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2013年初中英语教师素养大赛朗读材料 注：朗读材料中，黑色字体部分为比赛时的内容，红色字体部分是文章原文，有助于理解文意，不作为比赛时的朗读内容。 one When my family moved to America in 2010 from a small village in Guangdong, China, we brought not only our luggage, but also our village rules, customs and culture. One of the rules is that young people should always respect elders. Unluckily, this rule led to my very first embarrassment in the United States. I had a part-time job as a waiter in a Chinese restaurant. One time, when I was serving food to a middle-aged couple, the wife asked me how the food could be served so quickly. I told her that I had made sure they got their food quickly because I always respect the elderly. As soon as I said that, her face showed great displeasure. My manager, who happened to hear what I said, took me aside and gave me a long lecture about how sensitive Americans are and how they dislike the description “old”. I then walked back to the table and apologized to the wife. After the couple heard my reason, they understood that the problem was caused by cultural differences, so they laughed and were no longer angry. In my village in China, people are proud of being old. Not so many people live to be seventy or eighty, and people who reach such an age have the most knowledge and experience. Young people always respect older people because they know they can learn from their rich experience. However, in the United States, people think “growing old” is a problem since “old” shows that a person is going to retire or that the body is not working well. Here many people try to keep themselves away from growing old by doing exercises or jogging, and women put on makeup, hoping to look young. When I told the couple in the restaurant that I respect the elderly, they got angry because this caused them to feel they had failed to stay young. I had told them something they didn’t want to hear. After that, I changed the way I had been with older people. It is not that I don’t respect them any more; I still respect them, but now I don’t show my feelings through words. By Jack Two Jean is a bright young woman who comes from a rich and famous family. She goes to a good university and has everything that money can buy. Well, almost everything. The problem is that the people in Jean’s family are so busy that they can hardly find time to be with her. In fact, Jean is quite lonely. So Jean spends a lot of time on her QQ. She likes being anonymous, talking to people who do not know about her famous family and her rich life. She uses the name Linda on QQ and has made a lot of friends who she keeps in touch with quite often. Last year Jean made a very special friend on QQ. His name was David and lived in San Francisco. David was full of stories and jokes. He and Jean had a common interest in rock music and modern dance. So it always took them hours to talk happily on QQ and sometimes they even forgot their time. Of course, they wanted to know more about each other. David sent a picture of himself: He was a tall, good-looking young man with a big, happy smile. As time went by, they became good friends and often sent cards and small things to each other. When Jean’s father told her that he was going on a business trip to San Francisco, she asked him to let her go with him so that she could give David a surprise for his birthday. She would take him the latest DVD of their favorite rock singer. But when she knocked on David’s door in San Francisco, she found that her special friend was a twelve-year-old boy named Jim! Three Linda Evans was my best friend—like the sister I never had. We did everything together: piano lessons, movies, swimming and horseback riding. When I was 13, my family moved away. Linda and I kept in touch through letters, and we saw each other on special time—like my wedding and Linda’s. Soon we were busy with children and moving to new homes, and we wrote less often. One day a card that I sent came back, stamped “Address Unknown. ” I had no idea how to find Linda. Over the years, I missed Linda very much. I wanted to share happiness of my children and then grandchildren. And I needed to share my sadness when my brother and then mother died. There was an empty place in my heart that only a friend like Linda could fill. One day I was reading a newspaper when I noticed a photo of a young woman who looked very much like Linda and whose last name was Wagman — Linda’s married name. “There must be thousands of Wagmans,” I thought, but J still wrote to her. She called as soon as she got my letter. “Mrs Tobin!” she said excitedly, “Linda Evans Wagman is my mother. ” Minutes later I heard a voice that I knew very much, even after 40 years, laughed and cried and caught up on each other’s lives. Now the empty place in my heart is filled. And there’s one thing that Linda and I know for sure: We won’t lose each other again! Four I’ve loved my mother’s desk since I was just tall enough to see above the top of it as mother sat doing letters. Standing by her chair, looking at the ink bottle, pens, and white paper, I decided that the act of writing must be the more wonderful thing in the world. Years later, during her final illness, mother kept different things for my sister and brother. “But the desk,” she’d said again, “it’s for Elizabeth. ” I never saw her angry, never saw her cry. I knew she loved me; she showed it in action. But as a young girl, I wanted heart-to-heart talks between mother and daughter. They never happened. And a gulf opened between us. I was “too emotional”. But she lived “on the surface”. As years passed I had my own family. I loved my mother and thanked her for our happy family. I wrote to her in careful words and asked her to let me know in any way she chose that she did forgive me. I posted the letter and waited for her answer. None came. My hope turned to disappointment, then little interest and, finally, peace— it seemed that nothing happened. I couldn’t be sure that the letter had even got to mother. I only knew that I had written it, and I could stop trying to make her into someone she was not. Now the present of her desk told, as she’d never been able to, that she was pleased that writing was my chosen work. I cleaned the desk carefully and found some papers inside —a photo of my father and a one-page letter, folded and refolded many times. Give me an answer, my letter asks, in any way you choose. Mother, you always chose the act that speaks louder than words. Five Not many years ago, some farmers were worried because hawks were taking many of their chicken. The farmers didn’t know what to do. Finally they went to the country officials and asked for help. “Kill the hawks,” the officials said, “We will even pay for them,” so the farmers began to think of ways to kill the hawks. The farmers killed many hawks. They no longer had to worry about their chickens. But they now had a new worry. Field mice were eating up a lot of the farmers’ grain. How did this happen? Hawks eat not only chickens but also field mice. They eat more field mice than chickens. But the farmers didn’t know this. When they killed a lot of hawks, they changed the balance. When people move into a new place, they often destroy many wild plants. Often these plants are food for the animals. If the animals can’t find enough plants to eat, they will starve or have to leave the place. In one part of the USA, for example the deer there like to eat a certain kind of wild roses. The mountain lions there eat the deer. The number of deer, mountain lions and wild roses doesn’t change much if people leave things as they are. But people killed many mountain lions in order to protect the deer. Soon there were so many deer that they ate up all the wild roses. Then the deer began to eat the green leaves of young trees. These trees were important to the farmers. So the farmers thought of ways to protect their trees. Now the deer had nothing to eat, and many of them died. This was another lesson from nature. To keep the balance of nature is important for us to remember. Six Little Tommy was doing very badly in math. His parents had tried everything—tutors, cards, special learning centers—in short, everything they could think of. Finally they took Tommy to a catholic school. After the first day, little Tommy came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn’t kiss his mother hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying. Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Tommy was hard at work. His mother was surprised. She called him down to dinner and as soon as he finished eating, he went back to his room, without a word. In no time he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day while the mother tried to understand what was happening. Finally, little Tommy brought home his report card. He quietly put it on the table and went up to his room and hit the books. His mom looked at it and to her surprise, little Tommy got an A in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and asked, “Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?” Little Tommy looked at her and shook his head, “No. ” “Well then,” she asked again. “WHAT was it?” Little Tommy looked at her and said, “Well, on the first day of school, when I saw that man nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren’t joking. ” Seven I worked for a short time as a cashier at a restaurant a few months ago. I also helped to clean up the tables when it was very busy. One night, just before Christmas, I found a large black wallet on the floor near one of the tables. I guessed I should check it to find out who was the owner, but I was very busy at the time. And I imagined that if there was something valuable in the wallet, the owner would be back. Sure enough, an hour later a man came up to the counter and asked if anyone had found a wallet. I asked him to describe the lost wallet, and after he described it exactly, I gave him the wallet. He expressed his thanks when I handed it to him. He asked me if I had opened it, and when I told him “no”. At once he opened it and showed that it had nearly $ 800 in cash. He took out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to me and I was amazed at this. “A reward for your honesty,” he said and then turned and walked away. Thinking about it later, I began wondering whether I would have been honest if I had known what was in the wallet! I thought that if I had no way to find the owner and no one returned to get it, I might keep it. But it also came into my mind that I actually saved someone’s Christmas plans by finding and returning the wallet. The good feeling it gave me was worth more than anything could buy. Eight A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office, a street urchin(顽童) was walking around the shining car. “Is this your car, sir?” he asked. Paul answered, “Yes, my brother gave it to me for Christmas.” The boy was surprised. “You mean your brother gave it to you and it did cost you nothing? Sir, I wish…” He hesitated(犹豫). Paul thought of course he knew what the boy wanted, but what the boy said surprised him greatly. “I wish,” the boy went on, “that I could be a brother like that.” Paul looked at the boy in surprise, and then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car?” “Oh yes, I’d love to,” the boy answered. After a short ride, the boy turned and with his eyes shining, said, “Sir, would you mind driving in front of my house?” Paul smiled a little. He thought he knew what the boy wanted. He wanted to show his neighbors that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” the boy asked. He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled(残疾的) brother. He sat down on the step and pointed to the car. “There he is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn’t cost him a cent. And some day I’m going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I’ve been trying to tell you about.” Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed elder brother climbed in beside him and the three began an unforgettable holiday ride. Nine Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, destroying fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm. A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour. “I was eating with my wife and children,” he said, “When we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him, safe but very frightened.” Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children. “There was no time to take anything,” she said, “A few minutes later, the roof came down.” Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department brought them food, clothes and shelter. Ten We know the mosquito very well. Mosquitoes fly everywhere. They can be found almost all over the world, and there are more than 2,500 kinds of them. No one likes the mosquito. But the mosquito may decide that she loves you. She? Yes, she. It’s true that male mosquito doesn’t bite and only the female mosquito bites because she needs blood to lay eggs. She is always looking for things or people she wants to bite. If she likes what she finds, she bites. But if she doesn’t like your blood, she will turn to someone else for more delicious blood. Next time a mosquito bites you, just remember you are chosen. You’re different from the others! If the mosquito likes you, she lands on your body without letting you know. She bites you so quickly and quietly that you may not feel anything different. After she bites, you will have an itch(痒) on your body because she puts something from her mouth together with your blood. By the time the itching begins, and she has flown away. And then what happens? Well, after her delicious dinner, the mosquito feels tired. She just wants to find a place to have a good rest. There, on a leaf or a wall, she begins to lay eggs, hundreds of eggs. Eleven Alfred Nobel, the great Swedish inventor and industrialist, was born in Stockholm on October 21, 1833, but moved to Russia with his parents in 1842, where his father, Immanuel, made a strong position for himself in the engineering industry. Immanuel Nobel invented landmine and made a lot of money from the government during the Crimean War, but went bankrupt soon after. Then, the family returned to Sweden in 1859, where Alfred began his own study of explosives in his father’s lab. He had never been to school or university but had taught himself, and by the time he was twenty, he became a skillful chemist and excellent linguist, speaking Swedish, Russian, German, French and English. He built up over 80 companies in 20 different countries. He was always searching for a meaning to life. He spent much time and money working on how to end the wars, and the peace between nations, until his death in Italy in 1896. His famous last will, in which he left money to provide prizes for outstanding work in physics, chemistry, physiology, medicine, literature and peace, is a memorial to his interests and ideas. And so, the man is remembered and respected long after his death. Twelve An eight-year-old child heard her parents talking about her little brother. All she knew was that he was very sick and they had no money. Only a very expensive operation could save him now and there was no one to lend them the money. When she heard her daddy say to her tearful mother, “Only a miracle can save him now,” the little girl went to her bedroom and pulled her money from its hiding place and counted it carefully. She hurried to a drugstore (药店) with the money in her hand. “And what do you want?” asked the salesman. “It’s for my little brother,” the girl answered. “He’s really, really sick and I want to buy a miracle.” “Pardon?” said the salesman. “My brother Andrew has something bad growing in-side his head and my daddy says only a miracle can save him. So how much does a miracle cost?” “We don’t sell a miracle here, child. I’m sorry,” the salesman said with a smile. “Listen, if it isn’t enough, I can try and get some more. Just tell me how much it costs.” A well-dressed man heard it and asked, “What kind of a miracle does your brother need?” “I don’t know,” she answered with her eyes full of tears. “He’s really sick and mum says he needs an opera-tion. But my daddy can’t pay for it, so I have brought all my money.” “How much do you have?” asked the man. “$ 1.11, but I can try and get some more,” she answered. “Well, what luck,” smiled the man. “$ 1.11, the price of a miracle for little brothers.” He took up the girl’s hand and said, “Take me to where you live. I want to see your brother and meet your parents. Let’s see if I have the kind of miracle you need.” That well-dressed man was Dr Carlton Armstrong, a famous doctor. The operation was successful and it wasn’t long before Andrew was home again. How much did the miracle cost? Thirteen Henry was an office worker in a big city. He worked very hard and enjoyed traveling in his holidays. He usually went to the seaside, but one year he saw an advertisement in a newspaper. “Enjoy country life. Spend a few weeks at West Hill Farm. Good food. Fresh air. Horse riding. Walking. Fishing. Cheap and interesting.” “This sounds a good idea,” he thought. “I’ll spend a month at West Hill Farm. I think I can enjoy horse riding, walking and fishing. They’ll make a change from sitting by the seaside and swimming.” He wrote to the farmer. In the letter he said that he would like to spend all of July there. Then on the first of July, he left for West Hill Farm. But four days later, he returned home. “What was wrong with West Hill Farm?” his best friend, Ed, asked him. “Didn’t you enjoy country life?” “Country life was very good,” Henry said. “But there was another problem.” “Oh. What?” “Well,” he said, “the first day I was there a sheep died, and we had roast mutton for dinner.” “What’s wrong with that?” Ed asked. “Fresh meat is the best.” “I know, but on the second day a cow died, and we had roast beef for dinner.” “Lucky you!” “You don’t understand,” Henry said. “on the third day a pig died and we had roast pork for dinner.” “A different meat every day,” Ed said loudly, “and you are complaining!” “Let me finish,” Henry said. “on the fourth day the farmer died, and I didn’t dare stay for dinner!” Fourteen Olympic Games is window, I keep watch. This is a maximum window, had been rubbed bright. Through it, those that see are worlds. Here, it is changing every day, here burgeoning thing is being replaced. Have only me, this loyalty keep watch, it is paying attention to it every day, hopes to know it more. Olympic Games is crossing, I am pedestrian. There are many persons who pass here every day, there is Asian, have European, there is old person, have child. Here is traffic fort, joins the friend of all corners of the country. I pass the one of persons of hundreds of millions of here merely, cross it, go to another world. Olympic Games is Holy Land, I am volunteer. This is the land with pure flat, has holy fire from start to finish to accompany in side. Just because it is so, I pay out voluntarily for it, I will let my strength, let this slice of land more clean, let more ones know it, is also willing to devote oneself to it as me. I still help to the person who comes to here, let them enjoy the happiness of this slice of Holy Land. Olympic Games is platform, I am host. It has put up platform for us , lets world know us; It has built bridge for us , lets us and world link up better. This platform may let us display self wantonly. I am the host of here, I am proud to be the host of here. I will let the friendship of landlord, let guest experience enthusiasm and happiness. Fifteen There was once a man called Mr. Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life. He spent all his free time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions .He tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup for the Rose of the Year. Mr. Flowers’ glass-houses were very near to a middle school. Boys of around thirteen of age were often tempted to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flowers’ glass-houses. So Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day. But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing that he had done had been useful. He had been to school to report to the headmaster; but this had not done any good. He had tried to drive away the boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from far away. He had even picked up all the stones that he could find around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others. At last Mr. Flowers had a good idea. He put up a large notice (布告) made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses. On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flowers had no further trouble; the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses. 望：在练习时，要注意句子的语调、重读、连读、节奏以及文中角色的情感色彩。希望认真做好准备。
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