中考英语复习-八年级短文阅读2.docx

中考英语复习-八年级短文阅读2The Metaverse Is Having a MomentLast October, CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed his companys name from Facebook to Meta. He said the metaverse was not only the future of his company, but also the future of the Internet. His words sent lots of people running to look up the word “metaverse” in their dictionaries.The thing is, the word isnt new. It comes from Snow Crash, a 1992 science-fictionbook by American writer Neal Stephenson. In the book, humans live through their avatars in a virtual world called the metaverse. Today the metaverse is still being created and understood and not everyone agrees on how it should come about. However, we are starting to get some idea as tech companies have begun to build it. The metaverse is believed to be a shared 3D virtual world and in it we can do real-life things like meeting friends, exercising or taking classes. Zuckerberg believes almost anything people can do in real life can be done in the metaverse.Picture this. Zhang Yixing is putting on a big concert in Beijing and you are too busy to go to the city for it. When the concert begins, instead of watching it online, you put on a VR headset and come to the virtual concert. You sit, listen and shout with other fans. You even shake hands and talk with your idol. How exciting!The growing interest in the metaverse can be seen as a result of COVID-19. As more peoplehave started working from home, there has been an increasing need for ways to make online interaction more lifelike.Zuckerberg said it might take around ten years for the metaverse to arrive. Are you looking forward to it?To Live a Happy Life in Middle School YearsMiddle schoolyears are important and bring great changes to childrens lives. We have some advice for you in the hope of helping you live a happy middle school life.Your health is the most important thing for you.Health is agreat treasure always protect it. Many teenagers think they dont have to worry about their health because it is just there. Never take your good health for granted and never waste it, or youll regret it later on.You cant please everyone. Its human nature to want to be liked and respected. Actually, it is impossible for you to please everyone. You just need to be yourself, love and respect others so that they will give the same things back to you.You dont always get what you want. No matter how carefully you plan and how hard you work, sometimes things just dont work out the way you want them to. and thats okay. Sometimes our dreams fail; sometimes we just have to try a few things before we find the right direction.Theres no shame in not knowing. Nobody has all the answers. Pretending to be perfect doesnt make you perfect. It will only bring you more trouble. We all make mistakes. We learn as we grow thats life.To sum up, ahealthy mind in a healthy body is the key to a happy middle school life. Actually, it will continue to be the case when you move to the next stage of life.“King of Monkeys”“Yo ho . Hello . the mountain is green, and I can sit fora while .” This clear and loud song can be heard every morning from the deepforest of the Wulingyuan scenic spotin Zhangjiajie, Hunan Province. Who sings the song? Its Nie Jingming. This is how Nie calls the wild macaques, his good friends, to him.Nie, nearly 50 years old, was born into a monkey training family. He has been taking care of wild macaques for more than 20 years. Every morning, he sings to them. After they hear his song, they jump to him from the rock walls and the forest. They know their good friend is waiting for them.Nie gets up early and comes home late every day. He walks around the forest to look for macaques, studies their living habits and feeds them regularly. Over time, Nie has developed a close relationship with them. And he is called “King of Monkeys” by locals. Now, the Wulingyuan scenic spot has become a paradise for wild macaques to live and reproduce. It has also become Nies second home.Nie is like a parent, and all the macaques are like his children. “The macaques are lovely and cute. They are not only good scenery, but also friends of local people and tourists,” he said. “I will always take care of them, and I hope more people will join me.”From Trash to BooksAs weall know, too much trash is a big problem for our environment. A woman in Indonesias Java island has come up with a great idea lending books to children in exchange for trash.Raden Roro Hendarti, nearly 50 years old, is a librarian in Muntang village. She started a “trash library”, hoping to make children read more aswell as make them realize the importance of environmental protection. Eachweekday, Raden putsall kinds of books on the back of her three-wheeler and ridesto Muntangvillage. There, children line up toexchange plastic cups, bags and other trash for books from Radens mobile library.After finishing the exchange, Raden carries back all the trash.In the library where Raden works, there are thousands of books. Everytime she shows up, children run to her “trash library”. They all carry trashbags, and Radens three-wheeler quickly fills with trash as the books fly out.Raden collects about 100kg of trash each week. It is then sorted out and sentfor recycling or sale. She is happy that children spend less time on onlinegames because of the books.Raden plans to take the mobile library service to neighboring areas aswell. She says, “We all should take care of our trash in order to fight climatechange and save the earth.”