Karl was Fred’s son. When his son was little, Fred’s wife passed away, so a mountainous responsibility landed on Fred’s shoulders. Fred was fond of and cared about his son so much that he raised his son with all his heart and soul. He taught him to walk, talk, read and write. He also taught him how to be a true and moral man. When Karl came home with an injury due to falling off his bike or something else, it would hurt Fred’s heart more than it would hurt the boy. Whenever Karl went down with a fever, Fred would sit beside him day and night, barely sleeping a wink (合眼). He always supported Karl in every aspect. Gradually, Karl grew up to become an adult.
How deeply Fred loved his son! However, Fred was unprepared for the day when his beloved son Karl told him he would leave and start his own business in a new city.
“But, Karl, you are too young to start a business,” Fred warned his son. “You still have a long way to go. I think you can help me manage the cafe my grandma left to me first. This way, I’d be able to teach you more about business.” But Karl was stubborn and wouldn’t follow Fred’s advice. “Dad, I am not a kid anymore, so allow me to determine my life. OK?” said Karl. One week later, Karl packed his things and left for the new city, leaving the sad and worried father behind.
Three months passed. One night, Fred got a call from his son. It was strange because Karl seldom called him up after he left for the new city. “Dad, I should have followed your suggestions and stayed at home. I went bankrupt (破产的) and I am in debt now,” Karl said. “I knew this would happen someday,” Fred painfully thought. He planned to help his son and made one of his most difficult choices. “Don’t worry, my son. Luckily, you will succeed to (继承) a huge amount of money from your uncle, soon,” Fred told Karl.
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。
“Oh, I am so fortunate,” said Kurl.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On his way back home, Kar l was wondering how his father was.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I still remember what I felt on a bright Saturday morning in late September, at a five-kilometer race in Clarkston, Georgia.
It was an unusual morning. About an hour earlier, when we drove into town to participate in the race, my 11-year-old son noticed a green tree cricket（蟋蟀） on my car. It was friendly, no longer than a fingernail. It jumped onto my son’s finger, and walked across my shirt, and then went back to my son’s hand, where it stayed so long that we eventually gave it a name: Little Friend.
The walk from the car to the registration table was perhaps a quarter of a mile. Little Friend stayed with my son. Then, we walked back across the railroad tracks and waited for the race to start. A few minutes before the race, Little Friend either fell or jumped off my son’s hand and landed on the sidewalk. Maybe it wanted to go free. But this was not a good place for that. Pedestrian（行人） traffic was heavy, so Little Friend was in danger. My son knelt and reached out his hand. It came back.
The race was about to start, and the tiny green insect was in for a wild ride. My son would run fast, and the race would be long. The race began. I ran well enough, and felt excited at the finish line. But that thrill gave way to anxiety when my son didn’t show up.
I knew he could run 5 kilometers in about 30 minutes. When I didn’t see him at the 35-minute mark, I began to wonder what had gone wrong. And as the 40-minute mark approached and he still didn’t appear, I went out looking for him. Had he got lost? I crossed the railroad tracks and looked down a long straightaway, hoping to see his face. Finally, there he was, just ahead of the 45-minute mark.
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。
Little Friend was riding proudly on one finger of my son’s right hand.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Smiling, we walked back to the car with Little Friend.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . If you’re looking for inspiration to get healthy and stay active, look no further than Edna Giordano.
Edna, who lives in Canada, has become famous for the fitness level she maintains at age 91. The mom of five, grandmother of twenty-one and great-grandmother of four still drives now. “I’ve always had a busy lifestyle because, let’s face it, with that many children, you have to be busy,” Edna said. “So, I never really thought about it. That’s just the way I live.” She said she only really began to focus on her fitness in her 60s, when she was forced to retire from her job at a local hospital. She had to face the fact that she was 60.
To keep herself busy, Edna began gardening again that she had to abandon due to her busy work. She said she also started going to the gym in her 60s, which she still does every other day. “I have to keep my feet to the fire because it’s cold in the morning in winter, and when it’s snowy or icy out there, I don’t really get enthusiastic about going outside,” she said. “But I make myself do it and mark it on the calendar. So I cannot take any shortcuts.”
Edna said she focused on walking at the gym for her cardiovascular (心血管) health and also included lots of weight lifting in her routine to maintain her bone strength. “When in the gym, I don’t try to break any records or compete with anyone else,” Edna said. “I only push myself to do better all the time, and I only compete with myself.”
When it came to her age, Edna said the people at the gym didn’t realize she’s 91. She prefers it that way, because when people do realize she’s in her 90s, they’ll surely demand to help her. “I know them well. But I don’t really want help,” said Edna. “It’s funny to say that, but I like to be independent.”
1. What made Edna leave her job in the hospital?| A．Her turning 60. | B．Her looking after many kids. |
| C．Her wish to live a busy life. | D．Her suffering from a disease. |
| A．She lives in a cold place all year round. | B．She manages to be a regular at the gym. |
| C．She develops a new hobby for gardening. | D．She likes to take shortcuts in her daily life. |
| A．Competitive. | B．Humorous. | C．Humble. | D．Caring. |
| A．The elderly also enjoy trends. | B．Experience beats youth. |
| C．A positive attitude extends life. | D．Fitness is fit for everyone. |
4 . As a kid, Kara McGrath had to have her “pocket cheese” into jackets so she could have it on the go. In college, she blew her budget on fancy cheese during grocery runs with roommates. And when she got married, she served her guests a flowery, four-tiered cake made from wheels of blue cheese. So it wasn’t a surprise when she quit a stable job to pursue a career as a cheesemonger (干酪商).
In 2019, McGrath joined a cheese catering business. There, she gained experience making display boards and leading tasting sessions. But a typhoon hit and took away their wooden shop as well as the community’s business. Her partner decided to turn to other business, leaving McGrath unsure of her next steps.
“There’s not a ton of cheese options in D. C. ,” she said. “My whole thing was, if I can’t find a place to work, I’m going to build it.” She created a cheese club, featuring virtual guided tastings, working first at her home, then in a rented shared kitchen space. As her following grew,she expanded with holiday markets, and when she saw that a wine bar on H Street had closed,she seized the opportunity and rented it.
Today, she’s the owner of Paste and Rind, a cheese and wine bar on H Street in Washington, D. C. , which opened in February after she emptied her 401K to fund the decoration of the space. To build a good reputation, she’s created regular tastings of limited-release cheeses in their bar, which sold out in August and will be offered monthly starting in October. And she doesn’t depend only on walk-in customers: Paste and Rind regularly appears at local farmer’s markets, offers custom cheese food for events and exhibits a subscription box.
As a self-taught enterpriser, MeGrath follows cheese experts on Instagram, connects with peers at the Cheesemonger Invitational in New York and listens to restaurant strategy programs. They’re excited to expand their business further, such as hiring full-time staff to increase the wine bar’s hours and exhibit at bigger occasions like weddings, where she might find herself with another full-circle cheese wheel moment.
1. What can we learn about McGrath from the first paragraph?| A．She was a born businessman. |
| B．Her marriage influenced her greatly. |
| C．She was a big fan of cheese. |
| D．Her previous job was a very challenging one. |
| A．She set up her own business. | B．She decided to find a partner. |
| C．She rented a bar immediately. | D．She lost faith in doing business. |
| A．By displaying the products. | B．By hosting tasting activities. |
| C．By advertising in local events. | D．By offering free cheese to farmers. |
| A．Ambitious and adaptable. | B．Generous and responsible. |
| C．Independent and considerate. | D．Enthusiastic and cooperative. |
5 . As the sun sinks towards the horizon, casting long shadows across the dusty football pitch (足球场) in Kakuma refugee camp in north-western Kenya, one player — Abdirahman —
“When I play with kids my age, I don’t feel
At just 14 years old, Abdirahman’s
Abdirahman was born in Kakuma in 2010, just two years after his parents and older siblings
“In Kakuma, we all have
Football has become an important part of Abdirahman’s life and a(n)
“When I play football, I feel
| A．breaks out | B．stands out | C．calls out | D．drops out |
| A．integrated | B．separated | C．challenged | D．qualified |
| A．explained | B．accused | C．complained | D．appealed |
| A．courage | B．responsibility | C．curiosity | D．pride |
| A．reconstructs | B．prevents | C．replaces | D．reflects |
| A．awkwardly | B．slowly | C．elegantly | D．nervously |
| A．trick | B．kick | C．approach | D．attract |
| A．approval | B．example | C．apology | D．warning |
| A．built | B．crossed | C．broadened | D．removed |
| A．scheduling | B．joining | C．fueling | D．escaping |
| A．gifts | B．concerns | C．achievements | D．dreams |
| A．Nevertheless | B．Instead | C．Besides | D．Therefore |
| A．classify | B．showcase | C．estimate | D．notice |
| A．expanding | B．directing | C．uniting | D．urging |
| A．seen | B．lost | C．exhausted | D．alerted |
6 . Have you ever felt the need to grab a pen and start writing your thoughts on paper? Words—beautiful and fascinating. But you know what is better than putting your imagination somewhere? In my case, to win the competition for the best novelist.
That was a small tournament organized by my school annually to
I finished a long story and e-mailed it. As I
I was not accepted. I
Thankfully, a film that night—Forrest Gump lifted my
| A．advertise | B．demonstrate | C．defend | D．distinguish |
| A．speaking | B．acting | C．dancing | D．writing |
| A．beat | B．touch | C．contradict | D．dominate |
| A．answered | B．sent | C．checked | D．shared |
| A．notice | B．smell | C．taste | D．feel |
| A．Moreover | B．Otherwise | C．However | D．Hence |
| A．abused | B．overestimated | C．enhanced | D．proved |
| A．moody | B．normal | C．natural | D．invisible |
| A．encountered | B．shadowed | C．greeted | D．congratulated |
| A．sponsor | B．organizer | C．reporter | D．winner |
| A．clean | B．dark | C．soft | D．light |
| A．spirits | B．eyes | C．boundary | D．restriction |
| A．promote | B．decide | C．sustain | D．safeguard |
| A．lower | B．position | C．straighten | D．shake |
| A．never-ending | B．abstract | C．contradictory | D．hopeless |
7 . About four weeks ago, our dear little Persian cat Ashleigh Faith died at the age of 16, for which we felt sad. We
Recently, our neighbor called and
| A．adored | B．adopted | C．comforted | D．recognized |
| A．eat | B．play | C．bark | D．sleep |
| A．shy | B．smart | C．tiny | D．cute |
| A．flying | B．pacing | C．rolling | D．travelling |
| A．turning around | B．cheering up | C．settling in | D．dropping on |
| A．eyes | B．hearts | C．clothes | D．walls |
| A．tough | B．cold | C．embarrassing | D．relaxing |
| A．secretly | B．anxiously | C．calmly | D．enthusiastically |
| A．care for | B．rely on | C．come across | D．stare at |
| A．shelter | B．mail | C．hide | D．carry |
| A．amazingly | B．strangely | C．eventually | D．instantly |
| A．disappointing | B．depressing | C．appealing | D．promising |
| A．reliable | B．active | C．discouraged | D．disconnected |
| A．watches | B．helps | C．fancies | D．approaches |
| A．protect | B．drive | C．disturb | D．greet |
8 . Every Thursday afternoon, the food pantry (食品储藏室) at the local high school opens up to provide fresh food bags for families who can hardly make both ends meet to get their meals to last through the weekend. Nearly a hundred families rely on the extra food. Some are between jobs, some got hit hard with medical bills for a few months, and some are new to the neighborhood, placed there by refugee services.
On one breezy afternoon, two young mothers walked in together, each accompanied by a young child. There was nothing different about their dress, but their manner revealed a shyness that they struggled to overcome. When they spoke, it was clear why: Their accents were thick, even though they were trying hard to make their English sound American. They were uncertain of being understood. But the pantry is run by grandmothers who are never pressed for time when it comes to conversations. So they sat for a moment and told their story while the little ones were held in arms so very familiar with children.
The two lived in apartments in the basement of the Methodist Church. They had been in the United States for one month. Their husbands were well-educated but working labor jobs to pay for food and save for more typical apartments.
Both had fled the war in Eastern Europe, one family from Ukraine and one from Russia. They ended up in the same church basement and discovered that they needed each other. They became fast friends. Their children played together. They shared meals and navigated their new world together.
There were no bombs or soldiers or rations in their new neighborhood, only a chance to start over. Friendships are sometimes hard to come by, yet matter so much to each of us. A good friend gives us strength, love, laughter and the courage to keep trying.
These two families — worn down by uncertainty and war, thrown together in a new country, a new community with a new language — found so much in common. And isn’t that what we all need? A friend who faces the same life challenges, even if the forces above them have different political views. We are, after all, just mothers and fathers, friends and neighbors.
1. In the article, who primarily benefits from the services provided by the food pantry?| A．High school students. | B．People with disabilities. |
| C．Families with tight budgets. | D．Underpaid individuals. |
| A．Their clothing. | B．Their language. |
| C．Their children. | D．Their ID documents. |
| A．They both live in the basement of the same church. |
| B．They met at the same restaurant. |
| C．They are from the same country. |
| D．They both have similar professions. |
| A．Challenges of Life and New Friendship | B．The Story of the Food Pantry |
| C．New Life in America | D．From War to Peace |
9 . Pawn shops (典当行) have long been known as treasure banks of unexpected finds. From musical instruments to electronics, these establishments offer a diverse range of items that motivate the imaginations of both buyers and sellers. In this article, we explore the fascinating world of popular items frequently pawned at shops. Now, fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a journey through the fascinating stock of pawn shops.
In today’s digital age, electronics have become an essential part of our lives. From smartphones and laptops to gaming devices and home entertainment systems, pawn shops have become hotspots for tech enthusiasts seeking bargains and unique finds. These shops are packed with the items that have bridged distances, captured memories, and entertained us in various ways.
Guitars have a magnetic charm, attracting musicians and enthusiasts alike. From vintage classics to contemporary models, pawned guitars arouse a sense of nostalgia and craftsmanship. They have been the backbone of countless melodies and the catalyst (催化剂) for musical dreams. Whether it’s a legendary electric guitar that once rocked a stadium or a humble acoustic (原声吉他) that accompanied close and friendly performances, each guitar carries a unique tale of passion and creativity.
Pawn shops are also renowned for their dazzling arrays of jewelry. Rings, necklaces, bracelets, and watches — these delicate pieces hold sentimental value and timeless beauty, carrying stories of love, milestones, and cherished memories. From vintage heirlooms to modern designs, the jewelry section of a pawn shop offers a remarkable mixture, where you can find unique and eye-catching pieces and appreciate the charm and craftsmanship of fine decoration.
So, the next time you find yourself near a pawn shop, step inside, explore the aisles, and let your imagination roam. You never know what hidden treasures you might uncover, or what remarkable tales you might encounter in the attractive world of pawned items.
1. Who would most probably enter a pawn shop?| A．A research chemist. | B．A travel planner. |
| C．A wedding food provider. | D．A family party organizer. |
| A．Conserve the antiques. | B．Appreciate fairy tales. |
| C．Practice with the craftsman. | D．Experience the history and love. |
| A．Emotional. | B．Social. |
| C．Economic. | D．Decorative. |
| A．Legends behind Pawned Items Never Disappear |
| B．Hidden Treasures in Pawn Shops Speak |
| C．Try Various Pawn Shops to Meet Your Beloved |
| D．Borrow Attractive Old Things from Pawn Shops |
10 . Tilly Williams, a Parkside primary student, has broken a world distance running record, beating other girls who were eight years older than her to run 5,000m in just 17 minutes and 22. 7 seconds.
Tilly started running just three years ago and has already shot straight to the top. When some of her friends told her about the international record, she decided to give it a go while competing at the SA State Championships.
“Some of my running friends told me about it and I was like, wow, it would be crazy if I got that and here I am,” Tilly said. “I am the kind of person who really enjoys the challenge,” she added, “I really love surfing and I love bike riding and hiking - all different kinds of adventures and sports.”
She started running in 2021 when she joined her school’s cross-country team. Since then, she has run two to three times a week with her dad, Mark Williams, or at the Adelaide Harriers Athletics Club.
Tilly said, “It’s good knowing that my family’s on my side and my friends are on my side as well. Usually I just go out and run with my running group and with my dad as well because it is like a bond.”
Tilly doesn’t follow a strict diet, so her favourite food is still on the menu - her dad’s home-cooked pizza. “I do love pepperoni pizza,” she said.
“You never think that anyone’s going to get a world record at this age, at any age really. It’s just surreal,” Mr. Williams said, “It’s very important to recognise these achievements, but also to stay very much grounded and just enjoy the other pursuits that she likes. She loves her running, but she does so many other things as well and I think it’s really important that the focus is on life rather than just one thing.”
1. What do we know about Tilly?| A．She prefers surfing to bike riding. |
| B．She failed at the SA State Championships. |
| C．She holds the 5000m record of her age. |
| D．She’s lucky to have her dad as her coach. |
| A．We’d better concentrate on a single thing. |
| B．Tilly deserves the reputation and praise. |
| C．Tilly should make efforts to keep her record. |
| D．People should consider needs more than hobbies. |
| A．Gifted and persevering. | B．Optimistic and careful. |
| C．Determined and humorous. | D．Dynamic and warm-hearted. |
| A．www. naturewatch. com. | B．www.thecookinghouse.com. |
| C．www. kidsnews. com. | D．www.adventuretours.com. |
