A friend of mine told me a story about Thanksgiving, a holiday American people celebrate on the fourth Thursday of November. It is their custom to give thanks to God for the harvest. A big dinner is prepared, and turkey is the main dish.
One Thanksgiving Day, a teacher of a primary school asked her first graders what they were grateful for. She asked them to draw a picture of it. These children were from poor neighborhoods. Their families could hardly provide them with a big dinner most of them would draw pictures of turkeys on tables, because they had looked forward to having turkey for a long time. The teacher was surprised and puzzled by the picture that Jack handed in — a hand, a simple childishly (幼稚地) drawn hand!
But whose hand? The class was excited by the strange painting. “I think it must be the hand of God that brings us food,” said one child. “It must be the farmer’s hand,” said another, “because he raises turkeys.”
Finally, when the others were back at work, the teacher bent over Jack’s desk and asked whose hand it was. “It’s your hand, Teacher,” he said in a weak voice.
She remembered she had taken Jack, a poor shy child, by the hand several times. She often did that with the children. But it meant so much to Jack. Perhaps this was everyone’s Thanksgiving, not for the material things given to us, but for the chance, in whatever small way, to give to others.
1. What does Thanksgiving mean to Americans?2. What happened on Thanksgiving Day at a primary school?
3. Why was the teacher surprised?
4. What did the class say about it?
5. It is the teacher’s hand, isn’t it?
6. What is the true meaning of Thanksgiving according to the author?
When children are faced with problems, they may not be able to deal with them. Children need to learn how to solve problems. You can help them to learn it. The best way is to take the time to talk about problems as they happen. Of course, this is not easy to do. Problems have a way of bursting upon (突然发生) someone at the worst time. But even if the time is not the best, you should try to help.
There are many things you can do to help children learn problem-solving skills. One of the good ways is to find out what made the problem happen. This is a skill that children won’t learn without help. A child may knock over a glass of milk at the dinner table, but he may not realize that the glass was too close to the edge. You can show the child what the problem is. Then it can be solved.
The next step for children is to learn how to solve the problem alone. This step takes courage. Some of them are so afraid of being wrong that they cannot solve problems. You can help them by talking about some possible answers. You and the child can decide which answer is the best. Let the children try it out. Now the children will see that problems can be solved, and you can praise them for choosing a good answer.
Another step to problem-solving is to help children see the laws of cause and effect (因果规律). If a glass is knocked over, it will fall and break. If children might like to write on the wall, the pencil always leaves a mark. Soon the children will see the link(链接) between cause and effect, and then they are on the road to growth. When children see someone else knock over a glass, they now know that it will break. When they see writings on the wall, they can tell how it got there.
The ability to solve problems is not easy for children to learn. It is not easy for adults either. It takes patience for you, and it takes practice for the child. But problem-solving can be taught. All you need is time and effort.
1. Children should learn to deal with problems.2. When problems happen, you needn’t help them. They should deal with them by themselves at first.
3. We should help children to learn problem-solving skills.
4. We should help children find out what made the problem happen.
5. Children should learn to solve problems alone without any help.
6. Another step to problem-solving is we should help children see the laws of cause and effect.
7. This passage is mainly to tell how to help children to deal with problems when they face them.
3 . A trip to France(法国)
Do you want to visit the famous Eiffel Tower? Do you want to enjoy yummy French food? Do you want to know more about the second Summer Olympic Games? Let’s go to Paris!
Where is France?
| Population (人口) | 61, 685, 000 (约为中国人口的1/20) |
| Area (面积) | 544,000 km2 (约为中国国土面积的1/18) |
| Capital (首都) | Paris |
| National flag (国旗) |  |
| National bird (国鸟) | Rooster(公鸡) |
2. France is the south-west of China.
3. The national bird of China is rooster.
4. There are sixty-one million six hundred and eighty-five thousand people in France.
5. The capital of London is Paris.
6. You can go to London to visit the Eiffel Tower.
With her eyes feeling increasingly tired and unclear, 16-year-old Sun Run went to the hospital with her parents in January. She was shocked when she found out that her eyesight was from 5. 0 to 4. 6 in only a term. “A few of my friends have had the same experience lately,” Sun said.
In fact, poor eyesight among Chinese primary and high school students rose from 59. 2 percent to 70. 6 percent in the first six months of 2020 because of online classes.
To protect students’ eyesight, the Chinese government has worked out new requirements for school supplies (供应) and equipment (设备) that will work on March 1, 2022.
According to the requirements, the size of text in students’ textbooks should be no smaller than nine-point. Teachers should also avoid using multimedia (多媒体) equipment like screens that are too bright. There are also requirements for desk and classroom lights. For example, these lights should give off as little blue light as possible. Blue light is bad for our eyes, but many of the electronic instruments we use every day, including our phones and computer screens, give off blue light.
Chinese government has also taken other steps to protect students’ eyesight in China. In May 2021, the National Health Commission required schools to make sure that students have at least two hours of outdoor activity a day.
1. Sun Run’s eyesight increased by 0.4 in only a term.2. We can infer that the rise of students with poor eyesight over the first half of 2020 is caused by long time’s looking at screens.
3. There are 3 requirements for school supplies and equipment mentioned in the passage to protect students’ eyesight.
4. Teachers should stop using screens or other multimedia equipment to protect students’ eyesight.
5. The purpose of the passage is to tell students how to use electronic instruments correctly.
5 . We saw an interesting documentary some days ago. It says that before you go to another country, it is a great help if you know the language and some of the customs of the country.
When people meet each other for the first time in Britain, they say “How do you do?” and shake hands. Usually they do not shake hands when they haven’t met for a long time or when they will be away from each other for a long time.
Last year, a group of German students went to England for a holiday. Their teacher told them that the English people hardly shake hands. So when they met their English friends at the station, they kept their hands behind their backs. The English students had learned that the Germans shake hands as often as possible, so they put their hands in front and got ready to shake hands with them. It made both of them laugh.
1. It is not helpful if you know the language and some customs of the country you want to go to.2. English people usually shake hands when they meet for the first time.
3. Usually English people don’t shake hands when they haven’t met for a long time.
4. German people hardly ever shake hands.
5. This passage is about a holiday.
6 . Spain is famous for its Tomato Festival, called La Tomatina.
It happens in a small town Bunol on the last Wednesday of August every year. During the festival there are all kinds of activities, but the most exciting part is the tomato fight. It takes place at the end of the long celebration. You are encouraged to throw tomatoes in the fight.
There’re many stories about how the festival began. One of the stories goes that during the 1940’s, some friends started a tomato fight, while another story is about a local band. Anyway, everyone in Bunol seems to have a different story.
Before the tomato fight, there are parades (游行), musical bands, street parties and so on. On the day of the fight, shopkeepers cover their windows and doors in order to keep away from the tomato fight. At the same time, thousands of tourists and local people come to the town square together. Then large trucks (卡车) full of tomatoes arrive. From the back of the large trucks, a great town band starts to throw tomatoes at others. Then the crowds fight back, throwing the tomatoes at anything and anyone. Soon the streets are in the sea of red tomato juice.
Everyone is supposed to obey a small number of rules: You must squash (压烂) the tomato before throwing it and you are allowed to throw nothing but tomatoes.
It is usually over in less than half an hour. Everyone then sets off to the river to clear up. Sounds like fun!
1. La Tomatina is a festival in a big city Bunol of Spain.2. The most exciting activity of the festival is the tomato fight.
3. The stories about how the festival began are the same according to the passage.
4. On the fighting day, people can throw everything all the time.
5. This passage mainly talks about the Tomato Festival in Spain.
7 . Peter and Tom are good students and good friends. Peter is a good basketball player. Tom studies very well.
At the beginning of last term, Tom said to himself, “School is easy, so I don’t have to work hard at my studies. I’ll spend more time playing sports.” At the end of last term, all his marks were low except for (除了) PE. Tom found that school became more and more difficult. Peter was both happy and sad. He was sad because his friend had got low marks and he was also happy because his own marks were good. Peter told Tom to study first and then to play.
根据短文内容，判断正(T)误(F)。
1. Peter is good at playing basketball.
2. Last term, Tom played sports a lot and hi.s marks were still good.
3. Tom felt the school became more and more difficult at the end of last term.
4. Peter was happy because his friend got low marks.
5. From the story, we know as students, we should work hard and then play.
8 . It’s nice to be invited to birthday parties, but sometimes you have to say no. How do you politely (礼貌地) refuse an invitation?
◆Send it in.
If you get a written (书面的) or an e-mail invitation to a party, refusing politely is easy. All you have to do is to give a polite answer.
◆Ask for time to think.
Refusing a face-to-face invitation can be difficult. The polite way is to ask for time to check your calendar. Then, you have time to find a polite answer. Just make sure that if you’ve been invited in person, you’d better refuse it in person. It’s polite.
◆Be thankful.
Even if you have to refuse the invitation, thank him or her for the invitation all the same. If your only reason is a conflicting (冲突的) event, tell the host that you will come if the dates are different.
◆Be honest (诚实的).
This may be the most important thing in politely refusing an invitation. You wouldn’t want people to lie (说谎) to you, so it’s correct etiquette (礼节) to give an honest reason. Just say it in a polite way.
根据短文内容，判断下列句子正误。正确的用“A”表示，不正确的用“B”表示。
1. The writer gives us five pieces of advice.
2. We can refuse a face-to-face invitation by asking for time to check our calendar.
3. If an invitation conflicts with another event, you can tell the host that you will come if the dates are different.
4. To be thankful is the most important to refuse an invitation.
5. The main idea of the passage is how to politely turn down an invitation.
（1）What do you think the text is about when you read the title?
（2）What’s the text about according to the picture?
1. 观看鲨鱼的图片或视频，思考并回答以下问题：
1）What do you know about sharks?
2）Do you think sharks are endangered? Why?
3）What do you think might have caused a fall in the number of sharks?
2. 快速默读课本3a的短文，验证自己上一步的回答是否正确，师生共同核对答案。
3. 找出每段的主旨大意并连线。
Talk about shark fin soup. Para. 3
Sharks are endangered now. Para. 1
Appeal（呼吁） to people against eating shark fins. Para. 2
