How to listen in English exams

    Listening is an important but difficult part for middle school students in English exams. The following suggestions may benefit you a lot.

Relax yourself.

    Before listening, it's necessary to have a peaceful state of mind. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} If that doesn't work, drinking some water or washing your face with cold water may help you to some extent.

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    As soon as the listening starts, focus on it without thinking about anything else. While listening, you can also recall(回想）the related knowledge in common with the material concerned, such as the vocabulary about the subject or topic, which is beneficial to your better understanding.

    Grasp the main idea.

    Sometimes the monologue, dialogue or conversation you're listening to is a little bit longer than you expect. And it's normal that some unnecessary information is included. However, you don't need to understand it completely. {#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Ignore the new words.

    Without doubt, there usually exist unfamiliar words in listening materials. In fact, it's almost impossible for you to know or understand all the words in the listening material sometimes. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} It's mistaken to waste much time on figuring them out while listening.

    Develop the habit of taking notes.

    In the course of listening, it's a good habit to write down the content and leave out the unimportant details. {#blank#}5{#/blank#} By taking notes, we can remind ourselves of the key points.

A. Concentrate on listening.

B. The more words you memorize, the better it is.

C. Feeling nervous or worried is harmful and unnecessary.

D. What you need to do is turn a deaf ear to the new words.

E. Make a list of what you think is important while listening.

F. Instead, just pay attention to the key points and general ideas.

G. If you feel nervous or anxious, try taking a deep breath to calm yourself down.

How to Improve Eyesight Naturally

    Eyes are important for everybody. You must take care and try everything in your hand to keep them in good condition. Here are some of the tips to improve your eyesight naturally.

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    Strain is known to be a factor in many health conditions and eyestrain is no exception. Try meditation, yoga or other methods of stress relief to improve your vision and overall health.

    Try palming.

    Sit upright in a comfortable chair.{#blank#}2{#/blank#} Cup your hands so that there is no pressure on your eyes. Let your fingers rest across your forehead. There should be no light entering your eyes. Palming should be done for a period of 5 to 10 minutes to start. Palming should be relaxing. It may help to do palming in a darkened room.

    Avoid sugar as much as possible.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} It will unpleasantly affect your eyesight, which affects the eyes by producing a larger amount of insulin (胰岛素) in the blood. Therefore you shouldn't be having much fruit juice or something that contains a lot of sugar.

    Exercise your eyes.

    The only exercise most eyes get is that daily rubbing we give them when we're tired or suffering from eyestrain. But eye exercises are actually good for your eyes and can improve your vision.{#blank#}4{#/blank#} Blink as fast as you can for a few seconds then close your eyes tightly, open and repeat. Do this exercise 3 to 4 times daily.

    Eat healthy.

    You probably hear that statement all the time but eating the right foods are necessary to good health.{#blank#}5{#/blank#} Foods that are high in fiber, vitamin C, D and beta carotene as well as other vitamins and minerals can help improve your vision. Here are a few foods that can be beneficial to good vision: carrots, eggs, blueberries, spinach, kale, grapes, and fresh garlic.

A. Reduce eyestrain.

B. Keep your eyes moist.

C. Sugar is your eyes's worst enemy.

D. Give your eyes a workout with the following exercise.

E. You may not be aware that your diet affects your vision but it does.

F. Close eyes and cover them with the palms of your hands.

G. Be sure to get plenty of sleep so your eyes don't strain to stay open during the day.

    Ready to take a gap year? A "Gap Year" is a period of time when a student takes a break before going to university. It is often spent travelling or working.{#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    Gap years are popular with European and Australian students, but remain less popular in America. However, in recent years, more and more American students are preparing for college by taking a gap year. The advantages of taking a gap year are as follows：

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    Although you don't have to go abroad to experience gap years, most gap year students catch the chance to travel abroad. You are able to work out who you are and what you are for. The experiences of different cultures offer you interesting lessons. You can learn more about the world and get to know yourself better.

    Face challenges and have fun

    A gap year is not only a time to take a vacation, but also a time to face challenges. Gap year students usually work, volunteer or take service projects. You have to learn how to get along in the real world. This process isn't always easy, but it is an important part of growing up.{#blank#}3{#/blank#}

    Save money and improve your college admission chances

    There's a common thought that gap years are only for rich students, but it's not true. Actually, taking a gap year can save your money. Gap year students often take a part-time job. Besides, at the end of a gap year, students are much more likely to know what to study in college. {#blank#}4{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} Both of them are excellent and have high grades. However, one student has much practical experience or has volunteered in his vacation. Who do you think the admission officer will choose?

A. Learn about the world and yourself

B. Only in this way can you enjoy life and have fun.

C. Check out your gap year choices before making the right decision.

D. It can give young people useful learning experiences and new skills.

E. Imagine an admission officer trying to admit only one between two students.

F. More students than ever before are taking a gap year before going to university.

G. Clear learning goals can keep the students working hard instead of wasting time and money playing.

    You may have heard that some plants and animals are endangered. What does that mean exactly?

    Endangered means there are very few of that kind still alive. Someday they might become extinct. You may wonder what people can do to help them.

    Plant trees

    As the date of Earth Day roughly coincides with U.S. Arbor Day, planting trees is a popular Earth Day activity. Trees helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, clean pollution, secure soil in place to prevent erosion, and provide homes for many birds, insects and other animals. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}

    {#blank#}2{#/blank#}. And plant them in your garden or on nature strips where plants are usually grown. Restoring the local plant life will help attract native bird life, pollinators and local mammals.

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    Why not welcome these nonhuman neighbors into your yard？ Here is how to do it. Instead of mowing the entire yard, leave a few sections unmoved. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} Provide a source of water, like a bird bath or a small pond. Don't try to get rid of snakes, lizards, frogs, moles, squirrels, and the other creatures, many of which are beneficial.

    Clean up litter in your community

    Many groups use the weekend of Earth Day to clear roadways, highways and neighborhood streets of litter that has accumulated since the last clean-up day. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}

A. Welcome animals into your yard

B. Choose flowers that are native to your area.

C. One way is to protect the animals' or plants' habitats

D. Bees, butterflies, and many other insects will find this inviting

E. It's a wonderful community project that you can do as an individual or with a group

F. So planting trees is a long -lasting act you can do to celebrate Earth Day

G. Encourage people to respect wild spaces by not damaging animal habitats, littering, and dumpling in the water.

    Failure is a word that no one wants to hear. It is human beings' biggest fear yet it is faced by every human being. Sometimes, people's fear of it is their biggest barrier to success. {#blank#}1{#/blank#} Here are some tips which can help you get on the positive side of life.

    Never give up. Before starting anything that you think will give you success, promise yourself that you will never give up. {#blank#}2{#/blank#} Remember that it is never too late to do so.

    {#blank#}3{#/blank#} This is the opportunity that you should not let go of. Suppose you are on a football ground. You strike the ball for 9 times in a row and fail. But at the tenth attempt, you succeed. The tenth attempt proves that you have somehow learnt from your mistakes.

    Never think that you've got only one plan. The worst thing you can do after failing in some project is thinking that it was the only plan you could ever think of. {#blank#}4{#/blank#} If Plan A fails, turn to Plan B or Plan C. If you are into achieving something, no one or nothing in this world can stop you.

    {#blank#}5{#/blank#} This is the most important thing that you need to live a happy life. Always think positive. Never let yourself down. Positivity is all we need to grow and establish ourselves in this world

A. Keep on trying.

B. Keep a positive attitude.

C. Learn from your mistakes.

D. There is always another way.

E. Therefore, you need to learn how to deal with failure.

F. Just as the saying goes, failure is the mother of success.

G. This promise helps make your mind ready for both failure and success.

    Imagine an area 34 times the size of Manhattan. Now imagine it covered ankle-deep in plastic waste—a total of about 19 billion pounds of garbage. {#blank#}1{#/blank#}.

    "We're being overwhelmed(淹没) by our waste," said Jenna Jambeck, an environmental engineer who led the 2015 study that determined this astonishing number. {#blank#}2{#/blank#}, unless something is done to stop the tide of garbage.

    Plastic—a widely-used material—has in many ways been a benefit to humans but it has also caused a growing problem. Today, plastics are the No.1 type of garbage found in the sea. Ocean Conservancy, a nonprofit that organizes an annual coastal cleanup event worldwide, said plastic waste makes up around 85 percent of the garbage collected from beaches and oceans.

    Ocean Conservancy says plastics are believed to threaten(威胁)at least 600 different wildlife species(物种). {#blank#}3{#/blank#}; a growing body of evidence suggests humans are consuming plastics through the seafood we eat. A research suggests some plastics could be poisonous to humans, and could potentially increase the risk of health problems.

    {#blank#}4{#/blank#}. At the Economist World Ocean Summit this week, ten nations announced to reduce plastic sea liter as part of UN Environment's CleanSeas campaign. {#blank#}5{#/blank#}Corporations also have a role, as do individuals. We can start by thinking twice before using single-use plastic products—and when we do use them, we should take care to properly throw them off or recycle.

A. The following is what we should do

B. And it's not just wildlife that's threatened

C. And this figure is likely to double by 2025

D. But it's not just countries that need to do their part

E. By 2050, that figure is expected to rise to 1000 pieces

F. That's how much plastic waste ends up in our oceans every year

G. All of us have an important role to play in dealing with the problems