I live on a farm where dogs are part of the landscape. Yet the dog I spotted didn’t quite fit in, as I moved down my driveway that chilly late February day. At first glance I thought it was my brother’s Chihuahua. But a second glance raised doubts, for I knew my brother’s little house dog was no candidate for a swift run across a yard. So I figured this unknown dog would soon find its way home, and I had tasks to do.
A few days later, while walking past the door to the back of my house, I saw the deck swing moving. Clearly, someone or something had set that swing in motion. Being home and alone that evening, the thought of an unknown presence wandering about set me on edge.
Next morning, standing directly in my front yard, biting on grass, was that tiny dog I had spotted earlier. I called my husband to take a look. But when the dog heard the front door open, she ran away for the safety of the nearby woods.
It was just a matter of time before the bad weather or the wolves would be the death of such a small and defenseless dog. We realized the poor thing must have been waiting secretly around our house for weeks. My husband and I formulated a rescue plan. We placed food and water near the deck swing. The next morning, the food and water had been consumed, so we put out more. It took several days of putting out food and water before we caught the dog in the act, and another two weeks after that before the dog felt comfortable enough to approach one of us.
One afternoon, I came home and found my husband holding out his hand while leaning forward in the deck swing. I witnessed a happy dog, tail wagging furiously and eating hot-dog pieces from my husband’s hand. The stage was set for the final part of our plan: to persuade the dog inside.
注意：
l.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:
A few nights afterward, when it was pouring, I opened the door and the dog was there.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Moments later, holding the hot dog, my husband announced, “The dog is back.”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Power of Silence
Joe was an old man aged 75. He lived happily in a beautiful family. His children grew up and moved to different cities in pursue of good career and future. He lived in a small village carrying the memories of his deceased wife.
Joe had four grandchildren. They used to visit him during their holidays. It was now their vacation time and Joe was eagerly waiting for their arrival. He prepared his home for the kids, cleaning the house, mowing the garden, and buying their favourite foods and dresses.
In the busy arrangements, he lost his watch. The watch was gifted by his dead wife when their first child was born. Joe treasured the watch. After his wife’s death, it became his sole companion with its ‘tick, tick’ sound throughout the silent night.
He was happy with the kids at home. He forgot the watch missing. It was only the next day when he was about to take bath, he remembered the watch was lost. He saw it last when he was arranging things in the barn.
He was very upset. His grandchildren asked him why he was so dull and what troubled him. Joe said, “Dear children! I lost the most precious watch I have ever had and ever got in my life. It was a gift from your grandma. I lost it while cleaning the house! I feel like I’m missing my heart.” The children tried to comfort him. One granddaughter asked, “Grandpa, do you remember when you saw the watch last time before it was missing?”
Joe said, “I guess when I was cleaning the barn!”
The children rushed to the barn to search for the watch. The barn was full of waste materials. They searched for more than two hours with the help of Joe, but could not find it. Joe was completely lost, and he asked the children to stop searching.
注意：1. 续写的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
All went out disappointedly, except Ted, who sat there in silence.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
They were surprised and asked how he was able to find it.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1.演讲主题；
2.对网站的要求；
3.期待回复。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Fifteen years ago, I was born in a big family. I had been taught that money couldn't buy everything ever since I was a little kid. My parents are the most hard-working people I have ever seen. As much as my parents tried to teach me these values, some could only be learned through personal experiences.
As a child, I would sit in the church trying to concentrate on the words of the priest (牧师), but my attention was soon attracted by the shining gold and the diamonds worn by the Saturday churchgoers. As my eyes began to wander, I noticed men dressed in their tailored suits and shirts accompanied by women in their designer dresses with matching handbags and shoes.
My family, on the other hand, was the opposite of rich. Our hand-me-down clothes had been washed so many times that the colors had become dull and lifeless. Although this revealed the money struggles of our large family, our faces were always washed and hair neatly combed. When sitting on the old big red and white truck after the service, I pictured the lives led by those driving their brand-new cars, wishing I would be one of them.
I never stopped those fantasies, even when I was in middle school. Since it was a private school, most of the children came from wealthy families. As a result, I constantly felt ashamed. Although I could hide my lack of wealth at school by wearing our school uniforms, my poverty was embarrassingly apparent on weekends with my classmates wearing designer jeans and I had no choice but to wear my sisters’ old jeans. I never fitted in with my classmates. To my relief, there was only one girl named Julie who opened her heart to me. I was attached to her like a shadow. Soon, her birthday was approaching. Julie invited me to attend her birthday party.
注意：1．所续写短文的词数应为150左右；2．续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1：
However, I grew upset as I couldn't afford a gift.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2：
When she opened the gift box, my heart was too nervous to beat.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . We’ve all been there: in a lift, in line at the bank or on an airplane, surrounded by people who are, like us, deeply focused on their smartphones or, worse, struggling with the uncomfortable silence.
What’s the problem? It’s possible that we all have compromised conversational intelligence. It’s more likely that none of us start a conversation because it’s awkward and challenging, or we think it’s annoying and unnecessary. But the next time you find yourself among strangers, consider that small talk is worth the trouble. Experts say it’s an invaluable social practice that results in big benefits.
Dismissing small talk as unimportant is easy, but we can’t forget that deep relationships wouldn’t
even exist if it weren’t for casual conversation. Small talk is the grease(润滑剂) for social communication, says Bernardo Carducci, director of the Shyness Research Institute at Indiana University Southeast. ＂Almost every great love story and each big business deal begins with small talk,＂ he explains. ＂The key to successful small talk is learning how to connect with others, not just communicate with them.＂
In a 2014 study, Elizabeth Dunn, associate professor of psychology at UBC, invited people on their way into a coffee shop. One group was asked to seek out an interaction(互动) with its waiter; the other, to speak only when necessary. The results showed that those who chatted with their server reported significantly higher positive feelings and a better coffee shop experience. ＂It’s not that talking to the waiter is better than talking to your husband,＂ says Dunn. ＂But interactions with peripheral(边缘的) members of our social network matter for our well-being also.＂
Dunn believes that people who reach out to strangers feel a significantly greater sense of belonging, a bond with others. Carducci believes developing such a sense of belonging starts with small talk. ＂Small talk is the basis of good manners,＂ he says.
1. What phenomenon is described in the first paragraph?| A．Addiction to smartphones. |
| B．Inappropriate behaviours in public places. |
| C．Absence of communication between strangers. |
| D．Impatience with slow service. |
| A．Showing good manners. | B．Relating to other people. |
| C．Focusing on a topic. | D．Making business deals. |
| A．It improves family relationships. | B．It raises people’s confidence. |
| C．It matters as much as a formal talk. | D．It makes people feel good. |
| A．Conversation Counts | B．Ways of Making Small Talk |
| C．Benefits of Small Talk | D．Uncomfortable Silence |
6 . Every animal sleeps, but the reason for this has remained foggy. When lab rats are not allowed to sleep, they die within a month.
One idea is that sleep helps us strengthen new memories.
Support is growing for a theory that sleep evolved so that connections between neurons(神经元) in the brain can be weakened overnight, making room for fresh memories to form the next day.
Now we have the most direct evidence yet that he is right.
If Tononi’s theory is right, it would explain why, when we miss a night’s, we find it harder the next day to concentrate and learn new information — our brains may have smaller room for new experiences.
Their research also suggests how we may build lasting memories over time even though the synapses become thinner. The team discovered that some synapses seem to be protected and stayed the same size.
| A．We should also try to sleep well the night before. |
| B．It’s as if the brain is preserving its most important memories. |
| C．Similarly, when people go for a few days without sleeping, they get sick. |
| D．The processes take place to stop our brains becoming loaded with memories. |
| E．That’s why students do better in tests if they get a chance to sleep after learning. |
| F．“Sleep is the price we pay for learning,” says Giulio Tononi, who developed the idea. |
| G．Tononi’s team measured the size of these connections, or synapses, in the brains of 12 mice. |
