開學(xué)
【Background背景】
開學(xué)對每一個學(xué)生來說，都是一個新起點(diǎn)（starting point）。在國外，學(xué)校和家庭都想方設(shè)法（try their best）為學(xué)生們創(chuàng)造一個快樂而又有意義的開學(xué)氛圍（create a happy and significant atmosphere ），使新學(xué)期有一個好的開端（start），家長們不妨借鑒（refer to）。
德國（Germany ）
在德國每年開學(xué)第一天，家長都要為新入學(xué)的孩子準(zhǔn)備（prepare for new tern）一個紙喇叭筒（a speaking trumpet which is made of paper）。等孩子正式成為學(xué)生后，才允許（allow）孩子將喇叭筒打開，除糖果（candy）外，喇叭筒里還有彩筆（color pen）、卷筆刀（pencil sharpener）、小玩具（toys）等。當(dāng)然，總是有那么一些孩子迫不及待（can’t wait to）就早早地揭開了喇叭筒的秘密（uncover the secrets）。
日本 （Japan）
9月1日在日本是個非同尋常（unusual）的日子。這天不僅是學(xué)校新學(xué)期開始的第一天，也是全國“防災(zāi)日”（reduction day），安排兒童“避難”是開學(xué)的重要一環(huán)（an important step）。
美國（America）
美國學(xué)校一般和家庭共同制定計(jì)劃（make plans）。開學(xué)伊始，學(xué)校大都要將新學(xué)期開設(shè)的課程（curriculum）告訴學(xué)生和家長，以及新學(xué)期學(xué)校的活動安排（activity arrangements），便于家長安排時間參與（participate in）到學(xué)校的事務(wù)中來。有的學(xué)校還可以通過召開家長會（hold parent meetings）設(shè)定新學(xué)年的目標(biāo)（set the goals）。
【Cultures文化】
誰先伸手？
握手雙方如果是男女之間，女的應(yīng)先伸手；賓主之間，主人應(yīng)先伸手；老幼之間，年長的應(yīng)先伸手；上下級之間，若有賓主關(guān)系，做主人者應(yīng)先伸手。
握手時應(yīng)用右手，并要注視對方，否則是不尊重對方的表現(xiàn)。有時為了表示更多的敬意，握手時還要微微點(diǎn)頭鞠躬。握手要上下微擺，不要一握就不動。如果男子戴有手套，應(yīng)先摘下手套再握手。若確有某種原因摘手套有困難，須先說一聲Excuse my gloves.女的則不必摘手套。
Fire的妙用
人們都知道，遇到盜賊時可以喊：“捉賊�。⊿top thief!）”，遇到危險時可以喊：“救命�。╤elp!）”,遇到火災(zāi)時可以喊：“救火！（Fire!）。
在美國，萬一在街上遇到壞人，最好不要喊“Stop thief!”,也不要喊“Help!”, 而要喊 “Fire! Fire!”。這是為什么呢？因?yàn)槿绻愫?“Stop thief!”或“Help!”周圍住房里的人聽到之后，知道有人在搶劫，事情與他無關(guān)，可能不會出來干涉；如果你喊 “Fire! Fire!”這可是與人人有關(guān)的事，人們就紛紛出來，壞人害怕了，自然就會逃之夭夭。
介紹
介紹別人認(rèn)識時，一般先把主人介紹給客人，把年輕的介紹給年老的，把地位低的介紹給地位高的。介紹別人或自我介紹時，一般要介紹全名，但也只可介紹名，特別是雙方都是年輕人時。注意：介紹時習(xí)慣說 “This is …” 不說 “He/She is …”.英語姓名的順序與漢語相反，如: Kate Green, Kate是名,Green是姓。
雙方認(rèn)識后，一般都以How do you do?或Nice to meet you 等表示問候。接著進(jìn)行一般的交談，初次見面常談?wù)撚嘘P(guān)天氣、運(yùn)動、電影、時事等認(rèn)為是最安全的話題，切忌問及對方的信仰、收入、婚姻、年齡、生活、工作等諸如此類的私事。
【Buzzwords熱詞快遞】
a drop in the ocean/bucket
事物微小，無濟(jì)于事
His donation is but a drop in the bucket. It won't help at all.（他的捐贈有如杯水車薪，是完全無濟(jì)于事的。）
【說事物微小，中國人常常會用蘇軾“滄海之一粟”這個比喻。英語也有一個差不多的比喻：a drop in the ocean/bucket（滄海/水桶中的一滴水）。這個英文成語出自《圣經(jīng)·以塞亞書》。先知以塞亞在書中說，和偉大的上帝相比，人間萬國都顯得微不足道了：Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance（看哪，天下萬國就像桶里的一滴水，又像天平上的微塵）。有些人覺得水桶還不能充分襯托出一滴水的渺小，于是把bucket改為 ocean（滄海）�！�
sick as a parrot
很傷心,很失望
He was crossed in love and became sick as a parrot. （他失戀了,傷心得很）。
【Sick as a parrot直譯是“病得像鸚鵡一樣”，意譯則是“很傷心”、“很失望”。這成語的起源有兩個說法。第一個說法認(rèn)為這和“鸚鵡熱”（parrot fever）有關(guān)。鸚鵡熱的病毒，不但可以取鸚鵡和其他禽鳥性命，人類也會感染死亡的。另一個說法則比較符合成語本身的意思。據(jù)說,十七、八世紀(jì)的時候,“melancholy as a sick parrot”（像病鸚鵡那樣憂郁）一語已經(jīng)開始流行，劇作家阿赫拉·貝恩（Aphra Behn）就用過這句話，而這句話則出自另一個成語as sick as a parrot with a rubber beck（像一只喙軟如膠的鸚鵡那么懊喪）。鸚鵡沒有硬喙，怎樣進(jìn)食和自衛(wèi)呢？這樣的鸚鵡難免會患上懊喪的“心病”了�！�
【作品秀Show time】
童年的時光，夢幻的色彩，讓我們一起擷取童年的浪花，前往心海深處的綠洲，追尋我們絢麗多彩的夢想吧……
I Built a “Great Wall”
In my childhood, I was so confident that I thought I must be the best in the world. I dreamed of being a heroine admired by people, an architect praised by others…
I still remember the day when I built “the Great Wall”. It was a cloudy afternoon and I came up with an idea of building “the Great Wall” as I had once seen it on TV. So I stayed in school after class until almost nobody was at school. I went to the pile of sand in my school and began my great project. I piled the sand and shaped it into two “solid” walls. “The Great Wall” wound its way on the sand and looked grand. When I finished, it was so dark that I couldn’t see my hand in front of me. However, I had a feeling of achievements.
I was so great! I must be the best!
During the time, my mother went out to look for me everywhere and found me at school. She washed my hands and pulled me home. I was reluctant to leave. Early the next day I went there hurriedly, only to find all in ruins. I hated it when it rained! It destroyed my “Great Wall” along with my childhood dream.
As I am growing up, I sadly find I am not as smart as before. How I wish I could go back to my childhood although I clearly understand lost time never returns! What I can only do is to treasure the fine dream in my childhood in my mind to encourage me constantly in my growth.
（寶應(yīng)中學(xué)08級31班 王 君）
指導(dǎo)老師 張禮義
A Funny Memory
In many people’s eyes, childhoods should be colorful and filled with happiness, interesting memories as well as sorrows and tears. So do I.
When I was 5 years old, Dad bought me a present. It was a cute and tiny toy made from earth. Excited and happy, I hugged the toy, singing all the way to Meimei’s home. Meimei was my best friend who always shared her things with me such as chocolates, comic books and even secrets. On seeing the toy, her face lit up. “May I play with it for a while?” she begged. “Of course. Go ahead.” replied me without hesitation.
Half an hour later, to my surprise, I saw some dirty marks on the toy. Meimei kept saying sorry to me. Suddenly I came up with a good idea. Mum always gave me a shower, after which I became clean and pretty. Why not take a shower for it too? With great patience, I washed the toy. But things got worse as the toy became smaller. Finally, it completely disappeared, leaving a lot of black water. Mum laughed to tears when seeing this, but I couldn’t help crying as I lost my favourite toy.
Every time I look back upon my childhood, I see an innocent girl.
（寶應(yīng)中學(xué)08級23班 楊 蘭）
指導(dǎo)老師 張禮義
My Childhood, My Dream
Children’s Day is coming. Let us get some ‘flowers’ from our childhood’s garden. They are very beautiful because I have many ‘flowers’ there. Let us look for some “flowers”.
Look, “flowers”is very beautiful. Let us look at it. Oh, I know what it is. It is my first dream. At that time, I was a baby. I saw my father and mother were very busy, so I hoped to make so much money that they could be free, but now I know it will be impossible if I don’t study hard.
Look, the ‘flowers’ is very colorful. Oh, I know what it is. It is my dangerous thing because I almost died. One morning of a winter, I played by the river. Suddenly, I fell into the river. I was very frightened but I knew nobody could help me so I must save myself. Finally, I succeeded in. I know people should be brave whenever they are.
Oh，my childhood, my dream. You tell me a lot, such as people should work hard, people should be brave whenever they are. Let us go on our trips with these dreams.
（淮安曙光雙語學(xué)校初中部 08級10班 賈 勃）
指導(dǎo)老師 陳 昕
My Childhood
The day before yesterday was Children’s Day. When I was wandering in the street, I saw many lovely children playing with their parents. The pleasant scene reminded me of my own childhood.
There is only one word which can describe my childhood. The word is “carefree”. That so many today’s kids don’t understand, although they have delicious food, beautiful clothes and preety toys. My parents never forced me to do anything when I was in the primary school. The homework was very easy to do, and I was never asked to be the top students. After I finished my homework, I could stay outside for a whole afternoon to do whatever I liked. I could read any books and my parents never examine them before my reading.
Sometimes I think my childhood was boring and not unforgettable, but I was really carefree and happy then.What is more important than to give a child a happy childhood?
I will always remember the days of my childhood. How I wish I could be as carefree and curious as a child once again!
（寶應(yīng)實(shí)驗(yàn)小學(xué) 陳艷飛）
My Youth , My Dream
After you read the title, maybe you will wonder why the writer think so? She must be 15 years old at most and she is still very young. Oh, let me tell you something about my past. I’m really proud to have such a wonderful time.
When I was very young, I lived in a very small village with my parents.There was a river in the village, it was not very large but very clean and there were still many fish swimming in it happily. In my mind,the sky was so blue and the air was so fresh…
Every day was free for me.My moyher never asked me to do my homework and I did not need to go to school and see my teachers so maybe you couldn’t believe that I could even play for the whole day. Nothing worried me.
I had some good friends in the village, I liked to stay with them because they were so lovely.We were kind to others and we never said a bad word about anyone. Sometimes we have an adventure together, because we wished to be as rich as Huckleberry Finn or Tom sawyer which was written by Mark Twain. In that book robbers stole some money and hid it in a very secret place in the woods.How clever we were! Sometimes I was the leader and sometimes others were leaders,we went to climb the hill with a map and tried to find the treasure. It’s a pleasant dream.
Now I lived in the city. I am studying in the school. Though I’m busy studying sometimes I feel a little lonely.
I want to go back to the village, I want to find my friends. I want to stay with them. Now I want it’s only a dream.
（淮安外國語學(xué)校08級12班 張鈺晗）
指導(dǎo)老師 顧少紅
Eggs and Chickens?
There are lots of interesting things in my childhood and I won’t forget it forever.
At the age of 10, on Sunday morning, I was watching TV, sitting comfortably on the sofa . I saw chickens on the farm on television. There were all kinds of chickens, they were in different colours, such as yellow, white. They were so lovely that I would like to keep one at once.
Mom was cooking in the kitchen, I went to my mother and said : “Mother, I want to buy a few chickens! ” “Why? You know, I hate it. It may make our home dirty!” I thought for some time and opened the fridge. Do you know what I would do? I decided to hatch the egg as the hens do, if I kept enough temperture, it would hatch chickens. So I took the eggs into the bedroom. I opened quilts, holding the eggs under my body just like a hen, sleeping. However, the eggs were all broken. My clothes were all so wet that I felt terrible and then I cried. My mother heard it and rushed into the bedroom, and rubbed my small brain: “Stupid boy,no eggs were hatched chickens!”
It let me understand that people should not blindly do something. Only after careful thought and action, he will succeed.
（寶應(yīng)實(shí)驗(yàn)初中08級10班 陸一凡）
【英文詩歌English poetry】
Saying Good-bye to Cambridge Again 再別康橋
徐志摩
Very quietly I take my leave， 輕輕的我走了，
As quietly as I came here; 正如我輕輕的來；
Quietly I wave good-bye, 我輕輕的招手，
To the rosy clouds in the western sky. 作別西天的云彩。
The golden willows by the riverside, 那河畔的金柳，
Are young brides in the setting sun; 是夕陽中的新娘；
Their reflections on the shimmering waves , 波光里的艷影，
Always linger in the depth of my heart. 在我的心頭蕩漾。
The floating heart growing in the sludge, 軟泥上的青荇，
Sways leisurely under the water; 油油的在水底招搖；
In the gentle waves of Cambridge, 在康河的柔波里，
I would be a water plant! 我甘心做一條水草！
That pool under the shade of elm trees, 那榆蔭下的一潭，
Holds not water but the rainbow from the sky; 不是清泉，是天上虹；
Shattered to pieces among the duck weeds, 揉碎在浮藻間，
Is the sediment of a rainbow-like dream? 沉淀著彩虹似的夢?
To seek a dream? 尋夢？
Just to pole a boat upstream , 撐一支長篙，
To where the green grass is more verdant; 向青草更青處漫溯；
Or to have the boat fully loaded with starlight, 滿載一船星輝，
And sing aloud in the splendor of starlight. 在星輝斑斕里放歌。
But I cannot sing aloud, 但我不能放歌，
Quietness is my farewell music; 悄悄是別離的笙簫；
Even summer insects keep silence for me, 夏蟲也為我沉默，
Silent is Cambridge tonight! 沉默是今晚的康橋！
Very quietly I take my leave , 悄悄的我走了，
As quietly as I came here; 正如我悄悄的來；
Gently I flick my sleeves, 我揮一揮衣袖，
Not even a wisp of cloud will I bring away. 不帶走一片云彩。
【Can you guess？猜一猜】
1. 哪個字母可以停車？
2. 哪個字母可以睡覺？
3. 哪個字母問題最多？
4. 哪個字母是兩個你？
5.請問英語有多少個字母？
（答案見下期）
上期答案：
1. T可以喝。因?yàn)門ea茶可以喝。T和Tea讀音一樣，所以T可以喝。
2. C是藍(lán)色的。因?yàn)镾ea大海是藍(lán)色的，C和Sea是一樣的讀音，所以C就是藍(lán)色的。
3. B最勤勞。因?yàn)锽ee蜜蜂是最勤勞的象征嘛。
4. I是可以看得見的。因?yàn)镋ye眼睛是可以看得見東西的。
5. O最驚訝。因?yàn)镺h哦是驚嘆詞。
【Laugh of the day百事可樂】
A Smart Housewife
A smart housewife was told that there was a kind of stove which would only consume half of the coal she was burning. She was very excited, and said: “That'll be terrific! Since one stove can save half of the coal, if I buy two, no coal will be needed!”
精明的家庭主婦
一位精明的家庭主婦聽人說有一種爐子用起來可以比她現(xiàn)在用的爐子省一半的煤。她聽了大為興奮，說：“那太好了！一個爐子可以省一半的煤，那么如果我買兩個爐子的話，不就可以把煤全都省下來了嗎？”
I Caught Every Step
Mr. Brown was reading his evening paper when there came a tremendous banging down the stairs. He jumped up, ran to the hall, and discovered his schoolboy son sprawled on the floor.“Did you miss a step?” asked his dad.“No, I caught every blessed one!” came the bitter answered.
我一級也沒漏
布朗先生在看晚報，忽然傳來一陣什么東西從樓上摔下來的響聲。他跳了起來，跑到廳里，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己上了學(xué)的兒子四角朝天地躺在地上。“你是不是踩漏了一級臺階？”爸爸問。“不，我每一級都撞上了，一級也沒有漏掉！”兒子痛苦地回答。
【English news英語新聞】
嗚嗚祖拉”入選新版《牛津英語詞典》
Vuvuzela enters the dictionary
The vuvuzela, the horn instrument which provided the soundtrack to this summer's football extravaganza in South Africa, is one new entry in the Oxford Dictionary of English, which is based on how language is really used. [ 2010-08-19 ]
在今年夏天的南非世界杯上一鳴驚人的喇叭“嗚嗚祖拉”近日被《牛津英語詞典》收錄，該詞典主要根據(jù)語言在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中的使用情況而編撰。
全球大學(xué)新排名 中國大學(xué)名次上升
Harvard tops university list as China progress
Harvard retains the crown as top university for the eighth year in an annual ranking of the world's universities which is dominated by the United States but shows China's performance improving. Chinese universities in the top 200 included Peking、 Tsinghua and Chinese University of Hong Kong. [ 2010-08-20 ]
一項(xiàng)世界大學(xué)年度排名日前出爐，哈佛大學(xué)連續(xù)第八年高居排行之首。在今年的榜單上，美國大學(xué)占據(jù)多數(shù)，但中國大學(xué)的排名也有所上升。躋身200強(qiáng)的中國大學(xué)包括北京大學(xué)、清華大學(xué)和香港中文大學(xué)。