E.Buying Friendship Bands

     Speaking exams can be stressful! What if you don't understand the examiner (考官)? What if you don't get the exact word you need? Don't panic (惊慌)! Remember that everyone gets nervous in exams, especially oral exams. So, don't worry and our tips will help you feel more confident in a speaking exam.

★ Listening to as much English as possible will help to improve your speaking. Listening to songs, and watching films, TV series or video clips will help you feel more confident about speaking.

★{#blank#}1{#/blank#} If you speak English regularly in class, you will find it easier to speak in an exam.

★{#blank#}2{#/blank#} It's not a race. Before you speak, think carefully about what to say and speak a little slower than normal.

★{#blank#}3{#/blank#} Use words and expressions you have used before. If you don't know a word, think of another way to say it.

★{#blank#}4{#/blank#} If you find this difficult, practice with a friend at home. Stand at opposite ends of a room and speak to each other in English. Or speak to each other in English on your computers.

★{#blank#}5{#/blank#} So, take some deep breaths before the exam and try to relax.

①Susan, a heavy girl, eats much meat and few vegetables every day. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}  

②Mike doesn't like drinking milk or fruit juice. He only drinks a little water each day. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}  

③Paul always has sweet cake for breakfast or dinner. But he only brushes his teeth three or four times each week.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}  

④Lisa is a quiet girl. In her free time, she always reads or plays computer games at home.{#blank#}4{#/blank#}  

⑤Larry usually gets up late in the morning. So she often rushes to school and seldom eats breakfast.{#blank#}5{#/blank#}  

    New rules and behaviour standards(行为规范) for middle school students came out in March. Middle schools are going to use a new way to decide who the top students are. The best students won't only have high grades. The following are some of the new rules.

    Tell the truth. Have you ever cheated(作弊) in an exam? Don't do it again! That's not something honest students should do.

    Do more at school. Good students love animals and care for other people. April is Bird loving Month in China．Is your school doing anything to celebrate it? You should join! In that way，you can learn more about animals and how to protect them.

    Be open to new ideas. Have you ever thought people could live on the moon? Maybe you'll find another earth in space in the future. Everyone's new ideas are important.

    Protect yourself. Has a thief ever taken money from one of your classmates? Don't let it happen to you. If you have to go back home late, you should let your parents know.

    Use the Internet carefully. The Internet can be very useful for your study. But some things on the Internet aren't for kids, so try to look at the good web pages. You can use the web pages for fun or homework.

    You may think that English dictionaries have been used for many, many centuries. The spelling of English has always been a problem, but it was more of a problem in the days before a dictionary. In those days people spelt words in different ways which you might find interesting. But it made reading English much more difficult. So dictionaries were invented to encourage everybody to spell the same. In fact, an English dictionary like the kind you use today wasn't made until the time of the Qing Dynasty.

    The largest dictionary in the world is the Oxford English Dictionary, or OED for short. The idea for this dictionary came from an important meeting in Britain in 1857. Twenty-two years later, Oxford University asked James Murray to be the editor of its new dictionary.

    Murray had not been to college. At the age of fourteen, he left his village school in Scotland and taught himself while working in a bank. Later he became a great teacher. After Oxford gave him the job, Murray had a place built in the garden behind his house to do his work. Part of it was one metre underground. In winter he had to wear a heavy coat and put his feet in a box to keep warm. Every morning, Murray got out of bed at five o'clock and worked several hours before breakfast. Often he would work by candle light into the evening.

    Murray hoped to finish the new dictionary in ten years. But after five years, he was still adding words for the letter A! Then others went to work with Murray, and his two daughters were among them. He worked on the dictionary until he was very old. Forty-four years later, in 1928, other editors finished it. It had more than 15,000 words in twelve books. And you thought your English dictionary was big!

    The sun was falling behind the hills. Andrea was driving back home to Brockboune. Then she saw an old lady, standing by the toad, with a sign saying "Brockboune" in her hand.

    Andrea stopped the car. When the old lady got in, Andrea could see that she was not that little. She was in a long dress and had a hat pulled down low over her eyes. She put her big brown shopping bag down onto the floor.

    "Do you live in Brockboune?" asked Andrea. "No, dear," answered the old lady in a low voice, "I'm just going to visit a friend, but my car won't start, so I decided to hitchhike."

    Something in the way the lady spoke made Andrea uneasy, Andrea secretly studied the half-covered face, the shapeless body, the arms with their thick black hairs… Thick black hairs? Andrea's blood froze. This wasn't a woman. It was a man!

    Her heart was beating wildly and her mind raced. Then suddenly, an idea came up to her. She stopped the car in a sudden. "My God!" she shouted, "A child! Did you see the child? I think I hit her!" "I didn't see anything", the "old lady" said, "I don't think you hit anything." "I'm sure it was a child!" shouted Andrea. "Could you just get out and have a look?" The "old lady" slowly opened the car door, leaving her bag inside. As soon as "she" was out of the car, Andrea drove away as soon as possible.

    Several minutes later, Andrea thought about the "old lady's" bag and opened it carefully. There was only one thing in it—a shining knife.