八年级(下册)英语

A Special HobbyMany students have hobbies, such as reading,painting, growing vegetables in their gardens, andlooking after animals. Some hobbies are relaxing andothers are creative. Hobbies can make you grow as aperson, develop your interests and help you learnnew skills.David Smith is a student, and his hobby is writing. During the summer of 2000, he spent four weeks on a summer camp. As well as the usual activities, such as sailing, climbing and mountain biking, there was a writing workshop with a professional writer. "She asked us to imagine that we were in a story. Then we wrote about our experiences at the camp."In senior high school David wrote a story about teenage life, and it came out as a book in 2003. Many teenagers love his book, and as a result, David has become a successful young writer.David has been very lucky because his hobby has brought him enjoyment and success, but he is also interested in many other things. "I like playing volleyball, too," says David. "I spend some of my free time playing volleyball for my school team. Maybe I'll write more books in the future, but I'm not sure."It's sometimes difficult to remember that we shouldn't spend all our time on our favourite hobby. There are many other interesting things to do in life, and we should try to do something new or different.A Beautiful Smile—Zhang BeiWhen I was 13 years old, a boy gave me an important gift.It was a smile.It was the early autumn of my first year at a junior highschool, and my old school was far away. As a result, no oneknew who I was. I was very lonely, and afraid to make friendswith anyone.Every time I heard the other students talking and laughing, I felt my heart break.I couldn't talk to anyone about my problem, and I didn't want my parents to worry about me.Then one day, my classmates talked happily with their friends, but I sat at my desk unhappily as usual. At that moment, a boy entered the classroom. I didn't know who he was. He passed me and then turned back. He looked at me and, without a word, smiled.Suddenly, I felt the touch of something bright and friendly. It made me feel happy, lively and warm.That smile changed my life. I started to talk with the other students and made friends. Day by day, I became closer to everyone in my class. The boy with the lucky smile has become my best friend now.One day, I asked him why he smiled, but he couldn't remember smiling at me!It doesn't matter because all the dark days have gone. Now I believe that the world is what you think it is. If you think you are lonely, you might always be alone. So smile at the world and it will smile back.Radio Times"How old are you?" the radio studio manager at WXBN looked down at me."Fifteen," I said."And you want a job in radio? Shouldn't you be at school?" he asked.How could I explain? I've always loved the radio. When I was about four or five years old, I remember sitting close to the radio in the living room, listening to my favourite programmes, and to the voices of my favourite presenters. It seemed that they were speaking to me in person. At the age of nine, I asked for jobs in small radio stations.As I grew older, my interest in radio grew. One day I learnt about Internet radio. Once a week, I played my favourite music from my father's computer to the listeners, talked about life at school, and then closed down and did my homework.Soon my friends at junior high school started to listen, and then they wanted to help. We prepared the weekly programmes, articles about music, sports news, jokes and the weather report (I did this by looking out of the window)."OK, come with me," the WXBN manager said. I sat down in the studio, in front of a microphone. He was in another room, behind the glass wall."OK, let's do a sound check. Just tell me what you had for breakfast."All radio presenters begin work with the same question."I had eggs, fruit and some milk.""OK, that's great!" the man behind the glass said.And this was how my first real job in radio began.Smile, Please!If a snake bites you, take a photo with your mobile phone! It may save your life. This is the surprising advice of a British cook.One day Henry Jackson was working in a restaurant kitchen. He picked up a dish from the table, and suddenly a snake appeared ... and bit him on the hand.A few days earlier, the snake came to the restaurant from Asia in a box of bananas. It climbed out of the box and hid under the dish."I went to try to pick it up and it bit me again. I threw it across the kitchen, and it landed in the fridge. So I closed the door," Mr Jackson said.Anyway, Mr Jackson stayed cool and he took a photo ofthe snake with his mobile phone. Soon his hand began toache and he went to hospital. Then his chest began to hurt.Doctors couldn't say what was wrong because they didn'tknow what kind of snake it was.Then Mr Jackson remembered his mobile phone photo.The doctors sent it to London Zoo. When they knew the kind of snake, they could give Mr Jackson the right medicine, and he left hospital the next day."So my advice is this: If a snake bites you, pick up your phone. Take its photo first and then show the photo to the doctors," suggests Mr Jackson. "Oh, and if the snake doesn't smile for its photo, don't worry!"第五模块Dear DianaDo you have a problem? Write to Diana at New Standard Magazine, and ask for her advice.Dear Diana,Last week, my friend Da Wei brought a new computer game and asked to play it on my father's computer. But my father has warned me not to use his computer for playing games because he uses it for his job. I can only use it for my homework. He thinks that if I play games on it, it'll go wrong.Well, my dad was out, so we decided to try Da Wei's game. We copied it onto the computer and when we finished, we took it off the computer. We made quite sure my father didn't notice anything.But when my dad used the computer last night, he was really angry. The computer wasn't working because it had a virus!But I didn't tell him about the computer game.Now I feel terrible. It's going to be expensive to mend it. Should I tell him about the computer game? Should I offer to pay?Yours,SteveDear Steve,Oh dear! You've made two mistakes. First, you used your dad's computer when he told you not to. Second, you didn't tell him about the game. Yes, you must tell him immediately. If you tell him the truth, he'll be angry with you, but at least you'll prove how honest you are.Then I think you should offer to pay. But you shouldn't use your pocket money—after all, your parents gave you that money. If you offer to do some jobs around the home, or maybe help him with his work, he'll realise that you're truly sorry.Oh, and next time, play football with Da Wei!Best wishes,Diana第六模块Good morning. I'm Chen Huan. Here's my culture report for today, Monday:A new film starts tonight at the student cinema at eight o'clock. The film is Pirates of the Caribbean. It's a fantastic adventure film. Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom are the stars. They are both very popular and famous, and they both act well in this film, and make their characters believable.The story is about an old ship. It sails around the Caribbean islands. Depp and Bloom try to find some lost gold. Then they come face to face with some terrible men, and have to fight them. There's lots of action, and the fighting looks really dangerous. They also save Keira Knightley. She plays Elisabeth, the daughter of a rich man. The scenes with Knightley and Bloom are beautiful and romantic.The film isn't true to life, but it's very exciting, and some of it is very funny. It's an enjoyable film, although in my opinion there's too much fighting. But except for that, it's an excellent film. If you didn't see it when it first came out, I advise you to go and see it now. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. It's showing all week.第七模块Dear Mum and Dad,We're spending some time off with Lingling's uncle in Hunan Province, and I'm having a wonderful time here in Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area. It's very large, about 390 square kilometres, and it's a magic land of mountains, forests and rivers. It's famous for the strange shape of its tall rocks. Some people think they look like soldiers, and others think they look like animals. Before Wu Guanzhong, a famous Chinese painter, painted some beautiful pictures of it in 1979, few people knew about the area.Last night we camped by a small lake. During the night, I heard a loud noise, as if someone was laughing. I woke up Lingling and her uncle, and I asked them what the noise was. Lingling's uncle told us not to worry, and left the tent to find out what it was. After a few minutes, he told us to come out quietly. Then he pointed into the forest. It was a monkey. When it saw us, it jumped up into the trees and went back into the forest.This morning we took a cable car up Mount Tianzi—it was quite safe! From the top we hoped for a wonderful view of the lakes and forests, but we could only see the mountain tops through the clouds. Then we walked down the path, past trees, waterfalls and plants back to our tent. I pulled a leaf off a plant, but Lingling's uncle told me to wash my hands, and not to touch it, because it was dangerous. He also said that it was wrong to pull leaves and we should protect everything here. I felt sorry.Tomorrow we're going to the second largest fresh water lake in China, Dongting Lake.We'll go back to school next week! Wish you were here!Love,Sally第八模块People all over the world celebrate the new year. However,not all countries celebrate in the same way, and in somecountries, the new year doesn't begin on the same dateevery year. It can depend on the seasons, the moon or thesun.In many countries, the new year begins on January 1st,but people start celebrating on December 31st, New Year'sEve. In New York many people go to celebrate in Times Square. While they're waiting for the New Year, they listen to music, sing traditional songs and have fun. Just before 12 o'clock, everyone counts down from 10: 10, 9, 8 ... As soon as it's 12 o'clock, everyone shouts very loudly, "Happy New Year!" and they say, "Out with the old year and in with the new!" Suddenly there are fireworks and special drinks. Sometimes people sing an old song called Auld Lang Syne.New Year's Day is often a family day. Some people relax at home. Some families get together for a special meal with grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. When the weather is fine, many families go out for a walk.On New Year's Day, many people make resolutions for the new year. They write down a list of things, such as "I will help out more at home. I will work harder at school." or "I won't spend so much time playing video games." When they have made their list, they read it to their family or friends and promise to follow their resolutions.So it doesn't matter how they celebrate, for people in countries all over the world, it's a time to say goodbye to the old year, and to welcome the new.第九模块My Hero—Dr Norman BethuneNorman Bethune is one of China's most famous heroes,but he wasn't Chinese—he was Canadian. He gave his life tohelping the Chinese people.Norman Bethune was born in 1890. He became a doctorin 1916, and he went to the front to look after injured soldiersin the First World War. He saw many soldiers die in the war.Later he invented new treatments to help soldiers, and medical tools to use outside hospitals.In 1938 he came to China to treat the Chinese soldiers in the mountains north of Yan'an. There were few doctors, so he had to work very hard. He opened hospitals to give treatment to local people and soldiers, and to train doctors and nurses. He also wrote books so that doctors could learn about new treatments.Dr Bethune worked very hard without stopping to rest. Once, he performed operations for 69 hours without stopping, and saved 112 people. He continued working in spite of cutting his hand during an operation. In the end, he died because he did not stop to take care of his hand.Dr Bethune's work with the Chinese soldiers made him a hero in China. There are books and films about him, and he is still remembered in both Canada and China.第十模块A Perfect Holiday?Imagine this: your parents go away on business, but you have to stay at home alone. Would life be as easy as when your parents are around? Would it be a perfect holiday for you?Zheng Chenyu says that she would worry "Where would I find food? How would I cook it?" The 14-year-old girl says that she knows little about cooking."I can fill an empty stomach with tomato and egg soup, but that's all. I think many of my classmates are the same. We wouldn't know what to do, or how to look after ourselves," said Zheng. "And I'd forget something important. I'd probably watch television and then burn the soup."Although Zheng believes that basic life skills, such as cooking and washing clothes, are especially important, she doesn't think teenagers get enough practice."As soon as I leave home, I'll learn to cook. But now parents do almost everything for us. We're very lazy," she said.Most teenagers have only had time for their homework. They don't learn any life skills until they go to college.However, Sima Yige doesn't think so."I think I'd be all right. I wouldn't just eat sandwiches or fruit. I know how to cook some simple dishes because my mum showed me," the 13-year-old boy said. In his opinion, many teenagers depend too much on their parents, and there is much more to learn than cooking, like "tidying up your room or even dressing yourself properly".For most teenagers it wouldn't be a holiday at all.。