Ten years ago, a girl gave me an important gift. It was1.
On the early autumn of 2008, I went to a new middle school for my 2 year's study. I knew 3there. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friends with anyone. One day, my classmates talked 4 with their friends, but I sat at my desk alone as usual. How I wish I could 5 them! At that moment, a girl came into the classroom. She 6 at me, without a word, just smiled. It made me feel happy and warm.
That smile7 my life. I started to talk with other students8 made friends with them. The girl 9 a smile has become my best friend now. All my dark days have gone.
Now I believe that the world is10 you think it is. If you think you feel lonely, you might always feel lonely. So smile at the world and it will smile at you.
Listening test is one of the most important parts of the English exam. Here are some tips (建议) for you.
Before you start to listen, you need to relax. Don't be stressed out. And try to read the questions. These questions usually help you understand the conversation or the passage.
Then listen carefully to the first sentence. It usually tells you the main idea of the passage. When you're listening, try to do some thinking and take some notes (笔记), such as:
What happened (发生)?
When, where, and how?
What does the speaker want to tell us?
In this way, you may understand the passage better.
Please remember not to think about one or two words for a long time. When you hear some words you don't know, don't spend too much time on them. Very often, you'll find out what they mean later when you go on with the listening.
When you are reading something in English, you may often meet with a new word. What's the best way to know it?
You may look it up in the English-Chinese dictionary. It will tell you a lot about the word: the pronunciation, the Chinese meaning and how to use the word. But how can you know where the word is in thousands of English words? How to find it in the dictionary both quickly and correctly?
First,
all the English words are arranged (安排) in the letter
order. In the dictionary you can first see the words beginning with letter A, then
B, C, D…. That means, if there are two words "desert" and "pull",
"desert" will be certainly before "pull". Then if there are
two words both beginning with the same letter, you may look at the second letter.
Then the third, the fourth…For example, "pardon" is before "plough",
"judge" before "just", etc.
Do you understand how to look up in the
dictionary? The dictionary will be your good friend. I hope you'll use it as often
as possible in your English study.
Kwanzaa is a celebration of African American history and culture. It begins on December 26th and continues until New Year's Day, January 1st.
During the festival, a family member, usually the youngest child, lights candles in a special candleholder. Each night a candle is lit. Traditionally there are three green candles, three red candles and a central black candle. They represent the seven Kwanzaa principles (原则). The principles are believed to play a big role in building strong, successful families, neighborhoods, etc. In the evenings, adults share stories and explain how to follow the seven principles in daily life. On the sixth day, which falls on New Year's Eve, family and friends get together to enjoy a large meal.
Kyle, a third grader, wrote this about Kwanzaa, "When we celebrate Kwanzaa, we have many people at home, light the candles, and have a nice dinner. We learn the meaning of Kwanzaa and remember family members. We say something good about them. Last year, we remembered my grandmother."
In 1966, Dr. Karenga created Kwanzaa. He was studying the history of Africa at that time. Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday to bring African Americans together and celebrate their history and culture. He called the holiday "Kwanzaa". In fact, the name comes from an African language, and it means "first fruits of the harvest (收获季节)".
Giving Directions in Different Places
If you ask people of different countries "Could you tell me the way to the post office?", you will get different answers.
In Japan, people use landmarks(路标) instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers," Go straight down to the corner. The post office is across from the bus stop."
In Kansas, America, there are no towns or buildings within(在……之内) miles. So instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distance. For example, people will say, "Go north two miles(英里). "
People in Greece sometimes do not even try to give directions. They will often say, "Follow me."
Sometimes if the person doesn't know the answer to your question, he or she, like a New Yorker, might say, "Sorry, I have no idea." But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers "I don't know." They usually give an answer, but often a wrong one. A visitor can always get lost in Yucatan!
You might not understand a person's words, but maybe you can understand his or her body language. He or she will usually point to the correct direction. Go on in that direction and you may find the direction.
A. Turn east, and then go another mile.
B. But one thing will help you everywhere.
C. People there think "I don't know." is not polite.
D. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market.
E. Then he or she will take you through the street of the city to the post office.
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include lead like talk polite say Where similar help enough or expression |
Asking for information or help is very common and necessary (必要的). In English," are the restrooms?" and "Could you please tell me where the restrooms are？?" are requests—both are correct English, but the first could sound . It's important to use correct languages, but sometimes this is not . We need to learn how to be polite when we make requests.
In English, just in Chinese, we change the way we speak when with different people. The you use might depend on whom you are speaking to how well you know them. Usually in English polite questions are longer and extra language such as "Could you please...?" or "Can I ask...?" Sometimes, we might even need to spend some time into a question or request.
A: Mom, I don't know this word. It's difficult.
B: Oh, I don't know it, either.?
A: But my dad is busy.
B: ?
A: He is writing a report.
B: .
A: That's a good idea. I will look it up in the dictionary.
B: I'm happy your English is improving.
A: In fact, my spoken English isn't good. ?
B: You should have conversations with foreign friends.
A: But it's difficult to find foreign friends.
B: You can go to the English Corner on the square. There are usually many foreign people there.
A: ?
B: You can start a conversation by talking about the weather. Then try your best to speak more.
