1. 说明比赛要求（诗歌长度，内容等）；
2. 请他推荐英文诗歌：
3. 请教朗诵技巧。
参考词汇：英文诗歌朗诵比赛（English Poem Recitation Contest）
注意：
1. 词数80左右。
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear George,
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours,
Li Hua
2 . Pooja Rani entered the boxing area at age 18 all thanks to her coach Sanjay Kumar. However, even with much
She won the National Youth Boxing Championship in 2009, which
Unstoppable as she was, her wins came to a pause for some reason. During that time, she was
| A．attention | B．guidance | C．assistance | D．encouragement |
| A．approve of | B．dream of | C．hear of | D．complain of |
| A．at random | B．in secret | C．at ease | D．in person |
| A．word | B．warning | C．reward | D．praise |
| A．confident | B．hopeful | C．fond | D．certain |
| A．leave | B．favor | C．keep | D．mind |
| A．common | B．strict | C．unusual | D．vital |
| A．discussions | B．demands | C．efforts | D．quarrels |
| A．convince | B．remind | C．advise | D．force |
| A．pushed | B．threw | C．knocked | D．beat |
| A．missed | B．bagged | C．expected | D．targeted |
| A．anxious | B．celebrated | C．qualified | D．ready |
| A．forgotten | B．backed | C．questioned | D．approached |
| A．duty | B．board | C．show | D．track |
| A．recovered | B．responded | C．returned | D．recalled |
3 . Our brain is a remarkably powerful tool. It is able to provide yon with much more thinking abilities if you learn how to develop it in the most efficient way.
● Try to give your habits a fresh start from time to time.
For instance, stand on another foot when getting out of bed. You can also switch to holding a tooth brush with a hand you’ve never used for this purpose before.
● Learn how to get proper rest in order to work efficiently.
Deep healthy sleep increases brain power and contributes to attention focusing. A lack of sleep or its derangement (紊乱) may affect mental activities and remarkably decrease its functional level.
● Do outdoor exercise.
It is scientifically proven that a reasonable outdoor exercise forces your brain to produce new cells. There’s no need to become an athlete, but a bit of jogging around the building will definitely do you no harm.
●
Walnuts (核桃) are the best snack for a brain—they even share a similar shape. Five walnuts a day provide enough lecithin (卵磷脂) for improving brain activity and memory. Don’t drink too much alcohol, for it isn’t good brain food.
| A．Eat food with limitation. |
| B．Choose the best brain food. |
| C．Alcohol does harm to health. |
| D．Alcohol destroys hippocampus. |
| E．Here are some simple ways to increase brain activity. |
| F．Scientists recommend a period of 6 to 8 hours of daily sleep. |
| G．Give it a go and experiment with the way you’re not used to walking. |
4 . A new study suggests classic paintings by well-known Impressionists Joseph Turner and Claude Monet may have been influenced by air pollution during the Industrial Revolution.
Scientists don’t know exactly how polluted the cities were during that time for lack of data. However, researchers say that examining the works of Turner and Monet can give a picture of long-term environmental change with the air pollution.
The study, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by authors from Harvard and Sorbonne universities, analyzed 60 oil paintings by Turner from 1796 to 1850 and 38 paintings by Monet from 1864 to 1901. Scientists successfully measured painters’ representation (再现) of nature, focusing on the colors as well as differences in local weather patterns which influenced coloring. They significantly found that paintings composed in Britain generally feature a greyer blue sky than works in other parts of Europe.
Researchers particularly believe changes in local sulfur dioxide (二氧化硫) emissions from burning coal may explain changes in the color contrast and intensity (亮度) of Turner’s and Monet’s works, even after taking into account the artistic trends and subject matter of the time.
Generally, artists can historically accurately represent their environment. Turner and Monet were chosen because they are famous for their landscape and cityscape paintings and also because they were active during the Industrial Revolution, when air pollution grew at a rate never seen before.
Additionally, researchers say that since the air in London was much polluted, the cities would appear grey and dull to the eyes as well as in photographs. By comparing the paintings of Turner and Monet to photos from the era, they were able to determine the painting works were definitely influenced by the change in emissions.
1. What did the researchers find in the works of Turner and Monet?| A．Air pollution at that time. | B．Change in subject matter. |
| C．Social trends of the period. | D．Development of photography. |
| A．By referring to relevant historical records. |
| B．By examining the coloring of the paintings. |
| C．By comparing the paintings of Turner with Monet’s. |
| D．By analyzing the data during the Industrial Revolution. |
| A．European artists preferred landscape paintings. |
| B．Turner and Monet intended to present pollution. |
| C．The research focused on studying weather patterns. |
| D．Britain suffered most from air pollution in Europe. |
| A．To call on people to protect the environment. |
| B．To introduce air pollution in the Industrial Revolution. |
| C．To inform people of a new discovery in certain artworks. |
| D．To instruct people to admire classic paintings in new ways. |
5 . “Why?” It’s a simple question that people ask Angela Madeline frequently. After all, she began a journey that very few people would ever attempt: walk around the world alone.
The thought of Madeline’s journey did not start from a place of loss or personal crisis. She said, “I was searching for a deeper interaction with nature and people.” Walking would minimize her carbon footprint, plus the slow pace meant that she could fully engage herself in nature, and gain insights into other cultures in a unique way.
She left her hometown of Bend, Oregon, on 2 May 2016 and headed into an adventure. Along the way, Madeline would suffer from heatstroke (中暑) in the Australian desert and hear gunshots while camping in Turkey. “Still,” she said, “I didn’t stop because I was more afraid of not following my heart than I was of losing everything I owned and loved.”
Apart from that, her slow pace allowed her to be drawn deeply into other cultures. She wandered the tiny seaside villages along Italy Tyrthenian Sea, enjoying the lively atmosphere. In Vietnam, she was offered food by an elderly woman and invited to rest in her wooden house at the peak for the night. She chose an experience of uncertainty and curiosity, in search of something she could never be certain to find: a sense of fulfillment and a deeper connection.
On16 December 2022, Madeline’s pilgrimage (朝圣之旅) ended right where it started. For now, she’s working on a book, planning future journeys and creating more effective ways for women to find and express courage in their lives.
Whether a walk leads halfway around the world or just down the road, Madeline has shown the true worth of embracing (拥抱) the unknown and giving more than we receive along the way.
1. Why did Madeline decide to start her journey?| A．To get rid of personal crisis. | B．To get closer to the world. |
| C．To reduce carbon footprint. | D．To slow down the pace of life. |
| A．She was about to give up. | B．She was helped by Italian locals. |
| C．She experienced various cultures. | D．She enjoyed Australian coastal scenery. |
| A．Cautious and gentle. | B．Tough and adventurous. |
| C．Outgoing and generous. | D．Open-minded and humorous. |
| A．A new way to slow down life. | B．A closer connection with the wild. |
| C．An unforgettable memory of a trip. | D．A woman walking around the world. |
6 . Young Writers Awards
About the Contest
Bennington College has a unique literary tradition. We’ve bad twelve Pulitzer Prize winners, three US poet laureates, four MacArthur Geniuses, and two of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. In celebration of this, Bennington launched the Young Writers Awards to promote excellence in writing at the high school level. Students are invited to enter with the following work:
● Poetry: A group of three poems
● Fiction: A short story (1,500 words or fewer) or one-act play
● Nonfiction: A personal or academic essay (1,500 words or fewer)
Three students among all the finalists are selected in each category (类别) as first-, second- and third-place winners. We welcome participation of both US and international students.
Awards & Rules
First-place winners in each category are awarded a prize of $1,000; second-place winners receive $500; third-place winners receive $250.
● No charge for entrance. Fees for accidents caused by participants are required.
● All entries must be original work reviewed, approved and guided by a teacher. We will use your teacher as a contact for the competition should we have any questions. For homeschooled students, please also contact a teacher to assist in your writing even if you have experience in such competitions.
Young Writers Awards finalists and winners are also qualified for college scholarships at Bennington if they choose to apply for this college and get admitted. Young Writers Awards finalists who gain admission to Bennington College will receive a $10,000 scholarship every year for four years, for a total of $40,000. Young Writers Awards winners admitted to Bennington will receive $15,000 every year, for a total of $60,000.
1. What can be learned about the Young Writers Awards?| A．It’s a long-time tradition. |
| B．It rewards three winners at last. |
| C．It accepts participants worldwide. |
| D．Finalists will be admitted to Bennington. |
| A．Find a teacher to help with the entry. | B．Pay an entry fee on time. |
| C．Have related writing experience. | D．Hand in a personal essay. |
| A．$10,500. | B．$15,500. | C．$40,500. | D．$60,500. |
7 . A humanoid robot can relay video and touch sensations to a person wearing a haptic (触觉内) feedback suit and a virtual reality (VR) headset hundreds of kilometres away, offering away for people to attend events without travelling.
The iCub 3 robot is a 52-kilogram, 125-centimetre-tall robot with 54 joints across its body. Its head contains two cameras where a human’s eyes would be, and an Internet-connected computer where the brain would go. Along with the cameras, sensors covering its body send data to the robot’s “brain”. These sensations are then reproduced on a suit and VR headset worn by a remote human operator.
When the operators react to what they see and feel, the suit’s sensors pick up the movements and the robot matches them. “The key is to translate every signal and bit of digital data that can be sent through the network.” says Stefano Dafarra, who was part of the iCub3 team. There can be a small delay of up to 100 milliseconds to capture and transmit the visual shots, but the operator can case this by moving slightly slower than normal.
The team demonstrated the robot at the Venice Biennale, where it wandered through an exhibition while its operator stood 290 kilometres away in Genoa. Dafarra hopes people will use the iCub3 to attend events remotely, reducing the need to travel. “But at present, a fall could be hugely damaging to the robot, and it’s uncertain whether it could stand up again on its own," he says.
“iCub3 is an interesting robot and offers clear advantages from the previous versions.” says Jonathan Aitken, whose laboratory owns a prior version of the robot. However, he is disappointed that the team wasn’t clear in its research about the data transmission requirements of the new version of the robot. “It would be good to know just how much data was required, and what the upper and lower bounds were.” he says.
1. What’s the principle behind the humanoid robot?| A．It conveys sensations to the wearer and acts accordingly. |
| B．It receives commands from an operator through the Internet. |
| C．The cameras take pictures and then interact with the sensors. |
| D．The computer in the robot processes the data and gives orders. |
| A．Medical consultation. | B．Sports events. |
| C．Outdoor workouts. | D．Virtual tourism. |
| A．It fails to appeal to potential investors. |
| B．Its performance hasn’t been evaluated clearly. |
| C．Its present version still requires to be updated. |
| D．Its transmission of data came across technical problems. |
| A．Humanoid robots with sense of touch catch on |
| B．iCub 3 robot combines with VR to benefit more people |
| C．Humanoid robots let people see and feel things remotely |
| D．New advances in technology enable people to travel at work |
1. Which country is Stephen from?
| A．The United States. | B．Mexico. | C．Australia. |
| A．His family. | B．The books he read. | C．His friend’s death. |
| A．In 1970. | B．In 1972. | C．In 1974. |
| A．Stephen didn’t make money from it. |
| B．Stephen almost gave it up. |
| C．Stephen didn’t finish it. |
1. Where does Peter get travel tips?
| A．On the Internet. | B．From the magazines. | C．Through travel guide books. |
| A．Impractical. | B．Just so-so. | C．Useful. |
| A．3. | B．4. | C．5. |
1. Why is the traffic so bad today?
| A．There is a traffic accident ahead. |
| B．The road sits at the center of a city. |
| C．It is the morning rush hour. |
| A．Drive more slowly. | B．Take another route. | C．Drop the woman off. |
