It is always important to have good relationships with your neighbors. You'll never know when you may 1 . If they do something that make you 2 , it is better to discuss it in a polite way than to have a quarrel (争吵).
For example, if your neighbors are playing loud music that you do not like, ask them 3 to turn down the music instead of calling the police directly for help.
Trees and fences can 4 be a reason that causes disagreement between neighbors. My grandmother likes 5 outside in the sun after lunch, but her neighbor has put up a high 6 that stops sunshine from going into her yard in the early afternoon. My grandmother does not want to be 7 with him, because he gave her a lot of 8 when my grandfather died last year. So she 9 and talked with the neighbor in a friendly way.
Then, her neighbor lowered the fence just enough to give her some 10 without losing his privacy (私人空间). My grandmother cut down the tree that was above his garden and dropped leaves all over his lawn (草坪) in the autumn. Finally, they reached an agreement which made both pleased.
There are websites for nearly every game and hobby on the Internet. The following are a few examples.
TeenReads
Young book lovers will enjoy TeenReads. The website provides reviews of new and popular books for teenagers, along with surveys, contests and places to discuss favorite books. Teens can also work their way through the "ultimate (最终的)" reading list on the site.
TeenNick
Fans of entertainment (娱乐) channel TeenNick will find information on the latest shows, as well as games, videos and quizzes. While the site offers updates (更新) on TeenNick shows, it also provides stories just for teens, suggestions on how to survive high school give back to school.
The InSite
The InSite is designed for teens who have an interest in improving the world. Teens can learn about social problems and ways to build a positive self-image (积极的自我形象). They can also submit (提交) artwork and writing, or have discussions on how to make the world a better place.
ChallengeYou
ChallengeYou is a computer game design website. Teens can design games on the site or play games designed by other kids and teens. They can share their games with friends or take part in weekly game-building contests. There is also a chat room and a forum (论坛) for them to discuss game building or just to play games together.
Before she appeared on the show Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle was just an ordinary middle-aged British woman. Now all this is going to change.
She lives in a house with her cat Pebbles in a small Scottish town. Because of learning difficulties, she doesn't have much education. But she has a very good voice. As a kid, she sang in church and choirs and school plays. For a living, she sang at local pubs.
When she took the stage on April 10th her hair was untidy and her clothes seemed just one step up from old clothes. The audience laughed at her.
But then she opened her mouth. The laughing audience went silent. A beautiful voice was singing I Dreamed a Dream. Everyone was amazed. At the end of her song, the audience jumped to their feet and clapped hands wildly.
Almost overnight, Susan became a well-known name. She won millions of fans. Her online videos have over 85.2 million hits.
Susan's story proved the truth of an old saying: "Never judge the book by its cover." Susan may look ordinary, and doesn't have much dress sense, but she can certainly sing.
Susan's fans admire her courage, as much as they do to her voice. She has experienced many disappointments, but her love for music has kept her going, which is worth anyone's respect.
English is rich in expressions that come from animals. Today we will talk about the wolf.
Wolves are important animals in the traditions and stories of America. Before the Europeans arrived at north America in the 1500s, wolves often meant being brave to native(土著的) Americans.
However, in English, wolves are not to be trusted. Perhaps wolves attacked too many people or ate too many farm animals. Whatever the reason, wolves were killed in many places. So many wolves died that they almost became endangered. They also became known as bad animals.
To begin with, there is an expression lone wolf. If we call somebody a lone wolf, he isn't a bad person, but he may like to do things by himself. In fact, he sometimes makes you think he doesn't want to be around people because he dislikes them.
Now, let's move on to the home. Parents tell their children not to wolf down their food. In other words, the child eats too quickly and without care. And if someone says a child was raised by wolves, that child has bad manners and is behaving like a wild animal.
A wolf call is the noise made by man to show that he likes the way a woman looks. But a wolf call is not a nice thing. These men sound rude. And trust me, most women really hate wolf calls. So, they don't help a man in the game of love.
By the way, there is popular expression about wolf from a very old story: a wolf in sheep's clothing. A wolf in sheep's clothing describes someone who acts and looks nice on the outside but is bad on the inside. It tells us not to be fooled by appearances.
Thanksgiving Day is, unsurprisingly, a day on which people from the US and Canada give thanks. But what are they saying thank you for? And to whom are they saying it?
The holiday is closely connected to the harvest (收成). Since time began, cultures and people have been thanking the gods for a good harvest. Although the harvest is no longer a big part of most Americans' lives, the tradition of saying thank you for it continues.
When the Europeans arrived in what is now the United States, or "the New World" as they called it, they were nervous. The food was different, and a little strange. There are even some stories of European settlers (移民者) died because they didn't believe the food there. In 1621, though, English settlers enjoyed a very good harvest. They held a big dinner to celebrate, and the tradition of thanksgiving began.
Nowadays, thanksgiving is a chance for Americans to get together with their families and enjoy delicious meals. They usually eat turkey, because turkeys were very common in the New World. They also eat pumpkin pies for pretty much the same reason.
So whom exactly are they thanking? Well, probably not the gods anymore. Mostly, people see thanksgiving as a chance to be thankful for everything they have in life: food, family and friends. In a way, they are thanking each other.
Hillary Yip, CEO of MinorMynas, was born in Hong Kong in February 2005, two years later than the first iPhone. She tries to find ways to create a global(全球性的) community and safe place for young people to connect and learn languages.
At age 10, Yip had the idea for a language-learning app, MinorMynas. At that time she was trying her best to learn Putonghua. The platform, launched in May, 2018, is a children-only community that encourages kids to video-chat with others around the world, making language learning more fun and interactive.
The following is a conversation between a reporter and Yip.
Reporter: Why do you come up with such an idea?
Yip: If you look at the traditional methods of language learning, kids find that it's not fun anymore. You've got exams, dictations—we hate it! MinorMynas is all about letting children learn a language through chatting and making friends with other people.
Reporter: Who helps a lot to the success of MinorMynas?
Yip: My mum. She's taught me to be curious all my life and to challenge. She's been a rebel(叛逆者) her whole life! I really look up to her in this case, but I don't think she expects the rebelliousness from me.
Reporter: You've spoken a lot about the importance of curiosity for innovation(创新).
Yip: We are all born to ask questions, but the way we're brought up can kill it. The way we're taught in schools kills so much of our curiosity. I guess that's why creativity is so valued now, because we need people who can challenge and create things that wouldn't be there.
Reporter: Is that the benefit of being so young, having a fresh perspective?
Yip: Yeah, that's the great benefit of being a kid. Adults have been through so many experiences that can change the way you look at the world. For us kids, we just take things as they are.
A big company wanted to find someone to work for them. Lots of young college (student) came to ask for the job, but only a small part of them were left. And this time, the company didn't plan to choose the right persons as usual.
Here came the day when they took the final interview. A big box full of papers (place) on the way to the interview room, and a few papers were lying around the box.
The (one) student came. He hurried along the way to take the interview. "Who put this box in the middle of the road?" The student said to (him) , but he did not try to move the box away. Instead, he passed around the box and continued his way.
The second student came along and did the same thing. Then another came, and another. All of them complained about the box none of them tried to move it. What's worse, someone even stepped(踩) on the papers and left without (have) a look at the things on the ground.
Half hour later, a thin young man with glasses came. He was also among those who were left to take the interview. When he saw the box and the papers around it, he stopped and began to pick up the papers and put them into the box. Then he managed to move the box the side. To his great surprise, he found an (invite) under the box. On it were the following words, "Congratulations, young man! You are the right person we are looking for! Would you like (join) us?"
Sometimes, you see, helping others is helping yourself.
提示：1. 春节是中国最重要的传统节日；2. 春节期间人们的主要活动（例如节前准备、春节家庭聚会、节后走亲访友等）。
参考词汇：装饰decorate；除夕on the eve of the festival； 聚会get together；燃放烟花fireworks；给……发红包give…lucky money
注意：1. 文中不得出现真实的人名、校名及其他相关信息；2. 语句通顺，意思连贯，根据提示信息适当发挥，书写规范；3. 词数80词左右，开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
Dear Gordon，
Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional festivals in China.
……
Yours,
Zhang Hua
