It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker called, as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone got really bored listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.
Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.
Jenny knew she should just pick it up and return it to him, but she didn’t want to run after him. Jenny bent down quickly, picked up the watch and ran home. On arriving home, Jenny put it on almost without thinking. She was surprised it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water...”Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the mirror, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really DID have something magic.
The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker asked who was going to be brave and go first. No-body moved. Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say anything, there was a shout from behind. “She’s stolen my watch!” Lee said angrily, “It went missing at school yesterday.”
Paragraph 1: Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph2: At that moment, Miss Walker smiled and asked the class to listen to Jenny’s speech first.
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1. 续写词数应为80词左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Two fast friends were Willie Brown and his little dog Bounce. Willie could never think of taking a walk without Bounce. Cake and play were equally shared between them. Willie taught his dog many running tricks and often said that Bounce could do almost anything in the world but talk. There came a time, however, when Bounce really told Willie’s father something, though he could not talk. Let me tell you how he did this.
It was on a bright summer afternoon. Willie had strolled with Bounce down to the river, which was not more than two blocks from his father’s store. Willie began to throw stones into the water, and to watch the ripples as they made one circle after another. Bounce lay on the grass, watching the flies that buzzed around his nose, and catching any that came too near. There were some logs floating in the river near the store. Willie jumped upon one of them, to see if he could throw a stone across the river.
He drew back, and sent the stone with all his might. Just as it left his hand, the log turned, and he fell into the water. He was very much frightened, for he did not know how to swim, and there was no one to hear, though he called as loud as he could for help.
Poor little Bounce gave a great yelp of distress. If he had been a big water dog, he could have jumped in and brought his master out. He ran up and down the bank two or three times, barking, looking first at Willie and then around.
Suddenly he started running, as fast as he could.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . Is it true that our brain alone is responsible for human cognition(认知)? What about our body? Is it possible for thought and behaviour to originate from somewhere other than our brain? Psychologists who study Embodied Cognition(EC)ask similar questions. The EC theory suggests our body is also responsible for thinking or problem-solving. More precisely, the mind shapes the body and the body shapes the mind in equal measure.
If you think about it for a moment, it makes total sense. When you smell something good or hear amusing sounds, certain emotions are awakened. Think about how newborns use their senses to understand the world around them. They don’t have emotions so much as needs – they don’t feel sad, they’re just hungry and need food. Even unborn babies can feel their mothers’ heartbeats, and this has a calming effect. In the real world, they cry when they’re cold and then get hugged. That way, they start to associate being warm with being loved.
Further studies have backed up the mind-body interaction. In one experiment, test subjects were asked to judge people after being handed a hot or a cold drink. They all made warm evaluations when their fingertips perceived warmth rather than coolness. And it works the other way too. In another study, subjects’ fingertip temperatures were measured after being “included” in or “rejected” from a group task. Those who were included felt physically warmer.
For further proof, we can look at the metaphors(比喻)that we use without even thinking. A kind and sympathetic person is frequently referred to as one with a soft heart and someone who is very strong and calm in difficult situations is often described as solid as a rock. And this kind of metaphorical use is common across languages.
Now that you have the knowledge of mind-body interaction, why not use it? If you’re having a bad day, a warm cup of tea will give you a flash of pleasure. If you know you’re physically cold, warm up before making any interpersonal decisions.
1. According to the author, what is the significance of EC?| A．It brings us closer to the truth in human cognition. |
| B．It offers a clearer picture of the shape of human brain. |
| C．It reveals the major role of the mind in human cognition. |
| D．It facilitates our understanding of the origin of psychology. |
| A．Their personal looks. | B．Their mental needs. |
| C．Their inner emotions. | D．Their physical feelings. |
| A．Human speech is alive with metaphors. |
| B．Human senses have effects on thinking. |
| C．Human language is shaped by visual images. |
| D．Human emotions are often compared to natural materials. |
| A．To deepen the readers’ understanding of EC. |
| B．To encourage the reader to put EC into practice. |
| C．To guide the reader onto the path to career success. |
| D．To share with the reader ways to release their emotions. |
My problems started when we were having a biology class. Students were curious about a picture of ducks and wanted to see the kind of animals. Mrs Reno, our biology teacher, told us that she had a baby duck in her yard and could take him to us to know him. But baby ducks were on my list of terrifying things. Because I’ve always been afraid of these furry (毛茸茸的) animals.
To make matters worse, Trent Dillard was in my class again, Last year, I had to sit in front of him. He knew I was afraid of furry animals, and all the year he pretended to put them on my hair.
The next day. Mrs Reno took a cage, a baby duck inside it. She pulled out the baby duck and set him on the desk. “This is Ripley,” she said. Strangely, he seemed to understand what Mrs Reno said, and he was quiet and stayed at the desk.
Trent whispered (小声说), “I think you’re scared of him.” “I am not!” I said. Mrs Reno looked towards Trent and me. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Amy’s scared of Ripley,” Trent announced. “No, I’m not.” I was nervous. “I love ducks. They’re my favorite animals.” Mrs Reno smiled, “I was going to ask for a volunteer to feed Ripley at recess (课间休息), but since you’re a duck lover, how would you like the job?” She probably thought I was speech-less with joy. But I was very frightened.
At that time, Trent stood up and said, “I want to join Amy.” Mrs Reno said, “OK. I guess Amy can have a helper.” During the recess, Trent opened the cage and caught Ripley. “Careful!” I cried, surprised that I was worried about him. Trent looked out the window. “Hey, the guys are playing football and I’ll go. Take Ripley.” “You can just put him down.” I meant for Trent to put him down inside the cage, but Trent set him on the floor and ran out-side. At that time, Ripley walked towards the door.
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 took a deep breath (呼吸) and caught Ripley.
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In fact. Mrs Reno knew I was afraid of Ripley and was glad that I could overcome my fear.
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Thirty years ago, I was a sixteen-year-old boy, tall and thin. It was the end of summer and the cool winds of fall were in the air. In front of a house, there was a truckload of wood, which my father, my brother and I had unloaded the day before.
My father and my brother were out to do farm work, so I needed to move these pieces of wood around the house again and again to where we were piling the chooped wood. And then I would cover it with oilcloth to keep it from getting wet. In those days, we used to use these wood fires to cook. We tried our best to collect firewood because we still needed some to get through the whole winter.
I worked fast at first, but soon I realized that I needed to go slower if I didn’t want to make myself too tired. Then I spent much time piling the wood and tying it together with a rope in case of falling down. To start with, I thought the work was boring. But then it became a game for me. Seeing that I could pile the wood so neatly, I smiled during the hard work.
After a while, the wood was all piled up, and my skinny arms felt a little sore. However, I didn’t stop working. I still needed to fetch some water with containers from the spring near our home. Our well water was so full of iron that it tasted terrible, so all cooking and drinking water had to come from the spring. The five-gallon containers felt like they weighed a ton, but I picked one at a time and carried them all up the hill to my house.
As I carried the last container back home, I saw my mother smiling at me at the door with a glass of tea in her hand. She said to me, “Here you are, baby. Just take a break.” We sat down with our dogs at our feet, watching the leaves blowing in the wind. Relaxing in the moment of peace and harmony, I figured out a good way to get water easier.
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 decided to make a pipe to convey water.
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My neighbors came to my house to get water at dusk.
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In the spare time, Mrs Green always asked her sons, Alan and John to help their neighbor, Ms Maud, to clean her house because she was too old to do it herself. They helped Ms Maud throughout the spring.
Summer vacation just began. The two brothers planned to play tennis with friends every day, so they could make the freshman team. However, Alan’s racket (球拍) was lost, which disappointed him a lot.
As usual, Alan and John came to Ms Maud’s house to help her. They went down the block to the Ms Maud’s and got started. Before cleaning, John put boxes that were thrown around the garage (车库) floor on shelves. When John put a big box on a shelf, he found a tennis racket in the box. It was a new racket, which was exactly what Alan wanted.
“You’ve got to see this.” John took out the tennis racket and showed it to Alan.
“Whoa, where did you get that?” Alan asked. John pointed to the shelf, “It was just in the box over there.” Alan continued to say, “It is so beautiful. My tennis racket was missing. If we take it, I believe no one will ever know.” He looked at the garage door, which was closed.
But John didn’t think it’s a good idea, “Well, we do a lot of things for Ms Maud and don’t get paid. It’s not really stealing. It’s a kind of payment for our hard work,” said Alan. Without hesitation (犹豫), John looked at the racket, took it from Alan’s hand and put it back in the box.
“Hello, boys.” At that time, Ms Maud walked into the garage, surprising them. “I’ve made a cake. Can you come in for a piece? I really appreciate all the things you do for me.” “Ugh... sure, Ms Maud,” said John. “Let us finish up and we’ll be right in.” Ms Maud went back to her house.
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。
Then, John told Alan that Ms Maud always rewarded (奖励) them for helping her.
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After Alan and John finished the cake, Ms Maud walked in and handed Alan a new tennis racket.
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1. 你校的体育运动开展情况；
2. 对学生的影响。
注意：词数100左右，可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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8 . What Makes Art Valuable?
Why do people buy art? An even bigger question is, why do people pay tens of millions of dollars to own art? Is it for status, prestige(威望), and approval from peers? One thing to remember is that value isn’t only linked to its artist quality.
Provenance
In the art world, an artwork’s value can be the result of provenance. In other words, who has owned the painting in the past.
The Thrill of Auction(拍卖)
The salerooms at Christie’s or Sotheby’s are full of billionaires—or better yet, their advisors.
Historical Significance
Historical significance works in a couple of ways when it comes to determining the value of art. Firstly, you can consider the piece in terms of its importance to art history in its genre. For example, a painting by Claude Monet is worth more than other more recent impressionist work since Monet changed the standard of art history and impressionism as a whole.
| A．World history also affects the value of art. |
| B．It’s interesting to explore what makes art valuable. |
| C．It seems as though all of these factors combine to determine the value of art. |
| D．Auctioneers are skilled salesmen who help raise those prices up and up and up. |
| E．It’s obvious that changes in polities have a historical effect on the value of art to different people. |
| F．For instance, art describing beautiful women tends to be sold for higher prices than that of beautiful men. |
| G．For example, Mark Rothko’s White Center was owned by the Rockefeller family, one of America’s most powerful dynasties. |
Recently researchers at the University of New South Wales, Australia,
The research team introduced a novel method to recreate the sense of touch through soft, artificial “muscles”. It works like this: Imagine you are at home and your friend is in Australia. You wear a haptic glove with the SSDs and your friend also wears a glove with
10 . Adaptation and innovation(创新) of traditional opera is the important trend of Chinese opera circle in recent years. In order to attract young audiences of new generation and catch up with the time, traditional opera circle makes efforts to create new works. In recent years, traditional opera came across the change of time and society. They gradually lost the main elderly audiences and traditional opera was not attractive for young audiences.
In order to find new opportunities, using modern sound, light and digital stage effects, China’s traditional Peking Opera is appealing to young people in a fashionable and innovative way, as the classic art faces an aging audience.
The centuries-old Tianleyuan Theater in Beijing has introduced fashionable performances of Peking Opera. The opera combines instrumental music, vocal performance, mime(哑剧表演), dance and acrobatics(杂技).
Tianleyuan has a jingju art experience section and fashionable performances. It has attracted more than 2,000 audiences members, mostly young people, according to theater staff.
“Good art should keep pace with the times, so does jingju,” said Zhang Zishang, a 22-year-old performer of The Drunken Beauty, one of the classic jingju plays performed in the theater. “I feel today’s performance is very special,” Zhang said. She was born into a family of jingju performers and has had 10 years of stage experience, “Innovation is good, but we must also carry on the basic elements of jingju,” another young performer Deng said.
According to Deng, innovation is perhaps the best way for jingiju to deal with the problem of an aging audience. It has made successful attempts to combine jingju with local opera forms such as ballet when organizing performances abroad. “Innovation can help traditional arts go further. We are happy to see many young faces, and some of them even come twice to experience the ‘new’ art,” she added.
1. Why is adaptation and innovation of traditional opera important?| A．To run after fashion. | B．To attract the young audiences. |
| C．To improve digital stage effects. | D．To change the traditional opera circle. |
| A．A destroyer of Peking Opera. | B．An objector of modern opera. |
| C．A pioneer of innovative opera. | D．A defender of traditional opera. |
| A．Helpful. | B．Unreliable. | C．Worthless. | D．Conservative. |
| A．The traditional opera is dying out |
| B．The future of the traditional opera is promising |
| C．Traditional opera circle is innovating to attract young audiences |
| D．The performers of the traditional opera are supporting jingju |
