Recently, I volunteered with Interact, my school's service group at Read 2 Me, an activity that gives volunteers the opportunity to read to little kids and interact with them.
I walked with other volunteers into a large room in which there was a large variety of books. Some were picture books, such as Cifford or The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Others were chapter books with pictures in them, such as the Berenstain Bears and The Wimpy Kid series. For the extremely talented kids who like to be challenged, we provided chapter books that required imagination to understand. Just after I had gathered some books together, someone announced that it was almost time for the activity to start. All at once, a burst of voices was heard. The doors opened, and the children rushed in, beginning to look for a reading buddy（伙伴）. They all looked so eager to read, just like mice eager to taste a piece of cheese. I was sitting there waiting and glancing at the books that I had picked out for the lucky kid I would read them to.
Just then, a boy about six years old began to come my way, and I knew that I had found my reading buddy. "Hi, I'm Max. Would you like to be my reading buddy?" "Sure," I responded. And then, I let him search for a book of his choice.
"I like this one," shouted Max. I looked at the book that he had chosen. It told an adventure story of a little girl with her dog, and it seemed that it would be a good one to read to him.
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。
Paragraph 1: "Can you tell me why you want this book?” I asked.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Then came the after-reading activities in which we interacted with each other.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . How writing has helped my life
Writing has and is changing my life and these are some of the ways it has greatly helped me over the years.
My writing got better.
Writing did make me become a better writer.
I feel much more confident with words.
Writing helped me build a good relationship with the English language. Before, I had to check and recheck every word I wanted to use in an article to be sure I was using it correctly.
My imagination and speed grew.
The more I wrote, the more my imagination grew so that everything around me started becoming an inspiration for an article.
Just the act of putting down some words and creating a work of pure imagination gives me inner joy and peace. Whenever I feel down, I write.
Finally ...
Writing is a skill that anyone could acquire if they put hard work into it. So next time you’re lonely or just bubbling with anxiety, try writing.
| A．My mental health has improved. |
| B．Writing helps me recover memories. |
| C．Now, that weight is off my shoulders. |
| D．We all know the saying “Practice makes perfect.” |
| E．I’ll never stop developing this beloved craft. |
| F．Don’t worry about being perfect because no one is. |
| G．I can look at a pencil and come up with a 500-word essay about it |
3 . After inventing a life-saving device, a student is set to stand on the stage of the Global Innovation (创新) Challenge this fall.
Anna McCord, 13, won a top title at the National Innovator Challenge and has become the top story in the news. The National Innovator Challenge is a yearly competition that encourages and celebrates youth innovation where the top 10 inventions are chosen for “Top Innovator” honors. On July 3, the eighth-grader won “Top Innovator” for her invention, “Sea Me Here,” a device that makes anyone lost at sea more visible to the rescue team.
The “Sea Me Here” device is made from plastic and a metal ring. It can be stored in a small pocket or bag. When removed, it spreads into a much larger size behind the user, increasing visibility.
Anna said she came up with the idea for the device from her mother’s past diving experience. “My mom used to div e for a living and she would keep a white plastic bag in her pocket, so if she would ever get lost, she could stick it up on the surface,” Anna said. “I improved on that when she told me about it.”
Jeremy Brannon, Anna’s earth and life science teacher, said when Anna told him about her project, he was impressed. Brannon added that Ann a was independent with her project, asking for guidance only when needed.
The project took six months, Ann a said. “Everyone liked it... I got some good questions, and it helped me improve on the device,” Anna said.
Anna believes her invention has a bright future ahead. “The end goal would probably be to have it built into life jackets, so you could have it at anytime,” she said. “If you had a life jacket on you and you were lost at sea, you could just pop it out.”
1. Why was Anna in the news?| A．She won an honor in a national event. |
| B．She entered an international competition. |
| C．She became the youngest inventor in her school. |
| D．She saved a person’s life with an innovative device. |
| A．Making reusable plastic bags. |
| B．Collecting plastic waste from the sea. |
| C．Protecting the safety of rescue workers. |
| D．Helping rescue workers find people lost at sea. |
| A．From her teacher’s science class. |
| B．From her mother’s diving practice. |
| C．From her mother’s traveling stories. |
| D．From one of her diving experiences. |
| A．Hardworking and polite. | B．Warm-hearted and gifted. |
| C．Confident and smart. | D．Humorous and honest. |
4 . At West Exe School, students have access to a wide range of electronic resources to support heir progress through the curriculum. Below are a range of resources, with a brief introduction of what they are. If you have any questions regarding E-Learning, please do not hesitate to contact Toby Holland who will be able to help you.
Electronic Resources
| Type | Brief introduction |
| Class Charts | Class Charts is the one-stop shop for students, parents and teachers to add and track homework, merits and performances. More details can be available by calling 88097144 |
| Moodle | Moodle is our online learning platform which provides students with a means by which to access lesson content for some subjects, especially math at home. |
| Heggarty Maths | Heggarty Maths is used to provide students with engaging mathematical challenges. These are largely set for homework and involve watching video content. |
| Lexia | Lexia is being used by the English department to improve literacy across the school. This highly effective online learning programme is widely considered to be the best of its kind. Lexia Strategies can be accessed here: http ://wwwlexiastrategies.com/ |
| Tassomai | Tassomai is a highly effective, adaptive learning platform for Science. Many schools that have used this platform have seen gains of up to 2 grades in Science through the platform’s engaging design and content. |
| A．Class Charts. | B．Moodle. | C．Lexia. | D．Tassomai. |
| A．Turn to Tony Holland for help. | B．Call West Exe School directly. |
| C．Read the brief introduction in detail. | D．Surf the web for further information. |
| A．Heggarty Maths. | B．Lexia. | C．Tassomai. | D．Moodle. |
5 . My father is a retired army officer and thanks to his job, I was able to stay in many different places. Changing schools, homes, cities and towns was a part of my growing up years. Thus, making new friends came very easily for me. All I can say about my experience is that to find new friends is always easy. Because someone in your new school is also looking for your valuable friendship.
The first step towards making new friends is to accept the fact that you need to meet new people. If you keep complaining about your situation, then it’s not going to get you anywhere. Maybe you’ve moved to a new place or a new neighborhood or you have changed a job, whatever the situation is, staying alone is never a perfect idea. Thus accept your situation and try hard to make a new friend.
Get in touch with people. This is the only way of coming across people and making friends. Begin with a small change every day. Talk to the person sitting next to you in your classroom. Share your interests with your neighbour. Talking to the closest person to you will help you build confidence in yourself. This will give you an opportunity to discover new people.
The biggest mistake that most of us make, while looking for new friends, is that we look for the same qualities that we liked in our old friends. As a piece of friendly advice, no two people are the same. Therefore, it’s not correct on your part to expect a new person to have the same qualities as your old friends.
If you like to dance, paint, play some sports, listen to music or read, join their clubs. Joining a club help you come across different kinds of people in all kinds of situations. Clubs are great places to meet people, share common interests and know one another better. Joining a gym is also a great way to meet people; learn from them and have things to talk about.
1. What does this text mainly tell us?| A．Some suggestions on how to learn more. |
| B．Some advice about how to make new friends. |
| C．Some tips on how to get on well with others |
| D．The author’s life experiences in different places. |
| A．move from one place to another |
| B．teach the author lots of useful things |
| C．make lots of friends in his life |
| D．be very strict with the author |
| A．Trust other people too easily |
| B．Judge a person only by what he says |
| C．Compare new friends with our old ones |
| D．Forget our old friend after we have new friends. |
| A．Teachers. | B．Parents. |
| C．Foreign travelers. | D．Students. |
1. How many books do the speakers plan to buy?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Five. |
| A．The books cost too much. |
| B．It is difficult to find the books in stores. |
| C．It takes them much time to discuss the books. |
| A．Buying the books which were used. |
| B．Borrowing the books from Mr Green. |
| C．Sharing the cost of the books equally. |
Tea is one of the three major drinks in the world,
Consequently, the celebrated Huangshan Maofeng, Taiping Houkui and Qimen Black teas from Huangshan have gained worldwide
8 . Linda, a sixteen-year-old girl, was a “violinist” of average level, who had basic violin playing skills but was neither particularly outstanding nor bad. She just learned to play the violin at the request of her father.
This year, the school music festival came on time. As usual, Linda accompanied the lead singer with her violin, and the rehearsals (彩排) went well. During a break, noticing Linda always play her violin, a teacher asked Linda if she would sing a song. But Linda refused, saying that she had never sung in public places because she was not good at it. The teacher told her, “Each of us seems to have something that we are not good at, but as long as we are brave enough to try, there may be surprises.” Linda still didn’t have the courage, and the teacher encouraged her again, “You are a brave girl, and I believe you can try your best.”
Thrilled and nervous, Linda finally chose to sing Mystery of Life. Everyone was surprised by her voice. She had such a talent for singing! All the students cheered for her! Without such an unexpected opportunity and that teacher, she might have never found her gift. Now she has become one of the best known singers in her city.
Everyone has some talent. If you think you have no talent, you either haven’t discovered yours yet or don’t consider it a talent because it’s not all that useful. You may be able to build a huge house of cards but you don’t think it’s a talent. With confidence and effort, some skills can be unlocked and improved. In your life, you should be brave and confident enough to try doing different things and find out what talents you really have.
1. Linda chose to sing because ______| A．the teacher encouraged her to sing. | B．she got lots of applause that night. |
| C．she wanted to show everyone her talent. | D．she didn’t want to play the violin that night. |
| A．Strict and sensitive. | B．Kind and patient. |
| C．Rude and unfriendly. | D．Honest and humorous. |
| A．Building a huge house of cards isn’t a talent. | B．Confidence and effort help find out talent. |
| C．All skills can be unlocked and improved. | D．Not everyone in the world has a talent. |
| A．It’s important to encourage others. | B．The story of a song Mystery of Life. |
| C．A violinist became a famous singer. | D．We should find out our real talent. |
About eight years ago, Li Jinglong visited the Palace Museum in Beijing. The cloisonne (景泰蓝) objects on display attracted him
The art of making cloisonne involves several
Li’s workshop allows participants to create the designs they want. Chang Yunqi,
Li says modern people are satisfied to spend time alone
10 . With all the dietary information online, it can be hard to know what tips to follow. Watch out for these words and expressions.
Fat Is Good
It doesn’t matter if you are part of the fat is GOOD for you or BAD for you group, the important question to ask is the source of the fat. If it comes from a land-based animal, and is likely to be solid at room temperature, then it is saturated (饱和的) fat whereas if it comes from fish or plants, and it is likely to be liquid at room temperature, then it is unsaturated fat. All the evidence indicates that eating more unsaturated fat than saturated fat lowers your risk of dying early.
Natural Sugar Is Better
The vast majority of sugar we consume is sucrose (蔗糖). It is the white powdered stuff we cook with and is made up of glucose and fructose. How about sugar from honey? It is often marketed as natural and better for you. Actually, it just has its own distinct flavour, but is as sweet because of glucose and fructose.
High-pH Water
Some people think we need to eat alkali (碱) food to maintain our blood at a pH of 7.4. But everything we eat or drink passes through the stomach, which, at a pH of 1.5, is the most acidic part of the body. It is then neutralised to a pH of 7. So, nothing we eat will change the pH of our blood.
Don’t Eat Anything That You Can’t Pronounce
Whether foods are natural or highly processed, they are all full of chemicals. Are you supposed to fear “phenylthiocarbamide”, because you can’t pronounce it? This is simply the chemical responsible for the bitter taste found in brassicas, the plants in the cabbage and mustard family.
Don’t Eat Food With More Than Five Ingredients(佐料)
Simple foods are not necessarily healthier for you. If I, for instance, use Chinese five spice powder in a recipe, that would count as one of the five ingredients. However, what if I added the typical components of five spice powder separately into a dish? Does that mean my recipe suddenly becomes bad because it has more than five ingredients?
1. According to the passage, healthier fat ______.| A．can be found in fish and plants | B．comes from land-based animals |
| C．remains solid at room temperature | D．can lower the death rate of elders |
| A．diets can help adjust the pH of our blood | B．honey sugar can do more good than sucrose |
| C．foods with more ingredients may be as healthy | D．chemicals we can recognize are safer to take in |
| A．To compare tips on food choices. | B．To introduce different health concepts. |
| C．To recommend fitness recipes to readers. | D．To warn us of some dietary misunderstandings. |
