As my father walked into the room, my brother became nervous. He knew that he had done something     ___________ . From a distance I could see that he had opened my father’s new book and drawn all over the first page with a pencil. Now, staring at my father fearfully, he and I both waited for his   _________   .

My father picked up his much-loved book, looked at it __________   for quite a while, and then sat down, without saying a word. Books were important to him. He was a teacher and had several degrees. For him, books were knowledge, and yet he loved his children. What he did next was remarkable. Instead of punishing my brother, he sat down, took the pen from my brother’s hand, and then       ___________     in the book himself, alongside the drawings made by John: John’s work, 1959, age 2. You have made the book priceless, I’m very thankful to you for drawing in my book.

The years and the books came and went.     Our family _________ what all families go through and perhaps a little bit more: success and failure, gain   and loss, __________ and tears. From time to time we would open the book, look at the drawings, read my father’s words of ________ , and feel uplifted.

Now I know that through this simple act my father   ________   us how every bad event in life can have a positive side—if we are prepared to look at it from another angle—and how precious it is when our lives are touched by the     __________     of others. But he also taught us about what really __________   in life: people, not objects: tolerance, not judgment; love, not anger.

Each time I think about these things, I will smile and whisper, “Thank you, Dad.”

Slowly but surely, Amy and her grandparents were making progress. Boxes of all sizes were placed on top of each other throughout the house. Amy’s grandparents had lived in the house for years and they had collected many things.

The dining room was full of memories. Amy’s grandfather kept many fine dinner plates (盘子) from his hometown. Amy remembered that they ate from the red, yellow, and blue plates during important holidays.

After carefully wrapping up (包裹) the plates and putting them into a box, Amy lifted it up and moved it out of the way. But the box was too heavy. It suddenly fell from her arms and dropped to the floor. All three of them heard the plates shatter.

“I’m sorry!” Amy apologized.

“It’s okay,” her grandfather said quietly. “It was an accident.”

They opened the box and, sure enough, many of the plates were broken. Only a few remained whole. Looking at the small pieces, Amy felt really terrible. She knew these plates were passed down from her great grandparents.

“Don’t worry,” her grandmother said, patting her on the back. Carefully, they put the broken pieces into a rubbish bag.

They continued packing for a little while, but Amy still felt very sorry. She was trying very hard to think of a way to make it up for her grandparents.

Soon, Amy’s father came.

“I have to go,” she said. “Dad is here to pick me up.”

She kissed her grandparents both, picked up the bag of the broken pieces and left.

“What’s that?” her father asked, as Amy climbed into the car.

Amy looked at the bag in her hands as an idea came to her. “This,” she said, “is an art project.”

The following day, Amy went to an art store and bought everything she needed. Then she started to work. She used a thin board as the base. Then she took out the colourful plate pieces and glued them in a creative way on the board. When it was dry, Amy wrapped it up.

A few days later, Amy’s family had a big dinner at her grandparents’ new house. She handed her gift to her grandparents.

“This is fantastic, Amy!” said her grandfather.

“I can’t wait to hang it up in our new home,” Amy’s grandmother said as she gave her a big hug.

Video cameras are everywhere, such as schools, theaters and stores. But in recent years, they have entered our homes. Many parents set up cameras at home to watch their children's online classes and homework. Are cameras really helpful? What do students think about it? Let’s look at two students’ opinions.

Kathy: Earlier last year, I liked to lie in bed and watch videos instead of studying. This influenced my study and made my grades worse. So my parents set up a camera to keep an eye on me. It worked. With the camera watching, I had to do my homework first and make plans for studying at home. When I was alone at home, the camera made me feel safe because I knew that my parents were watching on the other side. My grades improved after a year.

Jack: When I was in Grade 8, my parents set up a camera in my room. I really didn’t like it because I felt there were always eyes watching me. I felt so uncomfortable that I couldn’t sleep well at night. Knowing there was a camera around when my friends came to my home, they spoke quietly and carefully. We couldn’t play freely. I was sad. So I asked my parents to take the camera away. They agreed it as long as I promised to behave well. I feel happy and free now.

Everyone needs help sometimes.     32     That’s why communities have special people ready to lend a helping hand to anyone who needs it.

For example, what would we do without a community fire station? If a home catches on fire, as the Jackson place did last week, it might be burned down and people get hurt or worse. We’re so lucky to have firemen to come to save people and put out the fire safely.       33         

And what about our local police who protect our families, our homes and valuable things? The police have helped so many families this past year, especially saving people and pets and protecting our houses and other things after the heavy rains.

    34     We have people who collect waste and rubbish and keep our community sanitary. We have road workers who put up and repair traffic signs and fix holes in the streets to protect not just us, but our cars! And where would this community be without the teachers in our school and the doctors, and nurses in our community hospitals?

Think again about what we eat every day, think again about what we wear every day.       35     We get a lot from all these tireless workers who keep our community running. We need these people in the community. We depend on each other. Let’s support each other and help each other.

    36    

Today making a phone call is as common as having a glass of water. But when telephones     42     (invent) more than 130 years ago, people believed that they were dangerous.

In 1876, when the     43     (one) telephone was demonstrated to the public, electricity was still new and little understood. Many people had died working with electricity in the early days. That’s the reason     44     most people did not easily accept that it was safe to hear a human voice through the phone.

But     45     the morning of March 10, 1876, Alexander Bell and his assistant Thomas Watson, had no such fears. Bell, and Watson had been trying to make     46     (they) new invention, the telephone work. Bell sent his assistant to a room in the basement. In a room upstairs, the telephone inventor spoke seven little words into his invention. These simple     47     (word) changed the world forever, “Mr. Watson, come here. I want you.”

The telephone was born in March 1876, but     48     took a few more years for it to get respect. Bell had to overcome the fears about electricity before people took his invention     49     (serious). He     50     had to convince(使……相信) people there was a need for such a machine.

Today, we take telephones in agreement. But on that day in March 1876, there were only two telephones in     51     whole world.

Our world sure has changed, don’t you think so?

Up to 65 % of children don’t get as much sleep as they should do, and this can make them nervous and slower at school, scientists say.

So how long should young people sleep each night? The answer is between eight and ten hours. If you don’t get enough sleep at night, you’ll have less energy the next day.

But the scientists say many children have missed out on 4,500 hours of sleep by the time they are seven years old. They say that children miss sleep because they have TVs and computers in their rooms, and busy parents don’t read to their younger children at night any more. The traditional “bedtime story” helps children to relax and fall asleep peacefully. Children with TVs and computers in their bedrooms are more likely to sleep badly, and to get less than eight hours’ sleep. Even losing one hour’s sleep a night can mean that children do less well at school.

German scientists think that your brain keeps working while you are asleep. To show that they were right, they gave two groups of people a problem to work out. One group went to sleep, and the other group stayed awake. The result? The people who slept worked out the answer more quickly. This showed that their brains had been trying to find the answer while the people were asleep. So, make sure you get enough sleep tonight, and you’ll be at your best tonight, and you’ll be at your best tomorrow!

63. 初中生活，精彩纷呈。回首过去，你是否感到充实和快乐？展望未来，你是否对高中生活充满期待？请结合以下提示写一篇毕业班会演讲稿。

Thank you for giving me the chance____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

That’s all. Thank you for listening.