【推荐1】Write a winning story!
You could win ￡1,000 in this year’s Fiction Prize and have your story printed in Keep Writing magazine. Ten other lucky people will win a cheque for ￡100.
Once again, we need people who can write good stories. The judges, who include Mary Littlejohn, the novelist, Michael Brown, the television reporter, and Susan Hitchins, the editor of Keep Writing, are looking for interesting and original stories. Detective fiction was extremely popular last year, although the competition winner produced a love story. You can write down about whatever you want but here’s some advice to start your thinking:
Write about what you know
This is the advice which every writer should pay attention to and, last year, nearly everyone who wrote for us did exactly that. Love, family, problems with friends ---- these were the main subjects of the stories. However, you need to turn ordinary situations into something interesting that people will want to read about. Make the reader want to continue reading by writing about ordinary things in a new and surprising way.
Get your facts right
It’s no good giving a description of a town or explaining how a jet engine works if you get it wrong. So avoid writing anything unless you’re certain about it.
Hold the reader’s attention
Make the beginning interesting and the ending a surprise. There is nothing worse than a poor ending. Develop the story carefully and try to think of something unusual happening at the end.
Think about the characters
Try to bring the people in your story alive for the reader by using well-chosen words to make them seem real.
Your story must be your own work, between 2,000 and 2,5000 words and typed, double-spaced, on one side only of each sheet of paper.
Even if you’re in danger of missing the closing date, we are unable to accept stories by fax or email. You must include the application form with your story. Unfortunately your story cannot be returned, nor can we discuss our decisions.
You should not have had any fiction printed in any magazine or book in this country ---- a change in the rules by popular request ---- and the story must not have happened in print or in recorded form, for example on radio or TV, anywhere in the world.
Your fee of ￡5 will go to the Writers’ Association. Make your cheque payable to Keep Writing and send it with the application form and your story to:
Keep Writing
75 Broad Street Birmingham
B12 4TG
The closing date is 30 July and we will inform the winner within one month of this date. Please note that if you win, you must agree to have your story printed in our magazine.
1. How should writers deal with ordinary situations while writing?

A．They should make them appealing to readers.

B．They should copy others’ ideas.

C．They should change some facts to make them interesting.

D．They should describe them as they are.

2. What shouldn’t a writer do?

A．Making the contents interesting.	B．Getting the facts right.
C．Meeting the deadline.	D．Making the end ordinary.

3. Writers should present their works in the following ways except that ____________.

A．they should write originally

B．they can type their stories as they like

C．they should follow some rules

D．they should hand in their stories in time

4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Late stories can be faxed if necessary.

B．Entry needs no fee.

C．Winners can have their stories printed in other magazines.

D．All stories should be presented by mail.

【推荐2】Though the Tokyo Olympic Games drew to a close on Aug 8, the public is still watching the athletes. Their outfits and the cutting-edge technologies that helped them in the competition have aroused people's interest.

Su Bingtian, the first Chinese sprinter (短跑运动员) to reach an Olympic 100m final, has owed his breakthrough to scientific training, "It takes Su 47 steps to run 100 meters. Each step counts." Liang Dong, a member of Su's training team, told Shenzhen Evening news. "Randy Huntington. Su's American coach and a biomechanics (生物力学) expert in track and field, has collected a lot of data on outstanding sprinters and built a database. He put in all of Su's data and got a nearly perfect model. When Su is training, the team uses high-speed cameras to record his training and compares it with the model to find out his weaknesses."

The technologies have also brought a new boost to table tennis. On July 27, the semifinal match between China's Sun Yingsha and Japan's Mima Ito was in full swing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. You wouldn't have guessed that besides players, judges and audiences, a powerful Al platform was monitoring the match.

Every movement of Mima Ito was recorded by this Al cloud platform. At an average speed of 100 Mbps, the data was sent to the technical team of the Zhejiang University Table Tennis Intelligent Big Data Analysis Platform, 2,442 kilometers away from the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, according to The Paper.

The platform has stored the data of more than 8,000 matches so far. The research team has been working on match simulation (模拟) since 2018. "Using big data and Al, we can precisely simulate and predict how the winning rate will change when players change certain strategies," Professor Wu Yingcai, the main developer of the platform, told CCTV-2.

The Tokyo Olympic Games have seen not only scientific support in training, but many technologies in athletes' devices. For example, the Kenya women's volleyball team's GPS devices fed data on each player's blood pressure, heart rate and so on to coaches, who used the information to prevent injury and personalize training plans for each athlete. South China Morning Post reported.

1. The underlined word "cutting-edge" in paragraph 1 probably means "_________”.

A．special	B．advanced
C．handmade	D．unique

2. What's the advantage of match simulation according to Wu?

A．It helps judges provide objective comments.

B．Players can know their own weaknesses.

C．It helps players improve their winning rate.

D．Players can study other players' strategies.

3. The GPS devices can help coaches__________.

A．fully understand players' fitness level

B．make better decisions for future training.

C．give proper treatment for sports injuries

D．track players' movement during the game

4. What does the article mainly talk about?

A．The ways athletes prepared for the Tokyo Olympics.

B．The advantages of using Al at the Tokyo Olympics

C．The highlights of the Tokyo Olympics

D．Technologies that helped athletes at the Tokyo Olympics.

【推荐3】A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be ahassle; it can be a basket of fun, according to Beth Anaclerio, an Evaston mother of two, ages 4 and 18 months.

“Having a party at home usually requires a lot of running around on the part of the parents, and often the birthday boy or girl gets lost in wild excitement. But it really doesn’t have to be that way,” said Anaclerio. Last summer, Anaclerio and her friend Jill Carlisle, a Northbrook mother of a 2-year –old, founded a home party-planning business called “A Party in a Basket.” Their goal is to help parents and children share in the fun part of party planning, like choosing the subject or making a cake, while they take care of everything.

Drawing on their experiences as mothers, they have created 10 ready-to-use, home party packages. Everything a family needs to plan a party, except the cake and ice cream, is delivered to the home in a large basket.

“Our parties are aimed for children 2 to 10, ” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive （互动） and creative in that they build a sense of drama based on a subject. For example, at the Soda Shoppe party the guests become waiters and waitresses and build wonderful ice cream creations.”

The standard $ 200 package for eight children includes a basket filled with invitations, gifts, games and prizes, paper goods, a party planner and the like. For more information, call Anaclerio at 708-864-6584 or Carlisle at 708-205-9141.

1. The main purpose of writing this text is ________.

A．to share information about party planning

B．to introduce the joys of a birthday party

C．to announce a business plan

D．to sell a service

2. The most important idea behind the kind of party planning described here is that ________.

A．parents are spared the trouble of sending invitations

B．guests play a part in the preparation of a party

C．it brings parents and children closer together

D．it provides a subject of conversation

3. What does the underlined word “hassle”(paragraph 1) probably mean ?

A．a situation causing difficulty or trouble

B．a plan requiring careful thought

C．a party designed by specialists

D．a demand made by guests

4. Which of the following is most likely to be a party planner?

A．	B．
C．	D．

【推荐1】“You’re fired!” Andrew wasn’t joking. At that moment, the high school junior wanted his personal care attendant, Christy, out of his life forever. “You’re fired!” He said it again for extra emphasis Christy didn’t draw back, for she needed this job. Hurricane Katrina had damaged her savings along with her house. But the retired PE teacher wasn’t discouraged. She was a tough nut.

When eight-year-old Andrew was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (阿斯伯格综合征), people told his mom, Cindy, to get him on the list for an attendant to provide after-school care. However, in New Orleans, the wait can be years. Cindy chose a program through Volunteers of America. Even so, it was eight years before they were matched with Christy. Meanwhile, Andrew’s family did their best to shelter him from life’s hardships.

There was a lot to worry about. Could Andrew graduate from high school? Would he ever have a job? Could he live independently? “Andrew wouldn’t take a step without his mother’s permission,” Christy says. “So letting him suffer setbacks (挫折) is the only way he can learn to do things on his own.”

Soon, Cindy would no longer write Andrew’s papers for him. Christy wouldn’t be helping him with homework either. He complained, loudly at times. But then things began to change. Andrew would start on his homework after school. Christy showed him how to get organized. And she coached him on how to deal with disappointment. Once his work was done, Christy offered freedom. She’d take him to the bookstore, the movies, or out to eat his favourite food.

One step at a time, Andrew gained independence. He graduated from high school and entered community college. And he stopped trying to fire Christy. Last spring, Andrew moved into his own apartment, above the family’s garage. He’s working toward an associate’s degree in video game design.

He’s studying to get his learner’s permit to drive. At 25, he says life has never been better. There is no doubt that Andrew and Christy have done it together.

1. What can we learn about Andrew from Paragraph 2?

A．He signed up for a volunteer.

B．Cindy brought him into focus

C．It was tough to find him an attendant.

D．Few cared about his health conditions.

2. What made Andrew completely change?

A．Mother love.

B．Independent life.

C．Scientific guidance.

D．Failure experience.

3. What conclusion can we draw from the text?

A．Andrew couldn’t live a normal life without Christy.

B．Andrew has decided to live away from his family.

C．Andrew is planning to hire Christy for some years.

D．Andrew hopes that life will become better in future.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．How an attendant changed Andrew’s life.

B．What Asperger’s syndrome means to a family.

C．How a young man developed his independence.

D．How a mother contributed to children’s development.

【推荐3】When I was in my first year of high school, I had a terrible time when every area of my life was a disaster. I felt so hopeless and alone that I thought everything was impossible.

On one such day, I was walking from class across the school to catch the school bus home, with my head down, fighting tears of total hopelessness, when a young man came down the sidewalk toward me. Though I had never seen him before, I did not want him to see that I was in such low spirits, so I turned my head away and hoped to hurry past. I thought he’d walk on by, but he moved until he was directly in front of me, waited until I looked up and then smiled.

Looking into my eyes, this stranger spoke in a quiet voice: “Whatever is wrong will pass. You’re going to be OK, just hang on.” He then smiled again and walked away I can’t explain the effect of that man’s unexpected kindness and caring! He gave me the one thing that I’d lost completely—hope. I looked for him in our school to thank him, but never saw him again.

That was thirty years ago. And I’ve never forgotten that moment. Over the years, whenever I see someone who is in trouble, I will always think of that young man and try to give a flash of hope in the dark wherever I can. I carry things for people when they are too heavy for them, sit with naughty babies in the waiting room while their mothers are busy, or talk to tired couples at the checkout line or it could be anything.

If you keep your head up, your heart will show you the place that needs hope.

1. What the meaning of the underlined phrase in the third paragraph?

A．Give up.

B．Check out.

C．Sign up.

D．Hold on.

2. What can we infer about the author from the text?

A．He had known the young man for a long time.	B．He made friends with the young man afterwards.
C．He was grateful to that young man very much.	D．He has avoided meeting the young man since then.

3. The author has given a lot of help to others in order to ________.

A．show his sympathy to those who are badly ill	B．give others hope of life when they are in trouble
C．realize his promise made to the young man	D．get respect from those who were helped by him

4. What can we know from the text?

A．The young man always tried his best to help those who were in trouble.

B．It was the young man’s smile and words that made the author feel hopeful.

C．The author had never been praised before he met with the young man.

D．The author traveled to a lot of places to look for the young man but failed.

【推荐1】This summer, I was part of something that I have carried with me every day since. That was an experience that changed my life. The Kentucky YMCA has a program called Y-Corps, which are service trips of around 20 students. This summer, two trips were made across Kentucky, one down south and another trip up north.

I was on the Y-Corps service to the North in the Indianapolis, Indiana, and our trip began at the end of July. I had butterflies flying around me as my parents drove me to Louisville, where the Service to the North team would set off on a nine-day journey in a school bus. I knew some of the team members from previous Y-Conferences, but there were many that I had never met, and I had never participated in a service trip like this before. Thought I was nervous, I was also ready to try something completely out of my comfort zone. Once we loaded the bus with our lightly packed suitcases and sleeping bags, we said our goodbyes to our parents and departed for an adventure that changed all of our lives.

With the Kentucky Y’s motto: “Participate, don’t anticipate, we had no idea where we headed. Road signs were our only clue of where we would be stopping. We did service work at a Middle Way House in Indiana, a Detroit Market Garden, a Pennsylvania YMCA for an invasive species clean-up, the Upper Main Line Y in Pennsylvania to spend time with children at a summer camp, a Hurricane Sandy clean-up in Jersey Shore and the National Mall in Washington D.C. We slept on floors of local YMCAs that would take us in for a night, and some nights we didn’t have the opportunity to shower. We had late nights on the road driving from city to city, and early mornings to start the day journaling and reflecting on the day before.

Though we were physically exhausted from the hard work, we still enjoyed the time to experience the culture of the areas we were in.

1. For the author the Service Trip to the North is .

A．meaningful

B．expensive

C．valueless

D．fruitless

2. The Service Trip to the North started off from .

A．Kentucky

B．Indiana

C．Louisville

D．Indianapolis

3. What can we learn from Paragraph 2?

A．The team members carried a lot of luggage on the trip.

B．The members in the team were all familiar to the author.

C．The author had taken part in such kind of service before this one.

D．The author was nervous but willing to face something uncomfortable.

4. We can infer from the last two paragraphs that .

A．they were physically exhausted and didn’t enjoy the hard work

B．they didn’t know where to go without road signs

C．their trip was packed with hard work and cultural experiences

D．they didn’t have enough water for a bath at night

【推荐2】Everyone needs friends. We all like to feel close to someone. It is nice to have a friend to talk, laugh, and do things with. Surely, there are times when we need to be alone. We don’t always want people around. But we would feel lonely if we never had a friend.

No two people are the same. Sometimes friends don’t get along well. That doesn’t mean that they no longer like each other. Most of the time they will make up and go on being friends.

Sometimes friends move away. Then we feel very sad. We miss them very much. But we can’t call them and write to them. It could be that we will even see them again. And we can make new friends. It is surprising to find out how much we like new people when we get to know them.

Families sometimes name their children after a close friend. Many places are named after men and women who have been friendly to people in a town. Some libraries are named this way. So are some schools. We think of these people when we go to these places.

There’s more good news for people who have friends. They live longer than people who don’t. Why? It could be that they are happier. Being happy helps you stay well. Or it could be just knowing that someone cares. If someone cares about you, you take better care of yourself.

1. The first paragraph tells us ________.

A．nobody needs friends	B．we always need friends around
C．making friends is a need in people’s lives	D．we never need to be alone

2. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A．People are not happy when their friends leave them.

B．People will never see their friends after their friends move away.

C．People can know their friends in different ways.

D．People like their friends very much if they get to know them.

3. Which of the following is most probably the place people name after friendly people?

A．A city.

B．A room.

C．A town.

D．A library.

4. Why do people who have friends live longer than people who don’t?

A．They feel happier.	B．They take better care of themselves.
C．Their friends care about them.	D．All of the above.

5. The main idea of this passage is ________.

A．that people are all friends	B．that people need friends
C．how to get to know friends	D．how to name a place

【推荐3】I had the chance to go to college locally in Jamaica, but knew that going to school in the U.S. would give me more career opportunities. So I went to the U.S. and studied engineering, an area traditionally held by men. While in school, I interned (实习) for three years with Bell Atlantic's (Now Verizon) science and technology lab. They offered me a job when I graduated, but I rejected it, thinking I wouldn't have the same opportunities as males in the organization.

I chose to take a position in a French company. A few years later, I made re-entry into Bell Atlantic because it was bought by the French company.

My experiences over the years have helped me to grow and promote within the organization. I am now the president of Verizon Telecom's New England Area, overseeing, 4,000 employees who deliver excellent service to customers and businesses in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.

I recognize that I am where I am today as a result of people reaching out and guiding me — I've been lucky throughout my career, and that's why it is important for me to be able to give back. I am extremely enthusiastic about youth development. In 2009, my husband and I set up the Global Venture Foundation in the Caribbean, which intended to inspire and develop youth leadership through a combination of athletic and educational programs.

The foundation has different functions, including youth guiding, summer programs based in the US, and college students placement help and funding. Having recently moved to greater Boston area, I am looking forward to setting up roots in the community that will allow me to continue touching the lives of the youth.

1. Why did the author turn down the offer from Bell Atlantic?

A．She wanted to find her job by herself.

B．She wanted to find her job in the US.

C．She wouldn't have the equal chances as males are.

D．She found most of the positions were held by men there.

2. What can we infer about the author from Paragraph 4?

A．She helps train more women employees.

B．She pays back for what she has gained.

C．She plans to quit her job in Bell Atlantic.

D．She gets promotion in her position.

3. What does the Global Venture Foundation focus on?

A．Helping the disadvantaged.

B．Supporting universe education.

C．Youth training and promoting.

D．Athletic Training.

【推荐1】On the 3rd of July,about six in the morning,I was watering my flowers.A young man entered the garden.He was blonde,beardless;he wore a German cap and gold glasses in a proud way.A long,loose woolen coat hung down in a sad way around his body.He wore no gloves;his leather shoes had huge soles.I put down my watering-pot, and greeted him in German with:"Guten Morgen!”＂Monsieur,"he said to me in French, but with a very unpleasant accent,"my name is Hermann Schultz;I have come to pass some months in Greece,and I have carried your book with me everywhere."

That praise filled my heart with sweet joy;the stranger's voice seemed more beautiful than Mozart's music,and I directed a swift look of gratitude toward his gold glasses.You would hardly believe how much we love those who have taken the trouble to understand our jargon(行业术语)。

I took him by the hand and seated him beside me on the garden-bench.He told me that he was a botanist and that he had a commission from the"Jardin des Plantes"in Hamburg.In order to complete his herbarium(植物标本馆)，he was studying the country,the animals,and the people.He expressed himself uneasily,but with frankness which inspired confidence.He questioned me,if not about every one in Athens,at least about all the principal persons in my book.In the course of the conversation,he made some statements on general subjects,which seemed to me quite insightful.Therefore, they motivated me to think more deeply and get a more reasonable opinion.At the end of an hour we had become good friends.

1. How did the author find the young man at first?

A．Fashionable.

B．Unfavorable.

C．Easy-going.

D．Indifferent.

2. Why did the author feel grateful to the young man?

A．Because he brought the author a good pair of glasses.

B．Because he thought highly of the author's achievements.

C．Because he delighted the author with Mozart's music.

D．Because he took the time to read the author's work.

3. What can we infer about the young man from the last paragraph?

A．He was good at public speaking.

B．He was lacking in self-confidence.

C．He was slow in learning German culture.

D．He was enthusiastic about studies of plants.

4. What's the author's purpose in writing the text?

A．To introduce a young botanist's achievements.

B．To show the start of his friendship with a stranger.

C．To describe the benefits of doing gardening.

D．To explain the beauty of studying biology.

【推荐3】Have you got an addictive nature? Are you unable to stop yourself joining in your favorite computer games? This probably describes most of us because its only human nature to not want to miss out on something that everyone else is talking about.

Most crazes arrive suddenly and enthusiasm for them spreads quickly. They become a talking point on social media; we read about them, give them a try and, before we know it, we are hooked (钩住). In the past, these have been objects such as toys and games. Maybe you were the proud owner of a Rubik’s cube, which became the best-selling toy of all time-around 350 million have been sold so far.

Now, technology is driving the latest crazes. Games such as Angry Birds and Minecraft are crazes available on smartphones and computers that have been hard to put down.

Our addiction to crazes has been analyzed by scientists. One of them, Dr Ben Michaels, a clinical psychologist, explains that we want to experience the benefit that another person, or group of people, have experienced from something and this “hooks into an ancient evolutionary (进化的) fear of being left behind or abandoned by our tribes”; we have to join in or lose out.

Although becoming addicted to a computer game might not seem like a ‘benefit’, it can at least give you popularity among your friends. It allows you to learn new skills and gives you something to talk about at parties!

But fashions come and go and most crazes are just a flash in the pan so if one of them is not your cup of tea, don’t worry: there’ll be a new craze arriving very soon. Look at the addiction to loom bands (橡皮筋) - those little bands you could make jewellery and other things out of. For a brief period they were the must-have item for any schoolchild, now they’re the bargain bucket item in a discount shop or worse still, trash filling up our landfill sites! What crazes have you been addicted to?

1. What can we learn from the passage?

A．A lot of people usually talk about the latest crazes on the Internet.

B．The toy “Rubik’s Cube” was not very popular when it was launched.

C．The majority of crazes usually last for a long time.

D．Loom bands are always thrown away in some discount shop.

2. Why are we so addictive to crazes according to Dr. Ben?

A．We just want to benefit from what others have experienced.

B．We have the evolutionary fear of being left behind or missing out by our groups.

C．Some crazes are so attractive that we can’t refuse them.

D．Crazes can bring us so many benefits.

3. Which of the following is NOT the benefit of being addicted to a particular craze?

A．Getting popularity among your friends

B．Learning new skills

C．Having something to talk about at parties

D．Improving communication ability

4. What is possibly the best title of the text?

A．The Addiction to Computer Games

B．The Fear of Missing out

C．The Benefits of Crazes

D．Nature of Humans