A Mother’s Heartfelt Note of Love
Everything seemed to have changed for me when I entered high school. I never saw a single person I knew from middle school. At home I was just as lonely. “My brothers and sister all fit in.” I thought, coming in the door after another bad day at school. “Why can’t I?”
Mom was there waiting for me. “Karole, your bedroom’s a disaster. Why can’t you keep it clean?” The last thing I needed was criticism from my mother. What had happened to the mother who used to snuggle (依偎) with me on the sofa, loving me with complete acceptance? Who thought everything I did was wonderful? I didn’t bother trying to explain my unhappiness. It was easier to hide in my bedroom, without saying a word, like I did every afternoon.
Clearing off some space, I sat down at my desk. Yet another thing I wasn’t good at anymore. My grades had slipped along with my confidence. I turned to a new page in my notebook and started working out the first problem. Almost immediately, I saw I’d made a mistake. “Wrong again!” I thought. “You can’t do anything right!” I tore the paper out of my notebook, balled it up in my fist and threw it at the wastepaper basket. The ball landed on the floor. I heard my mother’s voice in my head, “Why can’t you keep your room clean?”
By the time I finished my homework, the floor was littered with crumpled (弄皱的) paper. It gave me a kind of satisfaction to see the mess I’d made. Like it was proof of all my shortcomings. Every time I looked at those crumpled balls, I reminded myself what a failure I was. But my unhappiness stayed hidden away, just like those mistakes. With my face a mask of indifference, no one knew what I was really feeling. Who would want to listen?
One day, I came home to an empty house. It was a relief not to be met with Mom’s latest complaint. “Nothing I do is right in her eyes.” I thought. “Or anyone else’s, including mine.”
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 opened my bedroom door, I froze at the sight of a neat and orderly room.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I sat down at my desk, staring at those words.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . Many people find it hard to say no, even when they are over-stressed, over-booked and just too busy to take on anything else.
I’m sorry – I can’t do this right now
Sometimes, it helps to wait and think about whether you can take on a commitment. It’s usually best not to rush into things.
Let me think about it
If you’re uncomfortable being firm or are dealing with pushy people, it’s OK to say, “Let me think about it and get back to you.”
This strategy also allows you to think about whether you want to say “yes” to another commitment. To decide, do a cost-benefit analysis and then get back to them with a yes or no.
If you would really like to do what they’re requesting, but don’t have the time, it’s fine to say no to all or part of the request but mention a lesser commitment that you can make. This way you’ll still be partially involved, but it will be on your own terms.
| A．I can’t do this, but I can do that |
| B．If you struggle with this, then you’re not alone |
| C．I wish I could, but I have a lot going on right now |
| D．This gives you a chance to review your schedule and consider your options |
| E．Luckily, you can learn how to say no to people without causing hurt feelings |
| F．If pressured, reply that it doesn’t fit into your schedule and change the subject |
| G．You have every right to ensure you have time for the things that are important to you |
“Jordi! Wake up!” Dad’s voice calls from the hallway, and I sit up quickly. Today is the day! The day that I will finally be a casteller —a castle builder.
My city is hosting today’s competition. Never before have I been part of the tower. It is so high. And it sometimes falls. I was hesitant to be up there. Today, for the first time in a competition, I will help build the tower !
In town, I see that the center of the square is already packed with people. While I wait for our turn to compete, my friend Tomeu comes to stand with me.“What if I’m not ready for this, Tomeu?” I ask. Tomeu’s dark eyes sparkle as he smiles at me. “We are never ready, Jordi. None of us who compete knows for sure how it will go.” He gestures toward the tower going up in front of us. “Just like these people,you must have faith in the others. You must trust those below who lift you up, and you must trust yourself.” Tomeu pats me on the shoulder. “Have focus. Have faith.”
I nod to show that I understand. I will do my best to follow his suggestions. Soon,too soon,it is our turn.
Dad and several strongest men make the base for our tower. Four smaller men create a strong second level. Our tower is growing taller and taller. I watch as Mom climbs nimbly(敏捷地)up. She and my aunt form the fifth level.
“Then suddenly it is my turn. Tomeu and I will make up the sixth level. Each of the castellers wears a waist belt, and I grip the belts with my bare toes as I climb up. I pass the first two levels without difficulty,but as I go higher,the tower feels less steady. By the time I reach the fifth level,nerves make my hands sweat and my knees tremble,for I am very high off the ground.
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。
I place my foot into Mom’s waist belt and try to stand, but it slips off.
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Tomeu and I grasp each other’s arms, and our tower is complete.
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The New Kid in Class
At the beginning of the new term, every student came to school happily. One day, Jackson, a friendly student, sat at his school desk and looked over at the new kid in class. His name was Billy, who just moved here from Florida. His first day in class was yesterday and, so far, Jackson had not talked to him. Today, at rest, Jackson was going to try to make a new friend.
When the bell rang for a rest, Jackson hurried out of his seat and followed Billy outside.
”Hi Billy,“ Jackson said with a smile as they walked outside. ”Do you want to play basketball?“
”No. I’m not very good at basketball. “
”Do you want to play kickball? “ Jackson asked again.
”No. I’m not good at that either, “ Billy said. Billy walked away from Jackson and sat on a big flat rock in the grassy part of the school yard.
Jackson stood there and wondered what to do next. He asked Billy to do two things and both times Billy said no. He felt a little depressed. Maybe Billy didn’t like to get along with Jackson. Maybe he didn’t want to be friends. Jackson thought about playing basketball with the other kids. He looked over at Billy sitting on the rock all by himself. It must be hard to move to a new school, Jackson thought. He decided to give it one more try and let him be his friend. What would be a better one? He paced backwards and forwards nervously.
It was at that time that Jackson reached into his pocket and pulled out two toy cars that his brother gave him before. His brother has tons of cars and always gives him his old ones. It was the two cars that made him give it one more try.
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。
“Do you like cars?” Jackson asked Billy as he walked up to him.
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“Well, you made one friend today,” Jackson said.
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5 . Terrible noises, drunk people, dangerous animals — any number of things can go wrong during a live news report.
News reporters are famous for their ability to keep going. And NBC Nightly News host Brian Williams is a fine example of that. He was reporting on a bankruptcy (破产) case when a fire alarm suddenly started ringing. It was followed shortly afterwards by an announcement. “You’ll have to forgive us,” Brian explained very calmly, “we have a fire alarm going on in here.”
An ability to keep a straight face is another important skill. A reporter from Channel 9 news in Australia was reporting on a murder (谋杀) case when a huge white bird walked across the back of the screen. The bird then appeared right as the reporter said the word “burden” (which sounds similar to the word “bird”). In an interview after the incident, the reporter explained how he saw the bird, but felt that he couldn’t laugh because of the seriousness of the story. “It was a bit of a surprise at the time,” he added.
But not all reporters have such abilities. During a report on strange pets, a lizard (蜥蜴) suddenly jumped onto the suit of a Channel 5 news reporter. “Get this thing off me,” the reporter shouted, as he crazily tried to brush it off. Finally, the reporter managed to regain his calmness.
Australian TV reporter Steve Jacobs was involved in a similar incident. Soon after starting an off-camera weather report, the sound of laughter could be heard. Suddenly the camera showed the reporter standing against a rock in a zoo as an angry bird attacked his backside. Finally, a zookeeper managed to attract the bird away, but the weatherman still shouted, “I’m going to be mentally scarred (精神上伤痕累累)!”
1. How did the author look at Brian Williams?| A．He had a great ability to keep going. | B．He should learn to keep calm. |
| C．He was going to break down. | D．He had a great sense of risk. |
| A．Get things fixed. | B．Give reports straight away. |
| C．Face the camera all the time. | D．Have a serious facial expression. |
| A．He took off his clothes. | B．He caught it with his hand. |
| C．He was frightened to death. | D．He was badly injured by it. |
| A．It made him uncomfortable. | B．It brought him a lot of fun. |
| C．It made him reconsider his job. | D．It excited his interest in wildlife. |
Hunger
When I was a young boy, my mother would place spoonfuls of vegetables onto my plate whether I wanted them or not and the rule in our family was that we always had to clean our plates. However, I rarely saw my mother eat the vegetables herself. She always served us first. She seemed never hungry.
She worked for a rich lady in town, and I always assumed that the reason why she didn’t have our tasteless meals was that she had eaten meats and sweets in the rich lady’s kitchen. Our meals were boring, and there was never enough since there were ten of us — my parents plus eight children.
One afternoon my older sisters were sick, so they couldn’t take care of me. Therefore, my mother had no choice but to bring me with her. It was a long winter day and as my father hadn’t had much work, we had even less food than usual. So I was very excited to go to the rich woman’s house.
My mother placed me in a corner while she rolled out pie crust (饼皮). Then she cooked some meat, and by the afternoon, the pleasant smell filled the kitchen and was making its way into my empty stomach. Then, a bell rang in the kitchen and my mother told me, “Don’t move” and then left.
I tried to do as told, but then I thought it wouldn’t matter if I ate just one blackberry. So I put a single blackberry into my mouth. What an explosion of flavor! The wonderful taste hitting my empty stomach was more than I could handle! Soon I was throwing blackberries into my mouth with two hands! It wasn’t until I was staring at the empty bowl that I noticed the empty, unbaked pie crust sitting on the table waiting for the berries. I looked around for more berries, but there was none. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching, so I quickly hid into the cupboard (碗柜).
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Just at the moment, my mother entered the kitchen, following a well-dressed lady.
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After the lady left, I crept(爬) out of the cupboard with tears streaming down my face.
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7 . Every morning, I eat the same breakfast. Every evening, I eat a different dinner. Strange? But I’m not alone. Why do we avoid variety in the morning, yet later in the same day, seek variety in our choice of food?
Part of the answer is biological. We are most energetic in the morning, and our arousal level (唤醒水平) declines from that top until we go to sleep. So we may prefer less stimulating foods in the morning to avoid feeling overstimulated, and prefer more stimulating foods later to avoid feeling under-stimulated.
Part of the answer is cultural. The modern workday means we have the least time for meals in the morning. If we find a breakfast rewarding and efficient, eating that same food for breakfast will become a habit we stick to.
However, much of the answer still lies in psychology - not that we believe breakfast is not important but that people pursue different goals when eating breakfast and other meals.
What goals are we pursuing in our meals? Two goals influence all kinds of decisions about what we eat — hedonic (享乐的) and practical goals. Hedonic goals drive people to eat foods that provide pleasurable experiences and feelings, and practical goals drive people to eat to efficiently achieve other aims such as weight control, health, convenience or efficiency.
We find that as the day progresses, more and more people change from pursuing practical goals for breakfast to gaining the pleasure. In over 3000+ products’ name descriptions from Amazon, we find that there are more pleasure-related words ( e.g., tasty, delicious ) for breakfast compared to practical words ( e.g., nutritious, healthy ).
Whether the goals come from our culture or biology, they appear to be the psychological driver of our tendency to eat the same breakfast day after day. In that case we can have control over the goals to improve our diet. Why not have a try?
1. Which example shows breakfast is eaten for the hedonic goal?| A．I order a tiramisu because I love its creamy flavor. |
| B．I order an egg because it’s a good source of protein. |
| C．I order dumplings because they make me energized. |
| D．I order bread and milk because it saves me much time. |
| A．To increase arousal level. | B．To be more energetic. |
| C．To improve efficiency. | D．To avoid overstimulation. |
( ①=Para.1 ②=Para.2 ③=Para.3 ④=Para.4 ⑤=Para.5 ⑥=Par.6 ⑦=Para.7 )
| A．①-②③-④⑤/⑥⑦ | B．①-②③/④⑤-⑥⑦ |
| C．①-②③/④⑤⑥-⑦ | D．①-②③/④-⑤⑥/⑦ |
| A．Breakfast Matters A Lot | B．What Breakfast Tells Us |
| C．Goals Of The Same Breakfast | D．Behind Repeated Breakfast |
8 . At Southmead Hospital in Bristol, researchers are experimenting with robots programmed to interact with patients for simple forms of physiotherapy (物理治疗). Another possible use might be basic bedside checks. Real applications are still some way off, but hospital leaders think this could help ease workforce pressure.
Everyone understands that people want more out of healthcare as they live longer. Hospitals have not enough workforce to meet those demands, and of course, robotics and technology can be taught to repeat unskilled tasks.
The hospital is working with Bristol Robotics Laboratory, looking at future care of patients in their own homes. This device can be controlled remotely to help with basic household tasks. Technology can clearly help those who need assistance at home, but might people feel they lose out from lack of human contact?
Professor Praminda Caleb-Solly at Bristol Robotics Laboratory said, “In no way are we looking to replace people, because nurses and doctors always think of what other people need and give them emotional support. The idea here is to improve the quality of care that can be provided. However, there are big questions over what that will mean for patients’ experiences and the impact on staff.”
And away from patients, there’s automation. Robots deliver most supplies around the hospital, including supplies to operating theatres and meals for the wards. They even have their own lifts. Because they do the heavy physical work, staff injuries have been reduced. Robot technology is also at work in the hospital drugstore. Orders for medicines are processed rapidly and made ready for clinical (临床的) teams. Pharmacists (药剂师) say it improves patient safety by eliminating (消除) human error.
Hugh Pym, BBC health editor, says that “robotic devices are thought to offer, potentially, major long-term benefits to hospitals. There’s great potential there.” They won’t necessarily offer cups of tea or even look like this. But the fact that hospital leaders are working with engineers on robotics shows there is a new vision for post-pandemic health and care.
1. What do we know about the robots programmed at Southmead Hospital?| A．They will be put to use in the near future. |
| B．They could control patients’ home at a distance. |
| C．They can help patients to communicate with doctors. |
| D．They may make up for the lack of staff in the hospital. |
| A．Robots will replace doctors in medical treatment. |
| B．Robots are favored by patients and medical staff. |
| C．Robots are less considerate than human medical staff. |
| D．Robots can be emotional with the help of technology. |
| A．The theory behind the robotic technology. |
| B．The advantages of using robots in hospitals. |
| C．The cooperation between robots and doctors. |
| D．The effect of automation on medical treatment. |
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Neutral. | D．Unclear. |
9 . How to deal with stress at school
Stress is part of students’ life. While some stress can help inspire them to get work done, too much stress can cause problems with health, sleep and brain function. Now when you feel your stress building up inside, how can you manage it?
Work out your own learning ways
Students learn in different ways and have different learning styles. Some do homework all at once, while others need to take some breaks.
Stay healthy and get enough sleep
Share your problems and how you are feeling and dealing with a parent, friend, teacher, or doctor. When you talk your stress out with some friends, chances are that some of them are going through the same thing and they might have some ideas to share. Besides, it helps to know you’re not alone.
Give yourself a break
You should feel good about taking break.
| A．Talk to others. |
| B．Share your happiness. |
| C．Some students remember well in the morning. |
| D．Try one or more of the following. |
| E．Sometimes you feel tired. |
| F．And only you can say which activities work best for letting you relax. |
| G．Many students don’t focus on their health |
内容包含：
1. 现状；
2. 分析原因(过度用眼，不良阅读习惯等)；
3. 建议(提高护眼意识，增加户外运动等)。
2、可以适当增加要点。
注意：1、字数约80左右；
An eyesight test was held by our school recently.
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