1 . In Tennessee, you will find a “secret society” that consists of 9 women who call themselves “The 9 Nanas.” Its mission is simple — to spread happiness by performing random acts of kindness for those in need. The Nanas have been together since childhood. Several of them were raised by MaMaw and PaPaw, a couple that were always doing good for the community.
One day when the 9 Nanas got together, they started recollecting the old days with MaMaw and PaPaw. They fondly recalled how MaMaw Ruth used to bake and send pound cakes to families who had recently lost someone. The “sisters” wanted to do good for their community too. So, the “secret society” of “The 9 Nanas” was born.
The ladies kept their ears open as they ran their daily work. Whenever they heard of someone in need, they’d step in to help. A package would be sent, which would always include one of MaMaw Ruth’s pound cakes and a note that said “Somebody loves you.”
Believe it or not, the group operated in secret for 30 years! But by then, the husbands had started to get suspicious. So the 9 Nanas gathered the husbands and spilled the beans. Their husbands wanted in on the fun. That’s when the operation was taken to the next level!
Now, over 5 years since the husbands uncovered their wives’ secret, the 9 Nanas are still going strong. They said, “Not everyone is as lucky as we were to have MaMaw and PaPaw to take care of them. So this is our way of giving back. We want to make sure that happiness happens.”
1. What is the task of the “secret society”?| A．To uncover secrets. | B．To search for lost family members. |
| C．To spread happiness. | D．To attend kids for working parents. |
| A．A thank-you note. | B．Their similar interests. |
| C．A special package. | D．Their common memories. |
| A．Told the truth. | B．Shared snacks. |
| C．Asked for help. | D．Made promises. |
| A．Practical and polite. | B．Humble and humorous. |
| C．Caring and devoted. | D．Outgoing and disciplined. |
2 . I have always had pets. My first animal friends were guinea pigs. And then I tried my best to persuade my parents to get a dog. For some reason they did not seem to believe I would walk the dog three times a day, no matter how hard I tried.
Then my mother said a friend’s cat had had kittens and we could go and get one. At first I was disappointed, but with time I learned to love our cat so much I have had cats ever since.
I just have to remember to bolt everything into place. If I don’t, things fly (they seem to get airborne when cats are around —the more expensive an object is, the more it seems to enjoy flying).
Also, watering plants is no problem. During the years all the plants have disappeared except the cactuses (仙人掌). They don’t seem to interest cats much. Nor do they need much water. It would be nice to get flowers, but I do advise against anyone bringing them to me. No matter what flower — it is considered a kitty snack.
Changing furniture is nice too. Cats help in letting us know when it is time to change the sofa. Either when the fabric starts to look like Einstein’s hair that has been combed with cats’ paws (爪子), or when no amount of vacuuming (用吸尘器打扫) helps in revealing the original color of the couch, thanks to the generous donation of cat hair. A soft sofa is nice, sure, but it sort of gets a bit embarrassing when, all our guests leave the house with fur-trousers.
I could go on and on to tell you more interesting stories between us next time!
1. Why did the author’s parents turn him down when he wanted to have a dog?| A．They didn’t favour dogs. | B．They didn’t think he could attend dogs well. |
| C．They had already had a pet. | D．They thought dogs might mess the house up. |
| A．Keep everything fastened. | B．Keep everything organized. |
| C．Have everything prepared. | D．Have everything repaired. |
| A．They are replaced by new ones. | B．They are sent to the guests. |
| C．They are mostly eaten by the cats. | D．They are frequently watered. |
| A．To complain about his cats. | B．To share fun experiences of petting cats. |
| C．To compare his different pets. | D．To introduce his skills for keeping pets. |
One weekend, Mum and Dad both had to work, which meant that neither of them had time to look after Joe and Bella. But the two kids didn’t mind. They were going to spend the weekend with Gran, and Gran had promised to take them to the beach! But when they woke up on Saturday morning, and looked out of the window, they found the rain was pouring down!
Bella pressed her nose against the glass and said hopefully, “We can still go, can’t we?” But when Gran arrived to collect them, it was still pouring, and Gran said they would just have to spend the day at her house instead.
They tried taking Gran’s dog, Selby, for a walk, but when they opened the door, Selby took one look and ran back inside again! They did some homework, ready for Monday, and when they stopped — it was still raining Eventually, Gran went off to do some housework. Joe decided to do more homework. He had tests coming up at school and Mum and Dad were always on at him to work harder. Joe asked his sister to keep quiet. After a while, though, he heard noises from the kitchen. What was Bella up to? He got up and looked round the door. Bella was mixing something in a huge mixing bowl.
“What’s that?” Joe asked, a little annoyed.
“It’s a lovely cake,” said Bella happily. “But you can’t have any.”
“That’s a relief,”said Joe. “Because it looks terrible. And it smells worse!”
The cake mixture had all kinds of things in it and the smell was like no cake that Joe had ever smelled before!
“It’s not for humans,” said Bella. “It’s for dogs. I’ve made it specially for Selby, because he couldn’t go for his walk.”
“Well, I hope Selby likes it,” Joe said.
But Selby didn’t like it. When Bella put it down on the floor for him to eat, Selby took one smell and then ran out of the room! Bella burst into tears.
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。
Gran came running into the kitchen. She asked what happened.
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After they made a beautiful cake for humans, the rain stopped.
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4 . You’ve just turned the final page of your book and got all sorts of thoughts and emotions. You’re dying to talk to someone about it.
Decide the type of book club.
Pick the book. Different book clubs take different approaches. Some allow each member to take a turn picking the book, while others have voting systems in place. If you’re struggling to make a selection, look to bestselling and award-winning books.
Figure out a meeting schedule. Scheduling is one of the most challenging elements you’ll encounter when learning how to start a book club. With busy work, and big life events, it can be tricky to get everyone together in the same place at the same time.
| A．They’re always a great choice. |
| B．Find your book club members. |
| C．Many book clubs keep it general. |
| D．It may be a little awkward at first. |
| E．All book lovers know this feeling. |
| F．Decide on a regular date for get-togethers. |
| G．Pick discussion questions to inspire your members. |
5 . A research team led by Del Pozo Cruz from the University of Southern Denmark, recently published a study that found walking 10,000 steps a day lowered the risk for dementia by 50%.
However, if walking occurred at a brisk pace of 112 steps a minute for 30 minutes, it maximized risk reduction, leading to a 62% reduction in dementia risk. The 30 minutes of fast-paced walking didn’t have to occur all at once — it could be spread out over the day. “Our take is that intensity of stepping matters — over and above volume,” said Cruz.
The new study followed 78,500 people between the ages of 40 and 79 from England, Scotland and Wales who wore wrist step counters for 24 hours a day over a seven day stretch. After counting each person’s total number of steps each day, researchers placed them into two categories: Fewer than 40 steps per minute, which is more like when you’re walking from room to room — and more than 40 steps per minute, or so-called “purposeful” walking. A third category was created for peak performers — hose who took the most steps per minute within 30 minutes over the course of a day.
About seven years later, researchers compared that data to medical records and found people who took the most steps per minute showed the biggest reduction in risk for cancer, heart disease and early death from any cause.
Researchers found the association between peak 30-minute steps and risk reduction to be dependent on the disease studied: There was a 62% reduction for dementia, an 80% decline for cardiovascular disease and death, and about a 20% drop in risk for cancer.
What’s the takeaway? You don’t have to fixate on the numbers of steps. “Spend 30 minutes being breathless at whatever pace you’re at, and then keep challenging yourself to be slightly unsatisfied at your current level so you can get better and better,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman.
1. Which aspect of walking does the study focus on?| A．Its time. | B．Its pace. | C．Its length. | D．Its popularity. |
| A．They are the oldest. | B．They are from Wales. |
| C．They walk the quickest. | D．They walk without step counters. |
| A．Its findings. | B．Its procedures. |
| C．Its medical application. | D．Its theoretical significance. |
| A．Count their steps as exactly as possible. | B．Spare themselves 30 minutes every day. |
| C．Aim a little higher than their present level. | D．Set a specific goal for themselves each day. |
6 . Jaclyn Gartner, founder of the Happily Furever After Rescue in Bethel, Conn., was scrolling (翻) through photos of shelter animals when one caught her eye: a dog named Van Gogh with only one ear. His left ear had been torn off in the cruel world of dog fighting.
Gartner arranged for the nonprofit Pilots N Paws to fly Van Gogh to her in Connecticut in June.She put out the word on Facebook, Petfinder and Rescue Me that she had a friendly, one-eared dog in need of a home, but nobody wanted him.
After he’d been a part of her rescue for four months, Gartner looked at Van Gogh with his one ear and an idea struck her.“I’d seen TikTok videos of other dogs creating paintings, so why not Van Gogh?” Gartner said.So she dropped some bright paint on an 8-inch by 10-inch canvas (画布),and coated the top with a thin layer of peanut butter. He licked (舔) the paint, and five minutes later when Gartner decided the painting was done, she took the canvas away.It was perfect.
Van Gogh had a fast and creative tongue, completing one painting after another and even recreated Vincent van Gogh’s“The Starry Night.”“Then I invited people to come and meet him at an outdoor art gallery event,”Gartner said.She was disappointed when only two people showed up at the event on Oct.23.
Van Gogh’s first art show was a bust, but Gartner decided not to give up.She took action the following day.
“I put out a post on Facebook that I felt bad only two people showed up, and I said the rest of the art was still available,”Gartner said.Suddenly, everyone wanted it.“The paintings sold out in two minutes.”
More importantly, she said, Van Gogh was finally adopted.
1. What did Gartner want to do for Van Gogh?| A．Find his owner. | B．Have his ear cured. |
| C．Take photos for him. | D．Help him to be adopted. |
| A．His well-known name. | B．Her own interest in painting. |
| C．TikTok videos of artistic dogs. | D．Paintings by Vincent van Gogh. |
| A．Platform. | B．Choice. | C．Solution. | D．Failure. |
| A．Influential and interesting. | B．Caring and creative. |
| C．Humorous and hardworking. | D．Practical and professional. |
7 . Big Space Events To Put In Your Calendar For 2022
MAY — CHINA’S SPACE STATION GETS BIGGER
May will see the launch of a new module for the Tiangong space station, China’s “Palace in the sky”. Its first core module, Tianhe was launched last April. The next module will be Wentian, a laboratory expected to launch between May and June. It will also serve as a backup core module and the place where future spacewalks from the taikonauts will take place. It will be followed by a second laboratory module, Mengtian, in August-September.
JUNE — INDIA’S SPACECRAFT TAKES ITS FIRST FLIGHT
ISRO, the Indian Space Research Organization, has announced that Gaganyaan (which translates to Sky Craft) will have is first unscrewed fight in June. The craft is panned to be a key vehicle in the Indian Human Spaceflight Program and, all going well in this test; it will be followed by a crewed test next year.
JULY — RUSSIA EYES THE MOONAGAIN
Russia’s Luna program had many successes with landers, rovers, and even sample returns, and Luna 25 is expected to follow in that tradition according to Russian Space Agency, Roscomos. The mission this fine is just a lander expected to touch down near the Lunar South Pole with instruments designed to study the soil. The location might be a possible area of interest for a permanent base on the Moon.
AUGUST — MORE LUNAR MISSIONS
August will see the launch of the Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter, a panned lunar orbiter by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI). This will be the first Korean Lunar Mission, a technology demonstration for KARI.
1. Which country will carry out multiple space tasks this year?| A．China. | B．India. | C．Russia. | D．Korea. |
| A．It will operate in low lunar orbit. | B．It will take a land on the Moon. |
| C．It will serve as a permanent base. | D．It will take its first crewed flight. |
| A．In May. | B．In June. | C．In July. | D．In August. |
Last weekend,my classmates and I took the trip to the Wetland Park.Upon arrival,we attracted by the beautiful scenery there. The park was really a nice place for him to go bird-watching. We followed a guide,who brief introduction was interesting. We saw differently types of birds and took a lot of picture. After lunch,we divided ourselves from groups to play games and sing songs. At around 5p.m, we had started to walk back. The trip was of great useful. It offered us a chance to get close to nature，and made us know the importance of protect the environment.
