1 . Artwork Competition — Create a Character!
Are you an artist? This may be the perfect competition held by Teen Ink to check your creative abilities. We want you to create your own character. You must create a backstory for the character and give it a name. Your character must be completely original.
Rules:
● You must be a teen (aged 13—19) with a Teen Ink account to enter.
● No improper content.
● Submissions (提交的材料) must be connected with the topic (Create a Character).
● The competition is open to all the individuals. Character must be your own — The character you create must be entirely your own idea and design. The backstory and name must be original as well. Ideas that do not belong to you will not be considered for the competition.
Guidelines and Details:
● All art types are accepted.
● There is no limit to the number of pieces you can submit.
● Give your character a name and backstory. Leave these in the “Author’s Comments” section of your submission.
How to Submit:
● Submit entries through our website. All entries submitted to Teen Ink are automatically (自动) considered for the competition. See our submission guidelines for more information.
● Include the words “Character Competition” in your submission’s title.
● Submit your reviews to the “Artwork” category on our site. Select the art type connected with what you are submitting. Hand in your entries before March 1, 2023.
Prizes:
Winners and honorable mentions will have their characters published in Teen Ink magazine. The overall winner will receive a $25 Amazon gift card.
1. What is the purpose of holding the artwork competition?| A．To increase the sales of Teen Ink. |
| B．To attract people of all ages to the activity. |
| C．To test the teenagers’ artistic creativity. |
| D．To praise the young artists for their talents |
| A．The works should be a team effort. |
| B．The participants should be under 13. |
| C．The content should be in connection with the subject. |
| D．A common account should be shared. |
| A．By submitting works on the webpage. |
| B．By handing in entries before April 10. |
| C．By posting entries to the magazine directly. |
| D．By sending in works titled “Character Competition”. |
2 . Some signs of sleep deprivation (匮乏) like dark circles under your eyes might be noticeable, but others can fly under the radar.
You don’t have energy. If you feel so tired and listless at work that you would rather run for your pillow than do even the smallest task at the desk, that could be the result of a lack of sleep.
You find it difficult to concentrate.
●
You feel moody, depressed or angry. Sleep deprivation night mean that you can easily get upset.
| A．Your medical issues are worsening or developing |
| B．20 minutes of shut-eye will make you feel recharged |
| C．There are some tricks that might help you become energetic |
| D．Sleep deprivation might have an impact on your mental performance |
| E．It also leads to reduced patience and discourages you from socializing |
| F．These signs might be an indicator that you aren’t getting the sleep you need |
| G．However, think twice if you tun to a late afternoon coffee to pick yourself up |
3 . If you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original performance of a Shakespeare’s play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autumn Period? Or maybe you’d voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.
The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is the science fiction novel The Time Machine, which was written by H. G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.
But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called “wormholes”, which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein’s theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And British physicist Stephen Hawking said you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship—going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.
Even if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveller were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being born. If the time traveller wasn’t born, how would he travel back in time?
And would you really like to visit the future? In H. G. Wells’ book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles (触角). If that’s what’s in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.
1. The novel The Time Machine mentioned in Paragraph 2 aims to show .| A．people’s interest in time travel |
| B．the special features of the book |
| C．the long history of time travel |
| D．the contribution of H. G. Wells |
| A．have similarities in many ways |
| B．push the invention of the first spaceship |
| C．have proved wrong by some time travellers |
| D．suggest the possibility to invent the time machine |
| A．the traveller is prevented from meeting his grandfather |
| B．the traveller goes back in time to seek for his grandfather |
| C．the grandfather’s death makes the traveller’s birth impossible |
| D．The reunion of the traveller and his grandfather brings happiness |
| A．Unclear. | B．Skeptical. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Unconcerned. |
4 .
To get started, sit down with a map and make a plan. Ask yourself what you want to get out of walking aside from health benefits.
If making friends and socializing is your goal, call up your friends and schedule walks with them. Go online and look up your local mall (购物中心), which has groups that come daily to “walk the mall” and are always happy to include one more walker. Similarly, at your local park, you might find open groups of dog walkers who conduct diverse group hikes.
If lone walks are what you’re after, ask the local tourist authority about local hikes that get you out of town and into the wilderness or countryside. Thanks to the Rails to Trails program, railways across America are being transformed into scenic walking paths.
Headed to a new city? Then tie on your walking shoes and prepare to get to know it from the ground up! Many historic cities offer detailed and well-planned walking tours.
| A．Humans were made for walking: |
| B．Do you want to meet other people? |
| C．Some tourist offices even provide free maps. |
| D．They’re a perfect way to explore new territory. |
| E．Do you expect to get fit and stay in great shape? |
| F．But remember to stay on the lookout for charity walks. |
| G．Science uincovered a link between sociability and wellness. |
5 . There was once a boy called Mario who loved to have lots of friends at school. However, he wasn’t sure whether or not his classmates were his true friends, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, “I have just exactly what you need; it’s in the attic (阁楼). Wait here for a minute.”
Grandpa left, soon returning as though carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there. “Take it. It’s a very special chair. Because it’s invisible (无形的) it’s rather difficult to sit on, but if you take it to school and you manage to sit on it, you’ll be able to tell who your true friends are.”
Mario took the strange invisible chair and went to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair. “Nobody move. You’re about to see something amazing,” Mario said.
Then Mario tried sitting on the chair. He missed and fell straight onto his backside. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. Mario wouldn’t be beaten. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair, and kept falling to the ground... until, suddenly, he tried again and didn’t fall. This time he sat, hovering (悬停) in mid-air.
Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas, and Diana — three of his best friends — holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall. At the same time, many others he had thought of as friends were doing nothing but make fun of him, enjoying each and every fall.
Leaving with his three friends, Mario explained to them how his grandpa had so cleverly thought of such a good idea. Now he knows that those who take joy in our misfortunes (不幸) when we are in difficulty are not our true friends.
1. What did Mario’s grandpa take from the attic?| A．An invisible chair. | B．An old chair. |
| C．A real chair. | D．Nothing. |
| A．To see whether Mario could sit on it. |
| B．To test who were Mario’s true friends. |
| C．To let Mario have fun with his classmates. |
| D．To test whether Mario was popular at school. |
| A．He saw the invisible chair suddenly. |
| B．He managed to sit on the chair finally. |
| C．His friends held him up with their hands. |
| D．His classmates gave him a chair to sit on. |
| A．Never laugh at our friends. |
| B．True friends can help us do magic. |
| C．True friends are those who care for us. |
| D．Having too many good friends isn’t a good thing. |
6 . Returning home from the grocery store (杂货店), 25-year-old Policano felt it necessary to help the elderly in her neighborhood to practice safer social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her friend Elkind joined her. They decided to start an organization called Invisible Hands Deliver (IHD).
They had a website up and running. The site allowed the elderly and other at-risk individuals to make requests for groceries and medicines to be delivered to them. The webpage also included a call for volunteers, which acquired more than 2,000 sign-ups.
The beauty of the IHD lies in its ability to meet the needs of those who are at higher risk of being attacked by the pandemic. When a request is submitted, it is forwarded to all volunteers within the community, so that anyone who is available can come forward to help. The delivery itself is contactless. Despite the physical distances, volunteers make an effort to connect with their beneficiaries, chatting with them from the other side of the door.
The efforts of the IHD would not have been effective without the help of modern scientific techniques and equipment. From the beginning, social media made it possible to spread the word and gather support within a short time. Digital inventions like web hosting servers and cloud platforms have also helped the IHD to meet the needs of their community.
Following its success in New York, the organization has spread its work to other areas of the United States. Their acts of kindness have also inspired similar networks to spring up in the world. The IHD is also supported by other organizations. “Armed with these resources, we can grow our efforts and further reduce the terrible impact of Covid-19,” said co-founder Policano.
Managed by a team of college students, the IHD has shown that one is never too young to make a difference. In a time when the pandemic has forced people apart, young people are in a main position to take advantage of technology and bridge the gap, bringing communities together. Elkind said, “We’re able to come together when the world feels like it’s pulling us apart. That’s the only way we pull through this, by pulling together.”
1. Why did Policano and Elkind create the IHD?| A．To offer necessary help to the aged. | B．To raise money for the local charity. |
| C．To maintain the safety of the community. | D．To provide part-time jobs for young people. |
| A．Government support. | B．High-quality service. |
| C．Advanced technology. | D．Special management. |
| A．Uncaring. | B．Confident. | C．Doubtful. | D．Confused. |
| A．Face-to-face communication matters. |
| B．Generation gap among people is unsolvable. |
| C．The pandemic is a serious danger to humans. |
| D．The young play a great role in rebuilding social ties. |
7 . 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 think nothing of 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 took two tests. |
| A．Writing about worries before an exam can work a bit. |
| B．Studying in the library can improve students’ performance. |
| C．Students can only write about worries right before an exam. |
| D．It doesn’t matter where to write about worries before an exam. |
8 . Years ago, I could not stick to exercising until I bought a CD called I Enjoy Exercise. I listened to it every day. I bought the CD because I wanted to run in a race and hopefully win!
I had assured my 10-year-old son Todd that I would run in a race with him. Unfortunately, however, when that race came, his left leg was hurt in a car accident. Without him running with me, although I took part in that race, I didn’t do quite well in it.
While Todd couldn’t run together with me because of his injury (受伤), he never forgot the promise I made for him. He was always asking me whether I would keep my promise when he recovered in the future. So I decided I was going to train and go all out to win the next race. What I needed was motivation (动力). It happened that one of my friends mentioned the CD which he liked very much, saying that he got a lot from the music in it when feeling down. So I bought it and listened to it while exercising every day.
What happened to my thinking was amazing as I listened to it daily. I started to think about the repeated words on the CD — “I enjoy exercise”. Instead of dreading exercise, I was thinking, “I enjoy exercise.”
I found out how important words are that we play in our minds every day. I went from a person who seldom exercised to someone who started to exercise daily. Just think how our lives will improve if we reflect on the uplifting words of the famous works. I have found the positive messages have greatly inspired me and then changed my life.
How did I do in that race, you might be thinking? I actually became the champion in my age group.
1. Why did the author take part in the race by herself?| A．She would like to win the race. |
| B．She had a good talent for running. |
| C．Her son got injured in a car accident. |
| D．Her son was unwilling to run with her. |
| A．By recalling some inspiring stories. |
| B．By listening to the CD while running. |
| C．By getting timely help from her friend. |
| D．By forcing herself into keeping running. |
| A．Fearing. | B．Improving. |
| C．Preferring. | D．Taking. |
| A．It’s important to avoid injury while running. |
| B．The uplifting words make a difference to us. |
| C．Parents should get along well with children. |
| D．We can build up our bodies by regular exercise. |
9 . Going on vacation can be challenging for people with physical disabilities. Hotels aren’t always clear about how accessible (可进入) they are and the adaptive equipment needed to participate in certain activities can be expensive or difficult to obtain.
This is where the online travel marketplace Wheel the World comes in. The website connects physically disabled people with special tour packages, depending on the person’s needs.
Today Wheel the World offers over 30 accessible destinations in the U.S. and abroad. They’ve served almost 900 disabled people, their family, and friends. Travelers can sign up for trips to destinations such as New York, Hawaii, Paris, London, and Kruger National Park in South Africa. Trip packages can include adaptive equipment such as wheelchairs, which can be used on the beach and in the ocean, and kayaks (皮艇), which can help those disabled to kayak. The team also checks the accessibility of destinations themselves, evaluating things such as door widths, bed heights, bathrooms’ accessibility and if lifts are functioning.
Silberstein, the company’s founder, says there are some trips that are suitable for blind people, though Wheel the World focuses on people with mobility issues. And in the future, they plan to include trips for people with hearing loss, and people with emotional disabilities. “One of the biggest barriers for travelers with physical disabilities is finding information about accessible trips, which is a gap Wheel the World aims to close,” says Silberstein.
Wheel the World is working to enlarge tours in Europe-currently their website lists London and Paris as the only destinations on the continent, but their eventual goal is much higher. “We want to allow millions of disabled people to travel to thousands of destinations,” Silberstein says.
1. What is the function of the first paragraph?| A．To show the great success Wheel the World has gained. |
| B．To tell us the difficulties the disabled face in life. |
| C．To introduce the background of Wheel the World. |
| D．To remind us of the problems with hotel service. |
| A．Collecting travel information for tourists. |
| B．Increasing the online sales of wheelchairs. |
| C．Extending travel business to the whole world. |
| D．Providing proper travel services for the disabled. |
| A．Silberstein has made significant contributions to global tourism. |
| B．Wheel the World helps people with disabilities enjoy their vacations. |
| C．Advanced equipment is enabling the disabled to travel around the world. |
| D．Tour packages intended for blind and deaf tourists have won wide recognition. |
| A．Thoughtful and full-hearted. | B．Determined and humorous. |
| C．Flexible but aimless. | D．Creative but doubtful. |
10 . Kids everywhere love to play. And they know a ball is a perfect thing to play with. Now scientists at London’s Queen Mary University report that bumblebees seem to know the same thing, making bumblebees the first insects known to play.
When people talk about “play”, they’re describing an animal doing something that doesn’t really seem to help it. They’re not doing the action to get food or shelter or another similar “reward”. Play usually happens when a creature is relaxed and is often repeated.
However, scientists think many animals and birds’ playing is a kind of training for things they’ll have to deal with in later life. But before this, there were no reports of insects playing.
Scientists at Dr. Chittka’s lab, carried out an experiment. First, they tagged (贴标签) 45 young bumblebees, both male and female, between 1 and 23 days old. The tags made the bees easier to identify and follow.
The scientists set up a clear pathway from the bumblebees’ nest to a feeding area. On either side of the open pathway, the researchers placed small colored wooden balls. On one side of the path, the balls were attached and couldn’t move. On the other side, the balls could roll around. It turned out that the bumblebees weren’t interested in the unmovable balls, but they made lots of visits to the rolling balls.
Grabbing the balls with their legs, the bees would flap (拍打) their wings to pull on the balls, causing them to roll. The 45 tagged bumblebees rolled balls 910 times during the experiment. Though some only did it once, others did it a lot. The younger bumblebees spent more time rolling balls. Males seemed more likely to play than females.
“It’s not clear why the bees roll the balls or whether they enjoy it But the experiment raises important questions about how the insects’ minds work and whether they have feelings. With further research, the future will hold surprises and answers in store for us,” said Dr. Chittka.
1. What is the purpose of animals’ play according to scientists?| A．To find ideal shelter. |
| B．To receive extra rewards. |
| C．To develop survival skills. |
| D．To get their fellows’ attention. |
| A．Bumblebees’ categories. | B．Bumblebees’ habitats. |
| C．Bumblebees’ intelligence. | D．Bumblebees’ behavior. |
| A．Younger male bumblebees preferred to roll the balls. |
| B．Bumblebees possessed different wing beat frequency. |
| C．Bumblebees could distinguish balls of different colors. |
| D．A specially-built pathway helped bumblebees find food. |
| A．Uncertain. | B．Doubtful. | C．Optimistic. | D．Critical. |
