1. 音乐可以使我们放松身心，缓解压力；
2. 音乐可以振奋并鼓舞人心；
3. 音乐能够抚慰我们的心灵，帮助我们走出困境；
4. 音乐可以帮我们更好地了解别的文化
注意：不可逐句翻译，可根据你自己对音乐的理解适当发挥、拓展。
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It was Mother's Day and I was shopping at a local supermarket with my son who was five years old, Tennyson. As we were leaving after finishing our shopping, we realized that only minutes earlier an elderly woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground badly. Her husband was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock. Fortunately, a lot of people stopped to help out.
While we were walking towards the scene, Tennyson became very worried about what had happened to the elderly couple. He said to me, “Mom, it's not much fun falling over in front of everyone.” Seeing that there was a flower stall(摊位)at the front of the supermarket, he added, “Why shouldn't we buy the lady a flower? It will make her feel better.” I was amazed that he'd come up with this sweet idea. So we went over and told the flower seller what we wanted. “Just take it,” she replied. “I can't take your money for such a wonderful deed.”
By now medical staff had arrived, and were looking after the injured woman. There we saw the old man was also in great horror, but he tried to comfort his wife and held her hands tightly to encourage her to be strong. We gave the flower to the woman's husband and I told him it was from my son. At that time, the old man started crying and said, “Thank you very much.” He then turned to me, “You have a wonderful son. Happy Mother's Day to you.”
The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from. Regardless of being badly hurt, the old lady looked up at Tennyson with love in her eyes and gave him a little smile. And my son bent down his body to the injured lady and tenderly said, “Happy Mother's Day to you, too.”
Paragraph 1:
After a moment, the elderly lady was taken into an ambulance,
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Paragraph 2:
One year later,
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Yesterday a heat wave hit the town. “It’s too hot! Let’s go for a swim after we finish our chores (家务活) at home!” Joseph complained to his little brother, Loren. As the boys walked toward the Little Colorado River, they saw Sam and Frank, who ran to join them. “Swimming’s just what we need to cool off!” Sam said, kicking a rock.
“Sure it is,” Frank agreed. Then he looked at the field they were passing. There were many round watermelons in Farmer Davis’s patch (小块地). “Hey, Joseph” Frank said, “do you have the courage to climb over that fence and get us a ripe (成熟的) watermelon?”
“I don’t know. ” Joseph said.
Loren looked uncomfortable. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
“Come on,” Frank said, pushing Joseph toward the fence. “No one will ever know.”
Then Frank started to climb the wooden fence. Joseph felt bad but climbed the fence and jumped with Frank into the watermelon patch.
Joseph took the closest melon and raced back to the fence. The other boys laughed and took turns carrying the heavy melon as they ran to the river. Finally they broke open the watermelon. The sticky sweet juice was delicious! But Joseph regretted what they had done and wished he hadn’t taken the melon.
On the walk home, they finished off the last piece of the melon just as they passed the watermelon patch again. Joseph lowered his head quickly when he saw Farmer Davis in the field. He waved at the boys, who quickly threw the melon rinds (皮) to the side of the road. Davis looked upset as the boys hurried by. Joseph felt terrible. It was wrong to take the watermelon. He knew he had to tell Farmer Davis what they had done and ask for forgiveness (宽恕).
That evening Farmer Davis visited Joseph and Loren at their house. “One of my biggest watermelons went missing,” he said, “I was wondering if you boys happened to see anyone in my field as you passed by today.”
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Joseph looked at his shoes and said in a low voice.
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Farmer Davis thought for a minute.
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4 . How to Feel Connected
It's easy to feel disconnected from what is going on around you in today's fast-paced world.
Consider why you feel disconnected. Knowing what is making you feel disconnected can help you choose the best ways to address it.
Interact with people in person. Technology is a great way to stay in touch, but sometimes you need to spend time with other people in person.
Your loved ones could feel shy, so you may never know how to improve your relationship unless you ask the right questions. Asking them to open the doors can give you some insight on what you can do. Learning this information can help to strengthen your bond.
Show your commitment to them. Simply showing up and being there for your loved ones says a lot about how much you value your relationships. Putting in the time shows them that you are committed and want to stay connected.
Show appreciation. A simple “thank you” goes a very long way. Unfortunately, it is something that people who are close often take for granted. Telling someone you appreciate their time, love, and efforts can strengthen your bond and help you to become more connected.
| A．Ask others what they need from you. |
| B．Sometimes you can feel isolated and distant from the ones you love. |
| C．Be brave to express your love. |
| D．Reach out to people to schedule a time to get together. |
| E．Attending family events, or simply visiting someone once a week can help to strengthen your relationship and keep it strong. |
| F．Targeting your efforts toward those issues allows you to close that distance more effectively. |
| G．You can have a gift delivered to friends on special occasions. |
Last Christmas my older sister Jane got a unicycle (独轮脚踏车) she had requested. I thought it kind of strange, wondering why she would want something like that. She did ride and practice for a while, but eventually stopped.
Curious, I tried it, finding it very hard and thinking it impossible for a weak girl like me to learn. Since our dining room of our old house had low beams (屋梁), I used them like monkey bars to practice riding, which helped a lot. Because I thought it was really fun, I practiced every spare moment I had, teaching myself to go forwards, backwards and to turn. Practicing was something I loved to do in my spare time, but it did get discouraging when I fell. After months of practicing, I finally made it.
One morning, our teacher Maria excitedly announced that a school talent show was to be held to raise money for charity. She encouraged my classmates to sign up for it. I’m not always best in front of a crowd, which was why I was very nervous when I meant to put on my performance by doing a hula hoop (圈) and riding a unicycle on stage. But I overcame my fear and entered myself for the talent show, for which I practiced a lot in case I should mess up.
My routine (整套动作) was to do the hula hoop from my neck, down to my stomach, then to my knees. After that, I was to ride my unicycle forwards and backwards on stage. Lastly I would do the hula hoop while riding the unicycle. I was to do all this accompanied by my carefully selected music. I wondered what people from my seventh grade would think of my performance. With my friends inspiring me, I built up my confidence. On the night of the show, many people found out there was going to be a unicycle performance, so more came, even the headmaster.
Para. 1: I was both nervous and excited when it was my turn.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para. 2: When I got home, I couldn’t wait to check my mobile phone left at home.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Imagine looking at a view of mountaintops and wondering about the name of each peak. Suddenly, above each mountaintop, a name appears on the sky. The words are not written in smoke by skywriting planes. The words are actually not in the sky at all. They come from tiny computers in contact lenses (隐形眼镜).
Computers have become smaller and smaller over the decades. The first computers filled houses. Transistors (晶体管) and then chips allowed computers to become small enough to fit on a desktop, then a laptop, and finally a phone. When experimenting with further contraction in size, developers often have to deal with the limits of human eyesight, which control how small the computers can be and still present visible information.
One new solution employs microprojectors (微型投影机) to create a readable display (显示) for tiny computers. These machines project computer information onto any surface. Though an impressive breakthrough, there are potential problems. Such public displays can lead to privacy concerns; most people do not want their information displayed on a wall for everyone to see. Besides, these projectors are extremely expensive, and their screens give users headaches.
Babak Parviz, a researcher at the University of Washington, created another solution: inventing a screen visible only to a person wearing a contact lens. Parviz created a computer in a contact lens that uses the wearer’s field of vision as the display. To create the display, Parviz took ordinary soft contact lenses with a wirelessly controlled system. At some point, Parviz says, it will be possible to connect the lens to a remote personal computer device such as a cellphone or a laptop. By looking in a certain direction, the wearer sends the computer visual information about what he or she sees. The device then uses this information to point out the names of peaks.
These contact lenses are inserted and removed in much the same way as ordinary contact lenses. In addition, the computers in the lenses won’t block the wearer’s sight at all. Although now the computers are not on lenses treating eyesight problems, Parviz hopes that someday the technology will progress to that level.
1. The contact lenses in the text can ________.| A．treat eyesight problems | B．offer beautiful views of nature |
| C．project information on wall surface | D．show information about what wearers see |
| A．expansion | B．spread |
| C．reduction | D．revolution |
| A．put people’s privacy at risk | B．save computer information |
| C．cause serious illnesses | D．support users’ needs |
| A．saving users’ expenses | B．reducing computers’ size |
| C．limiting the field of vision | D．guarding remote computers |
| A．Tiny Computers, Amazing Sights | B．Smaller Lenses, Closer Views |
| C．Progress towards Clearness | D．Road to the Small World |
7 . 阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
A Vacation with My Mother
I had an interesting childhood. It was filled with surprises and amusements, all because of my mother---loving, sweet, yet absent-minded and forgetful. One strange family trip we took when I was eleven tells a lot about her.
My two sets of grandparents lived in Colorado and North Dakota, and my parents decided to spend a few weeks driving to those states and seeing all the sights along the way. As the first day of our trip approached, David, my eight-year-old brother, and I unwillingly said good-bye to all of our friends. Who knew if we’d ever see them again? Finally, the moment of our departure arrived, and we loaded suitcases, books, games, camping equipment, and a tent into the car and bravely drove off. We bravely drove off again two hours later after we’d returned home to get the purse and traveler’s checks Mom had forgotten.
David and I were always a little nervous when using gas station bathrooms if Mom was driving while Dad slept: “You stand outside the door and play lookout(放哨) while I go, and I’ll stand outside the door and play lookout while you go.” I had terrible pictures in my mind: “Honey, where are the kids?” “What?! Oh, Gosh…I thought they were being awfully quiet.” We were never actually left behind in a strange city, but we weren’t about to take any chances.
On the fourth or fifth night, we had trouble finding a hotel with a vacancy. After driving in vain for some time, Mom suddenly got a great idea: Why didn’t we find a house with a likely-looking backyard and ask if we could set up tent there? David and I became nervous. To our great relief, Dad turned down the idea. Mom never could understand our objections(反对). If a strange family showed up on her front doorstep, Mom would have been delighted. She thinks everyone in the world is as nice as she is. We finally found a vacancy in the next town.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:The next day we remembered the brand-new tent we had brought with us. ______________
Paragraph 2:
We drove through several states and saw lots of great sights along the way. ______________
Global warming could make humans shorter.Scientists claim to have found evidence that it caused the world's first horses
9 . British scientists have discovered the willow trees planted at an angle could increase sugars for biofuel production.
Willow is a fast-growing species. It is already used to produce fuels for the renewable heating and power market. In future it could also help to produce biofuel to power vehicles. It has been known that when willows growing in the wild are blown sideways, they tend to produce more sugars. But for a while it has not been known why this happens.
Researchers at Imperial College London, led by Dr Nicholas Brereton and Dr Michael Ray of the Department of Life Sciences, have now solved the mystery. When the tree is blown sideways, its genes (基因) produce large numbers of sugar molecules (分子) to straighten the tree upwards.
“This is an important breakthrough. Our study now shows that natural genetic changes are related to these differences. And this could well be the key to unlocking the future for green energy from willow,” said Dr Brereton.
The research was carried out under lab conditions. The willows were grown at an angle of 45 degrees. They were compared to willows which grow naturally straight upwards. The team then looked for the same effect among the willows growing on the Isle of Orkney where strong winds cause the trees to bend at extreme angles. They discovered that the Orkney trees produce five times the amount of sugars found in willows grown in sheltered conditions.
Willow is widely planted across the UK. The results show that biofuel crops such as willows could be grown in climatically changeable conditions where chances of growing food crops are limited.
The study is published in Biotechnology for Biofuels.
1. What may happen when willows are planted in strong winds?| A．They stop growing. | B．Few sugars are produced. |
| C．They try to grow sideways. | D．Changes in genes take place. |
| A．are unusually rich in sugars | B．grow naturally straight upward |
| C．look taller than ordinary willows | D．are stronger than those growing in labs |
| A．use biofuel for heating and power | B．are encouraged to grow biofuel crops |
| C．can plant different kinds of food crops | D．should make their willows grow straight |
| A．A personal diary. | B．A travel magazine. |
| C．A scientific journal. | D．A newspaper advertisement. |
10 . 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 |
