假设你是李华。你的美国笔友Susan要在暑假来中国桂林参加一个文化交流活动。 她想提前了解一下这座城市的相关情况，写信向你询问，请根据以下提示信息，给她回一封信。
自然情况 | 位于中国的南部，气候温和，风景优美 |
景点 | 四面环水，七星公园，漓江，象鼻山等 |
美食 | 桂林米粉，辣椒酱 |
...... |
注意： 1）词数100左右，开头和结尾已经给出，但不计入总数；
2）可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3）参考词汇 象鼻山 Elephant Trunk Hill chilli sauce
Dear Susan,
I'm glad that you are coming to Guilin for an exchange program during the summer holiday.
Yours
Li Hua
假设你是红星中学高一学生李华，请你以“My Ideal Library”为题，描述你理想中的图书 馆并投稿参加以“创意无限”为主题的英语写作大赛。内容包括：
1). 基本信息（位置、大小、环境等）；
2). 功能分区和内部装饰布置等；
3). 最具创意之处及设计理念。
注意：词数不少于 50。 提示词：功能分区 functional sections
词数:100左右
1）春节是中国的重大节日。
2）节前人们要大扫除。
3）全家人在一起吃年夜饭。
4）孩子们会得到压岁钱。
5）年初一穿新衣服，走亲访友，互道吉利。
生词:大扫除have a thorough cleaning
I have a "strangesounding" name. I always knew when the teacher got to my name on the attendance, because of the long pause.
"Um…… Ooooozma?"
"Is it…… Ahhhzzzma?"
"Wait, I got this. Youzma, right?"
The other kids, all named Carla, Melanie, Sammy and Geoff, would laugh secretly. I'd agree with whatever my teacher said, just to move past the annual, painful moment. It's totally fine, though. Whatever shames you in grade school turns you into a strong adult later, so it's all good.
I was shocked to learn, many years later, that my first name—Uzma, pronounced exactly as it looks—is quite common in India and Pakistan. I even know a few Uzma's in Toronto. At least my teachers tried. When I was 12 my P.E. teacher called me "Ursula" because he couldn't pronounce my name. Every time he called me by my new nickname, I pictured the scary octopus from LittleMermaid. For the record, if I were to give myself a more userfriendly name, it would be Caroline. To 12-year-old me, it had a great sound.
Many of my friends have similar stories. Amreena became "Am," Aqeela became "Angela" and—my personal favourite—Widad Ahmed somehow changed into "Woodward Anderson". One teacher took one look at a friend's name and threw up his hands. "I can't pronounce this!" he said. Her name is Ayesha.
Every parent I know gives the "how will this be important in school?" attitude when giving a list of baby names. For instance, "Butt" is a common South Asian last name, but in Canada it is sure to have different meaning. My own last name, at four syllables and 10 letters, is difficult to read. I drive cashiers crazy when signing receipts, holding up lines for an extra five to 10 seconds while I carefully write.
As a teacher, I pay attention to pronouncing names. "HAHSSan?" I said with confidence. The class starts to laugh. "It's Hassaaan, miss," the students responded. No! It's not! I want to yell back. I know how your name is pronounced! Mispronunciations（误读）happen so often that the proper pronunciation sounds wrong.
注意：
1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2）应使用5个以上短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3）续写部分分为两段, 每段的开头语已为你写好；
4）续写完成后, 请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:Yet many people stick to traditional ethnic names when it comes to their own kids.
Paragraph 2:Do names really matter?
"I think I'm nothing more than a dead fish." "I don't want to do anything." "I'm so beat and so sad."... The young generation in our country used to enjoy their "happy culture" but now they have become "beat and sad" slowly and secretly. Some people even called it "the beat culture". The "Beat" youths don't want to do anything. They have no purpose, no desire and they are totally depressed so that they only want to live an aimless life. The "Ge You slouch (葛优瘫)" and the song I feel like having been drained are the examples.
Many media concern themselves about this phenomenon and try to persuade the youths into embracing positive and healthy feelings and encourage them to work hard to get rid of decadence. This is really a kind gesture. However, we don't have to worry too much about this "beat culture." In fact, it's not a negative thing. "Beat" never means despair, but a way of self-mockery (自嘲) and pressure relief.
In general, the youths in China are not "beat". According to a recent international research, the youths in China hold positive attitude towards the future. 29% of the Chinese interviewees believe they will live and work in peace in China because "as long as you work hard, you can have your own day". Around 93% of the Chinese interviewees believe the future is promising because of medicine industry, renewable energy sources and computer. Compared with Chinese youngsters, youths in developed countries are more pessimistic.
Of course there are some social reasons for the appearing of "the Beat Culture". As urbanization develops rapidly, youths living in big cities are facing new challenges that their forefathers have never encountered before. Loneliness and feelings of insignificance and powerlessness are easy to get hold of the young people. Without proper care, they could threaten our mentality and cause many social problems. These problems probably need our attention more.
Scientists have announced that they have cloned the first human embryo. This has caused much debate round the world. On the one hand, some scientists point out that if you clone an embryo, you can produce valuable human tissues—such as bone or lung tissue—that could be used to save human lives. On the other hand, many people, including some scientists, disagree and are afraid that, if mankind toys with nature in this way, we may be on our way to producing a real-life Frankenstein's monster.
Cloning is producing an exact copy of a plant or an animal using its cells. The first mammal to be cloned successfully from an adult cell was Dolly the sheep. She was born in 1996 and died in early 2003, at a much younger age than normal. When she was born, many people were worried that cloning would lead to more diseases in the animal world. However, in general the scientists were praised for their wonderful scientific advance.
Ian Wilmut, the Scottish scientist who created Dolly, is shocked that some scientists are now considering cloning human beings. Although he researches cloning, his intention has never been to create copies of humans. Instead, he thinks research efforts should concentrate on creating new tissues and organs that can be used to cure diseases like cancer. However, some people believe that cloning human embryos with the intention of destroying them shows no respect for human life.
Even though human cloning is causing a lot of anxiety, it is good news for Faye Wilson, a 41-year-old saleswoman who cannot have a baby. "I am anxious to have a child of my own," she says. "I don't want to adopt someone else's child—if I had the chance, I would have a cloned baby right now."
While cloning human embryos is not legal in many countries, some scientists are already pushing ahead with research in order to produce a cloned human baby. Severino Antinori, an Italian physician, has declared that he wants to be the first to clone a human being.
What's your favorite sport?
Why do you like this sport?
What benefits can you get from this sport?
Blowing a Few Tops
Ever stopped to consider the upside of volcanic eruptions? It's not all deaths, destruction and hot lava—scientists have a plan to cool the planet by simulating one. It would probably work, but it could have devastating consequence, and there is nothing to stop any country or company from deploying the technology.
Solar geo-engineering(气候工程) involves simulating an erupting volcano by spraying aerosols (气溶胶) into the atmosphere. When they combine with oxygen, droplets of acid form. These droplets reflect sunlight away from Earth, cooling the planet. All good in theory, but the consequences are largely unknown and a few could be disastrous. In a study recently published, researchers led by Anthony Jones, a climate scientist from the University of Exeter, found that using this technology in the Northern hemisphere could reduce the number of tropical cyclones hitting the U.S. and Caribbean. But there's a worrying problem: more cyclones in the Southern hemisphere and a drought across the Sahel region of Africa. That's because the entries climate system is linked— disrupting one region will invariably affect another. How would a nation react if another was causing its weather to get much worse? Would that be an act of war?
There is, however, a case for using solar geo-engineering on a global case. Jones says it could be used to "take the edge of "the temperature increases scientists are predicting. It could be used while the world searches for more effective strategies.
The study also highlights a far bigger problem with solar geo-engineering: its complete lack of regulation. "There is nothing that could stop one country just doing it," Jones says. "It's deeply disturbing that we have this technology that could have such a massive influence in the climate, yet there's just no regulation to stop countries or even organizations from doing it."
Jones cautions that there is much about the climate system we do not understand, as well as more work that will need to be done before solar geo-engineering is deemed safe—or too dangerous to even discuss.
When was the last time you sent someone a letter by regular mail? Thanks to the Internet, many people prefer to send e-mails rather than mail letters using the postal system. Young people entering the working world today find themselves sending and replying to hundreds of business related e-mails every week. However, many of these same young people don't seem to know some basic rules when it comes to sending e-mails at work. Most of the people said they didn't check their spelling or punctuation (标点) before hitting "send". Even more surprising was that 5% of them said they sometimes end e-mails to their boss with the words "love and kisses!" While this is fine for personal messages to friends and loved ones, it is normally considered improper in work place. The main reason for this use of informal language in workplace e-mail is that a lot of young people have always communicated with others on the Internet—especially using e-mails—in a relaxed and friendly manner. For many people, online communication outside of work, such as talking with others in chat rooms, posting on message boards, and sending e-mail to friends, is usually for fun. Another reason is that young people now are unfamiliar with how to write formal letters, because they have never had to write a formal letter before. They have had no training in how to write a basic business letter, and are unaware of the style and language that should, and should not, be used. With more business letters now being conducted using the Internet than ever before, it is important for people to be aware of the differences in language use between personal and business communication—especially when using e-mails. So next time you send an e-mail at the office, remember you're not just online, you're at work.
注意：写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句。
【评分标准】内容完整、语言规范、语篇连贯、表达独立。
Britons are well known for the amount of tea that they drink. But most tea is grown in India and China. It arrived in London in the 1600s. However, this was only available to the richer people of society.
At the beginning of the 1700s the amount of tea arriving in Britain increased gradually. They soon discovered that it mixed really well with a little milk and sugar, giving the drink a special British characteristic.
In the 1800s people began to have "afternoon tea". This involves drinking tea with a snack around 4p. m. to avoid feeling hungry. It is a tradition that is still going today but has become less popular in recent times.
In the late 1800s, the price of tea decreased sharply as more tea began to arrive on ships from India and China. It was no longer a drink just for rich people.
Bamboo is one of the world's most useful plants. For thousands of years, bamboo has been used in many different ways from food to medicine to clothing and in small ways as a building material.
However, bamboo is not often used as a building material in the developed world. A professor at the University of Pittsburgh is trying to change that. The professor and his students are testing the strength of bamboo. They are testing how much pressure or weight it can take before breaking. Kent Harries is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh. Harries says that testing methods for bamboo need to be the same for all. They need to be standardized. Standardizing test methods for bamboo will help to bring the plant into common use. It will also give engineers and builders around the world a dependable standard.
Harries says bamboo is strong in nature. The strength of at least three species of bamboo is similar to steel. Besides its strength, bamboo has other features that make it very useful in building. He says it is resilient (有弹性的), meaning it keeps its shape and strength even under pressure.
Bamboo also grows quickly. Bamboo that is suitable for construction needs much less resources than wood. The harvest cycle of bamboo is about 3 years. Softwoods such as cedar, pine and spruce have a harvest cycle of about 10 years. And hardwoods that come from flowering plants such as oak and walnut need more than 30 years.
Bamboo is widely used as food for pandas. It is also used for flooring and window covers. However, for building, bamboo is not used much outside is native growing area. This is mostly because of its round shape. But there are other reasons too. People think that bamboo is a low quality building material.
Cultures can be different from each other in many aspects. People can eat different foods and live in different types of houses. People probably speak different languages and have beliefs and customs very different from yours. However, they can be similar in ways of connecting with each other. We sometimes call these means of communication universal languages.
Some legends hold that (据说) thousands of years ago there was a single language spoken by everyone. It is fun to think about a time when everyone may have been able to communicate in the same language though historical evidence does not support this, of course.
Today, there are thousands of languages spoken around the world. Yet, there are some means of communication that go beyond words and allow people of wildly different backgrounds to communicate and share emotions and feelings. For example, some people believe music is a universal language. There may be some scientific support for this idea, too. Experts have learned that across cultures people can recognize three common emotions in music: happiness, sadness and fear.
Another universal language that you might not have thought of is math! If you think about it now, it just makes sense. The value of “pi” is roughly 3.14159 no matter where you are. Similarly, we judge the value of something by the same mathematical calculations, no matter whether you're counting in dollars, pounds or RMB.
The familiar yellow school bus is the largest system of mass transportation in the US and every school day transports roughly 25 million young people to school and home again after the school day ends. Meanwhile, they are the safest method for getting kids to and from school, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Children are 70 times more likely to arrive at school safely on the school bus than if they had traveled to school driving themselves or riding with friends.
These school buses meet more of the nation's motor vehicle safety standards than any other vehicles on the road. Also, several new technologies available today are making school buses even safer, such as video cameras on the inside and outside, stop arm cameras, GPS tracking and collision lessening systems. Another safety tool on school buses is high seat backs, closely-spaced seats and energy-absorbing seating.
But even the safeness of school buses would not completely sum up why children are safer when riding the big, yellow bus. The bus is only as safe as the professional men and women who drive them. All drivers must obtain a Class B or C Commercial Driver's License (CDL). They are randomly tested for alcohol and drugs, usually have their driving record checked, and are given the same review for criminal history as teachers and other employees who have contact with students. In order to serve as a school bus driver, most applicants are required to successfully complete a training course, along with instruction in the classroom and behind the wheel.
School buses are safe for the environment, not only because each bus replaces 36 passenger cars that would, but for the buses, be on the road taking and picking up school children. Additionally, school buses use alternative green fuels like natural gas, and electric power.
Todd Monteferrario, President of the National School Transportation Association, said parents should remember that the safest and smartest choice is to put their children on the big yellow bus when they can.
"Parents today want their kids spending time on things that can bring them success, but ironically, we've stopped doing one thing that's actually been a proven predictor of success—and that's household chores." says Richard Rende, a developmental psychologist in Paradise Valley, Ariz., and co-author of the forthcoming book "raising Can-Do Kids". Decades of studies show the benefits of chores--academically, emotionally and professionally.
Giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and independence, according to research by Marty Rossmann, professor at the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Dr. Rossmann analyzed data from a longitudinal(纵向的) study that followed 84 children across four periods in their lives--in preschool around ages 10 and 15, and in their mid-20s. She found that young adults who began chores at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to have good relationships with family and friends and to achieve academic and early career success and to be self-sufficient, as compared with those who didn't have chores or who started them as teens.
Chores also teach children how to be empathetic and responsive to others' needs, notes psychologist Richard Weissbourd. In research, his team surveyed 10,000 high-school students and asked them to rank what they treasured more: achievement, happiness or caring for others. Almost 80% chose either achievement or happiness over caring for others. As he points out, however, research suggests that personal happiness comes most reliably not from high achievement but from strong relationships. "We're out of balance," says Dr. Weissbourd. A good way to start re-adjusting priorities, he suggests, is by learning to be kind and helpful at home.
The next time that your child asks to skip chores to do homework, resist the urge to let him or her off the hook. Being slack(懈怠的) about chores when they compete with school sends your child the message that grades and achievement are more important than caring about others. What may seem like small messages in the moment add up to big ones over time.
Advertising plays a major role in the competitive business world. Many industries take advantage of the power of advertising to attract or to win customers away from their business competitors. The influence of advertising is so huge that it causes many people to buy things that they don't want at the start.
Advertising encourages people to buy things they don't want through misleading ideas. Advertising is proven to be a successful tool to stress the features of their product to the public even though it's regarded undesirable such as cigarettes, drugs, alcohols and so on. For example, Dunhill, a cigarette company which sponsors many football teams, seems to be promoting cigarettes to the public. Without the sponsorship (资助), the company will be less known to the public, resulting in fewer sales of cigarettes.
Besides that, advertising has a large influence on the decisions made by the people in their everyday life. Many businesses use advertising as a form of promoting to create awareness about their product in the market. For instance, in a fast food industry, the introduction of a new flavor of burger needs advertising to reach the public while the other burgers require advertising to increase sales. Children, especially, are easily influenced by advertisements and will have the desire to dine at fast food restaurants after that. Although fast food is bad for health, it has successfully become appealing to the pubic through advertising.
However, advertising plays a part in helping customers to compare a product in terms of price, quality, reliability and so on. Without advertising, it will be very difficult for customers to judge the worthiness of a product. For example, advertisements published by various companies have given the customers the opportunity to choose wisely when purchasing an item. Without the power of advertising, customers will be stuck to a brand which may not offer the best choice.
迪士尼的主题公园也许是最有名的，但是它们却不是最有趣的。纵观全世界，人们从一切事物中获得灵感来创建游乐园和主题公园。去迪士尼公园旅游的确很令人兴奋。在你计划下一次去同样的老迪士尼乐园或环球影城旅行之前，作为替代，考虑一下去参观某个生态友好的主题公园。
Take Care of Your Spine (脊柱)
The spine stands at the center of your health, providing your body with structure and support. It also contains your spinal cord, a massive collection of nerves that sends electric signals from the rest of your body to your brain. Therefore, it's important to take care of it.
Maintaining your good posture is one of the most important things you can do to keep your spine healthy. Proper posture means standing or sitting while keeping your spine straight, except for its natural curves. Posture comes into play even when you're asleep. Sleeping on your side puts less stress on your spine than most other positions. Having a comfortable bed is also very important as sleeping in a position that isn't comfortable can leave your back feeling sore the next day.
Exercise is also an important factor in the health of your spine. Staying still for too long—even if your posture is good—can be hard on your back. Especially if you work at a desk most of the day, it's important to get up and stretch periodically. Stretches can help the muscles around your spine relax and allow bones to shift into better positions. Strength exercises with light weights or bodyweight exercises like pushups can also help by strengthening the muscles around your spine. However, don't overdo the exercise, as repeated motions can hurt the muscles around your spine.
Your diet also affects the health of your spine because many vitamins are necessary for bones and nerves. In particular, vitamin B help keep nerves healthy, so you may want to consider taking a supplement (补充物). Another important factor is vitamin D, which is essential for strong bones, but it's also absorbed from sunlight, so it may help to do some of those back exercises outside.
Study after study shows the most important thing deciding the quality (质 量) of the education a child receives is his teacher. Teaching has become one of the most difficult jobs today. But what makes a great teacher?
Responsible teachers set high expectations for all students. They expect that all students can achieve in their classroom, and they don't give up on those who do poorly in study.
Great teachers have clear teaching goals. They have lesson plans that give students a clear idea of what they will learn, what the homework is and what the grading standard is. Homework has learning goals and gives students enough chances to practice new skills. At the same time, they are prepared and organized. They are in their classrooms early and ready to teach. They present lessons in a clear way and instill (逐渐灌输) a hunger in their students to learn more on their own.
To become great teachers, they should engage (吸引) students and get them to look at problems in all kinds of ways. They use facts as a starting point, not an end point; they ask “why” questions, look at all sides and encourage students to imagine what will happen next. They ask questions frequently to make sure students are following along. They try to engage the whole class, and they don't allow a few students to control the class. They keep students active with many different and lively ways.
Great teachers have strong relationships with their students and show that they care about them as friends. Great teachers are warm, kind, energetic and caring. Teachers with these qualities are known to stay after school and make themselves available to students and parents who need them. They often communicate with parents. They reach parents through parent-teacher meetings and frequent written reports. They will pick up the telephone to call a parent if they are concerned about a student.
Effective communication can make you an effective leader and success can come much more easily. It is very important to be a confident and efficient communicator so that others can understand you. However, in order to become an effective communicator, you need to be an effective listener first.
To be a good listener, you need effective listening skills, which will help you.
Understand other peoples' point of view. However, most people generally overlook the skill of listening. Actually, communication is never a complete process if you are only a good speaker without being a good listener. You may be very good at expressing your thoughts effectively. But if you are not good at understanding other people's point of view, it will never be considered effective communication.
Usually, speaking is considered an active process and listening is claimed to be a passive process. Listening, however, is undoubtedly an active process, too. It doesn't just mean sitting in front of someone and staring at their eyes. In order to understand someone better, you need to analyze their thoughts and words. Additionally, you need to show that you are listening. For instance, you can say "I see," "go on" or just nod your head. Of course, in the case of disagreement, you do not necessarily have to do that. You can also ask questions if you have problems understanding that person's perspective. Asking questions will not only improve your listening habits but also make the other person realize that they are being heard.
Too often, we attach great importance to the skill of speaking; however, most of us do not value the skill of listening very highly. Now is the time for you to break the old stereotype (刻板印象) and follow the new trend, which is a contributing factor to effective communication.
The word"ecosystem" is short for ecological system. An ecosystem is where living creatures expand within a given area. You can say that an ecosystem is the natural environment where biological organisms such as plants, animals and humans coexist in this world. So naturally that includes you and me. Yes, we are all members of an ecosystem!
There are different kinds of ecosystems depending on the type of surface or environment. Most are naturally made such as the ocean or lake and the desert or rainforest. Some are man-made or artificial to encourage cohabitation(共居) between living and non-living things in a monitored environment, such as a zoo or garden.
Plants make up the biggest group of biological creatures within an ecosystem, and that's because they are the natural food producers for everyone. Plants raised in the earth need air and collect sunlight to help them grow. When they grow, the plants and their fruits or flowers eventually become a source of food to animals, micro-organism and even humans, of course. Food is then converted to energy for the rest of us to function, and this happens in a never-ending cycle until the living creatures die and break up back in the earth.
Ecosystems are the basis of survival for all living things. We depend on plants and animals for food. In order for us to exist, we need to grow and care about other organisms. We also need to care for the non-living things within our environment like air and water so we can continue living as a population. Since plants, animals and humans are all of various species, we all play a role in maintaining the ecosystem.
To preserve our ecosystems, we should stop using too much energy, which happens when we consume more than our share of resources. Humans should not disturb the natural habitat of plants and animals, and allow them to grow healthily for the cycle to continue. Too many people in a habitat can mean displacement: imagine being thrown out of your home because there is no more space for everyone. Worse, overpopulation can also ruin the environment and cause destruction of existing plants and animals.
