浙江省杭州市钱江区（宁围）2023学年八年级上学期英语学情调...

How do other countries celebrate New Year's Day? Here are some of the special traditions for the holidays.

Twelve years ago, Mr. Brown, a friend of my parents went to Africa to help in a poor country. 

One afternoon, Mr. Brown took a walk in a town. The town was destroyed(破坏) during a war. He saw something moving in the long grass and thought it was an animal. As he got closer, he found it was a baby boy. The boy got hurt a little. Mr. Brown asked a guide, "Can we find his family?" The guide looked around and said, "I don't think so. " Finally, Mr. Brown adopted(收养) the baby with the help of many friends. The next year, Mr. Brown took him back to America and gave him the name Liam.

Liam isn't as big as the other kids, but he is a good student, and he is on our school football team. Everyone in our school likes Liam. Whenever there is a need, he always the first one to help out.

Last year, our school decided to sponsor ten poor children. We needed to raise money and sent it to them every month. Liam spent plenty of hours setting up the whole thing. In the end, we raised so much money that we were able to sponsor twenty children. 

Do you know why Liam always works so hard? Because many people have worked hard to give him a chance in life. 

There is a famous English saying, "You are what you eat", and it means what you put in your mouth will become part of you. Many experts(专家) use it to tell people it's important to have a good eating habit. For example, too much sweet food makes a person overweight. To keep from being fat, kids are told to keep off sweet food. However, a team of American scientists have found out something new about eating sweet food.

"When we say some people ‘sweet', we mean they are kind and friendly to us. Perhaps this word can help us learn more about people's feelings and acts. " said Brian Meier, a scientist from the study team. "Taste is something we experience every day. What we have done is to find whether we can know someone's character and behavior(行为) depending on their taste. "

In one of their experiments(实验), the scientists asked college students questions about their character whether they were soft-hearted or not. And then the students would make a list of their favorite food. According to their answers, the scientists found that the students who liked sweet food were nicer. 

In their another experiment, the scientists found that people who liked sweet food such as cookies and chocolate were more willing to help other people in need, and those who ate non-sweet food such as chips weren't. For example, people with a sweet tooth were more likely to volunteer to clean up their city, visit sick children in the hospital and so on.

The result of the experiments is that people's helpfulness or being nice has something to do with their taste for sweet food. So, eating sweet food is a useful way to make people nice and helpful. Next time, try some ice-cream.

Language students often think they have memory(记忆) problems. They worry because they can't remember words. In fact, the problem usually isn't with their memory. The problem is with how they study. In my opinion, using a right way is the most important.

To remember words better, you need to understand how memory works. There are two kinds of memory: short-term and long-term. When you see, hear, or read something, it goes first into short-term memory. But short-term memory lasts for only a few seconds, that means we will forget things soon in short-term memory. You will only remember something longer if it goes into long-term memory. Your long-term memory is like a very big library with many books. And like a library, it's organized. When you put away a book or memory, you can't just leave it anywhere. You have to choose a place where you can find it again.

How can you do this with vocabulary(词汇)? The answer is to work with the word and think about the word in new ways. You can do this by writing new sentences with the word in it. Even better, you can invent a little story about the word, with people or places that you know. Another way is to make a picture in your mind with the word. For example, if the word is "height", you can think of the tallest person you know and try to guess his or her height. All of these activities are good ways to think about words. They make the meaning of words stronger in your long-term memory. And they give a way to find a word when you need it.

This is my idea about how to improve ways to remember words, and I hope it can help you. 

How to be Outgoing

If you think you are too shy and want to be a little outgoing, try the following. You can make it. 

There's no need to hide it. When they get to know you are a shy kid, they'll understand you better. This also helps you feel more comfortable when talking with others.

Smile to others so they will think you are friendly and easy to talk to. Remember that other people have feelings too and most people will stay away from an angry-looking face. 

Try to start a conversation. If you find it hard to do so, say something nice about people around you. Think about how great you feel when someone says something nice to you. Doesn't it make you want to keep talking to those people?

Don't waste time worrying about your looks or if people like you. Think more about ways to enjoy the party or the game.

Each time after you say "hi" to someone for the first time, say to yourself "You did it!" or it could be something bigger, like buying yourself an ice-cream.

Keep trying and one day you won't be "shy" anymore when you talk to others.

Jackie Han is a 22-year-old man. He sets a good1 for many young people because of his big success. 

Jackie Han was born(出生) in a very2 family. His parents worked in Vietnam before they moved to Britain. They couldn't find jobs in Britain3 they couldn't speak much English. So the4 family had to live on benefits(救济金). Growing up was not easy for Jackie, but he5 lost his hope.

At the age of 10, Jackie Han had a beautiful dream. He6 to go to a famous university(大学)—Cambridge University. It was not7 for him, because Jackie studied at a "special" school and his school was called "the8 school in Britain". However, young Jackie9 his mind to try his best, no matter(不论) what kind of bad school he was studying at. The smart boy studied very10 and got good grades in every subject at school.

Now Jackie Han makes his dream11 . He is an excellent student at St. John's College, Cambridge, and he usually12 prizes for his high grades. But Jackie Han thinks he needs to work harder than before. He says he hopes his story can help13 young people from poor families. "You can make a difference14 hard work, "Jackie Han always says, "Just15 , where there is a will, there is a way. "

Last Friday, we enjoyed ourselves at school. Our school(have) a great sports meeting. 

My friend Hellen was (good) of all. She isfantastic player, and she (win) the first place in the 100-meter race. Nelly thought Sam was much (funny) than any other player, because all the people couldn't stop(laugh) when he is there to say something. Our math teacher thought Mark was similarLarry. He couldn't tell the differences between them. Greg joined a high jump Competition. he tried to do it, he didn't get points at all.

At last, some teachers joined the relay(接力) race, too. The relay race looked(excite). The sports meeting was very  (success). We felt very tired but happy. 

Dear Jack, 

Thank you for your letter. 



 

Best wishes. 

Yours, 

Tom