A New Start (Speaking: 670L; CEFR B1)

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Listen: Listen to a speaker read the passage aloud. You do not need to read aloud.
Practice: Listen to the speaker. Repeat after each sentence and check your pronunciation.
Shadow Practice: Read the passage aloud, along with the teacher. You should wear headphones.
Read: Read the passage aloud. Speak at a speed that is natural for you.
Quiz: Read the passage silently. Then answer the questions about the passafe.

Today was my first day of high school. I had been thinking about this day for the entire summer. I had no idea what it would be like. This morning, I got up earlier than usual. After a quick breakfast, I headed straight to the bus stop. So many thoughts were racing through my head as I was waiting for the bus: Will I meet my middle-school friends today? Will some of them be in my classes? What do my teachers look like? Will they like me? I was so occupied with these thoughts that I almost missed my stop.
When I finally arrived, I realized how big the school was. The size of the building was intimidating. It took me a long time to find my first classroom. After I sat down, I looked around and discovered that I knew absolutely no one! While I was wondering how this could be possible, the teacher walked in and started talking about the schedule for the first semester. My mind wandered. This is so different from middle school, I thought to myself. In middle school, the teachers talked about rules, rules, and more rules and how we should behave ourselves. But in high school, the teachers talked about the schedule and how busy we were going to be. And how we should use every minute to get ready for college. This sounded so stressful!
Later in the day, I realized that the stress in high school was real. The English teacher did not make any jokes in class as my middle-school teacher used to do. Nor did the math teacher spend time explaining interesting examples. Even the PE class was different: the teacher made us do basic soccer drills for the whole class. No time was spent on games or fun. The school day was longer, and the breaks between classes were kept short. The biggest surprise came at the end of the day. My last teacher told us that we would have homework every day, an in-class quiz every week, and a closed-book exam every month. I used to have so much free time. Now it seems that I will be either completing homework or preparing for exams a lot. I miss middle school so much.

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