1）龙舟节，也叫端午节，是在中国的农历五月初五这一天庆祝。它是中国一个传统的节日.多数中国家庭都庆祝这个节日;

2）端午节节日起源；

3）庆祝活动：赛龙舟、吃粽子等。

农历  calendar      粽子  rice dumpling

注意：词数：100词左右。

注意：1.词数120左右；2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；3.开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

    The way people spend their holidays changed a lot from 2006 to 2016.

Gossip

    “Did you hear what happened to Adam Last Friday?” Lindsey whispers to Tori.

    With her eyes shining, Tori brags, “You bet I did, Sean told me two days ago.”

    Lindsey and Tori aren't very different from most students here at Linton High School, including me. Many of our conversations are gossip and I have noticed the effects of gossip.

    An important negative effect of gossip is that it can hurt the person being talked about. Usually, gossip spreads information about a topic—breakups, trouble at home—that a person would rather keep secret. The more embarrassing the secret is, the juicier the gossip it makes. Probably the worst type of gossip is the absolute lie. People often think of gossipers as harmless, but cruel lies can cause pain.

    If we know that gossip can be harmful, then why do so many of us do it? The answer lies in another effect of gossip: the satisfaction it gives us. Sharing the latest rumor can make a person feel important because he or she knows something that others don't. Similarly, hearing the latest rumor can make a person feel like part of the “in group”. In other words, gossip is satisfying because it gives people a sense of belonging or even superiority.

    Gossip also can have a third effect: it strengthens unwritten rules about how people should act. Professor David Wilson explains that gossip is important in policing behaviors in a group. For instance, if everybody you hang around with is laughing at what John wore or what Jane said, then you can bet that wearing or saying something similar will get you the same kind of negative attention. The do's and don'ts conveyed through gossip will never show up in any student handbook.

    The effects of gossip vary depending on the situation. The next time you feel the urge to spread the latest news, think about why you want to gossip and what effects your “juicy story” might have.

Dear Mom, Clear My Calendar

    September is around the comer, and some of us are already complaining about summer's end. But parents have a special reason to do so. The end of summer means the start of school. And these days, planning a young child's schedule is a big challenge. The challenge is no longer finding activities to fill a child's day; it is saying no to the hundreds of options available. Our mailbox is filled with brochures urging us to sign our kids up for classes from cooking to martial arts.

    Educators are themselves discouraged by the number of special classes that many children attend. In the name of “enrichment”, three-year-olds not only go to preschool in the morning but study French or gymnastics after lunch. One teacher tells of a four-year-old asking for help in the toilet before hurrying off to tennis. Another teacher says that children sometimes hold on to her at pick up time. What happened to unstructured time?

【写作内容】

1）用约30个单词概述图画和文字的主要内容

2）结合上述信息,简要分析可能导致这一结果的原因;

3）表达你的想法。(不少于两点)

【写作要求】

1）写作过程中不能直接引用原文词句

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。

    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.

    Tired of all the pushing in supermarkets? Fed up with waiting in endless lines to pay for what you have bought? Angry at wasting time in traffic jams only to find no parking spaces when you eventually arrive at the store? If this is you, then online shopping is the answer to your dreams of trouble-free shopping, or is it?

    Online shopping brings its own challenges. Here are a few things to bear in mind when browsing (浏览) various websites. The claim (声称) made by online sites is that shopping online is a safe and secure way to make purchases. The evidence challenges this. In any case, you only have to be the victim of fraud (欺骗) once to experience all the problems that come with this form of deceiving. Use only sites that have a trusted history and an excellent reputation.

    Another problem is that the appearance of items in reality is often quite different from what you see on your computer screen. This might not be a problem if you are buying washing powder but could be a major disappointment when that beautiful blue dress you ordered turns up in green. Also, product descriptions are sometimes simply untrue! Perhaps the wisest plan is to purchase items where design and colour are not essential to customer satisfaction.

    Some even argue that online shopping indirectly contributes to global warming. Yes, your car can stay parked but how are online goods delivered? Often by some large vans pouring out carbon monoxide(一氧化碳) and adding to our already desperate traffic problems. You are also by now becoming increasingly irritated(烦恼的) by the fact that the delivery is late and you have wasted the leave from work to receive it!