初中英语外研（新标准）版八年级上册Module 12 Help 基础训练

—Thanks for telling me.

—He is considering _________ his piano course and spending more time on his study.

—Yes. We don't have to wait.

— I don't know. But it might have to do with my cat.

—Sure, you may take one from the fridge.

Robert and Henry were going home from school, when, on turning a corner, Robert1out, "A fight! Let us go and see!" "No, " said Henry; "Let us go quietly home and avoid this quarrel. We have2to do with it, and may get into trouble. "

"You are not a brave boy, and afraid to go, "said Robert, and off he ran. Henry went straight home, and in the afternoon went to school, as usual, 3 Robert had told all the boys that Henry was a coward, and they laughed at him a great deal.

A few days4, Robert was bathing with some schoolmates and 5his depth. He struggled and screamed for help, but all in vain. The boy 6 had called

Henry a coward, got away from the water as fast as they could, but they did not even try to help him. Robert was fast 7, when Henry threw off his clothes, and sprang into the water, By great effort, and8much danger to himself, he brought Robert to the shore, and thus saved his life.

Robert and his schoolmates were9at having called Henry a coward. They admitted that he had more10than any of them.

Never be afraid to do good, but always fear to do evil.

Billions of locusts (蝗虫) are moving through farms and fields in the East African countries of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia.

Locusts are grasshoppers (蚱蜢). Normally grasshoppers don't travel in groups so they do little harm. But when there are lots of them, their bodies and behavior change. That's when they become locusts. Locusts travel in huge groups,

laying eggs along the way, which produces even more locusts. In a single day, a small swarm (群) of the insects can eat as much food as 35 , 000 people do.

The locust swarms in Ethiopia and Somalia are the worst in 25 years. These locusts are desert locusts. They began swarming about six months ago. By moving with the winds, desert locusts can travel up to 90 miles a day or more.

Locust swarms are more common when heavy rains follow a long dry period. The insects lay their eggs in the wet ground. This season, East Africa has had its heaviest rainy season in 40 years.

When the insects swarm (成群地飞来飞去), one square kilometer of land can hold as many as 150 million locusts. There are 700 square kilometers of land covered by the insects in Kenya alone.

The insects are a threat to lives in the regions, where food is already in short supply. Already many farmers who keep animals are struggling because locusts have eaten up the plants the animals usually live on

In East Africa, farmers have been shooting into the air or making noises in the fields, but that doesn't work against so many insects. Experts say that spraying pesticides (杀虫剂) over large areas from airplanes is the only way to reduce the number of the insects. The UN has released (释放) $ 10 million to help deal with the locust problem. The UN says about $70 million is needed to truly control the locusts with pesticides.

It was a beautiful day with a clear, blue sky and the cool wind made my morning tea cool. Everything was quiet and the book in my hands was lovely until I felt my chair moving. At that moment, I thought to myself, "It is an earthquake (地震). " I was scared as I ran to tell my parents. But when I reached them, the earthquake stopped.

________ My family and I were not in danger and our house was still standing. We watched the news about the earthquake. The epicenter (震中) was very close to Muzaffarabad. We felt lucky to be in the city of Kashmir. After we watched the situation in Muzaffarabad, I decided to volunteer to help those people right away.

I arrived in the city of Muzaffarabad with a few other volunteers. We tried to help out the people there. After hours of digging, we found a few survivors. We quickly sent for doctors to make sure they were all right. When they met their families, they cried for joy. That made me very happy. However, not everyone had a happy ending. We also found bodies of those not making it through the earthquake. And I felt terrible when I saw the tears of the people crying for those dead people.

Every year, nearly a million children in the world die because of unintentional injuries（意外伤害）, and the biggest killer is the traffic accident, according to a report from the Worldwide Health Organization.

The report says that traffic accidents, falling into water, fires, falls, and poisoning（中毒）are the five major causes of unintentional injuries. About 830000 children under 18 die and millions of children are injured every year.

The World Health Organization finds that roads are the most dangerous places for children, especially in developing countries. Because children in these countries haven't learned about the dangers of road traffic, they are often not ready for the new roads that might be built through their villages.

In Asia, deaths are most often caused by bikes. It is usual to see a whole family on one bike in counties such as Vietnam. When they are knocked over, they will be badly injured and some may even die.

In the United States and other Western countries, injuries from road traffic accidents have been cut down through the use of safety seats for children and other safety measures. However, traffic accidents are still a major cause of deadly（致命的） injuries.

The locusts(蝗虫) in East Africa continue plaguing(造成麻烦) Asian countries such as Pakistan after they "visited" Qatar, Kuwait，and Bahrain.

On Thursday, it's reported that China will send an army of 100, 000 ducks to Pakistan to help eat out the locusts there. By Thursday noon, the 100, 000 ducks ready to eat locusts in Pakistan has been one of the hottest topics of Sina Weibo.

There has been much discussion on domestic social media(国内社交媒体) networks about the problem. Besides ducks, many also suggest sending hens, while some make it further by suggesting catching the locusts, to cook and eat them.

The hen and duck strategy was used in 2000 when Xinjiang suffered its worst locust plague. An army of about 700, 000 hens, roosters and ducks were transported from Zhejiang Province to Xinjiang and helped defeat the locusts quickly.

However, neither the duck nor hen strategy can always be useful. Hens and ducks are good at picking locusts and eating them, but this time the locusts from Africa are mostly grown-up ones that can fly up to 2, 000 meters in the sky. It is unrealistic to expect hens or ducks to eat all the locusts alone.

The best way of controlling a locust plague lies in the preventive(预防的) stage. One opinion among scientists is that the locust plague this year has much to do with the EI Nino effect of 2019, which caused heavier rainfall in East Africa, which in turn resulted in more locust eggs hatching.

The same effect caused droughts(干旱) in Australia and South America, which is an important reason why the wildfires in Australia have been so bad. It might be old talk, but it really is time to control climate change.

W: Hi, Peter! You look terrible! What's the matter with you?

M:

W: Sorry to hear that.

M: I cut myself by accident while I was making dinner.

W: That sounds bad.

M: Yes, it's kind of serious.

W: Have you seen a doctor?

M: Yes.

W: What did the doctor do with the cut?

M:

W: Oh! Don't touch water. And you will be better soon.

M: OK. Thank you!

W: You're welcome.