2023年中考英语热门话题练习 02 COVID-19

Because of the COVID-19（新冠肺炎）, people need to stay at home. Teachers are trying their best1ways to give lessons to their students at home.

First-grade teacher Katie Ricca of Florida has been giving her Maths lessons every day on the Internet at home.2the same time, she has to take care of the studies of her five little children.

During one class, Katie found a girl3Hannah was not online. "Our class tried talking to her, but there's4with her." Katie said later. When Hannah left the lesson early, she became5.

Once class was over, Katie called Hannah's mum to find out what happened to Hannah. Her mum said that Hannah was sad but didn't know6. After7this, Katie decided to visit Hannah the next day.

"Today her teacher came over and met Hannah for8." Hannah's mum wrote on Facebook. "They talked and read books together. The teacher has five kids at home, but she still cared for my daughter and stayed9an hour to make sure Hannah was OK."

For Katie,10with Hannah was important." Seeing my student sad, l had to show her I care for her," the teacher said.

If people around you have had a fever recently, it may not be COVID-19. According to China Daily, many places in China have entered into the peak period for seasonal flu. Influenza A (甲流) is sweeping across the country. 

In the past three years, people did things to prevent COVID-19 from spreading, which also prevented the spreading of flu. Thus, people's immunity (免疫力) to the flu went down. Besides, the flu and COVID-19 are different viruses, so getting COVID-19 does not protect you from getting the flu, said Wu Zunyou from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Have you gotten vaccinated(接种疫苗的)? This question has become a common way to greet each other in China since the country COVID-19 vaccinations rolled out(推出) successfully in December 2020.

China has also provided vaccines for other countries. It has sent COVID-19 vaccines to 28countries and provided help to 69 countries in need, Xinhua reported. Most of these countries are developing countries, such as Pakistan, Mexico and Mongolia.

The leaders of these countries are taking the lead in getting vaccinated, including Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Chilean President Sebastian Pinera. According to the World Bank, small and medium-sized developing countries are likely to lag behind larger developing and developed countries by a year in yaccinating their people. Some richer countries have already had enough vaccines for their own people.

For countries that have not yet developed or gotten a vaccine, China may be the only way to solve their problems. China is one of the few countries that developed vaccines. China has joined COVAX (新冠疫苗实施计划) which is organized by the World Health Organization, to make sure that all members get the vaccine in the future. China has decided to offer 10 million vaccines to COVAX, Xinhua reported.

My school in the US just opened, but the COVID-19 is still a problem there. I had to stay in China and took online classes that were given by my school in Boston.

My teachers try to make their classes more interesting. My English teacher shows us memes (表情包) and plays music as part of her class.

Because of the time difference, I have to stay up late. I have to set alarms (定闹钟) to wake me up, as class goes from 8:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m., while in China we start at 8:00 a.m. Because I'm the only student in my class who is studying online, my teachers like to put me on a big screen. Everyone can see me yawn (打哈欠) clearly.

After my classes are over, I go to sleep at once. Sometimes, I try to enjoy the sun going up beautifully for a while. So far, so good!

Following the rule off social distancing (社交距离) is probablywell-known to us all now. It refers to staying away from crowded places toprevent the spread of COVID-19(新型冠状病毒性肺炎). Somecompanies are taking advantage of is by changing their logos.

Coca-Cola, for example, placed the letters of its famousbrand further away from each other to show social distancing. The encouragingsentence "Today, being apart is the best way of being together is printed(印刷) below the logo. McDonald'sBrazil has separated its famous arches(拱) in a pictureposted on its Facebook page. Other global(全球的)companies, including Audi and Nike, have also posted similar logo changesonline.

Although many people think this idea is creative, somebelieve it makes "social distancing "seem less serious. What do youthink of it?

It's been almost three years since COVID—19 began spreading around the world. There have been more than 400 million cases of the virus around the world. At least 6. 15 million people have died. 

After scientists developed vaccines(疫苗) that worked against the virus, many countries began to pay attention to vaccination programs. The vaccines are great tools for fighting the virus yet. 

One reason is that many poorer countries are struggling to get vaccines for their people. Our country has given away hundreds of millions of vaccines to those countries, but billions more are needed. 

In some countries with strong vaccination programs, many people refuse to get vaccinated. Many of these people have gotten wrong information and may not be safe. 

Finally, coronavirus "variants(变异)" are making it harder to beat the virus. Now the" Delta variant and Omicron variant seem to be the worst. They spread quickly and may cause more serious illnesses. 

The two variants are causing terrible problems in countries where people haven't had the chance to get vaccinated. Even in countries with plenty of vaccines, the variants are having a strong influence on unvaccinated people. 

It's clear that COVID-19 will be part of people's life for quite a while. The best way to fight it seems to vaccinate as many people as possible. 

Do you worry that you might be wasting (浪费) food?  the COVID-19 pandemic, people around the world went hungry. But then people came up with ways to help. One was to put fridges (冰箱)  with food outside.

But this trend (趋势) started before COVID-19 began. Back in 2016, a restaurant owner in India thought of the idea late one night when she  a lady looking for food in a trash can (垃圾桶). She was really sad. Over in the UK, the charity (慈善组织), Hubbub, started the Community Fridge Network. Now, there are over 300 fridges in the UK. "A fridge is so often much  than a fridge," said Hubbub's official website.

Helping the hungry through street fridges.  food cuts down on waste and brings people together.

A British man in his late 20s, with the Chinese name of Ding Yirui, has found pleasure in recording his life in China through his phone. Living in Chengdu now, he (produce) 15 video clips (视频剪辑) about the city since 2020.

"In the videos, I show how Chinese people make (they) happy and celebrate festivals," said Ding.

Most Ding's videos are about Chinese culture. Last year, while hanging out with a Chinese friend at a local teahouse, Ding become (deep) interested in Chinese tea art and (shoot) a video about it.

"British people drink tea as well, that culture is greatly different from this one in China," he explained, expressing the hope that his videos could present the (difference) across different cultures to people from all over the world.

In his videos, Ding also said that it was difficult for him (get) used to life in Chengdu completely, speaking on topics such as stress at work and snacks that are not his cup of tea. "However, this does not influence my love for Chengdu," he explained.

At beginning of 2020, Ding's team shot short videos about Chengdu's fight against COVID-19, introducing China's anti-epidemic experience and efforts. The videos are very (use), because they taught people in South Africa how to protect themselves against COVID-19.

"I'd like to show Chengdu from different aspects (方面)," Ding shared, adding that he plans to show more about the delicious food and the food culture in the city.

A:

B: Yes, I think so. Never expect planes to be on time, especially at this time.

A:

B: I am working here.

A:

B: For about 5 years.

A: What places have you been to?

B: Quite a lot, like the Himalaya's, Huangguoshu Waterfall and the Yellow River. How amazing they are!

A:

B: You know, China is a country with a long history. China has the most beautiful places. From the fight against COVID-19, I can see the people and the government are both great. When meeting trouble, you all will always work together as one.

A: I am really proud of being a Chinese.

B: Oh, here's my airplane back to my home, America. Bye!

A: Wish you a good journey. Bye!

B: I will come back again.
A: Welcome you all the time!

I'm Lin Yue. In March, 2022, COVID-19 started suddenly in my city. It was so serious that the whole city was locked down. At the very beginning of the lockdown（行动限制）, some old people, especially those living alone, had difficulty getting vegetables.

One day, in the community WeChat group, an old man said that he was short of vegetables so I had an idea of setting up a food bank in the community, and my neighbors were also ready to offer help.

To keep social distancing（社交距离）, I used a large box as the food bank, and put it in the public area. Neighbors could give away and get some food there. The large box was quickly filled with vegetables, rice and snacks.

One evening, I saw a bag of vegetables with a note saying" These are fresh vegetables. Please take them home if you need. "

In the WeChat group, an old lady who got the vegetables said, "I was so moved by the good-will（善意）, but I only took three tomatoes, because I wanted to leave the rest for those people really in need. "

There were many similar stories in my city during the lockdown. Although COVID-19 keeps us apart, we can get through the hard times as long as we pull together.

Because of COVID-19, many students across the country have to take online classes at home. Liu Xin, a student from Shanghai, started a new hobby (业余爱好) 一keeping a diary. She wrote down something about her life during the lockdown(居家隔离).

In my neighborhood, we have to do the nucleic acid test(核酸检测) three times a week. 1 did it for the second time of the week today. I waited for half an hour this evening.  When I saw the workers, 1 found they were cold, too. They do so much for people indeed.

Badminton became my favorite sport. I play it twice a day now and every time I spend 30 minutes playing with my father.

We have online classes five days a week. Today, one of my classmates forgot to turn off the microphone (麦克风) when we had an online class. Не shouted, "Mom, I'm hungry!" How interesting!

Most of Liu Xin's diaries are not long. "Life is hard, but we can't give up. The best thing we can do is to keep a positive attitude (积极的态度)," She wrote in her diary.