The Amazing World

Aren’t flowers pretty？ They are colorful and many of them smell almost as good as they look. But do you know flowers can do more than just look pretty and smell good？ Most flowers can be used in arts and crafts projects， while many others can be eaten and used to make food taste good. Some flowers are even used in some of the medicines we take to make us feel better when we are sick！

When you are sick， your parents take you to the doctor or get medicine from the store to help you get well. But when your grandparents or great-grandparents were little， they weren’t always able to go to the doctor. People who lived in the country didn’t have doctors， either. So what did they use for medicine？ Flowers， that’s it！

Many flowers are used to make medicine that can stop you from coughing， make your stomach feel better and even heal your skin when you get burned. But be noted： It is dangerous to use flowers for medicine unless you know how to do so.

rainbow n. 彩虹 arts and crafts projects 藝術(shù)和手工藝品項(xiàng)目

medicine n. 藥品 cough v. 咳嗽 get rid of 擺脫

stomach n. 肚子，胃 heal v. 治愈 skin n. 皮膚

It is dangerous to use flowers for medicine unless you know how to do so. 除非你知道如何使用鮮花做藥物，否則是很危險(xiǎn)的。“unless”是從屬連詞，引導(dǎo)條件狀語從句，含有否定意義，相當(dāng)于if條件狀語從句的否定形式。

Tell the uses about flowers.

We use time to order events in the past， present and future. We also use it to make comparisons and measure the speed at which things move.

If you want to measure time， you could use a watch， a clock， an hourglass or even a sundial.

A sundial is a tool that uses the position of the sun to measure time， typically involving a shadow cast across a marked surface.

The use of pendulums to measure time was discovered by Galileo Galilei around 400 years ago. A pendulum is a free-swinging weight hanging from a pivot.

Normally a year has 365 days， but a leap year has 366. The earth takes a little longer than 365 days to go around the sun， so we add an extra day in February every four years （with a few exceptions） to keep calendars and seasons aligned.

10 years is known as a decade，100 years is known as a century and 1，000 years is known as a millennium.

Different parts of the world are located in different time zones. This means that while you are having breakfast in the morning， someone in another part of the world is having dinner.

hourglass n. 沙漏 sundial n. 日晷 pendulum n. 鐘擺 pivot n. 支點(diǎn)

normally adv. 通常 leap year 閏年 extra adj. 額外的 exception n. 特例

calendar n. 日歷 align v. 一致 decade n. 十年 millennium n. 千年

time zone 時(shí)區(qū)

A sundial is a tool that uses the position of the sun to measure time， typically involving a shadow cast across a marked surface. 日晷是一種使用太陽位置來測量時(shí)間的工具，通常涉及在標(biāo)記表面上投射的陰影。“that uses the position of the sun to measure time”是定語從句修飾先行詞tool， “typically involving a shadow cast across a marked surface”是現(xiàn)在分詞作方式狀語。

The central message of this passage is _________.

A. different time zones are able to locate different countries

B. humans can wisely use tools to measure time and order events

C. measuring time is easy and can be used to help us order events

Lightning is a very bright flash of electricity that happens in a thunderstorm. The flash is a spark that crosses the gap between two clouds. It also happens between a cloud and the earth. The spark is caused by a negative charge of electricity in the clouds meeting a positive charge of electricity in the raindrops.

We see the lightning before we hear the thunder because light travels faster than sound. That is because lightning causes thunder. How close is the lightning from you？ It is easy to work it out. Sound travels at a speed of one mile for every 5 seconds. If you count 10 seconds between the lightning and the thunder， the lightning is 2 miles away from you.

All lightning is dangerous. Trees are burnt， metal can be melted and people can be killed. Lightning kills and injures between 75 to 100 people every year.

Here are some lightning safety tips for you：

If you are outdoors， stay away from trees， and go to a safe place at once. The best place to go is a sturdy building or a car. If you are indoors， avoid water. Stay away from windows and doors. Do not use a telephone or a computer.

flash n. 閃光 electricity n. 電流 thunderstorm n. 雷雨

spark n. 火花 negative charge 負(fù)電荷 positive charge 正電荷

sturdy adj. 堅(jiān)固的 avoid v. 避免

The spark is caused by a negative charge of electricity in the clouds meeting a positive charge of electricity in the raindrops. 火花是由云中的負(fù)電荷與雨滴中的正電荷相遇引起的。“meeting a positive charge of electricity in the raindrops”是現(xiàn)在分詞作后置定語，修飾“negative charge”。

What other safety tips do you know when we see lightning？

Jim是你們班的交流學(xué)生，下周他想去參觀世界奇趣博物館，你的班主任Mr. Wang發(fā)出一封通知，請(qǐng)大家推薦一名同學(xué)當(dāng)Jim的導(dǎo)游，陪同他前往參觀。假如你是Simon，請(qǐng)閱讀下面的通知，用英文寫一份推薦信，推薦你的好朋友Andy當(dāng)Jim的導(dǎo)游。

Notice

Dear all，

Jim wants to visit the Fun World Museum next week. We want one student to be his tour guide（導(dǎo)游）. Would you please recommend someone to me？ The student you recommend should：

·love to read ...

·plan things well ...

·be helpful ...

Please give one example （例子） for each quality（品質(zhì)）.

I am looking forward to hearing from you.

Yours，

Mr. Wang

Dear Mr. Wang

I’m writing to recommend Andy to be Jim’s tour guide.

Andy has some good qualities， and loving reading is one of them. He reads all kinds of books. He thinks reading books can make him learn more about the world and improve himself.

He not only enjoys reading but also plans things well. He plans his daily thing every day and works hard to complete it.

Andy is also helpful. He does voluntary work in his spare time. He often helps children to do their homework and helps old people clean their house. He thinks it is meaningful to help others.

I think Andy is the right person to be Jim’s tour guide. Hope to hear from you.

Yours faithfully，

Simon

Dear Mr. Wang

I’m writing to recommend Andy to be Jim’s tour guide. I think Andy has some good qualities to do the job.

He is knowledgeable. In his free time， he loves to read. So he knows a lot about the amazing things in the world.

What’s more， he can plan things well. Last year， our class went on a school trip. He made a careful plan for us and prepared everything well. We all had a good time.

He is also helpful. At weekends， he works as a volunteer in his community. He not only helps children with their homework， but also does some shopping for the old. If tourists have any problem， he will be willing to help them.

I think Andy is the right person to be Jim’s tour guide. Hope to hear from you.

Yours faithfully，

Simon

（江蘇省泰興市黃橋初級(jí)中學(xué) 戴娜）

文章邏輯嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)，語言正式且流暢，能恰當(dāng)使用連詞使文章結(jié)構(gòu)緊湊。正文部分段落層次清晰，開篇直接提出推薦人，語言簡潔明了，讓讀者迅速了解寫作目的。

主體部分列舉了被推薦人的優(yōu)點(diǎn)和特長。這些優(yōu)點(diǎn)和特長與博物館導(dǎo)游的工作需求相匹配，從而凸顯被推薦人是該崗位的理想人選。在描述時(shí)，小作者恰當(dāng)使用了具體的事例來支撐觀點(diǎn)，增強(qiáng)了說服力。

（江蘇省靖江市實(shí)驗(yàn)學(xué)校 楊佳）