浙江省绍兴市柯桥区联盟校2021-2022学年八年级下学期英...

A fox was run after by a hunter(猎人),and luckily he met a woodcutter. The fox begged（请求）him to 1 him a good place to hide (藏)in. He promised that he would thank him 2 his help.

The woodcutter seemed quiet 3. He looked around quietly and advised him to hide in his own house, so the fox ran in and hid 4 in a good place. There was a hole on the wall of the house. So the fox could see what happened outside 5.

The hunter6came up with his dogs. He noticed the woodcutter and asked him: "Did you see a fox?" The woodcutter said: "No". But he 7pointed to the house, all the time he was speaking. His two 8 also turned to the place, because the fox was hiding there. However, the hunter took no notice of his eyeballs, but 9 his words. He went on to catch the fox.

As soon as they were well 10, the fox came out from the house. He left away without taking11 notice of the woodcutter. The woodcutter called to him and criticized(批评) him, saying, "You 12 fellow, you owe (欠)your life to me. But you leave me without a word of 13."

The Fox answered, "Indeed, I should have thanked you a lot, if your14were as good as your words, and if your eyeballs weren't against your speech."

True enough, Kindness 15be in keeping with actions and words. What we said and what we do should go hand in hand.

Long, long ago there was no zero. To write the number sixty-three people wrote 63. To write six hundred and three, people wrote 6 3. The space between six and three was there to mean" not any "tens. Sometimes people did not remember the space. It was hard to see and read. Later people used a dot to hold the space. Six hundred and three looked like this 6.3. But the dot (点) was hard to see. So people put a circle around it like this 6⊙3. Then people could see the dot. They remembered the space. At last, only the circle around the dot was used. It was like a zero. This is one story of how the zero came to be used. Now zero has many important uses. Zero tells how many. Can you tell some other ways of using zero?

①When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.

②People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Everything else seems blurry (=unclear). Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near—sighted.

③People who are far-sighted（远视）suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm's length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.

④Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people's eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.

⑤Having two good eyes is important for judging(判断) distances(距离). Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle. To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object's relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distance as people with two eyes.

The government in China plans to end its one-child policy and let families have two children.

The plan was announced on Thursday after high-level political meetings in Beijing. A Chinese Communist Party statement gave a number of reasons for the change in policy. The statement said the change is meant to balance development, stop a falling birth rat (出生率) and strengthen the country's labor force (劳动力).

China, with the largest population in the world, started the one-child policy in 1980. But the government allow only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some families in the countryside could have two children, if the first-born child is a girl.

In 2013, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children if one of was an only child.

Jiang Quanbao, a teacher and population expert, explained how Chinese families react to the newest policy. "Too many young people in the cities are no longer interested in having a second child," he said. "People in the countryside are more interested. But some of them are already allowed to have two children."

At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800 million of them have jobs. But the labor market population will drop in 35 years. That is to say, the country will be in great need of labor by the year 2050. With the two-child policy, an increase in births can solve this problem.

Boys and girls, what do you think of the two-child policy? Do you want to have a new- born brother or a sister?

Every now and then you may see news ofsatellites(卫星)sent into space. On Feb 21, for example, US company SpaceX took 46 satellites intoorbit (轨道). China sent 22 satellites into space. Why do we need so many satellites? What do they do out there?

At present, there are more than 3,000 active satellites moving around the Earth, according to Statista, a German company working on market data. Satellites do all kinds of work, fromtransmitting(传送) TV signals to giving you directions on the road to helping scientists do research.

For example, the 22 satellites China just sent up are part of theBeidou Navigation Satellite System (北斗卫星导航系统). Shared bikes that use BeiDouchips (芯片) can have more accurate(精准的) positioning, making them easier to find. Drones(无人机) use BeiDouto fly.

Before satellites, TV signals didn't go very far. Mountains or tall buildings wouldblock(阻碍) them. Phone calls to faraway places were also a problem. Setting up telephonewires(线) over longdistances(距离) is difficult. With satellites, TV signals and phone calls can be sent directly to a satellite and back down to different locations on Earth. SpaceX's Starlink project is trying to go further. It plans to use satellites to provide Internet in the future.

Satellites can also provide information about clouds, oceans, land and ice. They help scientists predict changes in weather and climate. Bymonitoring(监测) wildfires and volcanoes, satellites helpemergencyworkers(应急人员) deal with natural disasters.

Farmers can use satellite images to decide the best time to water their fields.

Some satellites fly near other planets. They may look for water on Mars or take close-up pictures ofSaturn's rings(土星环). In 2020, video website Bilibili sent a satellite into space. Its job is to look at other planets and share the pictures and videos with Bilibili's users.

Have you ever seen volunteers? Just (想象) what the world would be like without volunteers. I can always see volunteers anytime and anywhere in our city. Some stand at the crossing to warn (提醒) people about the traffic (标志). Some help the homeless dogs and cats find (主人). Some go to the old people's home to care for the (孤独) old people. People of all ages are willing to do volunteer jobs, and most of them volunteer (募集) money for the charity. Even the (残疾) people want to send their (善意) to the society. They know how good one feels when being helped and they get a strong (感觉) of satisfaction through volunteering. They make a (不同) to our world! (多亏) to their work, we can get a beautiful world that is full of love.

Why is the cat not in the Chinese zodiac (生肖)?

There is a famous Chinese folk story about this. The Jade Emperor (玉皇大帝) invited all animals to take part a race (赛跑). The first 12 animals to finish the race would become part of the zodiac.

At that time, the cat and the rat were good friends. When they (hear) about the race, the cat said to the rat, "we should arrive early to sign up for the race, but I (usual) wake up late." The rat promised to wake his friend up they could go together. , on the morning of the race, the rat was so (excite) when he woke up that he forgot his promise. He went directly to the gathering area for the race. The cat woke up only (find) that the race was already over.

But it is only story. The real reason is that there were no cats in China in ancient times. Researchers say that before the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220), China didn't have house cats. There were some descriptions of cats in China in some ancient (book), but they were mostly wildcats.

Nowadays it is (believe) that house cats in China since the Eastern Han Dynasty. But by that time, the animals of the Chinese zodiac had already been chosen.

Maybe you have heard of the "Mozart Effect". It says that listening to classical music, especially Mozart, can help with math and science learning, and develop smarter children. But how can we enjoy music?

Listen in the car, while the children draw and color, and at dinner, for fun. Listen and talk about music.

Do you like this song? Why, or why not? If you like this kind of music, how does it make you feel? Happy or sad?

Know About Different Music

Get to know classical music, but don't forget jazz(爵士乐), blues(蓝调音乐) or many other kinds of music. Many children enjoy different sounds from around the world as well.

Learn about a singer and then listen to his or her music. Libraries often offer CDs as well. Learn an instrument(乐器). This takes some money and time, but the result can be worth(值得) it. This includes singing. Learn how to sing traditional songs.

Find concerts that you can attend(出席). Many towns and cities offer family (for parents and their children) concerts. Look for one near your house. Go to a music festival.

Do you like listening to music when you do something? Why or why not?