1. 开头常用句型

  great changes have taken place in … in the last … years.

  /quite a few changes have taken place in …since ….

  /over the past … years or so, great changes have taken place in our life.

2. 对比常用句型:  

…used to…, but now…   

/ …in the past, but now…  

/ once…, but now…     

/things are different now.  

/ but now, everything has changed. 

1．假设你是李华，你的澳大利亚朋友dick听说中国的中小学正在减轻学生的学习负担，来信询问有关情况。请你根据下表提供的信息，写一封回信，谈一谈减负给你的学习和生活带来的变化。

周末活动(减负前)
 周末活动(减负后)
 
白天：上课、做作业
 白天：参观博物馆、学习电脑、绘画等
 
晚上：做作业
 晚上：看新闻、读书、看报
 
就寝时间：11：30
 就寝时间：10：00
 

注意：1. 词数100左右；

2. 开头已为你写好。 

生词：减轻学习负担—reduce learning load

参考答案：

dear dick,

how nice to hear from you again. you want to know what is going on in schools in china? in short, things have begun to improve since schools were called on to reduce learning load. i don't know about others, but i used to have to work even at weekends doing endless homework and attending classes as well. now i have more free time. i can follow my own interests such as reading books, visiting museums, and taking computer lessons. in the evenings i can watch news on tv or read newspapers.

   what's more，i can go to bed earlier. as far as i know, everyone is happy about this new arrangement of things.

best wishes，

li hua

2．我国某山区张各庄为对外开方单位。请用英语为来访宾客写一篇简单介绍。内容要点如下：

1背景
 张各庄（zhang ge zhuang）远离其他村庄。过去，儿童上学困难。1988年成立本村小学(primary school)。
 
2现状
 教师：三人，均为本村人，中学毕业后回村执教。

学生：48人

班级：5个

科目：语文，数学，自然（science），音乐，美术，体育
 
3 学费
 免费
 

注意： 1 要有标题

2 介绍必须包括所给要点，单不要逐条译成英语。

3 字数：80－120个单词。

zhang ge zhuang primary school
until 1988 zhang ge zhuang had no school of its own. it was pretty hard for the children of the village who had to go to school in other villages which were all far away.

now zhang ge zhuang primary school has three teachers, teaching 48pupils. the teachers had finished middle school education before they returned to teach here.

the pupils are divided into five different classes, in which six subjects are taught. there are chinese, maths, science, music, drawing and physical education.

education is free for all children in the village.