Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.
An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.
“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.
“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”
“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.
Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.
Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.
“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，
“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”
“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”
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。
At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But things began to change as she was doing the chores.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . What are scientists?They are often described as gray-haired white-coated dull scholars.
But the world has changed.Young scientists are making their voices heard and releasing their powers on the world stage.
This is also true in China.Rising stars include new materials expert Gong Yongji,university professor Liu Mingzhen,and biologist Wan Ruixue.At the age of 28 in 2018,Wan Ruixue received the 2018 Science & SciLifeLab Prize for Young Scientists.This is a global prize to reward outstanding scientists at an early stage of their careers.
She focuses mainly on biomedicine (生物医学) and artificial intelligence.“Both are cutting-edge (前沿) technologies at an early stage of development,” she said.
“So,I think they have great potential to be developed.I think in the study of cutting-edge technologies,China and other leading countries in the world are standing on the same starting line.And in the study of structural biology,China is likely to become the leader.”
She felt it was her fate to become a biologist.“I grew interested in the natural world,when I was very young,” she said.In 2009,she entered Sun Yat-sen University.
In her third year at the university,she realized that she wanted to do something related to biomedicine.So she emailed China’s top biologist Shi Yigong,hoping to join his lab at Tsinghua University.
Shi recognised her talent and welcomed her.Years of efforts at the lab have paid off.Her research on the high-definition 3D structure of spliceosome led to a scientific breakthrough.
Unlike many of other young scientists who choose to pursue further study abroad,Wan currently has no plan to go overseas.
“The whole ecosystem for scientific research is continually improving in China,” she said,adding that the country has great science facilities.
1. What does the underlined word “releasing” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Giving out. | B．Getting over. |
| C．Finding out. | D．Taking over. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Confident. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Satisfied. |
| A．Her teacher led her into the field. |
| B．She finds it’s easier than she thought. |
| C．Her contribution has been recognised. |
| D．She thinks it’s boring but worth trying. |
| A．China’s Breakthrough in Science |
| B．Rising Young Scientists in China |
| C．Wan Ruixue:A Successful Young Scientist |
| D．New Image of Chinese Scientists |
3 . Every festival has its own meaning. Labor Day, for example, celebrates the value of hard work. Thanksgiving is about showing thanks to people around you. And Valentines’ Day is a time when you express love to your loved ones. But somehow it now seems that all festivals we just care about one thing — shopping. And that can be a big problem.
“In a way, over-consumption (过度消费) is the mother of all our environmental problems,” Kalle Lasn once told CNN. Lasn is the organizer of Buy Nothing Day, a day set up in Canada in 1992 to fight against unhealthy spending habits, and has now become an international event. It’s held on the day, which is known as Black Friday — a famous shopping day in the US and Canada.
You can see the irony (讽刺) here.
Even though the idea of Buy Nothing Day was brought up 26 years ago, we seem to need it now more than ever. It’s just as Lasn said, all the different kinds of pollution in our lives today — bad air quality, the reduction of forest area, endangered animal species, and plastic bags found in the ocean — seem to be the same cause: over-consumption.
The latest example is the Singles’ Day shopping craze of Nov 11, which saw a new sales record. But as Nie Li, a campaigner at Greenpeace, told Reuters, “Record-setting over-consumption means record-setting waste.” And it was reported that last year the Singles’ Day packages left more than 160,000 tons of waste, including plastic and cardboard. The Collins Dictionary has also just named “single-use” its Word of the Year, pointing out the problem that there’re too many things we tow out after only using them once.
So, Buy Nothing Day might only be here for one day a year, but it’s not just to remind us to the a break from shopping on that day, but to change our lifestyle completely, focusing on fun “with people we care about” rather than wasting money on useless things.
1. What’s the authors purpose of writing the first paragraph?| A．To express the people’s love for all festivals. |
| B．To talk about the meaning of the festivals. |
| C．To appreciate the value of the festivals. |
| D．To bring out the topic of the passage. |
| A．To help people save money. | B．To cut the cost for daily life. |
| C．To prevent over-consumption. | D．To set up a new sales record. |
| A．Opposed (反对的). | B．Supportive. |
| C．Unknown. | D．Neutral (中立的). |
| A．Creating a New Lifestyle | B．Buy Nothing Day |
| C．Festivals Around the World | D．A Change in People’s Life |
Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.
One day, Ali took Zahra's shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it a secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra's school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.
Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city.When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.
The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache. Getting more and more exhausted he thought only of Zahra and his promise to her. Dreaming of the new shoes he would win for his sister gave him strength, and he stayed right behind the two fastest runners, determined to finish third. Suddenly, as the finish line drew near, another runner collided(碰撞) with Ali from behind and he crashed to the ground.
Ali looked up and saw the other boys rushing ahead.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Filled with delight, Ali walked home quickly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Going to Antarctica, one of the remotest destinations on the planet, is not an easy (or affordable) endeavor. Perhaps the difficulty is part of the attraction—the seventh continent remains at the top of many travelers’ wish lists. The striking white desert, with its dramatic, snowy peaks and vibrant turquoise water, as well as its exotic wildlife, including emperor penguins and Weddell seals, can truly offer a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Hawaii
Hawaii is underrated. To be sure, it is a gorgeous place with breathtaking sunrise and sunset, and every beach is seemingly prettier than the next, but its beauty goes much deeper than its preternatural appearance. Extraordinary beaches—some even boast green and black sand (Papakōlea Beach and Punalu’u Beach, respectively)—have their expected appeal, but visitors who take time to venture out away from the coast quickly discover Hawaii’s charms are everywhere.
Canada
Skiing, surfing, hiking and the Northern Lights, eclectic cuisine, world-class shopping, diverse and rich cultures—this is Canada. The 13 provinces and territories make up the world’s second-largest country by the total area. It has something wonderful for every type of traveler. Nature lovers take solace in mountains, glaciers, waterfalls and the Atlantic or Pacific coastlines while sophisticated eaters nosh at Michelin-starred restaurants and hole-in-the-wall restaurants alike.
Singapore
Travelers don’t want to spend any more time in an airport than they have to. But Singapore Changi Airport is not an ordinary airport. While the rest of the world was staying at home, Singaporean locals had paid to hang out at Changi Airport, whether it was co-working in one of the lounges or camping alongside the world’s highest indoor waterfall, which opened in 2019.
1. Which place would you like to choose if you are an animal lover?| A．Hawaii. | B．Antarctica. | C．Singapore. | D．Canada. |
| A．It can almost satisfy all kinds of travelers. |
| B．It attracts many locals. |
| C．It has some extraordinary beaches. |
| D．It is the second most beautiful place in the world. |
| A．They can decorate the lounges together. |
| B．They can enjoy world-class shopping. |
| C．They can appreciate the world’s highest indoor waterfall. |
| D．They can experience Michelin-starred restaurants. |
6 . When school started on that warm August day, I threw myself into everything I did, including playing volleyball. I decided to become beautiful, or at the very least, skinny. I stopped eating completely. Soon I began losing weight, which thrilled me, and I even grew to love the tiredness and lightheadedness (头晕) that came with my poor diet, for those feelings meant that I was winning.
As the season progressed, things had become tense between my head volleyball coach, Coach Smith, and me. She felt that something was wrong with my health. She talked with me about my eating and was angry that I wouldn’t listen to her when she tried to make me eat. I was angry and hurt and she was suspicious (怀疑的) and worried. We fought constantly. Then my malnourishment (营养不良) started to affect my performance. I was so tired that practice and games were becoming a struggle. One afternoon, with hurt in her eyes, Coach Smith asked me what I had eaten and I told her nothing yet. She looked at me, disappointment in her eyes, knowing she couldn’t make me stop, and walked away.
A couple of weeks later I attended the volleyball dinner for our volleyball team. I stood there as my coach managed to say something nice about me. I realized then that I had ruined my senior year by being disrespectful, and I had probably ruined hers as well. So that evening I wrote her a letter apologizing and thanking her.
Then one Saturday, as I was reading in the library, I felt someone gently take my arm and say softly, “Lynn Jones, how are you doing?” I looked up and saw the familiar face. “Thanks for the letter,” she said. “It meant a lot.”
When I think of a coach, I think of someone above me, someone who gives instruction-not a friend. But Coach Smith is different, and, like any other good friend, she dealt with my problem in a determined way even when I hated her for it at that time. I didn’t deserve her kindness, but she gave it anyway. I will forever be grateful for her help, and now for her friendship.
1. How did the author feel after she started losing weight?| A．Stupid. | B．Satisfied. | C．Funny. | D．Nervous. |
| A．She refused to go on a diet. | B．She caused her team to lose. |
| C．She changed the training schedule. | D．She refused to eat properly. |
| A．She felt sorry for what she did. |
| B．She felt sorry for eating too little food. |
| C．She decided to improve her performance. |
| D．She wanted to build a close relationship with Coach Smith. |
| A．Unexpected Friendship | B．A Fight with My Coach |
| C．A Strict Volleyball Coach | D．My Way of Losing Weight |
7 . IQ is often regarded as a crucial driver of success, particularly in fields such as science, innovation and technology. But the truth is that some of the greatest achievements by our species have primarily relied on what scientists call “cognitive flexibility”.
Cognitive flexibility is a skill that enables us to switch between different concepts, or to adapt behavior to achieve goals in a novel or changing environment. And the good news is that it can be trained. Currently, a group of researchers from Cambridge University are conducting a research, trying to work out how people can best boost their cognitive flexibility.
Cognitive flexibility may have affected how people coped with the pandemic lockdowns, which produced new challenges around work and schooling. Some people may have changed their routines from time to time, trying to find better and more varied ways of going about their day. Others, however, struggled and finally became more rigid in their thinking. They stuck to the same routine activities, with little flexibility or change.
Flexible thinking is key to creativity. It also supports academic and work skills such as problem solving. Unlike working memory, it is largely independent of IQ. For example, many visual artists may be of average intelligence, but highly creative and have produced masterpieces.
So does cognitive flexibility make people smarter in a way that isn’t always captured on IQ tests? We know that it leads to better rational thinking throughout the lifespan. For example, for children it leads to better reading abilities and better school performance.
It can also help protect against a number of prejudice. People who are cognitively flexible are better at recognizing potential faults in themselves and using strategies to overcome these faults.
Cognitive flexibility is essential for society to flourish. It can help maximize the potential of individuals to create innovative ideas and creative inventions. Ultimately, it is such qualities that we need to solve the big challenges of today.
1. What is the purpose of the research conducted by Cambridge University researchers?| A．To clarify people’s misunderstanding about cognitive flexibility. |
| B．To figure out the relationship between IQ and cognitive flexibility. |
| C．To explore effective ways to improve people’s cognitive flexibility. |
| D．To make out the benefits of increasing people’s cognitive flexibility. |
| A．Stick to their original plan. | B．Handle new problems rigidly. |
| C．Adjust their thoughts and behavior. | D．Apply creative ideas to improve their IQ. |
| A．It is closely related to people’s IQ. | B．It is an unchangeable inborn quality. |
| C．It helps people avoid reasonable thinking. | D．It helps people make greater achievements. |
| A．Applications of cognitive flexibility. | B．Benefits of cognitive flexibility. |
| C．Experiments on cognitive flexibility. | D．Definitions of cognitive flexibility. |
8 . I was never very neat, while my roommate Kate was extremely organized. Each of her objects had its place, but mine always hid somewhere. She even labeled (给贴标签) everything. I always looked for everything. Over time, Kate got neater and I got messier. She would push my dirty clothing over, and I would lay my books on her tidy desk. So we both got tired of each other.
War broke out one evening. Kate came into the room. Soon, I heard her screaming, “Take your shoes away! Why under my bed!” Deafened,I saw my shoes flying at me.I jumped to my feet and started yelling (叫喊). She yelled back louder.
The room was filled with anger. We could not have stayed together for a single minute but for a phone call. Kate answered it. From her end of the conversation, I could tell right away her grandma was seriously ill. When she hung up, she quickly crawled (爬行) under her covers (被子), sobbing (哭啼). Obviously, that was something she should not go through alone. All of a sudden, a warm feeling of sympathy rose up in my heart. Slowly, I collected the pencils, took back the books, made my bed, cleaned the socks and swept the floor, even on her side. I got so into my work that I even didn’t notice Kate had sat up. She was watching, her tears dried and her expression was such disbelief. Then, she reached out her hands to grasp mine. I looked up into her eyes. She smiled at me, “Thanks.”
Kate and I stayed roommates for the rest of the year. We didn’t always agree, but we learned the meaning of living together: giving in, cleaning up and holding on.
1. What made Kate so angry one evening?| A．She couldn’t find her books. |
| B．She heard the author shouting loud. |
| C．She got the news that her grandma was ill |
| D．She saw the author’s shoes beneath her bed. |
| A．she was scared by Kate’s anger | B．she hated herself for being so messy |
| C．she was asked by Kate to do so | D．she wanted to show her care |
| A．By showing differences. | B．By analyzing causes. |
| C．By describing a process. | D．By following time order. |
| A．My Friend Kate | B．Hard Work Pays Off |
| C．Learning to be Roommates | D．How to be Organized |
Christmas Day was coming. I was just a kid then, and my big sister told me there was no Santa Claus. I fled to my Grandma because she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma always told me the truth. Grandma was home, and I told her everything. “No Santa Claus?” She shouted. “Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. “Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”
“Go where, Grandma?” I asked. “Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store, the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. “Take this money, and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.
I was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people competing to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, holding that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy and who to buy it for. I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker, who was a kid with bad breath and messy hair. He sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class. Bobby Decker didn’t have a coat. I knew that because he never went out for break during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I chose a red one, which looked really warm, and he would like that.
“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid ten dollars down. “Yes.”
The nice lady smiled at me, put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.
注意：1.续写词数应为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:
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap (包裹) the coat in Christmas paper.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph2:
Grandma and I waited breathlessly for Bobby Decker’s front door to open.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . Cars could soon be communicating with each other using 5G to make drivers aware of upcoming dangers, scientists claim. The ultra-fast mobile Internet would allow for rapid information transmission and could make drivers aware of black ice, pot holes or other dangers up ahead.
Several car manufacturers are already integrating 5G into their vehicles, including as a tool to welcome the coming of self-driving vehicles. Experts believe the high-speed connection will also improve the reliability and capability of automated vehicles to the point where they will be safer than the manual cars being driven today. They predict the number of road traffic accidents — which according to the World Health Organization (WHO) account for more than 1. 3 million deaths and up to 50 million people injured worldwide every year — will drop thoroughly as a result. Dr Dimitrios Liarokapis, a member of the research group, said: “With the help of 5G, an early warning system that alerts (给……报警) drivers is possible within the next few years. Cars that are close enough to the danger area will send warning messages to other cars around them using short-range communication technologies, but also to cars further away using 5G, fast and reliably. Then those cars will transmit the same information to cars near them and so on, forming a joined-up, multi-vehicle communication chain that stretches far and wide.”
Automotive giant Ford is already working on connected cars. Earlier this year it revealed its intention to fit 80 percent of its 2020 vehicles with technology that warns drivers about up-coming road accidents, bad weather and traffic jams. The system pools data from other connected road users, emergency services and the authorities and sends it from the cloud directly to the car. Alerts are shown on the car’s dashboard display warning the driver about what lies around the corner.
1. What can we expect of the cars in the future?| A．They will be more personalized. |
| B．They may replace other vehicles. |
| C．They may be bigger. |
| D．They will be safer. |
| A．To send warning messages. |
| B．To collect drivers’ information. |
| C．To send the traffic situation to the police. |
| D．To track other drivers. |
| A．By offering practical safety programs. |
| B．By offering the fast mobile Internet. |
| C．By helping WHO calculate traffic accidents. |
| D．By helping drivers overcome dangers. |
| A．Connected cars are equipped with 5G. |
| B．Ford is the first producer to use 5G. |
| C．Cars of Ford are the most intelligent. |
| D．Warning messages are shown on phones. |
