the time and the way of eye contact. In ordinary conversation, they will look at each other about one minute and then they will look away. Too long eye contact will make people feel uncomfortable. Once some Americans had a trip to a foreign village and the local people stared (盯着) at them. The Americans were angry and thought the local people were not friendly. In fact, they were just curious (好奇的).

People who like each other have more eye contact than people who dislike each other. Women usually communicate with more eye contact. If two Americans stare at each other, it shows they are close friends. In North America, children have learned to look at the other speaker in the eye. If they don’t, they are thought to be not confident.

Once there lived a farmer called Henry. He had a brother, Mike, who was an excellent gardener. His skill (技艺) and his beautiful trees were ________ everywhere.

One sunny day, Henry went to town to ________ Mike. “Look, brother,” said Mike, “Here is the best ________ tree from my garden. Take it home and plant it, ________ it gets enough sunlight and water, it can give you, your children, and your children’s children hope and fruit. “Henry was happy and went back home ________ the apple tree. The next morning, he began to ________ where he should plant it. “If I plant it on the ________,” he said to himself, “the wind might catch it and ________ down the fruit. If I plant it close to the road, people who pass by will ________ some of them. But if I plant it...” ________ he planted the tree in the corer (角落) behind his house, where no one else could notice (注意) it. But the tree had no ________ the first year, nor the second. Then, Henry ________ his brother and said to him ________, “You have cheated (欺骗) me! This is the third year and it brings me nothing but leaves!” When Mike saw where the tree was planted, he said, “You have planted the tree in such a ________ comer without sunlight or warmth. Sunlight or warmth are more important to it than ________. How could you expect flowers and fruit?”

Throughout the year, there are many activities at school. One of _________ activities of the year is the food collection. For the past few years, this _________ very successful. Each school does its food collection _________. However, most of the time it is set up in a similar style.

After that time is over, we bring the collected food to our local Community Table. The families in our community can go for a warm meal __________ they need to. Usually, a group of students go with one teacher to send the food. I __________ food with our teacher last year. And I was __________ to see so many families under the problem of hunger.

I was pleased that __________ school could help out all of those families. We do this several times each year. __________ great activity! Sure, we __________ change the world, but we can do our best to make our world a better place.