1 . It’s an invasion! Nope, not an alien invasion-a video game invasion. According to Medicine News Today, more than 150 million people in the United States play video games for at least 3 hours per week.
Video games’ negative effects on children’s education. Given the increase in the number of students who are searching for and playing video games. it’s easy for students to switch from educational sites to computer games with newly convenient availability to computers and tablets. Studies from the University of Montreal discovered that playing “shooter” games can harm the hippocampus area of the brain, killing brain cells and make the brain lose cells.
Video games promote violence. A study asked some participants to play violent games in their lab, while others played nonviolent games, then they measured the behavior of each group in social experiments afterward. These studies show that playing violent games results in instant changes to behavior.
It’s unhealthy for children to stay indoors looking at a screen all day long.
| A．It is not easy to find the bad effects. |
| B．Video games harm children physically. |
| C．Kids should be connected with activities outside. |
| D．Education is affected by playing video games directly. |
| E．Damage to this part of the brain can also have influences. |
| F．Many people know aggressive behavior can be caused by many mental health issues. |
| G．The continuous need to play video games has several negative effects on children’s minds and bodies. |
2 . The sign of a healthy personal relationship is one that is equally mutual (相互的) —where you get out just as much as you put in. Nature has its own version of a healthy relationship. Known as mutualisms, they are interactions between species that are mutually beneficial for each species. One example is the interaction between plants and pollinators (传粉者), where your apple trees are pollinated and the honeybee gets nectar (花蜜) as a food reward. But how are mutualisms affected by other organisms that take those rewards without providing a service in return?
A team of researchers recently researched that question. They investigated the abilities of diverse communities of mutualists, comparing how each deals with cheaters. Cheaters are species that steal the benefits of the mutualism without providing anything in return. An example of one of nature’s cheaters is nectar robbers. Nectar-robbing bees chew through the side of flowers to feed on nectar without coming into contact with the flower parts that would result in pollination.
The researchers produced mutualisms in the lab using yeast strains (酵母菌株) that functioned as mutualist species. Each yeast strain produced a food resource to exchange with a mutualist partner. They engineered four species of each type of mutualists as well as two cheater strains that were unable to make food resources.
The researchers created communities of yeast that differed both in the number of species and the presence of cheaters. They found that communities with higher numbers of mutualist species were better able to resist the negative effects of cheaters because there were multiple species of mutualists performing the same task. If one species was lost from the community due to competing with a cheater, there were other species around to perform the task, showing that the presence of more species in a community can reduce the negative effects of cheaters.
Their results highlight the importance of having multiple mutualist species that provide similar resources or services, essentially creating a backup in case one species goes extinct. It’s similar to the relationship between grocery stores and suppliers. Grocery stores have multiple suppliers to ensure that there are always goods available should something happen to one supplier.
The future study is to explore the possibility of a mutualist species becoming a cheater. The group is testing if mutualists that perform the same function might set up an environment that allows one of those mutualist species to become a cheater since there are other mutualists around that can fill that role.
1. Which of the following can be an example of mutualism?| A．Farmers and crops. | B．Sunlight and plants. |
| C．Cities and wild animals. | D．Humans and global warming. |
| A．More communities of yeast are better than one. | B．More species of mutualists are better than one. |
| C．More species of mutualists lead to fewer cheaters. | D．More communities of yeast lead to fewer cheaters. |
| A．Nectar. | B．Honeybees. | C．Cheaters. | D．Apples. |
| A．Cheaters would become extinct. | B．Cheaters would act as mutualist species. |
| C．A mutualist species would switch to cheating. | D．Mutualist species and cheaters would work together. |
3 . Happiness can be difficult to find. But even when happiness seems almost impossible, it can be obtained with a shift in ways of thinking or simply a
I volunteered at an elderly care home this past summer.
One resident I remember vividly was a woman with a friendly smile. I
I visited another resident who kept her wedding photograph next to her bed. The photograph, though
These stories — so familiar, yet so distant from my
| A．visit | B．memory | C．talk | D．wish |
| A．Continually | B．Eventually | C．Gradually | D．Initially |
| A．interesting | B．necessary | C．boring | D．difficult |
| A．changed | B．improved | C．disappeared | D．matched |
| A．arranged | B．put | C．noticed | D．remembered |
| A．throw | B．collect | C．sell | D．compare |
| A．searching for | B．putting away | C．picking up | D．working on |
| A．hope | B．pressure | C．confidence | D．joy |
| A．old | B．dirty | C．useless | D．ugly |
| A．received | B．kept | C．checked | D．sent |
| A．believe | B．tell | C．explain | D．imagine |
| A．position | B．description | C．viewpoints | D．life |
| A．wisdom | B．work | C．age | D．hobbies |
| A．share | B．follow | C．gain | D．learn |
| A．expectation | B．guarantee | C．definition | D．knowledge |
I’m a single mom and have to work hard to pay my bills, raise my five-year-old and get enough food for my family. Even worse, my father is suffering from heart trouble and my family is burdened with huge medical expenses.
There was a time I lived on a tight budget and had to count every single penny I spent as I had been out of work for months. I even hated to go shopping in fear of spending more than I could. When I had to, I would stand there and add things up over and over again. During the recent holiday season, I was shopping at Trader Joe’s. I carefully chose things at the store that I thought I needed most, and then added everything up.
To my disappointment, the total was too high—it was more than I had. I couldn’t buy all that I had chosen, so I had no choice but to look through everything trying to figure out what to put back. It was hard to make the decision, because the things that I had put into the basket all seemed absolutely necessary. In the end I kept the things that everyone else would have loved, but put back the one thing that I loved. It was a simple frozen package of chicken. But that package was what put the total over budget.
I hated the feeling of not being able to afford that package of chicken. But that was life and I moved on and tried to forget about it. It was what I had to do.
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。
That night our doorbell rang.
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I still have no idea who put the package of chicken at our door and have been wondering about it.
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5 . Summer Scholarships
ABOUT THE PROGRAM
The Scholastic Awards Summer (SAS) Scholarship Program provides teens who have been recognized by the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards with an opportunity to attend summer art or writing programs on a full-tuition (全额学费) scholarship.
Teens do not apply for specific summer programs; instead, they apply for a SAS Scholarship, and we work with our partners to place Scholars into a program that will work best for them based on their abilities and interests.
ELIGIBILITY (资格)
Teens in grades 7-11 who have received a Gold or Silver Key can apply for a SAS Scholarship. Individual programs may set additional criteria.
HOW TO SUBMIT
The application period opens when regional awards are announced in January. To apply, log into your account at portal.artandwriting.org. You will find My SAS Scholarships Application on your teen dashboard.
APPLICATION CHECKLIST
All applications must contain:
1. Your Gold or Silver Key, art or writing.
2. Up to five additional recent examples of your best art or writing.
3. Complete answers to all questions in the written part of the application, including your Profile and Student Questionnaire.
4. The Parent/Guardian Questionnaire must be completed by your parent or guardian.
1. What is the purpose of the program?| A．To help teens to win a scholarship. | B．To give teens training in art or writing. |
| C．To reward teens who love art or writing. | D．To encourage teens’ interest in art or writing. |
| A．Anyone who loves art or writing. |
| B．Anyone who wants to do better in art or writing. |
| C．Those who are the Scholastic Awards winners. |
| D．Those who want to be the Scholastic Awards winners. |
| A．Your plan for winning a reward. | B．Your descriptions of your works. |
| C．Your achievements in art or writing. | D．Your suggestions about the program. |
6 . One strategy for reducing food waste’s environmental impact seems contrary to common sense: Open more grocery stores. That’s according to new research from Elena Belavina, an expert in operations management and supply chains.
The food we throw out because it goes bad when cleaning out the fridge makes a surprisingly large contribution to global warming. One-third of all food produced is wasted, a problem responsible for carbon emissions (排放物) equivalent to all road transportation, said Belavina.
When consumers can purchase food nearby, they shop more often but buy less each time, ultimately wasting less. “The more stores you have, the lower food waste is going to be,” said Belavina. “Very small increases in store density (密度) can have a very high impact.”
Belavina found that in Chicago, which she said is typical of many American cities, adding just three or four markets within a 10-square-kilometer area would reduce food waste by 6% to 9%. That would achieve an emissions reduction comparable to converting (改装) more than 20,000 cars from petrol to electric power.
Most big cities are well below the ideal density of grocery stores that would minimize food waste, the research determined. In Chicago, that would be about 200 markets within a 10-square-kilometer area — compared to 15 currently — but most of the benefit from reduced emissions would be achieved by about 50 markets. New York City, with its abundance of produce stands and neighborhood markets, comes closest to its ideal density.
Urban planners, city governments and activists should pursue policies encouraging an ideal density of grocery stores based on each city’s population, she said. Chain stores’ sustainability plans should analyze how their store networks and supply chains contribute to food waste and emissions overall.
“We actually see some moves toward going a little bit back in time and those small corner stores and mom-and-pop stores are making a comeback,” she said.
1. Why can higher store density reduce food waste?| A．There are more stores to supply fresh food. | B．There are more stores to deal with food waste. |
| C．Consumers can spend less time on buying food. | D．Consumers needn’t overbuy their groceries. |
| A．15 markets. | B．About 4 markets. | C．About 50 markets. | D．About 200 markets. |
| A．They are helpful. | B．They are a problem. |
| C．They are of little help. | D．They do better than grocery stores. |
| A．Buy Less, Eat Less | B．Ideal Density of Grocery Stores |
| C．Food Waste and Global Warming | D．More Grocery Stores, Less Food Waste |
1. When will the race be held this year?
| A．On May 11th. | B．On May 23rd. | C．On May 24th. |
| A．At the football ground. |
| B．On the north side of the park. |
| C．At the main entrance of the park. |
| A．A T-shirt. | B．A water bottle. | C．A pair of running shoes. |
| A．Children between 8 and 15. |
| B．Children under the age of 8. |
| C．Adults who have registered in advance. |
| A．There will be more pollution. |
| B．There will be more bicycle tracks. |
| C．There will be more parking areas. |
We’ve been having a heat wave on the East Coast this summer, along with the rest of the U.S. So the very thing you wouldn’t want to do is sleep in a hot car! That’s what I thought when I saw a woman doing just that.
Well, she wasn’t asleep at the time, but I guessed that was her difficulty when I noticed that the inside of the car was piled high with her belongings from the passenger seat to the back seats. I’d been noticing this car parked in the same space on this quiet lot for a few weeks.
I finally went over to the car and asked if I could get her something from the nearby store. She refused but at least I got a look close enough to see that she was normal, not on drugs, spoke English and was not in any immediate suffering despite how it looked. This made me all the more curios. The woman said her name was Justine. As we talked, darkness began to set in, so I told her I had to leave, thinking I’d return another day. Then I started for home.
A week later, I was back shopping at a store near the lot and there was Justine in that car on a hot day! I had had enough. I went over to the car, hoping to hear her story. That’s the way everyone would do. It’s what all kind people should do. But I wonder how many persons would have simply passed by without stopping. I was there to help, not to judge or criticize (批评).
What if we all try our best to help people in trouble? How much better would this world be? How many more good activities than bad would make paper headlines? There would be so many acts of kindness, and the media would have no choice but to switch the focus from the bad to the good. I decided to be such a good person.
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。
My concern touched Justine and she told me about her troubles.
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I wanted to help her find a job to build up her confidence in life.
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10 . During the Halloween season, many people visit pumpkin (南瓜) fields or carve pumpkins. But paddle (用桨划) a 1,000-pound pumpkin in a race? On October 22 in Oregon, paddlers in Halloween clothes did just that.
The West Coast Giant Pumpkin Regatta took place on the lake in Tualatin, a small city outside Portland. Back in 2004, a club called the Pacific Giant Vegetable Growers (PGVG) came up with the idea for the event. The PGVG wanted to alter their large pumpkins into boats and paddle them. They asked the city of Tualatin if they could use the lake for a party.
The first year, about 100 people showed up. Now, about 20,000 come to watch the races. “It’s just a good time to finally have some fun with these pumpkins that we’ve spent countless hours all year long trying to grow,” said Jim Sherwood, a champion pumpkin grower, who is one of the Regatta’s founders and organizers.
The PGVG provides pumpkins for the Regatta’s five races. This year, paddlers came from across the country and from as far away as France and Japan. “Surprisingly, it’s on a lot of people’s wish list to paddle a pumpkin,” said Heidi Marx, the event’s director for the city of Tualatin.
Just before the races began, the growers emptied the pumpkins. The paddlers dressed in holiday clothing jumped in, and the first race started.
Gary Kristensen from Happy Valley, Oregon, won the first race. He was dressed as the movie character Mrs. Doubtfire. It was Kristensen’s fourth year winning a pumpkin race. “Once everybody thinks you will win, it starts to give you a little bit of pressure,” he said. “Fortunately, my pumpkin was pretty fast.”
For the less competitive players, the Regatta was all about fun. “The best part is just watching all the families enjoying the day.” Marx, a player, said. People are going to remember it for a long time.”
1. What does the underlined word “alter” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Move. | B．Grow. | C．Change. | D．Hide. |
| A．His pumpkin boat ran the fastest. |
| B．He made the biggest pumpkin boat. |
| C．He sold his pumpkins to the players. |
| D．He won a competition by growing pumpkins. |
| A．He had been expected to win the race. |
| B．His pumpkin boat was not fast enough. |
| C．He feared to make mistakes in the race. |
| D．It was his first time to take part in the race. |
| A．Pleasure. | B．The prize. |
| C．Staying with their families. | D．The impression they left on others. |
