11．　　Our words can be a valuable tool to cheer up a person who is down. By offering some kind words, we can help them face their present and future with courage.
　　A car accident happened to me when I was four years old, I had a scar (伤疤) below my nose. Because some children laughed (1)       me and called me "scarface", I had little confidence (自信). Although my parents told me that I was (2)       , I did not see myself that way.
　　One afternoon, when school ended, I remained in my (3)       , waiting for my mother. Miss Pratt sat at her desk with other teachers and talked. I looked at the clock and (4)       it was time for me to get ready to leave. I put on my wool coat and hat. One of the teachers looked at my (5)       and said with a surprise, "Who is that girl?She is really pretty in her clothes. " Miss Pratt's answer was, "I agree, Mary is pretty."
　　Pretty! The word surprised me. Teachers would not (6)       . Maybe it was true that I looked pretty.
　　At that moment I made up my mind to be the (7)       child in my class to learn the tables (乘法表). Whatever it took, and no matter how much time, I would do. No one was going to stop me. This time I (8)       myself.
　　About one week later, Miss Pratt said to the class that I was the first one to learn the tables and she told us she was (9)       me. The whole class smiled and gave me a big hand. For the first time, I felt truly good about myself. I knew I was (10)       by Miss Pratt's words. This might not happen if I didn't hear those kind words. I will never forget the words.

12．　　There is a big tree in the deep mountain. A mother eagle (鹰) and her three babies live in the tree. One day the mother eagle said to her babies, "Come to the side of the       ." The three babies moved slowly and looked down, being afraid to go too far near the side. "We are afraid," they replied as they hid under the safety of their mother's comfortable wings. "Come here, " she encouraged, "I'll help you." They came and with a loving and watchful eye, the mother eagle slowly pushed the young babies out of their nest. And being brave, the babies flew up and began their colorful life.
　　Just as an eagle flies far above the mountains and farms, higher and higher into the blue sky.
　　You can go on your own journey and you are more independent. Then a whole, new, clear, great life lies before you.
　　In our journey through life, like the baby eagles, we hope to have new, exciting experiences and a meaningful future. So be brave, independent and take a step out of your comfortable home, you can get where you want to be tomorrow.

13．　　Festival Corner is one of the reading rooms in our school. It is between the dining hall and the teaching building. There are a lot of books about festivals around the world in the reading room. You can find much information about Christmas, Halloween and Chinese Spring Festival. This will provide you with some information about our Festival Corner. You can use this guide to help your children use our library.
Service Hours: 3:00 p. m. — 5:30 p. m. on school days 8:30 a. m﹣11:00 a. m. on weekends. On school days, your children may borrow or return books during opening hours only when his classroom teacher allows him to. At the weekend, the corner is open to both you and your children.
Borrowing: Each student can borrow one or two books at a time. More books can be borrowed only for class reading activities and school research. Don't try to steal any books from the corner, or you will be punished.
Broke or Lost Books: When a broken book is returned, the kid will have to pay three pounds for that. Full price must be paid if a book is lost. We encourage students to carry books in plastic (塑料) bag to protect them from rainy days.
　　Please call us at 2263～1323 for more information.

14．　　Nowadays, phone calls and messages help us get in touch with others. It means that we seldom write letters now. But a TV show, Letters Alive (《见字如面》), is bringing back this old habit.
　　Letters Alive invites famous actors and actresses, but there are no funny jokes or competitions. It's just one person walking up to a microphone (麦克风) and reading a letter. The letters were written by people from different times in history. For example, in one period, they read a letter written by famous writer Xiao Hong to her younger brother in 1941. The letter shows that Xiao Hong missed her brother so much and had great hopes for his future.
　　"Every letter opens another world for us," according to Guan Zhengwen, the director of the TV show. "We can also touch the heart of the writers'." Since its first period on Dec. 5, Letters Alive has been widely praised. Many audiences (观众) said that it had provided a kind of fresh air to today's TV shows.
　　Besides Letters Alive, some other cultural TV shows have also been well received by Chinese audiences. Chinese Poetry Conference is a traditional Chinese poetry competition. And Readers invites people to read poems and articles they like or wrote. It suggests that cultural values and true feelings are becoming our interest.

15．　　In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business. But he was not a good artist. So he invented a very simple camera. He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden. That was the first photo.
　　The next important date in the history of photography was in 1837. That year, Daguerre, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading-room. He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing. The kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype.
　　Soon, other people began to use Daguerre's way. Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all round the world. People took pictures of famous buildings, cities and mountains.
　　In about 1840, photography was developed. Then photographers could take pictures of people and moving things. That was not simple. The photographers had to carry a lot of film and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the United States worked so hard.
　　Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many pictures of great people. The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike (栩栩如生).
　　Photographers also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century. Some photos were not just taken of the real world;they showed ideas and feelings, like other kinds of art.

16．　　The earth is faced with a serious power problem now and all of us are influenced by it. Should we leave everything to the government, or can we do something to save power?The answer is clear. If not us, who?Let us look at how you can save power at home.
　　Computer: More often than not. We do not turn off our monitors (显示器) even after we have shut down our computers. And we often leave our computers on when we walk away to do something else. Keep the monitor and the computer shut off when you are not using them. Start doing this even when at work. You will help save some of the earth's important power.
　　Air Conditioner (空调): Put the temperature at the strongest that you are comfortable with, depending on the season. Try not to put it at too high or too low temperatures. This helps you save lots of power.
　　Washers: Do you use your washing machine as often as you wish? Do you use your washing machine even when there are not many clothes to wash? Cut down the times of washing by cleaning plenty of clothes every time.
　　Television: Pull out the power plug (插头) of your television when not using it. This may not sound like a big deal, but this little step will help you save power.
　　Fridge: Do you always put hot food into the fridge?Bring cooked food to room temperatures before placing it into the fridge. You can also spare power by bringing cold or frozen food out of the fridge before mealtime. In this way, you don't need to heat it.

17．根据提示使短文完整．
　　It was our school's yearly dancing show. I (1)      (be) excited that I was chosen by the teacher this time. I would dance in front of all the students and (2)      (teacher).
　　However, I was a bit s(3)       because my father had no time to watch me dance. He (4)      (invite) to have a business meeting. (5)       (lucky), my mother and my elder sister were still coming to watch my show.
　　(6)      the beginning of the day, I was nervous. After putting on the dress and getting my makeup done, I felt (7)       (relax). Then I went onto the stage bravely. I was very glad to see my mother and sister sitting in (8)      second row.
　　Just before the lights turned dark, I saw my father rush into the hall and take the seat beside my mother. What a pleasant surprise it was!The sight of my father made (9)       (I) smile. I began dancing confidently. I was so happy and lucky to have my family's s(10)      .

23．你校英文报纸举办以"My Favorite Subject at School"为主题的征文活动, 请你根据提示, 写一篇征文．
提示:
a. What's your favorite subject at school?How do you learn it?
b. What's the biggest problem about learning it?How do you solve this problem?
注意:
1. 短文须包括所有提示内容, 可适当发挥;
2. 文中不得出现真实的人名、校名和地名;
3. 词数:80个左右．
My Favorite Subject at School
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________