When I entered my first rodeo (牛仔竞技比赛), I was 12 years old. It was more like a play day than a rodeo, but to a 12-year-old girl like me, I felt like I was at the National Finals Rodeo!
As to barrel racing (绕桶赛), I didn’t know much about it, only what my dad had told me. But I had been determined to enter the play and win the play ever since I was told that my not so much older competitive cousin Courtney would be there. This was my night to finally show her that I could ride a horse just as good or better, and do anything else she could do. She was in for a surprise!
Courtney always thought she was better than me. She always said her horse was better than mine, too. Courtney had a Palomino horse named Buck. He was fast, and beautiful. My horse was a big Appaloosa named Zipper. He wasn’t beautiful or flashy like Buck but he was kind and willing to please the skinny little girl that fed him sugars every day after a day of riding. That was the reason I knew we could beat Courtney, because we had something she didn’t — a partnership, one we both respected.
Courtney and I were in the 12-14 age group. As I watched the men in the arena (竞技场) set the three barrels up in their places, I felt nervous and a little scared for the first time that night. Though I had previously practiced a lot with Zipper, and Zipper raced fast and made turns stably, I still got upset when thinking about racing against Courtney!
I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Suddenly, I felt a warm familiar hand on my shoulder. It was Dad. He smiled at me, saying, “Are you scared or nervous? Or both?” “Both, but I’m more scared that I’m going to mess up,” I replied, truthfully.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
“You won’t. Just have faith in yourself, and Zipper,” Dad said.
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Game over, I took Zipper to rest, giving him sugars for a job well done.
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2 . Running is often tiring and a lot of hard work, but nothing beats the feeling you get after finishing a long workout around the track.
But while it’s long been believed that endorphins (内啡肽) —chemicals in the body that cause happiness—are behind the so-called “runner’s high”, a study suggested that there may be more to this phenomenon than we previously knew.
According to a recent study published by a group of scientists from several German universities, a group of chemicals called endocannabinoids (内源性大麻素) may actually be responsible for this familiar great feeling.
To test this theory, the scientists turned to mice. Both mice and humans release high levels of endorphins and endocannabinoids after exercise. After exercising on running wheels, the mice seemed happy and relaxed and displayed no signs of anxiety. But after being given a drug to block their endorphins, the mice’s behavior didn’t seem to change. However, when their endocannabinoids were blocked with a different drug, their runners’ high symptoms seemed to fade.
“The long-held notion of endorphins being responsible for the runner’s high is false. Endorphins are effective pain relievers, but only when it comes to the pain in your body and muscles you feel after working out,” Patrick Lucas Austin wrote on science blog Lifchacker.
Similar studies are yet to be carried out on humans, but it’s already known that exercise is a highly effective way to get rid of stress or anxiety. The UK’s National Health Service even prescribes (开药 方) exercise to patients who are suffering from depression. “Being depressed can leave you feeling low in energy, which might put you off being more active. Regular exercise can improve your mood if you have depression, and its especially useful for people with mild to moderate (中等的) depression,” it wrote on its website.
It seems like nothing can beat that feeling we get after a good workout, even if we don’t fully understand where it comes from. At least if we’re feeling down, we know that all we have to do is to put on our running shoes.
1. What did scientists from German universities recently discover?| A．Working out is a highly effective way to treat depression. |
| B．The runner’s high could be caused by endocannabinoids. |
| C．Endorphins may contribute to one’s high spirits after running. |
| D．The level of endorphins and endocannabinoids could affect one’s mood. |
| A．To find what reduces the runner’s high symptoms. |
| B．To see the specific symptoms of the runner’s high. |
| C．To identify what is responsible for the runner’s high. |
| D．To test what influences the level of endocannabinoids released. |
| A．Effect. | B．Goal. | C．Opinion. | D．Question |
| A．They can help ease depression symptoms. |
| B．They are the best way to treat depression. |
| C．They only work for those with serious depression. |
| D．They can help people completely recover from depression. |
When I was four, my seven-year-old brother received a baseball glove for his birthday. Every night. as we went to sleep. I’d listen to him throwing a ball into the glove over and over to soften the leather. I wanted a glove so much that I almost cried. But, back then, girls didn’t play sports; they played with dolls (洋娃娃).
Fast-forward twenty-six years. Now a thirty-year-old mother of two boys and a girl, I happened to sec a notice in my local paper: “Women’s Baseball League opens soon. Anyone interested, sign up at the community service center.” I cut it out and set it on the kitchen table, Could I? After all these years?
I looked at that notice on my table every day. l thought of a thousand reasons I couldn’t play. But the idea of playing baseball stuck in my head and wouldn’t go away. Finally, 1 gathered up my courage and signed up. Since I wasn’t a member of any team, they told me I’d be assigned (分配) to one. Two weeks passed before they gave me the name of the team to look for. Since my husband worked Monday nights, I arranged for a babysitter. It was a luxury (奢侈) but, at that moment in my life, a necessity.
On Monday, heart pounding, I walked through the park filled with women of all ages practicing. It took me a while to find my team. They were all high-school girls, seventeen and eighteen years old! I waited a couple of minutes before approaching the coach. He had put together top athletes for his team, and he didn’t want some old lady messing things up. He looked me over. His girls had fine gloves and metal cleats (棒球钉鞋). They looked like players. I had no glove and wore an old T-shirt and gym shoes. I didn’t care. I wanted to play. That first day, he had me run bases (跑垒). I never got a chance to bat or play the field. I just ran bases all night. The next morning, I could hardly stand.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
When I showed up the next Monday, the coach was clearly surprised.
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“Impressive catch!” my teammates cheered for my performance after the training.
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4 . As with every World Cup, at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar the players will be using a new ball. The last thing competitors want is for the most important piece of equipment to behave in unexpected ways in the most important tournament of the world’s most popular sport, so a lot of work goes into making sure that every new World Cup ball feels familiar to players.
Between shots on goal, free kicks and long passes, many important moments of a soccer game happen when the ball is in the air. So one of the most important characteristics of a soccer ball is how it travels through air.
As a ball moves through air, a thin layer of mostly still air called the boundary layer (边界层)surrounds some part of the ball. At low speeds this boundary layer will only cover the front half of the ball before flowing air peels (划过) away from the surface. In this case, the wake of air behind the ball is somewhat regular and is called laminar flow. When a ball is moving quickly, though, the boundary layer wraps much farther around the ball. When the flow air does eventually separate from the ball’s surface, it does so in a series of chaotic swirls (不规则气旋). This process is called turbulent flow.
When calculating how much force moving air imparts on a moving object — called drag — physicists use a term called the drag coefficient (系数). For a given speed, the higher the drag coefficient is, the more drag an object feels.
It turns out that a soccer ball’s drag coefficient is approximately 2.5 times larger for laminar flow than for turbulent flow. Though it may seem counterintuitive, roughening a ball’s surface delays the separation of the boundary layer and keeps a ball in turbulent flow longer. This fact of physics that — rougher balls feel less drag — is the reason why dimpled (坑坑洼洼的) golf balls fly much farther than they would if the balls were smooth.
1. What can be inferred from the passage about footballs in the World Cup?| A．Unexpected ways of playing them will come into view. |
| B．They make sure of long passes to be performed by players. |
| C．They’ll be judged by their quality when kicked off in the air. |
| D．Their importance explains why the World Cup is famous globally. |
| A．Changes of the football surface. | B．A wide variety of airflows. |
| C．Formation of the boundary layers. | D．A broad range of football's speed. |
| A．the result seems unlikely at first sight | B．the prediction lacks explanation |
| C．the research requires further investigation | D．the method of study isn’t proper enough |
| A．To compare the speed of different golf balls. |
| B．To encourage more footballs to be made as such. |
| C．To apply the research result to explain another phenomenon. |
| D．To explain clearer the function of separating boundary layers. |
1. What does the woman say about Kingswell Sports Club?
| A．It is a tennis club. | B．It owns a keep-fit studio. | C．It has a football team. |
| A．In a salad bar. | B．In a restaurant. | C．At a swimming pool. |
| A．Football teammates. |
| B．Manager and club member. |
| C．Receptionist and customer. |
1. Who is the speaker talking to?
| A．Art school students. | B．Web designers. | C．Magazine managers. |
| A．The cover of a magazine. | B．A poster. | C．A T-shirt. |
| A．The deadline is May 27th. |
| B．The design must include a picture. |
| C．Some words should be put in a certain place in the design. |
| A．A drawing book and pens. | B．Books on design. | C．A computer. |
High-school sports were about the biggest thing that happened in the town of Verden. And sports were important in Lauren Wray’s family. Both of Lauren’s brothers were high-school athletes. Like others, she longed to be on the basketball team too. But the special point was, she had Down syndrome (唐氏综合症).
Mr. Wray and his wife never told Lauren that she was different. They treated her like their other children. They didn’t want her to feel disabled or different.
One day, for the extreme love of playing basketball, Lauren ran to her father and announced with great excitement. “I’m gonna play basketball. Daddy. I am joining the girls’ high-school basketball team.” Hearing that, Mrs. Wray and Mr. Wray were too surprised to believe what their daughter said. Lauren’s reflexes (反应能力) were slow. They knew how hard and unbelievable it would be for her to play basketball, let alone to be on the basketball team. But they decided to stand by her.
The next afternoon. Mr. Wray parked in front of the school gym. Inside, Coach Forsythe saw Mr. Wray, and he said, “I am glad Lauren came out for the team.” Lauren stood alone at the other end of the basketball court, shooting free throws. Other girls played together on the other side. After every shot, Lauren excitedly shouted, “Woo hoo !” At first, Lauren was in high spirits and so energetic. But things didn’t go smoothly. Her disability made her so clumsy (笨拙的) in the field. Having not made the basket for a long time, she was so discouraged. She gained nothing from the first training.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1: Later that night, Mr. Wray found Lauren lay on the couch, downhearted.
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Paragraph 2: Mid November, the season’s first basketball game arrived.
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I had always dreamed of winning the school marathon. Ever since I joined the running team in freshman year, I had trained hard to improve my speed. I knew it wouldn’t be easy. There were many strong runners in my grade, and some of them had more experience and skills than me.
The day of the race finally came. I was nervous but excited. I put on my running shoes and headed to the starting line. I saw my competitors, some of them looking confident, some of them looking worried. I tried to relax myself and pay attention to my own running. The coach gave us some last-minute advice and encouragement. He told us to do our best and not give up.
The whistle (哨子) blew and we were off. I rushed ahead, trying to get a good position. I felt the wind in my face. I heard the cheers of the crowd (人群) and the footsteps of the other runners. I kept running, pushing myself to do my best.
After running for a while, I realized that I was in the lead. I couldn’t believe it. I had never been in this situation before. But then I also felt a sense of fear. What if I couldn’t keep it up? What if someone caught up with me? What if I fell?
I tried to shake off these negative thoughts and pay attention to the finish line. But it was getting harder and harder. My legs were burning and my heart was pounding. I thought that I had lost the race. I thought that I had let myself down and everyone who supported me. I felt like giving up.
注意：1. 续写词数应为70左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
But then the reason for running in the first place came to mind.
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1. 写信目的；
2. 你的建议；
3. 你的帮助。
注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Martin,
How are you doing in England?
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How do you like my advice? Looking forward to your reply!
Yours,
Li Hua
10 . The highlights of every World Cup are the impossible goals, especially the arc (弧线) ball goals. It’s breathtaking to watch. Every spin (旋转) of the ball moves air across the surface, pushing it into a bend.
When a soccer ball flies, the air forms a layer around the surface of the ball. As the balls pins, it changes the direction of the air to one side, says John Bush, an applied mathematician at MIT. This air pushes the ball in the opposite direction. The player starts with a strike on the outside of his right foot, which hits the left side of the ball, starting a clockwise spin. It throws the air off to the left, and the force created by the air leaving the ball pushes it to the right, explains Bush. Thus, a ball spinning to the right (that’s clockwise) will also are towards the right. This force is called the Magnus Effect.
It helps the goalkeepers, because they see uniform curvature (曲度) when players are taking bending shots at them. If they can pick up the spin right, it’s going to be the same amount of curvature, and they know where to put their hands. This is partly why players are much more likely to take bending shots during free kicks when goalkeepers can’t see their kicks quite as well because of the wall of defenders. If a ball isn’t spinning, it does something called knuckling, where the air turns the ball to one side in random directions, causing it to bounce in the air unpredictably. “It’s usually achieved when a player manages a sharp, fast touch of the ball, typically right on the air valve where the ball is most firm.” says Bush. Its lack of spin kept the goalkeeper from being able to predict where it was going until it was too late. All the goalkeepers tremble before the kicker that can shoot this kind of soccer ball.
1. What is the Magnus Effect according to the text?| A．The force applied to a spinning ball. |
| B．The theory proposed by John Bush. . |
| C．The direction opposite to a player’s strike. |
| D．The goal scored with a bending ball. |
| A．Because they can change the ball’s curvature. |
| B．Because they can take bending shots more easily. |
| C．Because they can get a cover from the wall of defenders. |
| D．Because they can help their team’s goalkeeper. |
| A．A free-kick shot. |
| B．A fast shot without spinning. |
| C．A shot with a unique curvature. |
| D．A bending shot without defensive blocking. |
| A．The Development of Football | B．The Principle of a Bending Ball |
| C．The Secret of Blocking a Goal | D．The Theory of Applied Mathematics |
