A. happy B. like C. thanks D. importantly E. falls on |
Thanks for Turkey Day
What was the last thing you felt grateful for? Here is a special day for you to say . The day is Thanksgiving. It is about expressing your gratitude to the important people and all the good things in your life.
Thanksgiving is celebrated in the US and Canada. In the US, it the fourth Thursday of November every year. Kids are happy because they get the day off school. They have time to stay with family and, more , enjoy a big dinner.
China's Spring Festival, perparing a big meal and bringing the family together at home is a long-standing tradition of Thanksgiving.
A. main B. never C. special D. why E. official holiday |
Turkey is the most traditional food of the big dinner. Ever since Thanksgiving was made an in 1863 in the US, turkey has always been on the menu. That's Thanksgiving is also called Turkey Day.
Many other foods also come with the dish. Pumpkin pie is a popular dessert for the day. The largest pumpkin pie has recorded weight of 3,699 pounds (1,678 kilograms) in 2010 in the US.
One should forget to express what he or she is thankful for. Just as the proverb goes: Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.
Going to see a 3D film
Danny loves to experience new technology. He likes to collect the newest IT products and read about technology. This time, he wants to watch a 3D film to celebrate his twelfth birthday. He even bought a new pair of 3D glasses. He is looking at the programme list of a cinema near his home.
People who speak or preform before the public sometimes may suffer from"Stage Fright". Stage fright makes a person 1 . In that case it can make one's mind go back and 2 what one ought to say or to act. Actors, musicians, dancers, lawyers, even radio show hosts（节目支持人) suffered from stage fright at one time or another.
Diana Nichols is an expert in helping people free from stage fright at a medical centre in New York City. She helps actors learn to control themselves. Miss Nichols says some people have always been afraid to perform before the audience. Others 3 stage fright after a fearful experience.
She offers them ways to control the fear. One way is to smile before going onto the stage. Taking two deep breaths also helps. Deep breathing helps you get control of your body.
Miss Nichols advises her patients to tell themselves that their speech or performance does not have to be 4 . It's all right to make a mistake. She tells them they should not be too worried while they are performing. It is important that they should continue to perform while she is helping them. After each performance, they discuss what happened and find out what helped and what did not. As they perform more and more, they will fear less. Miss Nichols says the 5 is only to reduce stage fright, not to smooth it away （克服) completely. This is because a little stage fright makes a person more careful, and improves the 6 .
Reading fast and slow
"Slow reading movement" has become popular. The idea is that people should shut off their computers and mobile phone for half an hour or forty-five minutes each day and enjoy the p of reading a good book - slowly! In many cities there are even slow-reading clubs where members go to a cafe, not to discuss books, but to sit quietly with each other, drink coffee and j read.
Researches have found that reading slowly, especially books of fiction, helps people concentrate, relax and think about what they are reading. It also helps people empathize (有同感). This last point is important. When you read a novel (slowly), you get to understand the characters' emotions and to see t their eyes.
Reading, of course, isn't easy. You have to sit still, for one thing. And it can seem b when compared to the excitement of playing video game. But, for me, reading has been an enduring joy in life. From the age of ten, when I got my first l card, I've enjoyed the company of pirates (海盗) and heroes, of evil criminals and clever detectives, thousands of interesting people I would otherwise have never met in real life. Reading p me with escape, but it also enabled me to understand the world around me. It was an education in a classroom that had no w.
In your classroom, you have learned to read "fast". Outside of the classroom, you should try to learn to read "slow". You may be surprised at how much you enjoy it.
''Life is speeding up. Everyone is becoming unwell. ''This might sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unwell person who lived in Rome in AD 53 wrote it.
We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives. But have all these development really improved the quality(质量)of our lives?
Picture this: You're rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen , the noise from the telephone is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done.
Inventions have speed up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, even no electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps that is because they live simpler lives.
One family in the UK went'' back in time'' to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandmother, with their daughter, and grandsons, Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phone.
The grandmother. Lyn , said, ''The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes''. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a trendy(时髦的)，beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.
