Kenny Matthews was just three when the flat he lived in went up in smoke in 1991. The accident left him with burns to 70% of his body. Despite being very young when he suffered his burns, Kenny can still remember the day of the accident.
He was playing with his toys and watching TV on the floor in the living room while his grandfather was sleeping on the living room couch. All of a sudden, he heard a sudden noise from the window and that was when the window caught fire. He had no idea what caused the window to burst like that, but all he remembered was the apartment filling up with gas and smoke from the fire. He could do nothing but panic (恐慌).
His grandfather, who had been asleep, woke up because of the smoke. He tried to save Kenny’s life, but he couldn’t really do much because he was weak. Picking Kenny up under his arms, he carried him over the window — unfortunately, that’s how Kenny got burnt by the fire.
Kenny and his grandfather were rushed to the hospital. His grandfather, whose arms were badly burned, was hospitalized for a while and then discharged (出院). Kenny went through numerous surgeries over the next few decades, which he described as a very painful journey.
Now, after having been through so much over the years, Kenny’s treatment is finally done. The 36-year-old man has shared online how his burns and scars (伤疤) have affected his life as an adult. “People don’t really care about personality — they just want somebody to look good or attractive physically, and honestly, I don’t fit that description,” Kenny says.
There was a guy who once said to him. “It is hard to feel attracted to someone like you because of your scars and burns.” Kenny understands it’s not their fault. He’s smart enough to know not every person is the same, even though he’s not actively looking for a partner.
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。
Kenny now has 2.4 million followers on the Internet.
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People always ask him how he remains positive.
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2 . Top Book Review Sites
Nobody likes to spend money on a new book only to face the feeling of disappointment. The solution is to check out a few book review sites before you hit the shops. Which book review sites are worth considering? Here are the best ones.
Goodreads
The site can give you inspiration for which novel or biography to read. You can do a book search by plot or subject, or join book discussions and reading groups with thousands of members. You can add your own rankings to books you’ve read and leave reviews for other people to check out. Sometimes, there are even events like question-and-answer sessions with authors.
Bookish
Bookish helps you prepare for your next meeting with discussion guides, book quizzes and book games. There’re even food and drink suggestions. Moreover, the site also offers lots of editorial content in the form of author interviews, opinion essays, book reviews and recommendations and reading challenges. Do look at the Must-Reads section of the site regularly to get the latest book reviews.
StoryGraph
Here the book rating is determined by the site’s large community of readers. Each book review provides information on the moods and pacing of the story. It also shows whether the story is plot- or character-driven, what readers feel about the extent of character development and how lovable the characters generally are.
London Review of Books
The site covers culture, literature, philosophy and other subjects. Part of its content includes amazingly detailed book reviews. If you feel that most modern book reviews are too brief for your liking, the site should suit you best. You’ll have a deep understanding of the themes of the story, as well as a detailed picture of the events taking place in the book.
1. On which site can you have the chance to communicate with authors in person?| A．Bookish. | B．StoryGraph. |
| C．Goodreads. | D．London Review of Books. |
| A．Post your opinions about games. | B．Recommend a discussion guide. |
| C．Buy something cheap to consume. | D．Read the latest book reviews. |
| A．It centers on modern books. | B．It covers a range of subjects. |
| C．It owns the most readers. | D．It tends to offer brief reviews. |
3 . On a hot summer day, a friend and I decided to go to the forest for a walk. So we went to the forest by car. We walked around for a while (—会儿). Then we realized that we should probably pay attention to where we’re going, so we wouldn’t get lost. We noticed a marked path and it looked like the path which we took from the parking lot (停车场). We started following it. After two hours, we realized we were just looping around. The part of the path that was supposed to take us back to the car seemed nowhere to be found! So we left the marked path, in the hope of finding our way back. We found a cycling path and followed it to a parking lot. Sadly it wasn’t our parking lot! A map at that parking lot showed us where all the other parking lots were and we noticed we were a long way from all of them! Except that, we couldn’t know which one was “our” parking lot.
We decided not to walk towards any of them. Instead we walked up to a house nearby. A lady was unloading (卸载) her food from her car, and we asked if she could help us. We described to her where we had come from and what the roads looked like. She immediately knew the place we described and said that we were a long way off. And then, to my surprise, she said: “Why don’t you jump into the car? I’ll take you there.” I couldn’t believe it and shouted: “Really?!” I was so excited. She drove us right back to our car, and we were so grateful.
1. Why did the author and his friend walk along the marked path?| A．Because there were no other paths there. |
| B．Because they thought it could lead to their parking lot. |
| C．Because it was the shortest path in the forest. |
| D．Because they could go to the deepest part of the forest. |
| A．moving in a way that makes a circle |
| B．looking for the path around |
| C．walking around by following a path |
| D．staying in the same place |
| A．were far away from all parking lots |
| B．returned to their parking lot |
| C．found a way back to their parking lot |
| D．got a map showing directions |
| A．have a good rest | B．find a guide |
| C．look for food | D．ask for directions |
4 . My father never kept anything for nostalgia (怀旧)—except once.
As the only sports fan in our family, I usually listened to Yankee games on the radio, dreaming of watching my heroes in person at Yankee Stadium (体育馆).
One winter, my father surprised me by suggesting we save up to go to Yankee Stadium.
I immediately washed out a jar (罐子) and stuck a label: YANKEE STADIUM FUND, 1960.
We contributed to the jar weekly, and by midsummer it was filled with money. By the end of August, however, we still hadn’t gone to a game because my father had had to work every Saturday and even some Sundays.
With only two weekends left in the season, I began to lose hope. He comforted me, “Well, don’t worry, Edwin. Things are sure to slow down and we’ll have a free Saturday.”
On the morning of the last game, I sat waiting hopelessly with no sign of my father when the door crashed open and my father yelled, “I’ve got tickets. We’re going!”
I could hardly breathe when we finally sat together, father and son, watching my New York Yankees. I sat cheering, but for my father it must have been a long afternoon trying to follow a game he didn’t understand. Several times I turned to look at him, All I could see was a face lined with tiredness from working all Saturday morning after working all week.
After the game, we kept saving money and went to two more games together.
On the second day of 1963, my father died suddenly while working. I threw away the jar.
After the funeral (葬礼), our house was filled with neighbours and relatives, but I didn’t want to talk to anybody. I walked upstairs to my parents’ bedroom, hoping, I suppose, to find some comfort from seeing what was his. As I looked through my father’s prayer (祈祷) book, something fell out. I picked it up. It was a yellowed ticket, which read, October 1, 1960, YANKEE STADIUM. My father, who saved nothing for nostalgia (怀旧) reasons, had decided to keep this, a memory of our afternoon at the ballpark. Carefully, I placed the ticket back into his prayer book, and slowly walked downstairs to begin the rest of my life without him.
1. The writer’s father kept the ticket to ________.| A．remind his son of his love after his death |
| B．use it just as a bookmark in his prayer book |
| C．keep a memory of the special moment with his son |
| D．show off to his friends that he went to a baseball game |
| A．Empty→Encouraged. | B．Sad→Serious. |
| C．Scared→Calm. | D．Lonely→Excited. |
| A．He was excited every time at the stadium. |
| B．He began to keep old things after the game. |
| C．He didn’t have enough money until the last game. |
| D．He worked long hours to support his family. |
| A．Worried. | B．Shouted. | C．Slept. | D．Sang. |
My little sister, Meg, said that she wasn’t afraid of the dark anymore and she’d be OK staying with Aunt Lily in the country. “As long as you’re there, Mike,” she had said. Still, Mum was worried. Meg had never slept away from home, away from the city. So I told Mum I could handle everything.
Even though we were only staying overnight, Meg had brought six books-all about fairies (仙女). After we unpacked, Aunt Lily invited us to pick some flowers. As we followed her through the forest, Meg held my hand tightly. But once we reached the sunlit grassland, she let go. “Butterflies!” whispered Meg. She screamed with delight when one flew near her.
Maybe I had nothing to worry about, I thought. I still remembered when I was here last summer, I found some amazing insects, like fireflies (萤火虫) and walking sticks which I’d never seen in the city.
“Fairies are magical. See these beautiful flowers they grow!” she kept telling absolutely everything she knew about fairies. I was glad that if she kept it up until bedtime, then maybe she’d fall right to sleep.
Meg did keep chatting, right through supper. Then the sun began to set. “Does it get really dark out here at night?” she asked. Her eyes were fixed on the window.
“Sure, but we’ve got plenty of lights inside,” said Aunt Lily. She leaned over and gave Meg a warm smile. But I could tell she was still worried. “I could read to you.”
I hadn’t even finished a page when her bottom lip started shaking slightly. “Mike,” she said, her eyes starting to fill. “I want to go home.” I quickly searched through her book for something to keep her from crying.
The book fell open to a page that was dog-eared from use, a page that was obviously one of Meg’s favorites. The text read: “Among the trees deep in the forest, the lights of fairies gleam (闪烁).” Aha! How could I forget those “tiny fairies” out there?
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。
“Meg, there’s something outside I want to show you,” I whispered.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Tiny fairies, Mike!” she said, pressing her forehead against the window, “Everywhere!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . A famous company’s leader believes there’s only one way to know if you truly understand a subject: Can you explain it to a child? But the man with lifelong love of math recently found it didn’t always go well when he tried explaining mathematical concepts(概念)to his then-school-aged children.
He thinks that learning with kids to see what’s puzzling to them and what’s easy for them are the final test of whether you know a topic—whether you can explain it.
Teachers often ask students to give a statement on a subject to show that they understand it. Studies show that people are more likely to remember and understand concepts they’ve learned after explaining them to someone else or even to themselves.That means you can testyour own knowledge in a subject simply by trying to teach it to a friend,to see both how much information you’ve kept and how well you actually understand its concepts. If they successfully learn from you, it’s a good sign that you’re on the right track.
The leader, who studied math and computer science at university, noted that while hewas personally good at math as a high school student, he had trouble passing that enthusiasm(热情)to his three kids.
He loves doing math, but in the past his younger daughter would always say that he made it so complicated (复杂的) and he didn’t need to explain this to her. Because she just wanted to know the answer.
Today, his three children are all in their 20s.While they may not have enjoyed the math lessons, he says that one of his favorite things is teaching calculus(微积分)to the kids.There are a few very difficult concepts in calculus.He must explain why calculus is so important and why calculus has those funny symbols. It’s crazy and it’s probably the thing he enjoys the most.
1. What happened to the leader recently?| A．He explained Chinese well. |
| B．He developed his lifelong love of math. |
| C．He met a challenge in playing with his kids. |
| D．He had trouble explaining mathematical concepts to his kids. |
| A．Communicate with others actively. |
| B．Build relationship with others. |
| C．Manage to describe themselves. |
| D．Know about their own learning by teaching others. |
| A．Describing an example. | B．Learning with her father. |
| C．Getting the final answer. | D．Keeping enthusiasm high. |
| A．It brings him happiness. | B．It helps his kids grow. |
| C．It gives him a lesson. | D．It improves his maths. |
| A．A concert hall. | B．A stadium. | C．A gallery. |
8 . In February 2022, I began learning Chinese. Almost a year later, I found myself in Beijing, the capital of China. Before coming here, I had attended Chinese classes, and I could sense my progress in the language, albeit modest. As you might expect, studying for just one year wasn’t sufficient to claim fluency, and to be honest, I’m not there yet. But full proficiency in the language is not necessary to immerse yourself in and enjoy many attractions of life in China.
The one thing that truly makes me feel comfortable and alleviates loneliness is making friends and engaging in conversation. At Tsinghua University, where I pursued my studies in China, I made friends with many Chinese young people and relished spending time with them, be it for meals or leisure activities. I’ve been delighted to sing Chinese songs, for example, those by the famous Chinese singer Jay Chou, with my friends. I would also sing well-known Japanese songs, such as Lemon, which, as it turns out, is very popular in China. I felt that connecting with my Chinese peers through a shared passion, such as singing, was incredibly enjoyable and beautiful. It transcended language barriers and fostered a sense of unity and joy that was truly special.
During breaks from study, I frequently embarked on solo journeys across China. Although I have experienced traveling on overnight trains for over 12 hours several times and explored unfamiliar cities, I never felt fearful or unwelcome as a foreigner. Chinese people are consistently warm and welcome to foreigners, and eager to engage in conversation.
I once participated in community activities in Northwest China’s Gansu province to gain a deeper understanding of China’s rural areas and contribute to the development of local communities and education. As a volunteer teacher at a local school, I shared contemporary and traditional Japanese culture such as anime, architecture, pop music and languages with the students. Since Japanese kanji originated in China, there are many similarities between the Japanese and Chinese languages.
1. What is necessary for the author to enjoy attractions of life in China?| A．Having proficiency in Chinese. | B．Befriending with foreign tourists. |
| C．Setting out on solo journeys alone. | D．Communicating with Chinese locals. |
| A．Advocated. | B．Enjoyed. | C．Postponed. | D．Avoided. |
| A．By listing numbers. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By making comparison. | D．By setting questions. |
| A．Hospitable. | B．Cautious. | C．Punctual. | D．Smart. |
1.汉语里的幽默对外国人来说的难点在什么地方?
2.怎么克服这些难点从而能够听懂相声里的幽默?
注意：
1.写作词数应为 50 个左右；
2.请按照如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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1. What is the woman now?
| A．A doctor in a clinic. | B．A university student. | C．A university teacher. |
| A．She was more experienced in medicine. |
| B．She was a top student in all courses. |
| C．She had ever acquired languages. |
| A．Most teachers handed out materials on each topic. |
| B．The hospitals always gave students surprises. |
| C．The doctors usually had no time to help students. |
| A．Do some summer work. |
| B．Get trained at a hospital in Paris. |
| C．Travel to Paris to have a good break. |
