浙江省温岭市团队六校2021届九年级上学期英语期中质量监测试...

    No one is born a winner. People make themselves into winners by their own efforts.

I learned this lesson from a(n) 1 many years ago. I took the head coaching job at a school in Baxley, Georgia. It was a small school with a 2football program.

    It was a tradition for the school's old team to play 3 the new  team at the end of spring practice. The old team had no coach, and they didn't even practice to prepare for the game. Being the coach of the new team, I was excited 4 I knew we were going to win, but to my disappointment we failed. I couldn't believe I had got into 5 a situation. Thinking hard about it, I came to 6 that my team might not be the number one team in Georgia, but they were 7 me. I had to change my attitude about their ability and potential(潜力).

    I started doing anything I could to help them build a little 8. Most importantly, I began to treat them like 9. That summer, when the other teams enjoyed their 10, we met every day and practiced passing and kicking the football.

    Six months after suffering our failure on the spring practice field, we won our first game and our second, and continued to 11. Finally, we faced the number one team on the field. I felt that it would be a victory for us even if we lost the game. But that wasn't what happened. My boys beat the best team in Georgia, giving me one of the greatest 12 of my life！

    From the experience I learnt a lot about 13 the attitude of the leader can influence the members of a team. Instead of seeing my boys as losers, I pushed and 14 them. I helped them to see themselves 15, and they built themselves into winners.

    Winners are made, not born.

New York is 3 hours ahead of California, but it does not make California slow.

Someone graduated at the age of 22, but waited 5 years before finding a good job!

Someone became a CEO at 25, and died at 50

While another became a CEO at 50, and lived to 90 years.

Someone is still single, while someone else got married.

Absolutely everyone in this world works based on their Time Zone.

People around you might seem to go ahead of you, _______________________________.

But everyone is running their own RACE, in their own TIME.

Don't envy them or mock them.

They are in their TIME ZONE, and you are in yours!

Life is about waiting for the right moment to act.

So, RELAX.

You're not LATE.

You're not EARLY.

You are very much ON TIME, and in your TIME ZONE .

    There is an old man who used to be very strange in our community. The first time I saw him running, he had something in his hands. I thought maybe it was a pair of gloves. But then, he slowed down, bent down and picked up a piece of paper. I soon realized there were all kinds of things in his hands.

    This old man never talked to anyone, but he was always stopping to pick up litter. One day, we heard that the old man was hit by a car while running. We also learned the he could not speak English very well. That was why he didn't talk to anyone. One of the neighbors heard the news and decided to do something. She called the local newspaper and told them the old man's story.

    The reporter then interviewed the old man with the help of a French translator. His name was Bruno Polanski. Mr. Polanski grew up in France, and there was no litter on the street. So when he first saw people drop litter, it really shocked him. He made up his mind to pick up the litter in the new country.

    Later, our community decided that we would have a run every spring to pick up litter. We call it the "Polanski Run". That day, hundreds of kids walk around the community in groups, picking up litter. It has become one of our community's popular events.

    The village of Hengly was going to have the Bean Olympics. It was a competition to see which kind of bean would grow the fastest and the tallest. Everybody was excited. They couldn't wait to show their best plants.

    Cassie knew clearly which bean she would choose for the competition, for her family had planted a special  "family bean". It was a flat bean that her great-grandparents had brought from Sicily. Her grandmother planted the beans every year and served them at many meals. Cassie was sure they would be unbeatable beans.

    However the plan did not work out that way. Although Cassie's bean plants looked healthy with beautiful purple flowers, they did not grow as fast or climb as high as any of her neighbors'. These people chose beans from seed (种子) stores. Their beans had wonderful names like " Rocket " or "Top Crop " . One type was even named "King's Bean". That was the bean Ivan planted and his plants climbed almost to the top of the fence. Cassie's plants were just near the middle of the fence.

    On the day of the competition, Cassie was disappointed that her beans were in the last place. Ivan laughed at her beans and said she could win a prize for the slowest shortest bean.

    The organizer Mr. Williams handed out medals for the fastest- growing and the tallest bean plants. " Now there remains only one final test , and it is just as important：the taste test. "

    Mr. Williams cooked the beans from each competitor and chose five experienced villagers as judges (裁判) .

    Cassie was nervous. Would her family beans lose again?

    After the judges tasted the beans, Mr. Williams counted the results. "We have a winner, " Mr. Williams announced. "The judges all agree that Cassie's beans are the winner. "

    Cassie grinned at this unexpected result. Many of her neighbors, even Ivan asked for her seeds. They were all in favor of the good-tasting beans even though they didn't grow fast or very tall.

    Nowadays there are different ideas about competition. Some value it highly, believing that it is good for social development. However, others say that competition is bad and that it leads to unfriendly relationship between people.

    I have taught many children. For them, playing well and winning are often life-and-death events. In their mind what they really want is going for success, the development of many other qualities is sadly forgotten.

    However, while some seem to be lost on the way to success, others take an opposite opinion. Many people are strongly against competition. Among them, most are young people who have suffered from such pressure from their parents. They seem to look for failure by not trying to win or achieve success.   △    , they always have an excuse: "I may have lost, but it doesn't matter because I really didn't try. " They don't want to admit（承认）that if they have really tried and lost, they would mean more.

    Clearly, this belief(信念) is the same as that of those who try to prove（证明）themselves. Both come from the wrong belief that self-confidence depends on how well one does by comparing with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. If such fear begins to be unimportant, we can have a better knowledge of competition.

    Do you know the Lantern Festival? When you talk about lanterns will you (联系) them with romance? In ancient China, unmarried girls were (很少) allowed to go out. Lantern Festival was a day for single people to find someone that he or she (仰慕). That's why this day is also (广泛地) known as Chinese Valentine's Day.

    Lanterns are the most important part of the festival. They can be made into different shapes— plants, animals and (生气勃勃的) characters from a story. On the lanterns are usually riddles. They really (需要；要求) people to be smart. According to many love stories in Chinese history, single people can win the (注意) of their loved ones through this game!

    As a (普遍的) rule, the dish of the day will be the little round glutinous (黏的) rice balls called yuanxiao. Now people usually celebrate it with their family members and (亲戚). They are a (象征) of the completeness of life and sweetness of living.

    Peter was the best table tennis player in his school and hardly ever lost a match. He hated losing anything. When he (win), he would feel really good. If he lost, he would feel terrible. It seemed to Peter that losing was (bad) thing in the world.

    A new kid, Albert, came to Peter's school. He was good at table tennis, too. Soon there would be a match Peter and Albert. Peter worked hard (get) ready for the match, but Albert didn't seem to think much of . When the match began, Albert was a real player. There was always a smile on his face while Peter looked serious all the time. Peter thought it was important to win the match that he even wanted to cheat(舞弊), but he lost in the end. "You played very well, Peter. I wonder we can play again sometime, " said Albert.

    But Peter didn't feel happy and couldn't fall asleep that night.

    One day, Peter saw Albert playing basketball. he lost again and again, the happy smile never left his face. Peter found Albert was great at table tennis but bad at basketball. However, he enjoyed of them. Whether he won or lost the game, Albert enjoyed it. Peter came to realize that (enjoy) a game was much more important than winning or losing it. He felt happier than ever before.

    Everyone likes to have fun, but not everyone has much money to spend on entertainment. Here are some free or cheap ways to enjoy yourself.

    Go with your friends if you don't want to stay at home. Hike or bicycle with a friend on a nearby path or in a park. If you live in a city, you can go window-shopping. Or you can explore an old part of town and admire the buildings.

    Planning and taking pictures can make you aware of the beauty all around you. Photographic equipment can be expensive, but it doesn't have to be. You probably already own a camera or a cellphone that can take pictures.

    Stop by one to find out what's going on. And while you're there, borrow a book or movie for free. Museums and universities also hold free events. If you can't find a free event, you can volunteer at an event that requires tickets. People who organize concerts and plays need help. You can set up or take down chairs or greet visitors. Sometimes they reward volunteers with free tickets.

     Whatever you do, find a friend to share it with. For example, invite a friend for a walk, an event or a time working on your hobby. Hosting doesn't have to be difficult. If your friend comes in the afternoon, you don't have to serve a meal. You can sit and talk, play board games or card games or watch a movie together.

    From the bulb to the computer, our life has changed a lot. If you are interested in a creative activity, you might as well put it into practice, starting from small things in daily life, to make your life more colorful.

注意事项：⑴词数90左右，开头已给出，不计入总词数

⑵文中不得出现真的地名、校名、人名等信息。

    Here is my design for the new app.

    I hope my ideas will be valuable to your company.