Tony, a 14-­year-­old Chinese school boy, lives in Guangzhou with his parents. Tony is his English name. Tony began to love computer games three years ago.

    Every day, he spends most of his time playing computer games. Usually he plays until midnight in his room. But his parents don't know. And he never takes sports. What's more, he loves junk food very much. He eats it more than four times a day. Bad lifestyle makes him unhappy. He is tired in class. So he can't study well. And he is often ill. Yesterday he had a fever and cough, and he didn't go to school.

Information Card

根据短文内容回答问题

Up in the Sky

    Take a trip up a hill on a windy day. What is flying high in the sky? It isn't a bird or a plane. It is a kite!

    Kids and adults like flying kites. Long ago, the first kites were made by Chinese people. Then, people around the world began flying kites.

    One story tells a man's hat got lifted off by wind. He had fun chasing his hat, so he did it again! His hat became the first kite. Other stories tell that people liked watching leaves on windy days. They tied leaves to strings and watched them fly.

    Long ago, kites became important in keeping China protected. A man might be lifted up by a kite while he spied(监视) on an enemy. He could use the kite to fly high like a plane. He could also fight from the air!

    Kites come in many shapes, sizes, and styles. They are usually made of cloth or paper. A kite might be shaped like a bird, a fish,  or just a box. Kites are also painted with colors.

    You can use a kite to catch fish. First you tie a fishing line to a kite. Then you put bait(鱼饵) on the line. You watch the kite with hopes as it flies over the water. When you pull the kite down, you might find a fish on your line! Some people think this is more fun than using a fishing pole(杆).

    Many countries have special days to honor kites. People make, sell and fly many types of kites. There are several kite festivals in China. The Beijing International Kite Festival is usually held in April every year. People spend all days flying kites. You might see famous fighter kites. People fly these kites quite fast and try to cut other flyer's lines.

    There is much to learn about kites. From long ago in China until now, kites have had many uses. They have been used for spying, fighting, and fishing. But the best way to use a kite is to fly it high for fun!

    A different way of teaching is widely used in our English study.

    Before class. we make study plans first. Then we look up the new words. listen to the recording and read the text. When we meet problems. we can t solve by ourselves. We always write them down in our notebooks.

    In class, we sit in groups to discuss the problems freely. The teacher always offers help when we need. After discussion, It's time for us to give a report to the class. We also make conversations in pairs and practise a lot. It's really good for our listening and speaking.

    After class, we have less homework now so we can go to the library to read English books, magazines and newspapers. We can also surf the Internet for useful information.

    In a word, we enjoy the new way of studying. We can make more progress in our study.

    "Mom! Get my annoying(令人讨厌的)brother off me," I shouted. I woke up because of my brother. It happens almost every day. I got out of bed and put on my clothes hurriedly. Then I realized a huge problem—it was the first day of high school! It meant I had to go to the same school as my brother. But I didn't want to go there. At that exact moment, a thought came into my mind. I had never thought of it before.

    I had to go to school in 30 minutes. I had to eat, pack and think of a plan to get my brother embarrassed(尴尬).20 minutes later, I got my bag and slowly walked out of my bedroom. I saw my mom taking the school uniform downstairs and in exactly a second I had a great plan. I quickly ran after my mom and followed her downstairs. Like a cat I hid behind a couch, seeing her put the uniform on the couch and make her way back upstairs. I only had one chance. I quickly wrote something that would make my brother embarrassed on the back of a shirt as my brother ran downstairs. We put on out clothes right away and we wore the same size. It was quite a cold day, so I took a jacket and put it on.

    A couple of minutes later, we were in the car and were almost at school. I was secretly waiting for my great plan to happen. I got out of the car and ran to my classroom. I unpacked and decided to take off my jacket, because the day was heating up. Once I took my jacket off, everyone started laughing. I had no idea why everyone was laughing until suddenly I realized what had happened.

    When I was a teenager growing up in a town, I felt studying very boring, I wanted to leave school and have my own life. There were only two ways for me to do this—working in the toy factory in my town, or getting married. I chose the first one. I was nervous when I told my father that I wanted to leave school. I thought he would say, "No! You are going to college." Instead, he surprised me when he said, "OK. We'll go to the toy factory."

    Two days later, he took me to the factory. I had a very romantic idea of working in a factory. I had imagined everyone to be friendly working together and having fun. I even imagined there would be music and singing. I guess I had watched too many movies as a teenager.  

    When we arrived at the factory gates, my father spoke to the guard and one minute later we went inside. My father said, "Take your time. Look around." I walked around the factory, looking at the buildings, the workers, and listening to the noise. It was terrible. I ran back to my father and said, "I want to go home."

    He asked me, "What do you think of the factory?"

    "It's terrible." I replied.

    "You have the other choice if you don't want to go back to school. But I think getting married is even worse!" he said.

    I went back to school the next day. From then on, I studied as hard as I could. Finally I got into a good college. I enjoyed studying English, so I decided to major in languages at college. Thanks to my father and our trip to the factory, now I work in a company which is a big one in a city. And my father takes pride in me. I married a very good man and my life is much better than it would have been working in the factory!

A {#blank#}1{#/blank#} to a factory with my father

    Zhuge Liang lived during the Three Kingdoms period. He was famous for his talent and loyalty (忠诚).

    When Zhuge Liang was young, he lived the life of a farmer in Nanyang. Liu Bei visited him three times. Finally, Zhuge Liang promised to do his best to help Liu Bei. A few years later, they built the state of Shu.

    After the death of Liu Bei, his son Liu Shan became the emperor of Shu. Zhuge Liang helped him rule the state. He was the prime minister, but he took care of everything, no matter how small it is. ⑶Because of his hard work, the state became much stronger than before.

    At that time, the state of Wei was an enemy of Shu. Zhuge Liang led the army to fight Wei many times. Before he left, ⑷Zhuge Liang wrote a letter to the emperor. At the end of the letter, he said, "I will give myself to the people and the country until the last day of my life." The war between Shu and Wei lasted for a long time. Finally, Zhuge Liang became sick and died.

It tells us …

   ⑸Zhuge Liang spent all his time working for his people and country. A great man like him will always be remembered.