US Schools ban bake sales
Can you bake（烘烤）? In the United States, children learn to bake from a very young age. They have “bake sales” at school. It is a tradition（传统）.
Students bake sweet treats（甜品）at home. Then they sell the treats at school. The schools make money. They may use the money to pay for field trips, art and sports activities.
However, now there are some different ideas about bake sales. Twenty-four states（州）don’t let students sell or buy sweets during the school day. They follow the Smart Snack rules. The rules say food at school must be healthy. But sweets like cakes and cookies can be bad for students’ health. So students have different ideas about bake sales.
Tracy doesn’t like bake sales. She says they aren’t good for children and there are other ways to raise（筹集）money. For example, schools can sell water. Schools should care more about students’ health.
But Ana likes bake sales. She thinks it’s more fun to buy cakes than carrot sticks（棒）. Students can make baked food healthier. They can use natural ingredients（天然食材 ）. Also, baking is a nice way for students to spend time with their friends and family.
US Schools ban bake sales | |
| Introduction | In the United States, children learn to bake when they are very As a traditional activity, students bake the treats at home, then sell The school pay for some activities |
Different | 24 states don’t let students sell or buy sweets when they are in the The rules say food at school must be |
| Tracy They are bad for children and schools can try something | |
| Ana likes bake sales. Baking is a nice way for them to spend time with their friends and family, too. | |
2 . It’s 7 a.m. It’s time to go to school. What? You don’t want to go? Well, maybe you don’t have to. Many children don’t go to school. They stay at home. Someone teaches them at home. Usually, their parents teach them, but sometimes a special teacher teaches them. This is home schooling.
There are many reasons for home schooling. Some children are very ill and can’t go to school. Some students live very far in the country. There aren’t any schools near their homes. Sometimes, parents just don’t like schools near their home.
Home schooling sounds easy, but it’s really not. Home —school students have to do the same work as school students. They study the same subjects and have homework. Also, home school students don’t meet other students in school. Sometimes, finding friends can be hard for them. Not going to school can be harder than you think.
| What is home schooling? | Some children study at home. |
| Some special teachers or their | |
| Why do some students study at home? | They are They don’t live The school near their home is not |
| What do students do at home? | They learn the same They also have |
| The disadvantage（缺点）of home schooling | Usually students at home don’t have many |
| Conclusion（结论） | In fact home schooling is |
| School | Information |
| Sunshine Town School | Old but big, 1, 200 students, 90 teachers, the Reading Club, the Swimming Club, two big halls, four buildings. |
| Starlight Town School | New and big, 2, 000 students, 140 teachers, 8 buildings, 7 computer rooms, an art room, the Football Club, the Reading Club. |
| Moonlight Town School | New and modern but small, 500 students, 60 teachers, 20 classrooms, two libraries, the Reading Club, the Basketball Club, the Volleyball Club. |
| Yuying Art School | New and modern, an art school, 300 students, 65 teachers, 6 dancing rooms and 4 music rooms, the Singing Club, the Drawing Club, the Reading Club, the Volleyball Club. |
1. How is Starlight Town School？________
| A．It’s new and modern. | B．It’s old but big. |
| C．It’s new and big. | D．It’s new and small. |
| A．300. | B．500. | C．1200. | D．2000. |
| A．Moonlight Town School. |
| B．Starlight Town School. |
| C．Sunshine Town School. |
| D．Yuying Art School |
| A．Moonlight Town School. |
| B．Starlight Town School. |
| C．Sunshine Town School. |
| D．Yuying Art School |
| A．There are two big halls in Sunshine Town School. |
| B．There is a Swimming Club in Yuying Art School. |
| C．There are three libraries in Moonlight Town School. |
| D．There are eight computer rooms in Starlight Town School. |
Weekends are short. They are only two days out of a seven-day week. To make your weekends longer, you need to plan it better. Here are some ideas.
● Get up at your usual(平常的) time. The biggest mistake(错误) is to think that the weekend is a good chance(机会) to get up late. So getting up early can make you feel the weekends are longer.
● Finish homework as early as possible(尽快地). Nobody wants to do homework, but we have to do it. The earlier you do it at the weekend, the better you will feel. You can do homework from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. On Saturday morning. After doing your homework, you can plan your weekends well.
● Go out to enjoy weekends. Weekends feel longer if you go out and enjoy them. Think about what you like to do. You can plan a sports activity, for example, playing football in the park. You can also plan to go to a museum, a zoo or a park.
How to spend your short
| Some | ● Get up at your ● It’s not right to think the weekend is a good chance to | |
| 1.Finish your homework as 2.Plan your weekends well after | ||
| ● you can ● You can go to a museum, a zoo or a park | ||
| If so, you will feel weekends are | ||
It’s the new school term! You will have a lot of fun at your new school, but you must work hard too! When will your new school life be like? How can you make it fun? Are you ready for middle school life? Maybe you are a little nervous. Going to middle school is a big change: First, it takes time to get to know a new place. Second, you will have more teachers and study more subjects. Middle school life is different from primary school life. You will have a lot more homework to do. There are more exams than before. You will also learn to take care of yourself.
All of these changes can be scary.
Don’t worry! Here are some useful tips to make this school year a good one.
How to…
Prepare to study.
Remember to take all your school things. Set a regular （规律的） time to do your homework. If you have any problems with your homework, try to ask your parents or teachers for help.
Get a good night’s sleep.
Go to bed early the night before your first day of school. If you can’t sleep, drink a glass of warm milk. It makes you calm. Before bed, lay out（ 摆出）all your things, That's way, you won’t forget anything.
Make new friends.
Be kind and smile often. Introducing yourself is a good way to meet people. Try your best to help others when they are in trouble（困难）.You can also invite someone to play with you or have dinner together.
Have a good day.
A big breakfast starts a good day. Try to be brave （勇敢的）. Say ‘Hi’ to your new classmates. In class, listen to your teachers and take notes（做笔记）
Relax.
You can talk about your problems with your parents or teachers. Sharing your problems with your friends will also make you feel better.
| • You need to • You may have to make new friends. • You will have more teachers and study more subjects. • Middle school life is not the | ||
Prepare to study | Don’t | |
Get a good night’s sleep. | Go to bed early the night before your first day of school. Drinking a glass of warm milk is | |
Make new friends | It is a good way to meet people if you can be kind, smile often and | |
Have a good day | A big breakfast starts a good day. Don’t be | |
| You can talk about your problem with your parents or teachers. Sharing your problems with your friends will also make you feel better. | ||
6 . On the 15th day of the eighth lunar（阴历的）month every year, people celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. In this year, it falls on October 1st. Watching the moon and eating moon cakes are some of the fun activities we do during this traditional festival.
They look up at the moon and give best wishes to each other. The full moon stands for being together with friends and family.
Also, many popular legends and poems are about the moon. They all show how Chinese people appreciate（欣赏）the moon. The most famous legend is about the lady Chang’e. Long ago, people said there were 10 suns in the sky. Her husband Hou Yi shot down nine of them. The Empress of Heaven（王母娘娘）gave him a magic pill（仙丹）as a reward. This pill would make him live forever. However, Chang'e took the pill by accident. Then she flew to the moon and lived there forever.
Another legend tells the story of a woodcutter（伐木工）named Wu Gang. He had to cut down trees because he once made the Jade Emperor（玉皇大帝）angry. But the magical tree kept growing back. So he had to workendlessly.
There are a lot of poems about moon too. For example, Su Shi of the Song Dynasty wrote his famous The Mid-Autumn Festival, Tune: Prelude to Water Melody.（《水调歌头•明月几时有》）
1. The Mid-Autumn Festival is on ________.| A．15th day of the eighth lunar month every year | B．October 1st every year |
| C．1st day of the tenth lunar month every year | D．August 15th every year |
| A．watching the moon and eating moon cakes are important |
| B．the full moon stands for being together with friends and family |
| C．they like looking up at the moon and give best wishes to each other |
| D．They want to show how Chinese people appreciate the moon. |
①The Empress of Heaven gave him a magic pill as a reward.
②Hou Yi shot down nine of suns.
③Chang’e flew to the moon and lived there forever.
| A．①②③ | B．①③② | C．②①③ | D．②③① |
| A．yearly | B．forever | C．quickly | D．carefully |
7 . Boys and girls, do you like tigers? Do you know any festivals about tigers? There is one in Russia(俄罗斯)—Tiger Day Festival. People in Vladivostok celebrate the festival in September every year. On that day, people go on parade(游行) on the street. Then they do some activities. People can also watch films to learn about tigers.
What a cute cat! But can you find out that it is a cake? It is at the Pastry Festival (糕点节) in Istanbul, Turkey.(土耳其)
People in Turkey love eating pastry. This year’s festival is on March 10 and 11. About 200 cooks come to the festival. They make lots of delicious and beautiful cakes and pies for visitors.
What’s on this woman’s back? Flowers! She is at the Flower Festival of Medellin Colombia.
People celebrate the festival in early August of each year. The most important part of the festival is the flower parade(游行). Each flower farmer can be in different colourful clothes.They carry different kinds of flowers on their backs.
阅读以上信息，完成下列表格，每空一词。
Different festivals around the world | ||
Names of the festivals | Ways to celebrate the festival | |
Tiger Day Festival | In September | People go on parade on the streets and do some activities. People can learn about by watching films |
The Pastry Festival | In March | Cooks make |
The | In August | Farmers They carry flowers on their backs to take part in a parade. |
8 . Homework might be many kids’ least favorite part of school. It seems that Chinese kids have to do a lot of homework.
My friends, for example, have two children who go to school in China. They both have at least three hours of homework a night — when I was growing up, I almost never had more than an hour. The way we do homework seems to be different as well. In Chinese schools, there is a lot of memorization (背诵). We do this in the US as well, but we do more “out of the box” thinking, especially in some subjects, such as English. For example, we would write our own poems or short stories. We’d have to come up with the characters and plots (情节).
But then again, Chinese students usually do better than US students in maths. Some say it is because they spend more time memorizing things, such as formulas. They can help Chinese students do maths exercises.
1. The children of the writer’s friend _______.| A．can finish their homework in an hour |
| B．do more homework than the writer did |
| C．are better students than the writer |
| D．do homework together at home |
| A．students don’t need to do any memorization |
| B．teachers use creative thinking tasks more often |
| C．students cannot improve their writing skills |
| D．students write long stories in English class |
| A．结果 | B．单词 | C．公式 | D．古诗 |
| A．Chinese students can think “out of the box” |
| B．American students don’t like doing math homework |
| C．Chinese students spend more time memorizing things |
| D．American students think math is not important |
A good book can teach you things beyond your class. It can open your eyes and clear your minds. Here are a lot of ways to have a good reading habit (习惯).
Plan your time
You should give yourself at least half an hour in all for reading every day. When time is set, nothing can change it. For example, make it a habit to read during breakfast or lunch time.
Always carry a book
Wherever you go, take a book with you. When you leave the house, make sure that you always carry a good book as well as your school things. Remember that a book always stays with you.
Find a quiet place
Find a place in your home where you can sit in a comfortable chair. When you read a book, no one will trouble you. There should be no televisions, computers, music or even noisy family members around you.
Have a library day
Have a library card, and you can read as many good books as possible in the library. For example, you can go to the library on Saturdays and Sundays. You can save a lot of money.
Blog it
One of the best ways to develop a good reading habit is to put it on your blog. If you don’t have one, create (创建) one. It’s free. Ask your friends and family to go there to share your ideas and offer you many suggestions (建议).
Title （标题） | Some ways to have a good |
Plan your | You should read at least Make it a habit to read during breakfast or lunch time. |
Always carry a book | Make |
Find a quiet place | Find a place |
Have a | It is a very cheap way to read good books in the library. You can go on a trip to the library at |
Blog it | Creating a blog is |
10 . Who is the best teacher in Chinese history? Many would say Confucius (孔子). Born in 551 BC in the state of Lu, Confucius was a great teacher. He taught about 3,000 students, and many of them became great thinkers too.
This September, people around the country celebrated Confucius’ 2,570th birthday. They recited (背诵) his teachings, had ritual (庆典的) dances, and bowed (鞠躬) to his picture.
Now people still love him after so many years because his ideas help them in daily lives. His most important ideas are to be kind to others, be honest (诚实的), and have good manners (举止).
Confucius said that young people should take care of the old. Brothers and sisters should love each other. Everyone should be strict with themselves, but be kind to others. These ideas are popular in China and many other places around the world. People think that Confucian wisdom (智慧) will make the world a better place.
1. What was Confucius?2. How many students did he teach?
3. Why do people still love him after so many years?
4. What should young people do according to（据……所说）Confucius?
5. Where are Confucius’ ideas popular now?
