Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day.(劳动节) “Enjoy your extra day off,” said the teacher to her class. An extra day of fun suited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.
“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.
“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”
“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.
Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. It rained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing video games inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours. Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped her eyes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.
“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents, “Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”
“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was celebrated in the first place.”
Paragraph 1：At first, Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . There are well-documented mental health benefits to pet ownership, as much research has shown. Indeed, we know there are some physical benefits as well, as dog owners tend to have more active lifestyles. Yet when it comes to conditions like allergies (过敏), we tend to think of pet ownership as exacerbating, not alleviating them.
Hence, a recent study published in the journal PLOS One might come as a surprise. The study, published Wednesday, found that children raised with cats and dogs early in life had a 13 to 16 % lower risk of developing all food allergies than those who did not own pets.
The researchers engaged in a detailed survey, studying 65,000 children. They found that children who were exposed to dogs either during fetal (胎儿) development, or up to the age of 3 years old were less likely to have nut, milk and egg allergies.
This wasn’t true for other pets that weren’t cats and dogs. Indeed, the same research found that children exposed to hamsters during this same period had an increased risk of nut allergies. Yet children who were exposed to cats during their early years were likewise less likely to develop specific allergies — namely, allergies to wheat, soybean and egg.
While the study is not the final word on the issue — the researchers note “further studies using oral food challenges are required to more accurately assess the incident of food allergies” — it reinforces preexisting research on the seemingly funny ways that cats influence human development.
In addition to adding to the growing body of scientific literature about pets and human health, the PLOS One also reinforces earlier research about the role of the environment in developing allergies. The research repeatedly found that exposure to farmyard dirt, dust and the various fine hairs that fly off animals helps children in their breathing system development.
1. What does the underlined word “exaccrbating” in paragraph 1 best mean?| A．Worsening. | B．Damaging. |
| C．Improving. | D．Benefiting. |
| A．Kids over 3 will have more food allergies. |
| B．Hamsters cause the most allergies to children. |
| C．All pet ownership will not reduce food allergies. |
| D．Cat owners are less likely to be allergic than dog owners. |
| A．Satisfied. | B．Objective. |
| C．Doubtful. | D．Unconcerned. |
| A．Benefits brought by raising animals |
| B．Pet ownership making kids healthier |
| C．Researches on different food allergies |
| D．Dogs and cats reducing kids’ allergies |
1. What does the speaker work for?
| A．A travel agency. | B．An airline. | C．An airport. |
| A．Puerto Rico. | B．Maldives. | C．England. |
| A．His flight was called off. |
| B．He failed to catch his flight. |
| C．He couldn’t find a flight to his home city. |
| A．Lower prices. | B．Better service. | C．Bigger seating capacity. |
All I did was show my little sister how to grow plants. Dig a hole. Put in a seed. Cover it with dirt. Water it. Wait. “See, Laynie,” I explained, “a whole plant will grow from this tiny seed. All we have to do is water it.”
Laynie had her own watering can so she could “help” me in the garden. One day, after everything was watered, she said, “We forgot something, Brad.” She ran to the fence and started sprinkling water on another spot. I walked over and saw a fresh patch of dirt near the fence.
“Did you plant something there?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “I’m growing a pencil.”
She stopped sprinkling. “My purple pencil got too small, so I planted it, the way you said."
“But, Laynie—”
“How long does it take to grow a new pencil?”
I should have explained things right then, but I just muttered, “Uh... I never grew one before.”
Later I got what seemed like a great idea. I dug up Laynie’s pencil and “planted” a brand-new purple pencil. I fixed it with the erase r sticking up.
Laynie was really excited when she saw it. “My pencil grew!” she shouted. She drew pictures with it all afternoon.
A few days later, Laynie was watering the same spot. “How long does it take to grow crayons?” she asked. “I can’t wait!” she squealed, giggling... She squatted down and whispered, “Grow. Come on, grow.”
Two days later, new crayons sprouted their point y little heads, thanks to me. Laynie jumped up and down and yelled, “They look like flowers!” She “picked” them and ran into the house. Grandma thought Laynie was cute when she claimed that she had grown these things. I just kept my mouth shut! Actually, it was fun trying to think of what should grow from Laynie’s “seeds.” And it was cool to see her get excited.
One day I saw her patting down some dirt, so I knew she’d just planted something. “What is it this time?” I asked.
“It’s Molly.” I gasped. Molly was Laynie’s goldfish! “She jumped out of her bowl again,” Laynie said. “Grandma said we didn’t find her in time.” Then Laynie picked up her little watering can and started sprinkling that spot. My heart dropped to my feet when she asked, “How long does it take to grow a goldfish, Brad?” She knelt down to whisper “Grow, Molly. Grow!” before she skipped back to the house.
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。
I sat down with my back to the fence and wondered what I should do then.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I hugged her tightly and suggested, “How about a funeral for Molly?”
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Through the dining room window, the rays of the setting sun glowed orange and gold. It looked like a huge traditional lantern (灯笼) lit in the sky for the whole world to see, as Ramadan (斋月), the Muslim (穆斯林) holy month, came to an end.
During Ramadan, Muslim children dance in the streets, swinging traditional lanterns of all sizes. This year, Ayasha’s grandparents in Egypt had sent a lantern to Kamil, Ayasha’s younger brother. Kamil’s lantern was bright blue, with a battery-powered flashing light instead of a candle. Ever since Kamil had opened the package, he had been joyously swinging (旋转) his flashing lantern.
“His lantern is really just a holiday toy,” Ayasha said to herself as she watched him, “My lantern is special, something I want to keep forever”. Her lantern, made of beautiful shiny glass, was a loving touch of home. Her grandparents had sent it to her when her family moved to America for her dad’s new engineering job. Ayasha smiled proudly as she lit the candle inside her lantern.
Tomorrow would be a day for celebration—for wearing new clothes to morning prayers (祷告) for sharing gifts and sweet treats and for showing love to family and friends. Ayasha couldn’t wait.
“Time for dinner! The food smells delicious!” Dad announced. “My favorite cake!” Kamil cried excitedly, swinging his lantern in circles. “Be careful, Kamil!” Mom cried and carefully avoided the swinging lantern as she carried a large bowl of so up to the table. But Kamil was too excited to calm down. The blue light kept swinging until unfortunately, he knocked into Mom. His lantern fell onto the sofa and was intact (完好无损的), but the bowl Mom was holding fell to the floor, spilling (洒) he soup and sending broken pieces everywhere!
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: To make things worse, Kamil stumbled (绊倒) against the table, knocking over Ayasha’glass lantern.
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Paragraph 2: Ayasha opened the door and saw Kamil standing there with his most-treasured lantern.
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China is well-known for its long and amazing civilization. Many factors make it possible, one of
Starting as a picture-based language, written Chinese dates back several thousand years to the use of longgu—animal bones and shells with
Written Chinese also serves as a great way
As China is becoming stronger and more powerful, recently, the number of international students learning Chinese
Lantern festivals add magic to
“The older I grow, the more
“For this lantern fair, we derived inspiration from ancient Chinese poems,” Wan says, adding that Tianshang Gongque (the moon palace), a centerpiece as well as one of 21 core lantern installations ( 装 置) at the fair,
The eight-day holiday attracted over 210,000 visitors from around China to Zigong, a city which is
8 . Human responses to moral dilemmas (道德困境) can be influenced by statements written by the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT, according to a study published in Scientific Reports. The findings indicate that users may undervalue the extent to which their own moral judgments can be influenced by the chatbot.
Sebastian Krigel and colleagues asked ChatGPT multiple times whether it is right to sacrifice (牺牲) the life of one person in order to save the lives of five others. They found that ChatGPT wrote random statements arguing both for and against sacrificing one life, indicating that it is not biased towards a certain moral stance (立场).
The authors then presented 767 U.S. participants, who were on average 39 years old, with a dilemma whether to sacrifice one person’s life to save five others. Before answering, participants read a statement provided by ChatGPT arguing either for or against sacrificing one life to save five. Statements were from either a moral advisor or ChatGPT. After answering, participants were asked whether the statement they read influenced their answers.
Eighty percent of participants reported that their answers were not influenced by the statements they read. However, the authors found that the answers participants believed they would have provided without reading the statements were still more likely to agree with the moral stance of the statement they did read than with the opposite stance. This indicates that participants may have underestimated the influence of ChatGPT’s statements on their own moral judgments.
The authors suggest that the possibility for chatbots to influence human moral judgments highlights the need for education to help humans better understand artificial intelligence. They propose that future research should design chatbots that either decline to answer questions requiring a moral judgment or answer these questions by providing multiple arguments and warnings.
1. What are ChatGPT’s answers to a certain moral stance?| A．changeable. | B．valuable. | C．creative. | D．simple. |
| A．They admitted the power of ChatGPT. |
| B．They were interviewed by a moral advisor. |
| C．They were affected by ChatGPT unknowingly. |
| D．They were presented with different moral dilemmas. |
| A．Different findings of the study. | B．Future possibility for chatbots. |
| C．Major focuses of future education. | D．Solutions to the impact of chatbots. |
| A．ChatGPT Tends to Cause Moral Panics. |
| B．ChatGPT: Is It Likely to Affect Our Life? |
| C．ChatGPT:Why Is It Making Us So Nervous? |
| D．ChatGPT Can Influence Human Moral Judgments. |
9 . Over 7,000 species around the world are considered endangered. That number doesn’t even include the plants, animals, and other lifeforms that are listed by some scientists as vulnerable, critically endangered, or extinct in the wild.
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the most-comprehensive list of endangered species around the world. The Red List of Threatened Species, as it’s called, judges each species on five different standards for an in-depth scientific approach. According to the IUCN, an endangered species is one that meets any one of the following criteria (标准): a 50%-70% population decrease over 10 years, a total geographic area less than 5,000 square kilometers, a population size less than 2,500 adults, a restricted population of 250 adults, or a statistical prediction that it will go extinct within the next 20 years.
Though the IUCN’s Red List covers a wide range of what qualifies as an endangered species, it doesn’t quite say how a species reaches those low points. Prepare to feel guilty: the most common factor when it comes to species decline is human intervention. Loss of habitat, the introduction of a foreign species into the environment, hunting, pollution, disease, and loss of genetic variation (基因变异) are all causes of species decline and most often are a result of human activities. Take the bald eagle for example: the rise in human population and urban development of North America limited the animal’s habitat; an increase in hunting the eagles for sport lowered their population size; and the use of the pesticide DDT on farms harmed the animal’s reproductive capabilities.
But even though humans are the number one cause of species decline, classifying species as endangered encourages action to reverse the effects of human intervention. Conservation efforts by the US Fish and Wildlife Service criminalized (使非法) the hunting of bald eagles and the use of the pesticide DDT in the mid- to late 20th century. The effect was positive, as bald eagles have been on the rise and were taken off the endangered species list in 1995.
1. Which of the following species can be considered endangered?| A．One that will go extinct within the next 50 years. |
| B．One whose population size is less than 5,000 adults. |
| C．One whose habitat is less than 2,500 square kilometers. |
| D．One whose population decreases 20% over twenty years. |
| A．The causes of species decline. |
| B．The disadvantages of the pesticide. |
| C．A list of worldwide endangered species. |
| D．Common features of endangered species. |
| A．To show its rareness. |
| B．To blame humans for its decline. |
| C．To stress its importance in nature. |
| D．To show the meaning of ranking it endangered. |
| A．Entertainment. | B．Health. | C．Science. | D．Education. |
A funny thing happened to Arthur when he was on the way to work one day. As he walked along Park Avenue near the First National Bank, he heard the sound of someone trying to start a car. He tried again and again but couldn’t get the car moving. Arthur turned and looked inside at the face of a young man who looked worried.
Arthur stopped and said, “It looks like you’ve got a problem.”
“I’m afraid so. I’m in a big hurry but I can’t start my car.”
“Is there something I can do to help?” Arthur asked. The young man looked at the two suitcases in the back seat and then said, “Thanks. If you’re sure it wouldn’t be too much trouble, you could help me get these suitcases into a taxi.”
“No trouble at all. I’d be glad to help.”
The young man got out and took one of the suitcases from the back seat. After placing it on the ground, he turned to get the other one. Just as Arthur picked up the first suitcase and started walking, he heard the long loud noise of an alarm.
It was from the bank. There had been a robbery (抢劫)!
Park Avenue had been quiet a moment before. Now the air was filled with the sound of the alarm and the shouts of people running from all directions. Cars stopped and the passengers joined the crowd in front of the bank. People asked each other, “What happened?” But everyone had a different answer.
Arthur still carrying the suitcase, turned to look at the bank and walked right into a young woman in front of him.
She looked at the suitcase and then at him. Arthur was surprised. “Why is she looking at me like that?” he thought. “The suitcase! She thinks I’m the bank thief!”
Arthur looked around at the crowd of people. He became frightened, and without another thought, he started to run.
注意：续写的词数应为150左右。
Paragraph 1:
As he was running, Arthur heard the young man shouting behind, “Stop! Stop!” _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
The taxi stopped in front of the police station. _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
