浙江省湖州市吴兴区2019-2020学年八年级下学期英语期中质量检测（含听力音频）

    When I was a little girl, my father loved to play catch(接球)with me. I wasn't good at it at all, 1 we would still play anyway. Although I would not be able to catch even the 2 of throws, my father was always telling me "Keep your eye on the ball".

    As I got 3 , we didn't play catch so much. If I had a problem and went to my father to ask for his 4 , he would try to joke with me and say "Keep your eye on the ball". We would both laugh because usually that advice was not useful to the problem, but he would try to make me 5 .

    My father became 6 in 1995 when I was twenty-three. There weren't conversations anymore, as he suffered from a stroke(中风). 7 could not speak. He could only give 8 words, which were sometimes hard to understand. But I seemed to be pretty good at 9 his lips(唇形), even better than the nurses who were caring for him.

    During one of our last conversations, I was telling him about a problem I was having with my boyfriend. 10 , I could read his lips, "Keep your eye on the ball." We both smiled.

    That was the last time I saw my father 11 he passed away.

    Sometimes, all these years later, when I meet difficulties, I just 12 myself, "Keep your eye on the ball."

    Teenagers are known for being creative and full of new ideas. Let's have a look at these teenage inventions that might change the world.

    Almost everyone knows Garfield. He is a fun-loving cat in comic strips(连环漫画). Most people like to read about this cute cat.

    But who made Garfield? Jim Davis did. When Jim was a young boy, he was sick for a long time. He had to stay in bed. He wanted to do something, so he drew pictures. Jim's pictures made people laugh. When Jim put words with his pictures, people laughed harder. He started making comic strips. Jim read other comic strips. He saw there were a lot of dogs in the comics, but no cats. That's how he got the idea for Garfield.

    Jim lived in India with 25 cats. These cats helped him get his ideas for the things Garfield does. But Garfield is a special cat! Garfield isn't afraid of dogs. He likes to kick Odie, the dog in his comic strips. Sometimes Garfield is bad, but it always acts in a funny way.

    Jim had fun writing about Garfield's stories. He also spent time drawing Garfield's action. This careful work has made Garfield popular. Now there are comic strips, posters, books, and even TV shows about the funny Garfield.

    Tara worked in a hospital as a nurse. One evening there was a big dance party at the hospital. Most of the doctors and nurses would be there, but it was Tara's turn to look after the sick children. She liked dancing very much, so when she had to start her work that evening while her friends were getting ready to go to the dance, she felt very sorry for herself.

    She went to each sick child one after another and said good night, until she came to one little boy, Dennis. He was eleven years old, but he was already able to talk like an adult(成人). Poor Dennis had a very serious illness, and now he was hardly able to move any part of his body except his hands. He knew he would never get any better, but he was always happy and always thinking about other people instead of thinking about himself.

   Dennis knew that Tara loved dancing, so now when she came to say good night to him, he greeted her with the words, "I'm very sorry that you have to miss the dance because of us. But we are going to have a party for you. If you look in my drawer(抽屉), you'll find a piece of cake. I saved it from my supper today, so it's quite fresh. And there is also a dollar there. You can buy something to drink with that. And I'd get up and dance with you myself if I was able to," he added.

    Suddenly the hospital dance party seemed very far away and not at all important to Tara.

    Journal(日志) writing can be a lot of fun. It will be full of memories(记忆) that you can read again and again.

    Here are some steps for you to make your own journal:

    Place a sheet of paper on each piece of cardboard. With a pencil, draw straight lines around the paper's edges. Then cut along the lines. These pieces of cardboard will become the covers of your journal.

    Draw an unclear, straight line along the left edge of the cover. Put the paper for the journal pages between the two cardboard covers. Use binder clips to hold the paper together neatly. Staple(钉住) along the pencil line. This will hold your journal together.

    Now it's time to be creative! Decorate(装饰) the front and back covers of your journal. Use markers, crayons, paints, or colored pencils to add pictures or words to your covers. These decorations can make your journal special to you. Now your journal is ready.

    Showing your feelings is important. It's wrong not to talk to anyone when you feel sad, worried or (孤独的，寂寞的). If you keep bad feelings inside, it can (造成，引起)some problems and even make you sick.

But if you talk with someone, like your mom or dad, you'll (开始)to feel better than before. Now you are not alone with your problems anymore, someone else understands what's the (问题，事情)with you and can help you find ways to solve your problems.

    Although your parents really expect you to (发展) your independence in your growing up, they still hope you can open your heart to them and have a good (关系)with them. You will surely feel better too if you share the feelings with someone else.

    Joe is a teacher in New York. He gives lessons to  (he) students about American history. But he was born  Kenya, an African country where the children lead a very different life. For example, a ten-year-old boy may spend  (much) time in taking care of cows than studying at school. The children also learn many  (skill) like how to live in the wild.

    Unlike many other children, Joe went to school. And  (lucky), when he was 15, he came  (study) in America and then became a teacher. Joe has written a book called Facing the Lion. In the book, he thinks it is very important for American children to learn about the cultural differences between their country  the others. Now Joe is doing a project, hoping that it will help children face their own "lions".

参考词汇：wear a mask, go out less, wash hands, keep the air fresh

注意：1）文中不得出现真实校名、人名；

2）词数80左右，开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Jenny,

    How's everything going? Everyone is doing their part in fighting against NCP around the world. Here are some suggestions for you to keep yourself safe. Firstly,

    …

    Hope my advice can help you. Best wishes!

Yours,

Li Hua