请阅读下面文字及图表,并按照要求用英语写一篇 150 词左右的文章.

[写作内容]

1. 用约 30 个单词概述上述信息的主要内容;

2. 结合上述信息,简要分析导致交通问题的主要原因;

3. 根据你的分析,从社会规范(rules and regulations)和个人行为两方面谈谈你得到的启示(不少于两点)。

[写作要求]

1. 写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句; 

2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称;

3. 不必写标题。

[评分标准]

内容完整,语言规范,语篇连贯,词数适当。

信息：看国内外新闻、获取其它信息

通讯：发e-mail、打电话

学习：上网上学校、阅读各种书籍、自学外语

娱乐：欣赏音乐、观看体育比赛、玩棋牌游戏

生活：购物

写作要点：

1）它是中国传统节日之一；已有2500多年历史，每年阳历4月4-6日的一天。

2）扫墓（do tomb-sweeping）祭祖；寻根认祖；

3）春游踏青，植树，放风筝等活动；

注意：1）词数100左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使用文连贯。

The Qingming Festival

    High school exit tests are tests that students must pass to graduate from high school. In the last few years. However, a number of states in America have dropped them. Although some states still use them for diplomas, the number is down from a high of 27 states during the testing craze promoted by No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

    The appearance of this phenomenon is small wonder. Researches clearly show that exit tests have little positive effects on students. A 2014 report found exit testing was associated with lower graduation rates, negatively affected labor market outcomes, and, most alarmingly, produced a 12.5 percent increase in incarceration (监禁) rates. Exit exams, the study concluded, had tended to add little value for most students.

    Exit testing relies on the following assumptions. One is that standardized testing can serve as a kind of "quality control" for high school graduates, guaranteeing that graduates are college ready. The other is that they have predicting value for future success in academic situations.

    But there is little evidence. The tests don't exactly measure what they pretend to measure. For example, qualities such as intelligence, academic ability, college readiness are not determined. Those that should be developed in all young people, like responsibility, critical thinking, and empathy (移植), are not measured, either. Even supporters of exit tests have acknowledged that they don't offer reliable data.

    Thus, more and more people are suggesting that exit test scores ought to be just one component of the high school diploma. Schools should consider many other records including credits earned, courses taken, activities, service, projects and other elements of academic accomplishment so that students can be evaluated flexibly. In other words, exit test scores should never be the only criterion for high school diplomas.

How to Improve Your English Pronunciation

    Accurate pronunciation is an important part of learning English, or any language for that matter. The way your speech sounds can have a big impact on whether or not people understand what you are saying and their initial impression of you. There are no shortcuts to perfect pronunciation; there are, however, some ways you can practice more effectively and improve your skills faster.

    It's often difficult to hear pronunciation errors in your own speech because you are concentrating on actually communicating rather than the sound you are making. If you can't hear your pronunciation problems, it's tough to correct them. Try recording your speech with your smartphone or PC and making a note of specific areas you need to improve on.

    Moreover, many English learners think that speaking fluently means they need to speak fast. This is wrong. Speaking too fast reinforces bad habits and makes the speaker sound nervous and indecisive. Speaking slowly will give you time to breathe properly and think about what you want to say next.

    Pronunciation is a physical skill. You're teaching your mouth a new way to move and using different muscles. Focus on difficult sounds each day. Having trouble with "th"? Put your tongue between your teeth (don't bite down) and blow air out of your mouth. Feel the air move over the top of your tongue. Another method worth a try is learning popular English songs. Singing helps you relax and just get those words out, as well as helping your rhythm and intonation (语调). Because you don't need to concentrate on constructing sentences for yourself, you can concentrate on making your pronunciation sound great!

    It is natural for species of animals to become extinct over millions of years. But over the past 200 years, humans have caused the process to speed up. In recent years, the total number of threatened animal species has increased from 5205 to 5345. In most cases this is a result of human activity. How are people speeding up the process of animal extinction?

    First of all, people threaten the survival of animal species by destroying their habitats. As the human population grows, people keep building houses and factories in fields and woods. As they spread over the land, they destroy animals' homes. If the animals can't find a place to live, they die out. Sixteen kinds of Hawaiian birds have become extinct for this reason.

    Overhunting is another way that humans are causing some animals to become extinct. In some parts of the world, the parts of rare animals are worth a lot of money. For example, some people will pay more than $3,000 for a single rhino horn. This encourages hunters to kill rhinos even though the animal faces extinction.

    Humans are also polluting the air, water and soil. The effect of pollution on animal species can be complicated. For example, when waste from factories is dumped into rivers, the rivers become polluted. The fish that live in the rivers are poisoned, and the birds cannot lay strong eggs. And some, such as brown pelicans, have become rare and may die out.

    Finally, when humans introduce new species into certain environments, the animals that already live there become threatened and face extinction. For example, when European settlers brought rabbits and foxes to Australia, they killed off many native Australian animals, including the bandicoots. Eventually, the rabbits took over the bandicoot habitats. Now bandicoots are threatened with extinction in their own land.