1 . As my husband and I saw someone publicizing the benefits of spending time outdoors, we were lost in thought. Noticing my daughter had
When we persuaded my daughter to join us, we
“Well done! You’ve arrived as scheduled,” said our ski instructor as we reached the resort. It was
The resort took account of almost all the trouble we might have in skiing. Of the fifty-three runs, eight were greens labeled with
While the experience frightened us, it also
A.met | B.become | C.criticized | D.dominated |
A.introduce | B.persuade | C.divide | D.trick |
A.reward | B.examination | C.comment | D.involvement |
A.calculated | B.witnessed | C.booked | D.offered |
A.bother | B.moment | C.fine | D.profit |
A.above | B.high | C.negative | D.varying |
A.apparently | B.barely | C.instantly | D.straightly |
A.signs | B.trees | C.materials | D.walls |
A.convinced | B.warned | C.advised | D.guided |
A.permanent | B.legal | C.cool | D.polite |
A.humble | B.apologetic | C.motivated | D.pleased |
A.fell | B.woke | C.asked | D.admitted |
A.delayed | B.discouraged | C.interrupted | D.inspired |
A.kind | B.shortage | C.answer | D.guarantee |
A.spoke up | B.broke down | C.went back | D.set off |
On March 21, an artist released a video
AI painting,
Despite the increased efficiency, people are becoming concerned about the possibility of losing their jobs. Not that long ago, painters
3 . Do you know that all sorts of adventures can happen in educational settings after sundown? Here’s a round-up of sites where the fun continues as night falls.
Ripley’s Aquarium
TORONTO, CANADA
Ever wondered how sweet your dreams would be while sleeping in an aquarium’s shark tunnel that holds around 2.9 million litres of water? You can find out during an Overnight Reef Adventure. Green sawfish, sand tiger sharks, Queensland groupers, and green sea turtles will be your companions for the night.
California Academy of Sciences
SAN FRANCISCO, US
This awe-inspiring museum in Golden Gate Park hosts regular Penguins + Pajamas Sleepovers. As the name suggests, pack your pajamas, grab a sleeping bag, and spend a night under the same roof as a colony of African penguins. You can explore a rainforest full of free-flying birds and foreign reptiles (爬行动物) before lights-out. There’s also a planetarium (天文馆) that’s truly out of this world.
Kennedy Space Center
FLORIDA, US
In the Kennedy Space Center, youth groups and visitors making private bookings can have after-hours opportunity to enjoy hands-on challenges, watch a 3D movie in an IMAX theatre, and go on a Q&A session with a former NASA astronaut who’s travelled into space. What’s more, you get to sleep either underneath a 110 m-long Saturn V moon rocket or beside the space shuttle Atlantis.
1. At Ripley’s Aquarium, what will visitors encounter?A.Foreign reptiles. | B.African penguins. |
C.Free-flying birds. | D.Sand tiger sharks. |
A.Travelers seeking sea adventures. | B.Locals eager for outdoor activities. |
C.Teenagers attracted by hands-on challenges. | D.Visitors interested in space and animals. |
A.They are all located in the US. | B.They only open after sundown. |
C.They all offer overnight experiences. | D.They all feature interactive sections. |
4 . Perhaps a friend you’ve known for years has moved away. It’s normal to feel sad and frustrated at not getting to see him in the way you’d like to.
WRITE LOTS OF LETTERS
Seeing a note or card from someone they care about in the letterbox is a sure way to make your friend smile. While it’s good to keep in touch via technology, putting your thoughts down on paper shows how much you care and that you’ve set aside some time to think about them. It doesn’t have to be an essay.
SEND A CARE PACKAGE
SHARE A SHOW
Is there a TV series that you both love? While you may not be able to share a packet of popcorn and view it side by side, you could arrange to watch it at the same time and then talk on the phone about it afterwards, sharing your reactions and opinions.
A.It’s the thought that counts. |
B.But staying connected is possible. |
C.It can also be an e-mail with photos. |
D.Postcards are a lovely way to stay in touch. |
E.This works well as a way of regularly staying in touch. |
F.Once in a while, make a parcel filled with items that are meaningful to your friend. |
G.Even when you live far apart from someone, they can still be a big part of your life. |
5 . Psychologists have defined nostalgia (怀旧) as a self-conscious and social emotion, bittersweet but mainly positive. It develops out of happy memories mixed with a desire for the past and the close relationships we had back then. Often, nostalgia involves sensory stimuli. For example, the smell of autumn leaves might cause an intense longing for your childhood home. Neuroscientists have found it’s a complex cognitive phenomenon involving many parts of the brain, including some that are involved in self-reflection, emotional regulation, and reward processing.
Almost everyone experiences nostalgia, although its object tends to vary throughout life. One survey conducted by the psychologist Krystine Irene Batcho found younger people felt more nostalgia for pets, toys, and holidays than did older people, who felt it more strongly for music.
Nostalgia was originally viewed as an emotional disease when it was first defined in the late 17th century. Perhaps because it often occurs when people are experiencing negative moods or having bad experiences. Loneliness can be a trigger (诱因), as researchers found in 2008. Another is bad weather.
However, despite its association with negative emotions, nostalgia does not cause or exacerbate unhappiness. Rather, nostalgia has a uniquely protective power against unhappiness, and brings relief from a negative mood. Psychologists writing in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology in 2006 found that causing nostalgia in experiments strengthens people’s social bonds, boosts their positive feelings about themselves, improves their sense of life’s meaning, lowers an existential reaction to the idea of death, and raises optimism. Besides, nostalgia’s emotional intensity allows the joy of the past to overpower the unpleasantness of the present, which helps us forget about the bad times for a while.
Scholars aren’t sure exactly how nostalgia works. Perhaps because it’s so powerful and complex, nostalgia has received wonderful treatment from poets and writers. “The past is hidden somewhere outside the realm (领域), beyond the reach of intellect,” Marcel Proust, one of the greatest French novelists of the 20th century, wrote.
1. What is most likely to lead to nostalgia in the elderly?A.A cute dog. | B.An expensive toy. | C.A happy holiday. | D.An old song. |
A.Relieve. | B.Worsen. | C.Defend. | D.Cover. |
A.It removes people’s fear of death. | B.It lessens the positive perception about the self. |
C.K offers temporary escape from the sad present. | D.It intensifies people’s doubt about life’s meaning. |
A.Nostalgia: A Defense Against Unhappiness | B.Nostalgia: A Trigger for Happiness |
C.Nostalgia: A Treatment for Depression | D.Nostalgia: A Social Emotion in Life |
If you could travel back 3, 000 years
The Yinxu Ruins, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006, are
“Did you hear what I said?” The band director was looking right at me. So was everyone else. “Yes, ma’am. You want me to do the solo (独奏) at the concert.” I said, trying to hide my fear.
I play the jazz saxophone (萨克斯管). I’m the best player in the sax section of my middle school band; I even do concerts with the senior high band. So, what’s my problem? Stage fright. Performing with a group is no problem. Butraying solo? I will freeze like a water balloon in deep space.
The band director continued, “By the way, the director of the Youth Symphony will be there. You know, if he hears someone who’s really good, he invites them to audition (试演).” I tried to look calm as I headed to the door, but the rock in my stomach had just doubled in weight. I’d dreamed of playing in the Youth Symphony for a long time but never had the courage to audition. I could pretend to be sick and stay home. But there are only two concerts each year, and missing one would be really a great pity.
“What should I do?” I went back home and headed downstairs. I usually practice in the basement. The family calls it Kevin’s Dungeon (地牢). I play great in the dungeon. It’s comfortable down there—just me, my sax, and my music. “Why can’t the school auditorium feel like my dungeon?” I said to myself. Then an idea occurred to me—how about sticking a photo of my dungeon inside the bell of my sax? Looking at it while playing might work for me. I immediately took action and practised and practised.
The day finally came. Suddenly, the lights went down, the curtain went up, and we were off and running. Each song started and ended, but it was like somebody else was playing my sax, not me. Then it was time—my solo.
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。
I stood up and walked to the front of the stage.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the last long note ending, the audience burst into applause.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . What can simultaneously (同时) tear a community apart and knit it together?My husband and I accidentally found our
While we were away, a(n)
But there are some things I won’t forget. I won’t forget the coolers full of water, cold drinks and sandwiches neighbors set outside, or the local restaurants generously offering
I watched members of our community hang a large sign over the most damaged part of town that
A.goal | B.answer | C.inspiration | D.response |
A.typhoon | B.earthquake | C.flood | D.fire |
A.memories | B.concerns | C.efforts | D.analyses |
A.turned | B.hid | C.filed | D.piled |
A.discover | B.avoid | C.select | D.save |
A.sooner or later | B.now and then | C.at random | D.for fun |
A.Interestingly | B.Obviously | C.Specifically | D.Consequently |
A.expensive | B.fancy | C.cold | D.free |
A.remember | B.respect | C.assist | D.recognize |
A.happened | B.volunteered | C.promised | D.agreed |
A.decorated | B.built | C.tidied | D.searched |
A.gained | B.helped | C.thrown | D.recovered |
A.courage | B.trust | C.kindness | D.wisdom |
A.change | B.return | C.stay | D.form |
A.spoke | B.revealed | C.wrote | D.read |
I was not sure why my dad and my uncle always disagreed with each other in the beginning. They spent many Sundays sitting at opposite ends of the table, arguing about everything. I didn’t think they got along well.
When I was eighteen, I got a call in my college dorm that my dad was having a health problem. My mom picked me up at midnight, so I could be there the next day when my dad was scheduled to transfer(转移) to a better hospital. I didn’t sleep that night, not a while. I was nervous and almost crazy when we arrived at the hospital early the next morning before the transfer.
That morning, as my mom and I walked down the hallway of the hospital, we could see straight into my dad’s room. A tall man wearing a stylish suit stood beside my father’s bed with his back to us. In surprise, my mom said to me, “How nice it is for a doctor to come by to see your dad so early in the morning.” The man was quiet and still, looking down, but he was holding both of my dad’s hands in his own. It seemed not to be a typical doctor’s behavior.
“It’s not a doctor,” I whispered softly to my mom. When the man turned around, we found that it was my uncle. However, little did I know I would continue to reflect on that quiet moment for decades. And it would be the beginning of something truly wonderful.
The hours that followed were some of the most hardest time of my youth. My dad had a serious stomach problem and had to be in hospital for quite a long time. My uncle stayed with us the entire time. For one thing, my uncle tried every way to get my dad to eat something. For another thing, he brought me healthy snacks and made sure I actually ate them even though I had no appetite. When my mother and I were scared that my dad’s illness would get worse, my uncle was always by our side.
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。
Throughout those difficult days in the hospital, I watched my uncle in a new light.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________From then on, the relationship between my dad and my uncle became closer.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . Travis Gienger set a record for growing the world’s heaviest pumpkin, which weighed about 1,247 kilograms, in 2023. The middle-aged man was named the winner on Monday of the 50th Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. He won the same con test in 2022, whose pumpkin weighed 1,161 kilograms. The past world record for the heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 1,226-kilogram pumpkin in 2021. “I was not expecting that,” Gienger said. He added that it felt good to win the world record.
Gienger is a teacher at Anoka Technical College in Anoka, Minnesota. He teaches agriculture and growing methods. And he has been producing pumpkins for nearly 30 years like his elders, especially his father, who used to raise pumpkins in the home property, which got him interested in planting. Gienger later devoted himself to working the land to plant.
Gienger first competed in Half Moon Bay’s yearly con test in 2020. He won three of the city’s last four pumpkin contests. “I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces, and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” Gienger said.
Gienger, who grew the pumpkins on the farm, had given his plants more care. This included watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding or fertilizing them, a little more than usual. Those contributed to his greater success in 2023.
The pumpkin champion won a $30,000 prize for growing the biggest pumpkin and setting a world record. Gienger’s pumpkin would be shown along with the second-place winners at the city’s upcoming Pumpkin Festival. At the event, visitors would be able to look at the pumpkin prize and take pictures with the growers.
In the United States, pumpkins are popular throughout the autumn. During the US holiday Halloween, on October 31, many people turn them into “jack-o’-lanterns”. A jack-o’-lantern is a pumpkin that has been carved, usually to show a frightening or funny face.
1. How did Gienger feel about his winning the world record?A.Surprised. | B.Suspicious. | C.Expected. | D.Embarrassed. |
A.His family tradition. | B.His love for his farm. |
C.His promise to his father. | D.His desire for winning a prize. |
A.How many awards Gienger got in 2023. |
B.How long Gienger worked a day in 2023. |
C.Why Gienger grew pumpkins on the farm. |
D.Why Gienger’s pumpkin was heavier than before. |
A.It would be given to a visitor. |
B.It would be made into a lantern. |
C.It would be on show at a festival. |
D.It would be used to decorate pictures. |