2．　　When we talk about the UK, what will you think of?Big Ben, Downing Street and Tower Bridge are always our hot topics(话题). But there are many other facts about the UK. Come and see!

3．　　From an early age, we were taught that if we wanted to be successful, we had to study hard and get good results at school. In fact, good students may just end up doing jobs they don't like, and some even lead an unhappy life. Why is it like that?
　　In some parents' eyes, school grades matter most for their kids. In reality, there are many things to consider besides the school subjects, for example, how to be a happy person, what to do to keep healthy, and how to get along well with others. That is to say, school is not just enough if you want to have a great life.
　　Doing well in school is different from doing well in life. Studies show that people who failed at school may not end up failing in life. You may have already known that some famous people, like Thomas Edison and Steve Jobs, didn't do very well at school or even failed to finish school. In fact, there are a lot more than just the big shots who are successful in life without finishing school. They seize (抓住) every chance to learn and finally make it to the top.
　　Life is really a long lesson, so long that you can't define (界定) a person's success by just one section (部分)of it. If you have already finished school, keep learning because what you have learned at school will never be enough to live a satisfying life. If you are still studying, whether you are good or bad at school, don't take your school results too seriously as long as you have put your heart into it. Keep learning to make the most of your talents (天赋). That's how you can live a happy and successful life.

4．　　Martin Strel is a swimmer, best known for swimming the world's big rivers. He was born in 1954. He taught himself to swim when he was six and became a professional (职业的) swimmer in 1978. Martin holds Guinness World Records for swimming the Danube River, the Mississippi River, the Yangtze River and the Amazon River.
　　Of all his achievements, the greatest is his Amazon River swim. The Amazon is known as the largest and most dangerous river in the world. Several swimmers had tried to swim it, but all failed. Martin decided to go all out and make history. He wanted to show the world that people could achieve their dreams with hard work and perseverance (毅力).
　　On April 7th, 2007, Martin Strel completed his Amazon River all the way from Atalaya(Peru) to the Atlantic Ocean at Belem (Brazil). He struggled (奋战) with the river for 66 days and swam 3,274 miles in total. He became a worldwide hero.
　　Many people still cannot believe what he has done so far, so that is why they sometimes describe him as "Fishman", "Human Fish" or even "the Craziest Man in the World".
　　In 2009, American filmmakers produced a documentary (纪录片) called Big River Man. And the book, The Man Who Swam the Amazon, has been sold in many countries. It tells us an inspirational story of perseverance and hard work, which has encouraged many people.
　　Martin doesn't swim for money. Instead, he swims to teach people about the importance of keeping water clean.
　　Martin has always been looking for the challenges (挑战) of the impossible. What is his next?

6．　　As an exchange student, I studied in France for two years. The first time I took a class in the chemistry lab, I was surprised to find that students were fully "armed". Everyone was wearing goggles (护目镜) and gloves. Safety comes first for science lab class.
　　My chemistry teacher Mrs. Louise usually gave us the instruction paper the night before the lab class and let us read it. During the class, she first went over the steps and then put us into groups of two to do the experiments (实验). What was special was that for every lab class, Mrs. Louise changed everyone's lab partner to make them work with different classmates.
　　The class was often filled with laughter and screams (尖叫). We once tried to burn the chemicals and watch the colors of the flames (火焰). Different chemicals produced different colors of flames, including bright orange and dark green. Many students in my class were surprised. "Wow! That's so beautiful!" they screamed. Then they excitedly took pictures, posted them online and sent them to their friends. Mrs. Louise didn't get angry with us at all for our "noises". She herself even took photos with us!
　　After finishing an experiment, we had to write a lab report. If we had a big mistake in the experiment, we needed to analyze (分析) why it happened and what we should do to avoid it next time. The lab reports were very important. They made up around 25% of our term grade.

7．　　I looked at the words on the page. I knew how to say them, but my (1)       wouldn't work. It was my first class in this new school, so nobody here knew me. My teacher just asked me to read some text out loud. The whole class was waiting for me (2)       I could even hear my heartbeats.
　　I just sat there. Seconds passed. Some students started to (3)      . "What's wrong with her?" one boy said. "Maybe she can't read at all!" said another student.
　　"Just open your mouth and speak!" I told myself. I tried to get the words out. But the first was always the (4)      . The teacher was waiting. More of my classmates were making fun of me. I wanted to hide under my desk. I soon felt tears (眼泪) running down.
　　I often faced situations like this during my grade school. (5)      ? I had a stuttering (结巴) problem. Because of this, I often felt embarrassed (尴尬的) at school.
　　Thankfully, I met a great teacher, Mrs. Brown. She never (6)       me when I was trying to talk. She helped me to relax when I was speaking, and would always wait — (7)       for me to finish my sentences.
　　Mrs. Brown offered me the most encouragement. She always let me know that my stuttering problem didn't mean I wasn't smart. She said, "Your brain is moving too fast, and your mouth just can't keep up!" Those simple words made me feel (8)       and encouraged.
　　Great changes happened to me. When I entered high school, I almost (9)       stuttering. In college, I had no trouble at all. As a child, I never imagined that I would become a (10)       just like Mrs. Brown, passing love and care on to my students.

9．阅读下面短文，将划线部分译成英文或中文。
　　Yangge is a kind of traditional Chinese folk (民间的) dance. The performers (表演者) dance to music with handkerchiefs (手帕)or fans in their hands. (1)It's a very popular festival activity in north China.
　　Yangge may have different forms from place to place, but all of them express happiness. (2)很多人非常喜欢秧歌。Most dancers are young men and young women. Some are even old ladies. Almost every village in northern Shaanxi Province has yangge teams. (3)They begin to prepare yangge even a month before the Chinese New Year. During the Spring Festival, the yangge teams pay New Year's calls from house to house. 　　
　　(4)They wish people a happy New Year by dancing yangge in the streets. Some young men often play the drums, and the performers wave red silk bands (挥舞红绸带). People set off firecrackers (鞭炮) to welcome the dancers. (5)他们邀请表演者品尝自制食物。The sounds of songs, drums and firecrackers form an air of festivity in the village.
　　Nowadays, yangge has spread into city parks, streets and squares, and it has developed into a kind of popular exercise for city people.

10．最近，你班召开了一次以"What Are Good Parents Like?" 为主题的班会。请你综合以下同学的观点，并发表你自己的看法，写一篇短文，向学校校刊投稿。
Sam: Good parents are understanding. They never push us too hard when we get poor grades.
Bob: My parents are supportive. They always bring out the best in me.
Ann: Good parents are like stars in the sky. Sometimes we can't see them, but they are always there.
要求：
1. 80词左右(标题和开头已给出, 不计入总词数)；
2. 文中不得出现真实人名和校名。
What Are Good Parents Like?
　　Recently we have had a lively discussion about what good parents are like. Different students have different ideas. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________