By Roger Lancelyn Creen
I loved reading when I was little. I think that’s the reason I love writing for children. My parents were both English teachers, and our home was full of books. Dickens was a family favourite. But the book that really fired my imagination was King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green, which my father read to me at bedtime when I was around 12.
Diary of a Nobody
By George and Weedon Grossmith
I’m a fool for a classic, and I’m so glad I finally came across Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith. It began life as a serial in Punch, with text by Ceorge and illustrations by Weedon. Put simply, it’s the funniest book I’ve ever read, and the model for so many brilliant first-person narratives like Adrian Mole and Bridget Jones. The short pitch is that it follows the social climbing of a London clerk, Charles Pooter but of course it’s so much more than that, poking fun at all things from middle class.
Exhalation
By Ted Chiang
It’s never too late to have your life changed by a book, and it happened to me again recently when I read Ted Chiang’s Exhalation. Ted Chiang wrote Story of Your Life, which inspired the sci-fi alien-visitation classic Arrival. I love that too, but each and every piece in Exhalation is its match in writing skills. If there are super-intelligent aliens in the galaxy seeking to communicate important truths, Ted Chiang may well be one of them.
1. What is special about the book King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table?| A．It describes a story of intelligent aliens. |
| B．It stimulates the author’s imagination of writing. |
| C．It helps the author to improve the writing skills. |
| D．It opens a window for the author to understand classics. |
| A．Roger Lancelyn Green. | B．George. |
| C．Weedon Grossmith. | D．Ted Chiang. |
| A．A diary. | B．A novel. | C．A guidebook. | D．A magazine. |
1. 表示欢迎；
2. 活动目的；
3. 活动内容。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右。
2. 参考词汇：手工艺品artifact。
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For years, I posted pictures of my grandson, cute animals and delicious dishes, and video clips of people’s funy behaviour and the like on Facebook. Moreover, I played a farm game or two on this popular social media site. I thought Facebook was for fun, but I never expected a post I saw on Facebook could have a significant impact on my life.
On November 12th, 2010, I was on my way to a conference by plane. Suddenly, I suffered a heart attack. Luckily, there were three doctors on board. In less than a minute, I was given first aid. I survived, but months later, I was still trying to come to terms with what had happened. So I began to record how I survived this incident as well as my ideas about life on Facebook daily, and started to care about Facebook posts that had nothing to do with fun.
One morning on March, 2011, I looked through my Facebook feed and saw a friend’s post. She wrote, “Let go of anything unrealistic and all activities that do not mirror your brightest intentions for yourself.” The words touched me greatly. That night, I copied them onto a clean piece of paper and taped it to my laptop.
Actually, I was crazy about farm games then. I, along with many of my friends, played FarmVille. But one little farm game was not enough for me. I thought I needed more farms, more crops, and more livestock. All were in virtual form,of course. I had five different farms in five different games. And I spent hours on my farms every day. While attending to my virtual farms one day I looked out of the window and noticed the empty land in our backyard.
注意：
1.续写的词数应为150 左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Then I looked at the words on the piece of paper taped to my laptop, lost in thought.
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Farming the real land was only the beginning, and I started to do more to enrich my real life.
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4 . Be yourself
“Be yourself.” Perhaps you’ve heard people say this to you before , but you’ re not really sure what it means.
Get to know your inner self.
Write down things that are important to you, such as being honest, playing fair or being a good friend. It’ s not about whether you prefer peanut butter to marmalade on your toast, it’ s about what makes you feel happy and comfortable with yourself. It’s about knowing what makes you feel awkward or sad.
Don’t always do things to please others.
If you do what others want all the time, it’s easy to forget about yourself and what you want.
Learn what your limits are.
Learn to love all your little odd habits and the things that are unique to you. This may be something about your appearance, or it could be the way you speak or the type of music you like. You don’t have to be the same as everyone else to be loved or liked.
| A．Behave differently. |
| B．Appreciate yourself. |
| C．This is called setting boundaries. |
| D．Who else would you be, after all? |
| E．It’s the things that matter to you, deep down. |
| F．If you find yourself doing this, ask yourself why. |
| G．You should, instead, put yourself into others’ shoes. |
5 . The day before we met, Juliette Binoche was in the French Alps. Today , she’s sitting in her room in Berlin’s Hotel Marriott.“We arrived last night at 12,”she says, casually brushing off her tight schedule. It ‘s been this way for four decades now , ever since she became a real hit at the Cannes FilmFestival as a 21-year-old , starring in 1985’s Rendez-vous. The film was well received and“La Binochas the French call her , was born.
Almost immediately, people were deeply attracted by this charming young lady. “After Rendez-vous,when I started , somebody asked me about doing an autobiography of my life… when I was 21 !”she reveals , quite shocked at this absurd(荒唐的)idea.”Some people actually thought about it.”
Instead , Binoche concentrated on a constant rise through the ranks of world cinema. Rather than addicted to the fame and wealth brought by Hollywood,Binoche simply continued working with celebrated filmmakers from-around the globe ,developing a reputation as a risk-taker.“For me, the risk is to repeat myself or get into a comfort zone that is not opening my horizons(视野),”she says.
Now 58, there isn’t much this extraordinary artist hasn ‘t done. On stage, she starred with Akram Khan at London ‘s National Theatre in dance piece In-i.”When you’re not a dancer , then you see that you need courage , you need trust and you need magic that is inside you that is going to take place,”she says. She also sang in the show It ‘s Almost Nothing and would love to film a musical. Which one? “I would never answer that,”she smiles.“ A film is a connection of different people.”In other words,about creative magic.
1. What do we know about Juliette Binoche in Paragraph 1 ?| A．She stayed busy after gaining fame. |
| B．She acted as a film star in Rendez-vous. |
| C．She went sightseeing in European countries. |
| D．She was named“La Binoche”by the German. |
| A．She wrote an autobiography. |
| B．She worked in her comfort zone. |
| C．She kept climbing the career ladder. |
| D．She sought more fame and fortune. |
| A．Youth time passes in an instant. |
| B．Fame and wealth make no sense. |
| C．Suffering is the best teacher of life. |
| D．Life needs challenge and innovation. |
| A．A magazine. |
| B．A novel. |
| C．diary. |
| D．A guidebook. |
6 . Ways to Have a Productive Wednesday
Monday and Tuesday have already come and gone, and it’s officially the middle of the workweek. Congratulations on making it halfway through! Here’s how to make your Wednesday go as smoothly as possible. Before you know it, Friday will already be knocking on your door.
Prioritize (优先) the difficult assignments.
Don’t be a computer zombie (僵尸), but head outside for a walk. While letting your eyes glaze over as you struggle through the day can be a tempting option, you’ll probably need to take some time away from your desk to truly focus.
Hands off the phone! More time scrolling through social media feeds on your phone means less time crossing things off your to-do list. Try hiding your phone somewhere that isn’t in plain view as you work at your desk.
Hit a roadblock? Think of yourself as someone else.
| A．It might just be out of sight, out of mind. |
| B．It can create a relaxing Wednesday routine. |
| C．Do something to enjoy life outside of work. |
| D．If you worked, you have a sense of completeness. |
| E．So go outside for a quick walk and a breath of fresh air. |
| F．Don’t put them off for you won’t be able to bury them forever. |
| G．Science says that thinking of yourself in the third person can help you prevent stress. |
Bruce had a sweet tooth during his childhood, but it was not just sugary snacks that he desired. Being raised in a poor family was a bittersweet experience, but it gave him adaptability and ambition.
When Bruce was young, his mother would tell him that the candies in the store’s checkout line belonged to the cashier. She said that because she could not afford a 50-cent chocolate bar. Nevertheless, he saw through her trick and made a promise that he would grow up to be wealthy enough to buy what his family needed.
Bruce’s father worked hard to make money outside, so he spent less time at home. Instead of focusing on their economic instability, Bruce’s mother selflessly pushed her children to strive for success so that they could lead a more comfortable life later. She worked for long hours every night and struggled to pay the minimum due on her bills. Still, she would find time to read with Bruce and his sister, Alice. Their mother taught them the value of perseverance, education, and moral fibre. Despite lack of their father’s company, they were loved and nurtured just as much.
However, not all of life’s milestones were easy. Some, like moving and being helpless, left Bruce with an endless bitter taste. He had to deal with many problems when they moved into Maryland, several states away from their roots in Georgia, to make a living. The first few months were great: baseball games, family trips to the mall, dinners, movies, etc. It felt like they were the perfect family. Then things changed. Baseball games were too expensive, and trips to the mall were replaced with days Bruce and Alice spent isolated in the study.
As the brother and sister grew up, money was even tighter. They spent many years living in a very poor family setting. Even so, their mother inspired them to keep trying and working academically. They even cooperated with each other and developed a computer system. Alice was joking about patenting it someday. But as the saying goes, “Good things never come easy”, and success requires setbacks.
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。
One day, Bruce’s mother opened their study door and told them to pack.
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They eventually settled in Texas, and Bruce and Alice continued their academic efforts.
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8 . Eating ultra-processed (超加工的) foods for more than 20％ of your daily calorie intake every day can set you on the road to cognitive (认知的) decline, according to a new study. Previous studies have found they can raise the risk of having obesity, heart and circulation problems, diabetes and cancer. They may even shorten our lives. Now, the new study has revealed eating more ultra-processed foods may contribute to overall cognitive decline, including the areas of the brain involved in executive (决策的) functioning — the ability to process information and make decisions.
In fact, men and women who ate the most ultra-processed foods had a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline and a 25% faster rate of executive function decline compared with people who ate the least amount of overly processed food, the new study found. “While in need of further study and replication, the new results are quite convincing and emphasize the critical role for proper nutrition in preserving and promoting brain health and reducing risk for brain diseases as we get older,” said Tanzi, a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. He was not involved in the study.
The study, presented on August 1 at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in San Diego, followed over 10,000 Brazilians whose average age was 51 for up to 10 years. Just over half of the study participants were women.
Cognitive testing, which included immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition and verbal fluency were performed at the beginning and end of the study, and the participants were inquired about their diet. “In Brazil, ultra-processed foods make up 25% to 30% of the total calorie intake. We eat a lot of hamburgers, chocolate and white bread. It’s not very different, unfortunately, from many other western countries,” said co-author Dr. Claudia Suemoto, an assistant professor.
Ultra-processed foods are defined as “industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings and other chemical additives”, according to the study.
1. What is Tanzi’s attitude towards the new study?| A．Objective. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Ambiguous. | D．Disapproving. |
| A．Its participants were over 50 years old. |
| B．It followed the participants for a period of time. |
| C．It proved men had a faster rate of cognitive decline than women. |
| D．It first found ultra-processed foods could raise the risk of obesity. |
| A．Eat their favorite foods. |
| B．Introduce their daily routine. |
| C．Enhance their verbal fluency. |
| D．Take a series of cognitive tests. |
| A．The substances of ultra-processed foods |
| B．The appropriate intake of ultra-processed foods |
| C．Cognitive decline linked to ultra-processed foods |
| D．Ultra-processed foods causing executive functioning loss |
9 . It wasn’t until I graduated from college that I subsequently realized that knowledge is so endless that I was able to learn for pleasure. A sense of curiosity, rather than perfectionism, guided me. I started to see dictionaries as field guides to the life of language. Looking up words encountered in the wild felt less like a failure and more like an admission that I still didn’t know lots of things and an opportunity to discover more.
I cherish my 1954 copy of Webster’s New International Dictionary given by my roommate. I often consult it during the evening games of Scrabble or midday magazine reading. I mostly read novels at night, in bed, so when I come across unfamiliar words, I fold the bottom of the page and then look them up word by word. When I start encountering these words, the language world seems to shrink to the size of a small town.
Wikipedia answers questions with more questions, opening up pages of information you never asked for. But a dictionary builds on common knowledge, using simple words to explain more complex ones. Using one feels as if I’m opening an oyster (牡蛎)with curiosity. Unknown words become mysteries, and solving them gives me satisfaction. Why always leave them up to guesswork? Why not consult a dictionary and feel the instant contentment of pairing context with a definition?
Dictionaries reward you for paying attention, both to the things you consume and to your own curiosity. They are an entrance into the kind of childish urge to just know things, which I had before learning became a duty instead of a game.
For most of you, dictionaries are a gateway into that kind of unconsidered knowledge-seeking. They remind you that, when it comes to learning, allowing your curiosity is just as important as paying attention. After all, isn’t curiosity really just another form of attention? Following your curiosity instead of pushing it away, consult your dictionary and feel connected to more than what’s right in front of you.
1. What does consulting dictionaries mean to the author?| A．A guide to shape his character. |
| B．A complete admission of failure. |
| C．A chance to explore the unknown. |
| D．A unique way of perfecting himself. |
| A．Lose. | B．Prize. |
| C．Edit. | D．Publish. |
| A．To show advantages of dictionaries. |
| B．To indicate the importance of technology. |
| C．To introduce another powerful learning tool. |
| D．To prove the benefits of using the search engine. |
| A．Make an appeal. |
| B．Raise doubts. |
| C．Give a warning. |
| D．Express thanks. |
10 . Introduction to Life Is Simple
Life Is Simple is a book that has affected the course of science, and it tells us an important principle.
Price: £25.00
Weight:600g
Dimension: 236 mm X 160 mm x 40 mm
Supply: Hardcover |384 pages
Description:
Life Is Simple tells a remarkable story of how a thirteenth century man’s search for simplicity led to the development of the modern world. The book begins with the hero at the Middle Ages, William Occam, who devoted himself to exploring philosophy, and first expressed clearly the principle that the best answer to any problem is the simplest. The famous theory from him cut through the bushes of the Middle Ages’ philosophy dealing with the nature of existence, truth and knowledge to clear a path for modern science.
We follow the theory in the hands of the giants of science, from Copernicus to Kepler, Galileo, Newton, Darwin, Einstein, Rubin and Higgs. Its success suggests that we live in the simplest possible habitable universe and supports the revolutionary theory that our universe has gradually formed. By highlighting the very human passion, curiosity, mistakes and struggles of those who were inspired by the theory to create the modern world, Johnjoe McFadden provides new understanding into what science is really about. And the principle of simplicity is as practical today as ever.
1. What do we know about Life Is Simple?| A．Its topic is about modern science. |
| B．Its main character loves philosophy. |
| C．It regards giants of science as its heroes. |
| D．It has a large size with six hundred pages. |
| A．William Occam. | B．Johnjoe McFadden. |
| C．Newton. | D．Einstein. |
| A．A student majoring in art. |
| B．A doctor expert at child psychology. |
| C．A singer crazy about western culture. |
| D．A teenager curious about science and life. |
