1 . The Broomstick (扫帚) Challenge, which appeared on social media on Monday, is based on incorrect science, according to NASA.
The challenge originated from a viral twitter, which claimed that NASA said Monday is the only day a broomstick could stand on its own because of the earth’s gravity (引力）.The twitter was accompanied by a video of a woman propping a broom up. As the woman watched the broom stand up on its own, she yelled, “No strings, nothing.”
Though there was no evidence that NASA ever suggested that gravity would be different on Monday, the twitter, which received more than 260,000 likes and was shared more than 60,000 times, gained hundreds of responses from people who wanted to participate in the “novelty”of watching a broom stand up by itself.
Yet NASA astronaut Alvin Drew and scientist Sarah Noble, who responded to the Broomstick Challenge on Twitter, say that the challenge can actually be conducted on any given day. The pair posted their own video of them standing up a broom on Tuesday, to show that even though the window for the challenge had passed, it was still actionable.
“Did you do the Broomstick Challenge yesterday?”Noble asked in the video.“Well, turns out you can do it again today.”
“It’s just physics,” Drew added.
The NASA Earth twitter account also weighed in saying “There’s no special gravity that only affects brooms, but the Moon’s gravity creates tides on Earth.”
The myth, which is partly based on an old wives’ tale that claims that every year on the
Vernal and autumnal equinoxes, eggs are able to balance on their ends, appears to have surfaced annually since at least 2012.
1. What can we infer from the text ?| A．The special gravity only has impact on brooms. |
| B．A broomstick could stand on its own on Monday. |
| C．The twitter received more than 260,000 responses. |
| D．The Broomstick Challenge gained much popularity. |
| A．Being surprising but dangerous. | B．Being new and interesting. |
| C．Being challenging and frightening. | D．Being clear and obvious. |
| A．Eggs can also stand on their ends. |
| B．Tides are created by the Moon’s gravity. |
| C．Physics can help us explain the phenomenon. |
| D．A broomstick could stand on its own on a specific day. |
| A．To appeal to more people to learn physics. |
| B．To introduce the process of Broomstick Challenge. |
| C．To persuade people to try broom standing experiment. |
| D．To explain the broom’s standing up on its own is not magic. |
2 . Do you still remember the scene in the famous movie Titanic, directed by Cameron, where Jack was frozen to death in the icy cold water so that Rose could survive on the floating door alone? It broke many people’s hearts. Two decades later, people are still asking the question, “wasn’t there enough room on the door for both of them?” Cameron once responded by saying it wasn’t a question of room, but buoyancy（浮力）— if both of them had tried to stay on the door, he argued, the whole thing would sink.
But several guys from “Mythbusters”, an Australian-American science entertainment television program, decided to put the theory to the test themselves. They discovered that if Rose had took off her life jacket to the bottom of the door, there would have been enough buoyancy to keep both of them afloat.
“It was an artistic choice, the thing was just big enough to hold her, and not big enough to hold him,” Cameron said. “I think it’s all kind of silly, really, that we’re having this discussion 20 years later. But it does show that the film was effective in making Jack so attractive to the audience that it hurts them to see him die. The film is about death and separation; he had to die.”
Since Jack was doomed to die, Cameron said, it could have happened in a variety of different ways. It’s not about the door not being big enough: that’s just a practical method for his death. “Whether it was that, or whether a chimney（烟囱）fell on him, he was going down,” Cameron said. “It’s called art: things happen for artistic reasons, not for physics reasons.”
1. According to Cameron, why can’t audience accept Jack’s death?| A．They are artistic people. | B．They like the movie. |
| C．They love Jack. | D．They are eager for truth. |
| A．Jack died by accident. | B．Jack’s death was unavoidable. |
| C．The chimney fell on Jack. | D．The door could make a difference. |
| A．Jack Had to Die | B．A Door of Life and Death |
| C．Audience Knew Better | D．Science Behind Movie |
| A．A popular magazine. | B．A movie poster. |
| C．A government report. | D．A notice board. |
John was crazy about playing basketball. Every day after school, he would spend much time practicing basketball skills. Sometimes, he didn't go back home until sunset, which made his mother extremely angry. One day. as he was given a chance to watch a basketball game, he dreamed about being a member of the college basketball team the next year. On the way, he was delighted secretly. He thought no one in the world was luckier than him. Suddenly. a car hit him. What a terrible experience! It seemed like a bad dream.
John woke up in a hospital room. He was frightened to death. He realized that he couldn't move both of his legs. At that time, the doctor came in. When the doctor told him that both his legs were broken and he had to sit in the wheelchair for the time being, he knew his college basketball dream was over. He was really depressed. John followed what the doc tors had told him. but it did not work entirely. When he left hospital# John was sent to a health recovery center. He never heard of this center before, but it was not far away from his house. Although he felt unwilling to go there, he had no choice but to accept the fact.
A week later, he arrived there unhappily. The first person he met was Sunny Chen, who was so kind and friendly that he warmly welcome John to go there. Sunny's legs were badly hurt in a skating accident. He told John that he would help him recover soon. Though Sunny couldn't move his legs, he became the coach of a basketball team called the Suns. After a period of recovery training. John felt his legs were all right. So Sunny invited him to join the game Sunny guided the team on his wheelchair. John played badly, but for the first time since the accident, he stopped feeling sorry for himself.
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.
John was glad that his dream of being a member of the basketball team came true.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________Sunny saw all John did. lost in thought.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . This morning, when 1 shaved in the mirror. I found my body was growing older. There was no doubt about it My
When 1 stepped back. I could see I had become
| A．hair | B．skin | C．eyes | D．hands |
| A．thick | B．beautiful | C．little | D．black |
| A．beard | B．crops | C．body | D．kids |
| A．smaller | B．stronger | C．healthier | D．fatter |
| A．made up | B．slowed down | C．left off | D．came round |
| A．relaxed | B．athletic | C．clean | D．weak |
| A．Listening | B．Speaking | C．Writing | D．Reading |
| A．book | B．note | C．mind | D．mouth |
| A．recognize | B．control | C．replace | D．forget |
| A．smiled | B．shouted | C．waved | D．appeared |
| A．low | B．lonely | C．young | D．bright |
| A．pleased | B．stressed | C．amazed | D．excited |
| A．extremely | B．hardly | C．impossibly | D．uncertainly |
| A．politer | B．lighter | C．heavier | D．prouder |
| A．come in | B．give in | C．break out | D．wear out |
When a tornado touched down in a small town nearby，many families were left completely destroyed.Afterward all the local newspapers carried many humaninterest stories featuring some of the families who suffered the hardest.
One Sunday，a particular picture especially touched me.A young woman stood in front of an entirely shattered mobile home，a depressed expression twisting her features.A young boy，seven or eight years old，definitely in low spirits，stood at her side，eyes downcast.Clutching(紧握) at her skirt was a tiny girl who stared into the camera，eyes wide with confusion and fear.
The article that went with the picture gave the clothing sizes of each family member.With growing interest，I noticed that their sizes closely matched ours.This would be a good opportunity to teach my children to help those less fortunate than themselves.I taped the picture of the young family to our refrigerator，explaining their difficulty to my sevenyearold twins，Brad and Brett，and to threeyearold Meghan.
“We have so much.And these poor people now have nothing，” I said.“We'll share what we have with them，thus they will smile again.”
I brought three large boxes down from the room upstairs and placed them on the living room floor.Meghan watched seriously，as the boys and I filled one of the boxes with canned goods and foods.
While I sorted through our clothes，I encouraged the boys to go through their toys and donate some of their less favorite things.Meghan watched quietly as the boys piled up discarded toys and games.
“I'll help you find something for the little girl when I'm done with this，” I said.
The boys placed the toys they had chosen to donate into one of the boxes while I filled the third box with clothes.Meghan walked up with Lucy，her worn，faded，muchloved rag doll hugged tightly to her chest.She paused in front of the box that held the toys，pressed her round little face into Lucy's flat，paintedonface，gave her a final kiss，then laid her gently on the top of other toys.
“Oh，Honey，” I said.“You don't have to give Lucy.You love her so much.”
Meghan nodded seriously，eyes glistening with heldback tears.“Lucy makes me happy，Mommy.Maybe she'll make that other little girl happy，too.”
Paragraph 1：
The boys，openmouthed，had watched their baby sister placed her favorite doll in the box.
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Paragraph 2：
Taking the cue from my little ones，I removed my old jacket from the box of clothes.
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6 . What will the future school look like is difficult to make clear, but most experts agree that the school will be electronic in the future .
" Present-day schools will no longer exist in the next century," says a report in The Age. "At that time, future schools will become community-style centers, which run seven days a week,24 hours a day. ” At the same time, computers will surely become a central part of the school in the future.
According to The Age, the distant learning will be popular and students will listen to teachers on computers. Going into classrooms on their computers, students will study at any time, which is very easy for them. However, it is necessary for students to go to the actual school in order to develop some social skills.
The Seashore Primary School is an imaginary school in the future created by the Education Department of Australia. At this school, all the teachers and students have laptop computers . Teachers check messages and call students back on a special telephone system and students use telephones to search for information or speak to their experts who teach their lessons. Besides, all the lessons are related to all sorts of subjects and all the students have their own learning plans created by teachers .
As one headmaster says, a laptop computer is students5 library, data storage （数据存储）as well as the bridge to a wider world. Technology has changed the emphasis of future learning. Thus, well pay more attention to the learning of kids rather than the teaching.
1. According to the report in The Age, students in future schools will _______.| A．have no teachers | B．study at a set time |
| C．mainly study online | D．never go to actual school |
| A．telephones are important in Australia |
| B．how future schools will work |
| C．every student needs a learning plan |
| D．students enjoy getting in touch with teachers |
| A．The Schools in the Future |
| B．Great Changes in Technology |
| C．The Seashore Primary School |
| D．Actual Schools to Be Replaced |
7 . Aunt Fannie was Blueberry Jam Woman. Of course she wasn’t really my aunt, and out of fear, I never called that to her face. The name always made my father chuckle (轻笑) and my mother look sternly (严厉地) at both of us—at me for being disrespectful, and at my father for encouraging my bad behavior. I enjoyed both reactions, so I looked for every opportunity to work for the name into conversation.
As a young woman, my mother had worked in the kitchen of a large Victorian farm house owned by Fannie Cratty. Fannie was the last of the Cratty line; she had never married, and had no living heirs(继承人). My father once told me that it was because she was too mean to share her family wealth or pass it on. Aunt Fannie was noted for her jam, and for never sharing the recipe with another living soul. Even though my mother knew it by heart, as long as Aunt Fannie was alive, she never made the jam without Miss Cratty in our kitchen to direct the process and preserve the secret.
One year, after I had been particularly helpful with the jam-making process. Aunt Fannie gave me a quarter and then made me promise I would never spend it. “Hold onto this quarter,” she said, “and some day you will be rich. I still have my first very quarter.” It had obviously worked for her, so I put that 1938 quarter in a small box,put it in my dresser drawer, and waited to become rich.
I now have the blueberry-jam recipe and the quarter from Aunt Fannie. Neither has significantly contributed to my wealth, but I keep them to remind myself to hold onto the valuable things in life. Money can make you feel rich for a while, but it is your relationships, and your memories of time spent with friends and family, that truly leave you wealthy. And that is a fortune that anyone can build.
1. Where did the “fear” mentioned in the first paragraph come from?| A．That year’s blueberry harvest had been poor. |
| B．Aunt Fannie was too old to keep making jam. |
| C．The author’s mother couldn’t help Aunt Fannie harvest the blueberries. |
| D．The author knew it was impolite to call Aunt Fannie Blueberry Jam Woman. |
| A．Aunt Fannie had no children | B．Aunt Fannie was willing to share her recipe |
| C．the author often helped Aunt Fannie make jam | D．the author’s mother always made the jam alone |
| A．Disgusted. | B．Surprised. | C．Affectionate. | D．Disappointed. |
| A．To make new friends easily. | B．Not to put a price on generosity. |
| C．Not to think of kindness as a burden. | D．To treasure the time spent with family and friends. |
8 . Some students get so nervous before a test. They do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when they worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources (资源).
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of 5%. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B-for those who did not.
“What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention (干预), all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. They were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these tests.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What may the students start worrying about before an exam?| A．Whether they can pass the exams. |
| B．What other students do during the test. |
| C．Whether they have remembered the materials. |
| D．What kind of problems they will meet on the test paper. |
| A．Asking the students to ignore the test. |
| B．Asking the students to focus on the test. |
| C．Asking the students to sit quietly before the test. |
| D．Asking the students to write about their worries before the test. |
| A．became less nervous before the test |
| B．were better at controlling their feelings |
| C．did worse than those who wrote about their feelings |
| D．did better than those who wrote about their feelings |
| A．Writing about our worries before an exam can work a bit. |
| B．We can only write about our worries right before an exam. |
| C．The best place to write about our worries is in the test room. |
| D．It doesn’t matter where we write about our worries before an exam. |
要点:1. 生活中的具体体现;
2. 好处；
3. 有待改进之处。
要求:字数120字左右。
参考词汇:移动支付mobile payment
Dear Smith，
I’m Li Hua,
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
It was Christmas Day. Pappy was working alone fixing an old lantern in the backroom when he heard the ringing of his bell on the shop door. The bell, which produced a uniquely pleasant sound, had been in Pappy’s family for over a hundred years. He valued it dearly and enjoyed sharing its song with all who came to his shop. Although the bell hung on the inside of the main door, Pappy had tied a wire to the screen door so that it would ring whether the inner door was open or not. Hearing the bell, he left the backroom to greet his customer.
“And how can I help you, little lady?” Pappy’s voice was joyful.
“Hello, sir.” The little girl spoke almost in a whisper. She looked at Pappy with her big brown eyes, and then slowly scanned the room in search of something special. Shyly she told him, “I’d like to buy a present, sir.”
“Well, let’s see,” Pappy said, “who is this present for?”
“My grandpa. It’s for my grandpa. But I don’t know what to get.”
Pappy began to make suggestions. “How about a pocket watch? It’s in good condition.” The little girl didn’t answer. She had walked to the doorway and put her small hand on the door. She shook the door gently to ring the bell. Pappy’s face seemed to glow as he saw her smiling with excitement.
“This is just right,” the little girl said. “Momma says grandpa loves music.”
Just then, Pappy’s expression changed. Fearful of breaking the little girl’s heart, he told her, “I’m sorry, Missy. That’s not for sale. Maybe your grandpa would like this little radio.”
The girl looked at the radio, bowed her head, and sadly sighed, “No, I don’t think so.”
In an effort to help her understand, Pappy told her that the bell had been his only companion, for the rest of his family were all gone now, except for his estranged daughter whom he had not seen for nearly a decade.
注意：
所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
With a giant tear in her eye, the little girl looked up at him.
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Paragraph 2:
Later that evening when Pappy was closing up the shop, he heard a familiar ringing.
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