浙江省台州市天台县2018-2019学年八年级下学期英语期末考试试卷（含小段音频）

    An old woman had two large pots(罐) — one on each end of a pole(扁担). She carried the pole with the pots on her shoulder. One of the pots had a crack(裂缝) in it, while the other pot was 1 and was always full of water. At the 2 of the long walk from the local well(井) to the woman's house, the cracked pot arrived only half-full.

    This 3 daily for two years, with the woman bringing home only 4 pot(s) of water. Of course, the perfect pot was 5. But the poor cracked pot was 6 of its own imperfection.

    One day, the cracked pot spoke to the 7 while they were on the way back. "I am ashamed of myself 8 this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house," it said. The old woman smiled and said, "Did you 9 that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I 10 know you were cracked. I planted flower seeds on 11 side of the path. And every day while we walk back, you 12them."

    "For two years, I have been able to 13 these beautiful flowers to decorate(装饰) my dining table. 14 you being just the way you are, I would not have this beauty." Hearing these words, the cracked pot 15.

    Each of us has our own cracks. But it's these cracks that make our lives so interesting and meaningful.

    The film Forever Enthralled was directed by the director(导演)Chen Kaige, and famous stars acted in it, such asZhang Ziyi and Chen Hong. This film shows Mei Lanfang's life.

    Mei, a master of Beijing opera, grew up in a family of Beijing opera performers. He began to perform on the stage(舞台)in 1904 when he was 10 years old. He learnt his acting skills and played female roles and became highly good at singing, dancing and acting. He turned himself into a performer of almost all types of the "Dan" female roles.

    In July 1937, the Japanese army occupied(占领) Beijing. The officer of the army told Mei to perform for them and promised to give him a lot of money. Mei refused to do so, and from then on, he gave up performing on stage during the war. This made him poor until the war ended in 1945.

After 1949, he made the Dan have an important place in Beijing opera through many years of hard working. In his 50-year stage life, he used new acting skills and made lots of good operas. So he became the symbol of Beijing opera.

    It was the last day of the final examination in a college. On the steps of building, a group of engineering students were waiting for the last exam. On their faces was confidence.

    They knew the exam would be easy. The professor (教授) had said they could bring any books or notes during the test.

    Right after they came into the classroom, the professor handed out the papers. There were only five questions on it.

    Three hours passed. Then the professor began to collect the papers. The students no longer looked confident. On their faces was nervous expression. The professor watched the worried faces before him, and then asked, "How many of you have completed all five questions?" No hand was raised. "How many of you have answered four?" Still no hands. "Three? Two?" The students moved restlessly in their seats. "One, then? Certainly somebody has finished one." But the class kept silent. The professor said, "That is exactly what I expected. I just want to make you know clearly that even though you have completed four years of engineering, there are still many things about the subject you don't know. These questions you could not answer are common in everyday practice." Then, smiling, he added, "You will all pass this course, but remember, your education has just begun."

    The years have obscured the name of this professor, but not the lesson he taught.

    As space science develops, man has learned more and more about space. Space is not only amazing but also dangerous. While working in space, spacemen are facing danger as well as success.

    Scientists have found out that the radiation(辐射) is the greatest danger to spacemen in space. When spacemen are working in space, they are in danger of the radiation from the sun and other stars, which is bad for their health. The harm of the radiation won't be found until their children even grandchildren are born. Some special medicine may work a little, but no really effective medicine has been found so far. Space rubbish is also thought to be a great danger to spacemen. It's reported that there were 9,000 man-made things flying in space. About 30% of these are satellites, 10% are spaceships, and the rest are space rubbish. An explosion(爆炸) in space in 1999 made a cloud of 300,000fragments, each at least 4mm in size. A small piece of these even knocked a spaceship window and caused some damage(损坏).

    Scientists are watching and reporting any possible danger all the time. They are working to deal with space rubbish. Although space is really dangerous, it interests many people on the earth. In the near future, it may become possible for people to spend a few days in a space hotel. People may even choose to leave the earth and live in space in a few years. So scientists are doing everything they can to help improve the space environment.

    One day in a restaurant, the American writer Anne Herbert wrote this sentence on a piece of paper: "Random(任意的) actions of kindness." Later she repeated it in an interview on a TV show, and it soon caught people's eyes and made people think about how small "kind" actions could make our daily lives better.

    One rainy night, a woman was standing at a bus stop waiting for the bus. A man came by on a motorcycle and offered to give her a ride. Of course, the woman said no. It would be crazy to accept a ride from a stranger on a motorcycle. Suddenly the man reached out and put a 50-dollar bill in her hand. He said, "Please take a taxi. It hurts me to see you standing here in the rain." Before she could refuse, he left quickly on his motorcycle.

    Kind actions can be contagious. Once, a woman was going through a toll station(收费站) on a highway. Instead of paying for one ticket, she asked for two. She said to the toll collector, "The second ticket is for the car behind me." She didn't know the person in that car. She just did it without thinking more. So when the next car came up, the toll collector said to the driver, "You don't have to pay. The woman in the blue car just paid for you." The driver was so surprised that he decided to pay for the person behind him. This continued with 14 drivers that day.

    So just imagine what the world will be like if we all practice random actions of kindness from time to time?

    China has once again showed its ability to change the world with its "new four great inventions: high-speed railways, electronic payments, shared bicycles and online shopping."

    "My wallet is not in use. I can buy (无论什么)I want simply with a phone," said Lin Jinlong, an overseas Chinese student from America, adding that "it is (难以置信的)that the pancake sellers are using Alipay."

    And the bikes (他们自己) are not new, but now they are very popular. (作为)a fan of bicycles, Tom expressed his love for China's shared bicycles, saying that "Shared bikes are (鼓励)people to be more active."

    Nowadays, it is clear that China is no (不再)copying western ideas. China is leading in many ways such as social messaging app Wechat. This is partly because China went directly to mobile. China has the (最多)mobile users in the world."

    "According to the new four great inventions", Charlie Dai, a principal from America, said these things are good for the (发展)of economy all over the world. Lin also shared his experience of traveling by Chinese high-speed train from Beijing to Tianjin more than 100 km away. The journey takes only half an hour, (然而), in America, which has only two railways, such a journey may take up to three hours. So Chinese have achieved great (成功)in the world.

    It's not often sunny in Paris, but people still love to walk along the banks of the Seine. They love the city's old buildings,(especial) Notre Dame Cathedral(巴黎圣母院). Unluckily, that view (go) since April 16^th, 2019.

    On April 16, a fire destroyed the 850-year-old cathedral, and two-thirds of the roof. The fire(shock) Parisians. People came together to the church,(sing) songs and praying (祈祷)for the hundreds of firefighters who fought the flames. "Notre Dame, not only to Catholics, to all Parisians means a lot," wrote by author, "It's a symbol of French culture and history." That's  people felt sad. The church itself, after all, is a treasure. It was built in 1163 and after Notre Dame, churches in Europe were built  (tall) and looked more beautiful. Though Notre Dame had a long history and many (treasure), Victor Hugo, a writer, made the church truly famous. His novel, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, presented the building to us. He wrote the book to remind people  it, with hope they would work to protect the beautiful old buildings of Paris.

    Nowadays, traveling is becoming simpler than ever. Many new travel ways will be available. Here are somerends (趋势)that we can expect in the next 10 years.

    With the help of technology, making plans for your trip is right at hand. Our phones are becoming smarter and can work as a reminder. You can add simple things like flight times and numbers to your phone calendar. If you want to find local food or a museum, you can just use an app.

    Chaotic (混乱的) airports are disappearing. Future airport designs will focus on a local feel. Travelers will be able to enjoy local culture as they wait for their luggage(行李). They will also provide local food in waiting areas. For example, a library in the Amsterdam Airport Schiphol gives travelers a special experience.

    In the future, travelers may not always stay in traditional hotel rooms. They might find more interesting places to make their travel more colorful. Can you imagine swinging(悬摆) into a treehouse on a zipline(滑索)? You can find one in Laos(老挝) Travelers will have more fun experiences for their accommodation(住宿)in coming years.

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Dear Sir/Madam,

    My name is Li Ming. I want to be a volunteer of 2019 China International Import Expo.

Yours,

Li Ming