Best Friends Forever (3)

@Harry I didn’t see you at school yesterday.     21     @Sophia I went to the hospital. @Harry    22     My eyes are sore often. The doctor said 1 had watched the screen for too long. We should protect our eyes.     23     Too many people are nearsighted nowadays. Yeah. The number of the nearsighted is more than 600 million in China. That’s terrible!     24     We should do eye exercises after online classes. And it is helpful to take breaks during reading.     25     @Harry You’re welcome. @Harry Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks to China’s “double reduction” policy (双减政策), students at Dashui primary school in Xinjian town, Guizhou province, set up a rock band to realize their _________ dreams. The policy allows students to study with less _________.

The band was set up in October. It is made up of seven students from different _________, with three guitarists, a drummer, a keyboardist, a bass player and a vocalist. They even made their own music.

On Nov. 9, students and teachers of the school _________ enjoyed a surprising show on the playground. They were _________ by the band’s performance.

“Students’ talent and dreams give them _________ that could help them fly away from the mountains,” said Fan Biao, an instructor (指导) of the band. He volunteered to _________ for three years at Dashui primary school.

“Last term, the average score of our school ranked (排列) first in the final exam of the primary school group in the county. The facts have shown that students are more _________ than before after carrying out the policy,” said Fan.

US online book seller Amazon picked the bestsellers of 2022. Let’s take a look!

We all have those moments when bright ideas hit us.     39     We believe creative thinking is the falling apple of Newton, but we seldom notice that creative thinking is in fact a process.

    40     Newton watched an apple fall from a tree while sitting in the garden. He began to wonder if the same force that pulled the apple down also kept the moon going around the earth.     41     He called it “gravity (重力)”. But when we cheer for the great discovery, the whole process of creative thinking shouldn’t be forgotten.

Newton studied math for long to have a better understanding of the world. He always enjoyed finding new ways to solve problems.     42     It also started the train of thought that continued for the next twenty years. Newton began to examine “gravity” carefully. He did lots of experiments (实验). Then he studied the results and used what he had learned to do new experiments. In 1687, the greatest scientific work came out.

    43     In school, we prepare ourselves for the right moment. Once the moment comes, we should catch it and then keep on working. It takes much to get the fruits of creative thinking, but the sweetest fruits will be ready for those who wait the longest.

What’s your dream job? How much do you know about your dream job? The questions are closely connected with your whole life. A group of students from Tianjin found most teenagers have little idea about their career (职业) plans.

To offer teenagers helpful career advice, the students from Tianjin TEDA No. 1 Middle School started a project called “Dian Zhi Cheng Shi”. “Our survey shows that 72 percent of students want to know more about different jobs. Doctors, accountants (会计) and lawyers are the top three,” said Wang Xinran, 16, the project leader.

Based on students’ needs, the team interviewed 32 professionals in different fields and posted their interviews on social media. Professionals share true stories behind each job, allowing students to learn about the jobs deeply. “We also invited the professionals to give speeches in our school so that students could talk to them face to face,” said Wang.

Team member Lyu Jinyan said his most impressive (印象深刻的) interview was with a photographer (摄影师). “I used to think being a photographer was easy. But now I know that they need to deal with lots of problems, such as a sudden change of weather.”

But the project doesn’t mean to disappoint students by telling them the truth. The project’s name means to turn a career into a poem. And the team hopes it can let students know that working is not just about bread and butter. It should be like a poem, full of love and beauty.

In 1519, the Portuguese man, Ferdinand Magellan started out from Spain with five ships. He was going to look for treasures in the East for the Spanish king. Magellan’s ships spent 1,082 days sailing across the world and came back to Spain in 1522. The first global voyage (环球旅行) showed a fact: Earth is round.

It’s a great discovery. At the time, the Europeans knew little about the world outside Europe. Most people thought Earth was flat (平的). They believed there were only three continents (大洲), Europe, Asia and Africa. There were strange people living in other parts of the world. Some had only one eye and some had huge ears.

Magellan found the truth during his voyage, and it changed the world forever. He might not expect this when he started the voyage.

Every coin has two sides. The discoveries of European explorers rewrote the map of the world. Different parts of the world connected together. World trade grew fast, too. Europeans could use spices from Asia. Chinese people started to eat corn and pepper from America. Coffee from Africa became popular in Europe and America. But the great discoveries also brought disasters. Some countries in Europe invaded (入侵) other places.

Teachers and schools try many things to stop students cheating in exams. But it is difficult to prevent all students     55     cheating.

Modern technology has given students new ways to cheat. A college in the Philippines has used a low-tech way of making sure that students only look     56     their own test papers. The college is getting students to wear anti-cheating hats during tests. The method was the idea of Mary Joy     57     is a professor in the college.

The students are happy with the idea     58     they can make their own hat. They have come up with all kinds of creations. The photos of the anti-cheating hats have gotten popular online. Many people say the hats are a “fun way” to make sure there     59     “honesty” in tests.

Lionel Messi is from the South American country of Argentina. He is considered as one of     60     soccer stars today. When he was a young boy, he always dreamed of becoming a World Cup champion (冠军). Now, he     61     his dream.

Messi started playing soccer at the age of 5. Even as a young boy, he did very well. But when he was 11 years old, he was diagnosed (诊断) to have an illness. It was difficult for him to grow much     62     then. At last, his parents found a way     63     him grow more, but they did not have enough money to pay for his medical needs. So they looked around for a soccer club that would be able to do this for     64    .

Luckily, young Messi     65     by the famous Barcelona club in Spain. The club paid for his bills. Then the Messi family moved to Spain. In the Barcelona soccer club, Messi surprised the world with his excellent     66     and hard-working spirit.

On Dec. 18, the 2022 FIFA World Cup     67     ended in Qatar. 35-year-old Lionel Messi first     68     the World Cup trophy (奖杯), after one of the most exciting matches ever against the champion of the last World Cup, France.

The game sees the torch (火炬) being handed to the young     69     who are led by Mbappe. It looks to be a bright future for international soccer.