When I was a child, my mother told my sister, who had a 10-inch very obvious scar (伤疤) on her arm, “Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not notice it, but it means it will not matter to them if it doesn’t matter to you.”
It never occurred to me that something like this would happen to my son years later. Sending a child off to college can certainly be stressful for concerned parents. It was in 2018 that my son went off to college. He rarely contacted us. I couldn’t help asking about other aspects, which sometimes made him complain that I didn’t treat him as an adult.
To be honest, my son is excellent. Some of my friends always tell me that they admire my son’s characters and they hope their sons could have some of them.
Unexpectedly, it was 4 o’clock in the morning in 2020, when I received the phone call. “This is the emergency room calling and your son was just brought in with severe burns on his face, neck and arms. We have called for an aircraft and are going to fly him to the burn unit in Seattle.” Seattle was 350 miles from his college, so we knew immediately this was serious.
The doctor described the reason, which caused the burns. At 6 am, my son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment. When they lit the charcoal, it burst into flames because they had sprayed too much gasoline. The flames caught my son’s shirt tail and shot from his waist to well over his head.
Fortunately, one of the boys who was quick-minded grasped my son and rolled him on the grass. While it saved his life, it was not in shape to save him from severe burns and terrible scars.
After he recovered from the treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery for 6 months because it takes that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
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The doctors suggested he return to college with scars of severe burns temporarily.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________So I told him about Nancy’s childhood.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . Horseback riding might not seem like a typical New York City activity, but one program has several horse farms throughout the city’s busy districts. GallopNYC provides lessons to veterans(老兵) and people with disabilities — horseback riding is their therapy(疗法).
Olivia Diver visits the GallopNYC location in the Howard Beach neighborhood in Queens. Diver has only been riding horses for a few months, but says she’s already felt the benefits. “It helped me come out of my comfort zone and be less shy and less in my shell,” she said. Trying something new shows her she can accomplish other things as well.
James Wilson,executive director at GallopNYC, says there are many ways horses can be therapeutic. “The horse sees the world in the way somebody with post-traumatic stress disor-der (PTSD) might see the world, in a really guarded, sort of anxious way,” he explained. “So,somebody with PTSD and a horse can sort of partner together and see the world in the same way and kind of take care of each other.” Horses can also help with physical disabilities. After two years of therapeutic riding, a teenager, who had so little core strength that his mother had to be in the bathtub with him, had enough core strength that he could be in the shower by himself. Wilson said, “The movement of the horse will loosen up muscles that might be really tight. And the movement helps stimulate other body parts and other muscles that you might not use. ”
“CallopNYC has about 1,000 people on is waitlist for lessons, but prioritizes people with disabilities and veterans. We believe that everybody benefits from the time on a horse, so if you want to ride a horse, come on, let’s go,” Wilson said. Lessons are $55, but the non-profit fundraises to help cover or lower the cost for customers who may need support.
1. Why does GallopNYC offer the lessons?| A．To make horse riding typical in NYC. |
| B．To provide part-time jobs for veterans. |
| C．To promote disabled people’s incomes. |
| D．To offer a cure to special groups. |
| A．She has learned new life skills. |
| B．She has found her comfort zone. |
| C．She has gained much confidence. |
| D．She has changed her attitude to horses. |
| A．GallopNYC’s leader. | B．The effect of the therapy. |
| C．Profit James Wilson has got. | D．Ways of guarding people’s anxiety. |
| A．It is well received. | B．It is highly profitable. |
| C．It needs to be more creative. | D．It takes ages to see the results. |
3 . Each year, as many as one billion birds are killed in the US from collisions (相撞) with glass windows and buildings every year. Birds that crashed into Philadelphia buildings began to be collected in the 1890s. Nearly 100 species of birds are known to have died out from crashes with buildings and other structures in Philadelphia. Many other species are probably affected in the city.
Called Lights Out Philly, the voluntary program in Philadelphia encourages buildings to turn out or dim unnecessary external and internal lights between midnight and six o’clock early in the morning to protect birds as they pass through during migration seasons.
Bird migration seasons are from April l to May 31 in spring and from August 15 to November 15 in fall. Each year, millions of birds pass through Philadelphia along a migration route known as the Atlantic Flyway. Bird-glass crashes are very common for migrating birds, most of which travel at night. Glass is difficult for them to recognize as hard surfaces, and artificial light can fool them into crashing with buildings and outdoor structures. Turning off lights between midnight and sunrise helps minimize the effect of artificial light when most birds are migrating.
On Oct. 2, 2020, a stormy and foggy day, Philadelphia had its largest mass collision event in more than 70 years with an estimated 1,000 birds crashing with buildings in one 3.5-square block area in just one day. Paired with a terrible storm of weather and fog conditions, the bright city and building lights attracted and confused the migrating birds, causing them to crash with buildings and outdoor structures.
Even if you don’t play a part in managing the lights of a big building, you can help birds avoid crashes by making the glass opaque to reduce the amount and intensity of artificial light at night, changing the color of lighting to blue or green, shortening the duration lights are on, directing the lighting downward or screening lighting.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．The rich biological diversity in Philadelphia. |
| B．Great efforts to protect migrating birds in Philadelphia. |
| C．The present and the past of the bird conservation in America. |
| D．The serious consequence of bird-glass crashes in Philadelphia. |
| A．Bad weather conditions. | B．Traveling in the day. |
| C．The mistaken route. | D．Too many buildings. |
| A．Light-reflecting. | B．Delicate. | C．Lightproof. | D．Clean. |
| A．It Is Difficult to Save the Migrating Birds |
| B．Philadelphia Turns out Lights to Save Migrating Birds |
| C．External and Internal Lights Affect the Bird Migration |
| D．Lights Out Philly Program Helps Save Endangered Birds |
4 . Music is present in any part of the world, and it is appreciated and felt everywhere. Without its presence, life could be boring. Studies show that music is good for your body and mind.
Music can increase pain management. Listening to music can help increase your pain tolerance (耐痛性).
●
●Music can reduce anxiety and depression
●Music can improve self-expression and communication. Self-expression and communication are an important part of the human experience, especially when it comes to basic emotional and mental health needs.
| A．Music can improve heart health. |
| B．Music can increase your heartbeat rate. |
| C．Here are some benefits of music treatment. |
| D．They are two common pains in your daily life. |
| E．It has been proved to be helpful for anxious and depressed people. |
| F．Listening to music can also help decrease the strength of your pains. |
| G．For kids weak in both areas, music treatment can help develop their relative skills. |
5 . The area of tropical forest destroyed in 2021 was enough to cover the entire island of Cuba, and sent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as India does in an entire year from burning fossil fuels, according to an analysis published on Thursday.
Some 11.1 million hectares (around 43, 000 square miles) of forest was destroyed, mainly by logging (伐木)as well as fires, the analysis by the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch and the University of Maryland found. Some of those fires were deliberately lit to clear land and many were deteriorated by climate change.
The loss was less severe than in 2020, but deforestation (毁林)is still occurring at an alarming rate in the tropics. Of the area lost, 3. 75 million hectares were primary tropical forest at the equivalent of 10 soccer fields every minute, WRI reported.
Primary tropical forests in particular are crucial for the ecological balance of the planet, providing oxygen that supports life and as biodiversity hotspots. They are also rich in stored carbon, and when these forests are logged or burned, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
“What’s important to understand is that forests, especially tropical forests, are part of the global climate system,” WRI senior fellow Frances Seymour told CNN. “So they’re not mechanical carbon storage devices. They actually influence the energy transfer and the moisture content of the atmosphere in ways that affect rainfall and global circulation patterns.”
“When deforestation happens, when forests are lost, it not only contributes carbon to the atmosphere, but also disrupts rainfall patterns and increases local temperatures in some ways. For example, it makes remaining forests more vulnerable to fire, and the warmer, drier conditions that come with climate change,” Seymour said.
1. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “deteriorated” in paragraph 2?| A．strengthened |
| B．expanded |
| C．worsened |
| D．extended |
| A．Promoting world economy. |
| B．Balancing the earth’s ecology. |
| C．Predicting severe weather. |
| D．Providing wood resources. |
| A．The consequence of deforestation. |
| B．The cause of forests loss. |
| C．The methods of protecting forests. |
| D．The contributions of forests. |
| A．Logging causes most forests loss |
| B．Analysts are concerned about tropic forests loss |
| C．Primary tropical forests are rich in stored carbon |
| D．Tropical forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate |
6 . A lunar crystal (水晶) was found in lunar basalt particles (玄武岩颗粒) collected from the moon in 2020 when the Chinese moon mission landed in Oceanus Procellarum, returning with more than 1.7 kg of lunar samples delivered safely to the Earth.
The crystal found on the near side of the moon is giving scientists hope of providing limitless power for the world forever. It is made of material previously unknown to the scientific community and contains a key ingredient for the nuclear fusion (核聚变) process, a form of power generation that uses the same forces that fuel the sun and other stars. It is transparent and roughly the width of a single human hair, and it formed in a region of the moon where volcanoes were active around 1.2 billion years ago.
One of the primary ingredients found in this crystal is helium-3 (氦-3) , which scientists believe may provide a stable fuel source for nuclear fusion reactors. The element is incredibly rare on the Earth, but it seems to be fairly common on the moon. China’s next moon mission is expected to be carried out by Chang’e 6 in 2024, which will attempt to collect the first samples from the far side of the moon, which never faces the Earth.
Although it is too early for scientists to have made financial estimates on such a fuel source, it will undoubtedly be extremely costly. There is, of course, the matter of bringing the crystals back from the moon, especially in large amounts that are needed to fuel fusion reactors.
Helium-3 produces significantly less radiation and nuclear waste than other elements. The current nuclear fusion process has raised serious safety concerns, and as a result, scientists have been searching for a way to create nuclear power from nuclear fusion. During the fusion process, radioactive waste is not produced, potentially making a securer and more efficient fuel source.
Around 25 tons of helium-3 could power the US for a year. Multiple private companies and countries with space agencies have signaled their intentions to mine the moon for helium-3, and this latest discovery could kick start the race.
1. What can we learn about the crystal?| A．It is 1.7 centimeters wide. |
| B．It is expected to power the Earth. |
| C．It is commonly found on the Earth. |
| D．It is made of previously familiar material. |
| A．Collect up nuclear waste. |
| B．Find out the elements of helium-3. |
| C．Set up lunar nuclear fusion reactors. |
| D．Take back the samples of lunar crystals. |
| A．It is low in cost. | B．It is clean and safe. |
| C．It absorbs radiation. | D．It produces no waste. |
| A．A Struggling Race to Make Crystals |
| B．An Undoubted Discovery Powering the US |
| C．An Efficient Way to Collect Crystals from the Moon |
| D．A Rare Moon Crystal Discovered by Chinese Scientists |
7 . Tips for Traveling on a Low Budget
These days, a lot of people travel as a result of rising wealth.On social media,friends ,families, and complete strangers are sharing beautiful images of the places they’ve been Traveling can be a lot of fun, but it does take money to get on a plane and see the world.
Plan ahead. Planning is possibly the most important aspect of any trip. If you want to keep your costs down, you must make a plan. That will allow you to spend the least amount of money to meet your demands when traveling.
Prepare alternative destinations.
Remember travel insurance. Consider travel insurance as an investment rather than an extra cost.
| A．Look for discounts. |
| B．Take free walking tours. |
| C．So how exactly should you travel on a small budget? |
| D．Your budget trip can be more colorful with secondary destinations. |
| E．While working hard to save you shouldn’t become sick while traveling |
| F．Given that you can use it in an emergency,it may save a ton of money in the long run |
| G．Everything should be planned, such as plane tickets, the hotels and the things you’ll buy. |
8 . The Masai(马赛人) are continually trying to keep their own ways in an increasingly modern world. They live along the border of Kenya and Tanzania in East Africa, moving their homes from time to time to follow their cattle, the source of their livelihood. They rely on their cattle in many parts of their life. They like drinking the cows’ milk.
They don’t kill their cattle for food. But if a cow is killed, the parts of its body are used to make containers, shoes, clothin, ropes, bed coverings and so on. Not all of the men have cows. The more cattle a man owns, the richer he is considered to be. A man who owns 50 or fewer cattle is considered poor. Rich men have a thousand or more. The cattle, though owned by the man, are considered to belong to the man’s entire family. The family names the cattle and can recognize each animal’s special voice.
The Masai men have become known as warriors(勇士), protecting their cattle against other wild animals. They wear their red long hair. Most women often take care of their children, cook food, clean clothes and make clothing at home. They also make necklaces dresses and headdresses. A few women can also become authorities once they are powerful enough. They speak a language called Maa.
The houses of Masai made from sticks and grass, which are held together with a mixture of mud, are not very firm or safe. These plain houses with some basic supplies are built in a circle and make up a Masai village. They are not meant to last long since the migration(迁徙) of the cow population means that the Masai move as well. In the meantime, in order to prevent animals from entering, they also form a wall of branches. The whole setup is to protect the cattle, which sleep at night in the middle of the village. They seem to live a natural and self-sufficient life but lack modern civilisation.
1. What do we know about the Masai?| A．They don’t move in their lives. |
| B．They each have their own cows. |
| C．They don’t kill their cattle at all. |
| D．They are heavily dependent on cattle. |
| A．Designers. | B．Authorities. |
| C．Housewives. | D．Warriors. |
| A．Modern. | B．Lasting | C．Simple. | D．Safe. |
| A．Africans: Living a Moving life |
| B．Africans: Brave People in the World |
| C．The Masai: Rich People in East Africa |
| D．The Masai: Maintaining a Traditional Lifestyle |
Three Chinese astronauts landed in a northern desert on Sunday after six months in space. They had been working
Before leaving the Chinese space station, they had spent almost five days with three
The astronauts
The three astronauts were part of the Shenzhou-14 spaceship,
Tiangong space station will be the only space station still up and running in the universe one day
10 . As the West dries out and heats up, wildfires get bigger and more destructive, officials tasked with preventing and battling the fires could soon have a new thing to add to their set of tools. The high tech help could come from an area not normally associated with fighting wild fires: artificial intelligence(AI).
Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company,based in Jefferson County, has decades of experience of managing satellites, exploring space and providing information for the US military. By generating more timely information about on-the ground conditions and running computer programs to process huge amounts of data,Lockheed Martin representatives say they can map the extent(范围)of a fire in minutes rather than the hours it can take now They say the AI that the company has applied to military use can improve predictions about a fires direction and speed.
“The situation that wildland firefighters work in is a dynamic environment with multiple activities and responsibilities,”said Dan Lordan, senior manager at Lockheed Martin’s Artificial Intelligence Center. Lockheed Martin aims to use its technology to reduce the time it takes to gather information and make decisions about wildfires.The quicker they can react, the faster they can control the fire and protect people’s properties and lives.
Lockheed is working with a software company to build a digital model of a wildfire based on an area’s topography(地形)condition of the plants wind and weather to help forecast where and how it will burn.After the 2020 Cameron Peak fire Colorado’s largest wildfire the company used the information about the fire, examined the more timely satellite data on fire conditions, and generated a model that was similar to the actual fire’s movement.
“Applying AI to fighting wildfires isn’t about taking people out of the field.” Lockheed Martin spokesman said.“Somebody will always be there,but people currently in the field are surrounded by so much data that they can’t sort through it fast enough.That’s where AI can help.”
1. What do we know about Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company?| A．It has good experience in fighting fires. |
| B．It works on the follow-up to firefighting. |
| C．It applied AI to its service for the first time |
| D．It has played positive roles in various fields. |
| A．Quite controllable. | B．Very stable. |
| C．Constantly changing. | D．Perfectly safe. |
| A．Building models. | B．Processing more data. |
| C．Replacing firefighters. | D．Making final decisions. |
| A．AI is helping people fight wildfires |
| B．AI can fight wildfires automatically |
| C．AI is used to fight Colorado’s wildfires |
| D．AI replaces firemen in fighting wildfires |
