“It’s more important to keep your old friends than it is to make new friends.”
对这个观点，你是同意还是不同意？请结合实际，写一篇短文阐述你的看法。
内容可包括：
•你在这个问题上的立场；
•你选择这个立场的原因；
•通过具体事例或实际生活经历分析或证明你的观点。
Sue and Johnsy are friends and they live in one studio.
But Johnsy kept her bed. The doctor thought there was uncertain hope and he couldn’t see any confidence in Johnsy.
At the same time, Johnsy lay on the bed, looking through the small window and counted “10、9” and “8、7......” She said feebly. When the last leaf fell she must go.
Sue heard that and felt sad. She went to invite old Behrman, who was a painter with no achievement. And he always talked of his coming masterpiece.
Behrman heard the story of Johnsy from Sue.
After the beating rain and fierce wind that had endured through the night, there was still one leaf. And another terrible night, it was still here. Johnsy lay for a long time looking at it. Then she saw the life’s energy and wanted to live.
With the help of doctor and Sue, Johnsy was out of danger. But the bad news was that the old Behrman died of pneumonia. And they knew the secret that the last leaf was just a painting, drew by Behramn in that terrible night.
This is really a beautiful and sorrowful story. We can give other people energy, hope and love. You can see something glittering in our heart.
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2021年10月充满着希望，我们看到了二度出征太空的女宇航员，本届诺贝尔奖获得者出炉，电影《长津湖》（Battle of Chosin Reservoir）重现的抗美援朝战斗事迹……，各行各业的古今优秀人物为人类发展做出了积极贡献，是我们青年人学习的榜样，也是一些人的偶像。当然，我们青年人的偶像也可能是生活中的平凡之人。偶像的力量无穷，请谈谈你的偶像，及他或她之于你的力量。
内容必须包括：
1. 简要介绍你的偶像；
2. 以例子说明你的偶像身上的某些优秀品质；
3. 谈谈你从偶像身上学到了什么。
What Makes an Ideal Friend?
To say what an ideal friend is is not the easiest thing to do. Each person has his or her own opinion of what one would be. However, speaking generally, there are certain features that most people consider characteristic of an ideal friend. Loyal, trustworthy, and open to show weakness are common qualities that the majority of people attach to ideal friends.
Loyalty is a usual quality given to ideal friends. According to Psychology Today, “Loyalty is valued early on in all of our relationships, from the time we make our first friendships. We need friends who won’t spill our secrets to others, gossip about us, or allow others to criticize us”. The worst action between friends is not keeping one’s word.
Ideal friends are also usually referred to as being trustworthy. In a statement by Psychology Today, they say that, “Trustworthiness is often the “make or break” element in any interpersonal relationship. Any unfaithful action, regardless of recognized degree, can destroy a relationship. Trustworthiness consists of several elements, including honesty, dependability, and loyalty, and while each is important to successful relationships, honesty and dependability have been identified as the most vital in the area of friendships”. In light of this, a universal complaint of friends is a lack of honesty, and this is at the heart of being trustworthy.
In line with being honest is also the ability to show one’s weaknesses. According to the Book of Life, “The ideal friend doesn’t try to prove how powerful and successful they are; on the contrary, quite often they let us know awkward and potentially embarrassing things about themselves. They show how much they trust us by confessing failings and sorrows which would open them up to possible disgrace from the world beyond. They offer us the gift of their defenselessness”. That openness is treasured, as to be close to an individual, one must be willing to share his or her true feelings and states.
Richard Branson: Rags to Riches Richard Branson was not a good student. In fact, he quit school at the age of 16. That, however, did not stop him from becoming successful. Today, this billionaire is formally known as Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson. And he is one of the richest men in the United Kingdom. He is worth about US$4.6 billion. He even owns his own island.
After he left school, Richard started a magazine called Student. It was an overnight success. From there, he got involved in the record industry. He started a successful record store in London. After that, he started a record label called Virgin Records.
Clearly, music has been important to Richard’s success, but it is not the only thing he is involved in. He is the founder of the Virgin Group, which employs more than fifty thousand people and operates in fifty different countries. The groups is made up of hundreds of companies. Perhaps you have flown on a Virgin Airlines plane or bought music from a Virgin Megastore. If you dream of space travel, Virgin Galactic might be able to one day make that dream a reality.
The key to Sir Richard Branson’s success has been his ability to connect with people. He may not have gotten the best grades in school, but he is a charming and likeable businessman. Sir Richard’s story is unusual, but it provides hope to people all over the world. From average beginnings to great success, his story is truly one of “rags to riches.”
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Family Disputes and Arguments
There may be nothing worse than slammed doors,raised voices and tears but,according to new research,it's actually a good idea for parents who want to be close to their teenage children to have a row(吵架）a day.
Instead of causing alienation(疏远)，conflict can strengthen parent-adolescent relationships, says Tabitha Holmes,a specialist in adolescent development.“It was a complete surprise to me to discover during my research that teenagers themselves saw heated arguments as something that brought them closer to their parents,'said Holmes.“While their parents talked about how upsetting and destructive arguing with their child was,the adolescents were able to see how arguments helped them to understand their parents' points of view more clearly.
They were also very aware that a good row forced them to think through,express and defend their opinions and desires.'According to Holmes,it is the day-to-day conflicts-the very ones that can be so draining-—that are most constructive:the endless rows over homework,clothes and friends.It's vital for conflicts to be heated: calm discussion or animated debate does not count.‘Adolescents said they only told their mothers what they really felt and thought when they were forced to defend their position.'
“If your teenager is rowing with you,it's actually a mark of respect,'Holmes said.“It shows they value you enough to tell you their genuine feelings and thoughts.'To be positive,conflicts have to be handled in the right way,Holmes admitted.Parents need to listen genuinely to their teenager's viewpoint;it's necessary for them to be able to modify their own position in the light of what their child tells them;and they need to be respectful,to go into the row acknowledging that their child's point of view is worthwhile.
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请结合事例描述一位对你的成长有重要影响的师长。
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On an October afternoon last year, James Vernon, 76, was supervising a youth chess club meeting in a conference room in the Morton Public Library in Morton, Illinois. About 16 kids, aged seven to twelve, quietly faced off at two horizontal rows of tables, and James walked from pair to pair, overseeing the matches and offering tips. Four mothers sat off to the side, waiting for their kids to finish the weekly hour-long session.
Suddenly, a stocky teenager wearing glasses burst through the door at the front of the room JTm gonna kill some people!" he yelled.
At first, James, who was standing in the aisle between the tables, thought the bizarre sight was a Halloween prank, but then he saw the five-inch hunting knives that the teenager was holding in each hand. The teen, whom police later identified as Dustin Brown, 19, shouted incoherently and began cutting his left forearm with one of die knives. "As soon as I saw those knives and he started shouting, I knew this wasn't a prank/9 says James. UI thought I can't let something terrible happen."
James, a former computer-systems architect, spent 44 months in the US Army from 1962 to 1966. He had been trained in hand-to-hand combat, but he decided not to do that and to attempt to calm the boy instead by talking to him. "Hey, who are you?" “Where do you go to school? What's the problem?" James asked the boy. "Let's talk about this. I'll listen."
“My life is terrible, Dustin replied as he peered down at the floor and continued to cut his arm. While James talked to Dustin on one side of the room, Sandy Rassi, 40, the mother of three of the chess students, stood up on the other side. When she heard James say, "It's about time for these kids to head home," she motioned silently for the children to quietly leave the room one by one.
When Dustin finally looked up, he saw that the chairs were empty, and he lunged at James.
“I think he attacked me because I was the only one left,” says James.
Dustin swung the knife toward the man's neck and face, but James caught the blade with his left hand. With his hand bleeding, James continued to fight. He grabbed the necklace Dustin was wearing with his right hand and jerked him forward. Then James pinned the boy onto a table on his left side, hitting the right side of his collarbone with his uninjured fist. "I was trying to get him to drop the knives," says James.
It worked. Dustin let go of both weapons, and James kept the attacker under control until Morton police officers arrived a few minutes later.
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假定你是明启中学的学生李华。学校将举行一次演讲比赛，主题为我心目中的英雄。“灿烂星空，谁是真的英雄？”做出惊天动地之举的人是英雄，为追求真理献出生命的人是英雄，在平凡岗位上默默奉献的人是英雄……请你结合具体事例写一份演讲稿，阐述你心目中真正的英雄。
注意：作文中不得出现你本人的姓名、班级及学校等真实信息。
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A Father’s Influence Makes for Better Grades
Adolescents from low-income families in particular are more likely than their middle-class peers to underachieve and to drop out of school. Studies have shown that a positive attitude towards school work and the support and encouragement from their parents can help at-risk youngsters to overcome the economic barriers and lack of resources they face. Most of the evidence about the effects of parental involvement comes from research on mothers. Little is known, however, about how adolescents experience their fathers’ warmth and the beliefs and behaviors that are most affected by it.
This new study is part of a larger one focusing on low-income families conducted in four middle schools in the southwestern United States. Data were analyzed from questionnaires completed by 183 sixth-graders about how optimistic and motivated they were about their schoolwork, and how they experienced their fathers. The questionnaires were completed primarily by respondents of Mexican American, African American and European American descent. Their maths and language arts grades were also obtained.
Their findings show how fathers can support their teenagers in ways that result in greater optimism, self-efficacy, and, ultimately, higher achievement at school.
These positive effects extend to both sons and daughters, while in different ways. Experiencing their father’s warmth first influences daughters’ sense of optimism, and then spills over into their feeling more determined and certain about their academic abilities. This in turn leads to better math grades. There is a more direct link between their fathers’ involvement and teenage boys’ belief in their ability to succeed on the academic front. This heightened self-confidence increased their success in English language arts classes.
Suizzo suggests that counselors and educators should encourage fathers to communicate warmth and acceptance to their children, because of the positive influence these emotions have on their well-being.
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