1 . No FIFA World Cup would be complete without “psychic(通灵的)” animals predicting the winners, and Qatar 2022 was the same. A range of animals—big and small—have tried to predict the scoreline.

It all started with Paul, the ”psychic“ octopus(章鱼). He put TV experts to shame with an unbelievable group of correct World Cup winner predictions at the Aquarium Sea Life Center in Oberhausen, Germany. He correctly predicted eight World Cup matches at South Africa’s tournament in 2010, including Spain beating the Netherlands in the World Cup final.

Paul’s successor, Rubio the octopus, did not end well. It became a star in Japan for its 100%success in predicting group-stage matches, including Japan’s win against Colombia in the 2018 World Cup held in Russia. Rubio did not get the chance to make its prediction for the Round-of-16 after it was cut into pieces and turned into seafood.

Taiyo the otter had good news for Japanese fans at the 2022 World cup in Qatar, correctly predicting Japan’s group-stage win over Germany. From his home at the Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa in Japan, Taiyo was given three buckets(桶)to choose from—Japan(blue), draw (yellow)and Germany(red)—and did not hesitate about picking up his tiny football and placing his bet on Japan. He was widely praised online for his action.   

And let’s not forget another star—Marcus, the “mystic pig”. In the 2018 World Cup, Marcus predicted a World Cup victory for England after selecting apples with the England flag on British morning television. However, Marcus’ fortune-telling record was shattered when England was knocked out in the semi-final.

Nelly the elephant from Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany, also meant business when she had a group of 30 out of 33 matches correct predictions in the 2006 World Cup, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euro.

Camilla the ”mystic“ camel from Melton Mowbray in England did have good news for England, however. She correctly predicted the Three Lions’ group-stage win over Iran at the Qatar World Cup. Her owners said that their camel was ”never wrong“.

3 . Students to Compete in 34th National Science Bowl

Thousands of students from middle and high schools across the country have committed themselves to extra study hours as they prepare to compete in the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s)34th National Science Bowl(NSB). These students are hard at work now to win their regional competitions, hoping to advance to the final competition.

The first regional event will take place on January 13th with high schools from the D. C. /Maryland area. Teams will face off in a fast-paced, question-and-answer format, and their knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics will be tested. Regionals will continue weekly until mid-March.

The winning team from each qualifying regional competition will be qualified to compete in the National Finals to be held in Washington, D. C. , from April 25-29, 2024, with all expenses paid by DOE. The national event consists of several days of science activities and sightseeing, along with the competitions.

In the National Finals, the top two teams will earn $5, 000 for their schools’ math and science departments. Schools ranking in the top 16 will receive $1, 000 for their science departments. But to many, the ultimate prize is simply the honor of winning the National Championship.

Today, the NSB annually draws more than 10, 000 middle and high school competitors. Since the first competition in 1991, approximately 344, 000 students have faced off in the NSB Finals. The 2024 competitors will follow in the footsteps of previous NSB contestants and will blaze a trail for students in science, math, and engineering. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website.

5 . If you want to improve your fitness, walking is a great choice.     1     Here are a few tricks that may help you increase your walking stamina (耐力).

Walk for at least 30 minutes 3 to 5 days a week.

    2     But remember—don’t sweat it if you can’t walk this long at the beginning. Over time, your body will get used to a certain level of activity, and that makes it easier for you to walk longer.

    3    

If you only have a short period of time to walk, add force to work on your stamina. You can simply put a few books or solid objects in a backpack and carry that. Keep track of the amount of weight you’re carrying so you can increase it gradually.

Find ways to include walking in your regular routine.

Figure out how you can introduce more walking into your daily routine. For example, you might try using the stairs instead of the elevator.     4    

Download a step-tracking or general fitness app.

A fitness app allows you to set goals for yourself to stay active and increase your walking stamina over time.     5     These devices often measure the distance you’ve walked and include information about your heart rate and calories burned.

7 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

My son Joey was born with disabled feet. The doctors assured us that with treatment he would be able to walk normally — but would never run very well. The first three years of his life were spent in surgery, casts and braces. By the time he was eight, you wouldn’t know he had a problem when you saw him walk.

The children in our neighborhood ran around as most children do during play, and Joey would jump right in and run and play, too. Although I was a little worried about his state, we never told him that he probably wouldn’t be able to run as well as the other children. So he didn’t know it. Every day after school, he would run and jump crazily, laughing cheerfully with his friends. Before bed, he was delighted to share everything that he enjoyed with me, and the brightness on his face drove away all my anxiety.

In his seventh grade, the school planned to hold a cross-country race. On hearing the news, he jumped with joy, and he decided to go out for the cross-country team. What worried me most was the extreme strength and patience that was required for the race. However, his strong determination eventually changed my attitude towards the event. I made up mind to be in favor of him. Every day he trained with the team. He worked harder and ran more than any of the others — perhaps he sensed that the abilities that seemed to come naturally to so many others did not come naturally to him. Although the entire team runs, only the top seven runners have the potential to score points for the school. We didn’t tell him he probably would never make the team, so he didn’t know.

注意：

1. 续写词数应为150个左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

One day, he got a fever, and I advised him to have a rest.

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Two weeks later, the big day came.

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8 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

I grew up in southeastern Michigan. I was a fan of Detroit Tigers, a famous baseball team, as a young boy.

My childhood dream was to be like my hero, Al Kaline, and someday play for the Tigers. My Dad would take me to Tiger Stadium several times a year and my hero Al Kaline would never let me down. We never attended a game that he didn’t get at least one hit.

I was crazy about baseball. If there was a game in my high school, I was never absent. I kept practising so that I could achieve my dream of playing for the Tigers, and I was doing well at each level of play. Later, I got a chance to sign up for a strong American Legion baseball program. There I met our coach, Bob Ohm, who knew a lot of baseball and taught each of us the basics as well as more advanced baseball skills. With Bob Ohm’s help and my hard work, I had set new records in many baseball championships.

My dream to be like my hero seemed to draw near. One summer, I went up to play the final season in Marinette. There were scouts who came to find the best players. This was it! My big chance!

Well, as the game progressed I hit the ball very well getting five hits in the game. Unfortunately, I also made four mistakes. The final mistake actually drew laughter from the crowd.

注意：

1. 续写词数应为150个左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

After the game, I knew my dream of playing professional baseball was lost.

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Today, I teach baseball in a high school.

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9 . “The Worthington Christian defeated the Westerville North by 2—1 in an Ohio boys’ soccer game on Saturday.” That’s according to a story that appeared last month in The Columbus Dispatch. That lead was written not by a sportswriter, but by an artificial intelligence (AI) tool.

Many news organizations are now examining how AI might be used in their work. But if they begin their “experimenting” with high school sports because they are less momentous than war, peace, climate change and politics, they may miss something crucial. Nothing may be more important to the students who play high school sports, and to their families, neighborhoods, and sometimes, the whole town. That next game is what the students train for, work toward, and dream about. Someday, almost all student athletes will go on to have jobs in front of screens, in office parks, at schools, in hospitals or on construction sites. They may suffer blows and setbacks. But the high school games they played and watched, as well as their hopes and cheers, will stay vivid in their memories.

I have a small idea. If newspapers will no longer send staff reporters to cover high school games, why not hire high school student journalists? News organizations can pay students an hourly wage to cover high school games. The young reporters might learn how to be fair to all sides, write vividly, and attract readers. That’s what some celebrities in sports did, and do.

And think of the great writers who were inspired by sports: Hemingway on fishing, Bernard Malamud and Marianne Moore on baseball, Chen Zhongshi on football, and CLR James on cricket, who said, “There can be raw pain and bleeding where so many thousands see the inevitable (不可避免的) ups and downs of only a game.” A good high school writer, unlike a robot, could tell readers not just the score, but the stories of the game.

10 . The rate of childhood obesity in the U. S. has tripled over the past 50 years. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) made waves this year by recommending that doctors put obese kids as young as two years old on intensive, family-oriented lifestyle and behavior plans. It also suggested prescribing weight-loss drugs to children l2 and older and surgery to teens 13 and older. This advice reflects the organization’s adoption of a more active position on childhood obesity.

Yet the lifestyle programs the AAP recommends are expensive, inaccessible to most children and hard to maintain. Few weight-loss drugs have been approved for children. And surgery has potential risks and few long-term safety data. Furthermore, it’s not clear whether interventions in youngsters help to improve health or merely add to the psychological burden overweight kids face from the society.

Rather than paying close attention to numbers on a scale, the U. S. and countries with similar trends should focus on an underlying truth: we need to invest in more and safer places for children to play where they can move and run around, climb and jump, ride and skate.

Why is it so hard to get kids moving? Experts blame the problem on the privatization of sports — as public investment in school-based athletics dwindles, expensive private leagues have grown, leaving many kids out. In addition to fewer opportunities at school, researchers cite increased screen time and a lack of safe places for them to play outside the home. New York City, for example, had 2,067 public playgrounds as of 2019 — a very small amount for its large population. In Los Angeles in 2015, only 33 percent of youths lived within walking distance of a park.

Kids everywhere need more places to play. Public funding to build and keep up these areas is crucial, but other options such as shared-use agreements can make unused spaces available to the public. These opportunities aren’t primarily about changing children’s waistlines — they’re how we keep childhood healthy and fun.