1 . Twelve-year-old Catherine has a lot of friends—632, actually, if you count up her online friends. And she spends a lot of time with them.
But is it possible that Catherine’s online friendships could be making her lonely? That’s what some experts believe. Connecting online is a great way to stay in touch, they say. However, some experts worry that many kids are so busy connecting online that they might be missing out on true friendships.
Could this be true? During your parents’ childhoods, connecting with friends usually meant spending time with them in the flesh. Kids played Scrabble around a table, not words with friends on their phones. When friends missed each other, they picked up the telephone. Friends might even write letters to each other.
Today, most communication takes place online. A typical teen sends 2,000 texts a month and spends more than 44 hours per week in front of a screen. Much of this time is spent on social media platform.
In fact, in many ways, online communication can make friendships stronger. “There’s definitely a positive influence. Kids can stay in constant contact, which means they can share more of their feelings with each other,” says Katie Davis, co-author of The App Generation.
Other experts, however, warn that too much online communication can get in the way of forming deep friendships. “If we are constantly checking in with our virtual world, we will have little time for our real-world friendships,” says Larry Rosen, a professor at California State University. Rosen also worries that today’s kids might mistake the “friends” on the social media for true friends in life. However, in tough times, you don’t need anyone to like your picture or share your blogs. You need someone who will keep your secrets and hold your hand. You would like to talk face to face.
1. What is the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To tell about true friends. | B．To start a discussion. |
| C．To encourage online friendships. | D．To summarize(总结) the text. |
| A．In any case. | B．In public. | C．In person. | D．In advance. |
| A．Unconcerned. | B．Positive. | C．Worried. | D．Confused. |
| A．Teenagers need to focus on real-world friendships. | B．It’s easier to develop friendships in real life. |
| C．It’s wise to turn to friends online. | D．Social media help people stay closely connected. |
“Look!” I said to my husband, Roger, pointing to the branches. “The doves (鸽子) have built a nest.
On a chilly April day, we watched with horror as a hawk dived down and took one of the doves. By the next morning the other parent was gone too. Roger climbed up a ladder to take a look into the nest. Was it possible the hawk had spared the young? Yes, there sat a newly hatched baby dove! We brought him inside and set up the nesting box with the heat lamps we had used for raising chickens. Then we rushed to the pet shop to buy the formula (配方奶) which needed to look like the mother’s milk. But even with our care and prayers, we knew that the dove’s chances were slim. We were especially worried that our little bird, whom we’d named Hawkeye, hardly cooed (咕咕地叫) at all. That had to be a bad sign.
But to our surprise, Hawkeye not only survived but also thrived. Within a month, he was able to stand on the edge of a bowl and eat out of a baby spoon. And before we knew it, he was eating the seeds we gave him. Having the opportunity to nurture this new life brought me a greater measure of peace with each passing day.
As Hawkeye grew, we noticed that unlike all the other doves in our yard, he had a double breast with a line dividing it. When I did some research on the doves, I found out that females don’t often coo.
“We got it all wrong,” I told Roger. “Hawkeye is a girl!”
We realized that we’d have to teach her to fly. First, we urged her to fly from a finger to the bottom rung (梯子的横档) of a six-foot ladder, and in no time she was moving quickly to the top. She lit out (逃走，溜掉) for the kitchen whenever she heard the click of the spoon on her bowl. By mid-June she’d gained full confidence in her wings.
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: At that time, we knew it was time to set our Hawkeye free.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: But one May morning, Hawkeye and the other dove landed on the rooftop.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . It all started when I learned to read, or rather, before I learned to read.
When I was two years old, my grandma decided it was time to
Throughout my childhood, I always had a bunch of
Her words
Thanks to the first poem my grandma read to me and Miss King’s
| A．adapt | B．reduce | C．devote | D．expose |
| A．summarize | B．memorize | C．recognize | D．realize |
| A．ideas | B．suggestions | C．articles | D．inventions |
| A．came along | B．gave back | C．ran out | D．took up |
| A．aimlessly | B．excitedly | C．joyfully | D．nervously |
| A．concerned | B．curious | C．passionate | D．particular |
| A．Basically | B．Immediately | C．Luckily | D．Surprisingly |
| A．bothered | B．changed | C．controlled | D．recorded |
| A．ears | B．nose | C．eyes | D．heart |
| A．listening | B．reading | C．speaking | D．writing |
| A．fired | B．stopped | C．spread | D．lost |
| A．annoyed | B．confused | C．frightened | D．shocked |
| A．teacher | B．dancer | C．poet | D．journalist |
| A．admiration | B．inspiration | C．determination | D．imagination |
| A．climb | B．cross | C．jump | D．skip |
4 . We’ve all heard the phrase “use your time wisely” in our lives. How can we use our time “wisely”? In an increasingly urbanizing world, we are busier, required to do more to get into college or other higher academic institutions, or to get a job and do well at it. Because of that, things we do to relax, like reading a book, going out with friends or napping, are becoming rarer.
Doing something that doesn’t quite directly help you reach your goal (like the things for relaxation) is often viewed as “wasting your time” because we only have limited time. But even if relaxing or having fun takes time away from being “productive”, they shouldn’t be considered “a waste of time”. If we don’t do things for fun, what is there to enjoy in life?
There have been numerous studies indicating how relaxation and going out with friends can improve your mental and physical health. Being able to take part in an enjoyable hobby or spend time with someone you enjoy being around can help release “feel good” hormones (荷尔蒙) that can reduce some stress in your daily life, thus improving physical health in the long run.
But of course, as a part-time hypocrite (伪善者) on this topic, sometimes when I find myself enjoying a book, playing a video game, or scrolling on TikTok, I get this awful feeling instantly after that I could have used that time to do something productive like taking textbook notes or finishing an assignment. Or maybe I would go out with my friends during the day and come back to my dorm just to think about how I could have used that time to study for an upcoming exam. We’ve all been there.
However, even if it isn’t evident, doing those little things prevents us from burning out too fast. It creates some positive memories hanging in your mind that will hopefully get you through a tough patch. You need to relax in order to be productive later on. The popular concept of a work-life balance also tells us you should do things that you enjoy to keep the balance, and therefore, would not be considered “a waste of time”.
1. What is often thought as “a waste of time” according to paragraph 2?| A．Hanging out with friends. | B．Preparing for a business trip. |
| C．Training for school basketball matches. | D．Reading for an essay assigned last week. |
| A．It improves our health shortly. |
| B．It develops our hobbies greatly. |
| C．It releases hormones to develop our stress. |
| D．It strengthens us physically and mentally. |
| A．We’ve taken the exam. | B．We’ve been somewhere already. |
| C．We all have had the same experience. | D．We all have come back to the dormitory. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. |
| C．Disapproving. | D．Conservative. |
1. Why do British people leave the radio or the TV on for their pets?
| A．To let their pets sleep well. |
| B．To make their pets less lonely. |
| C．To stop their pets being noisy. |
| A．Relaxed. | B．Excited. | C．Bored. |
| A．At a pet shop. | B．At a record store. | C．On the Internet. |
| A．How pet owners recognize their pets. |
| B．How we can get along well with pets. |
| C．How dogs and cats react to human music. |
1. What day is it today?
| A．Wednesday. | B．Thursday. | C．Friday. |
| A．To raise money for a hospital. |
| B．To advertise the local hands. |
| C．To sell more real treasures. |
| A．By serving food. | B．By giving a performance. | C．By helping in an art show. |
| A．On Friday evening. | B．On Saturday morning. | C．On Saturday afternoon. |
1. What does the woman suggest Mike do?
| A．Receive education online. | B．Ask a professor for help. | C．Apply to Harvard. |
| A．Its courses are free. | B．A certificate is accessible. | C．It offers live lessons sometimes. |
| A．Impractical. | B．Average. | C．Helpful. |
8 . Language gives us the power to describe countless actions, properties and relations that compose our experiences, real or imagined. As for how languages were created, scientists found iconicity might play a key role.
People can’t bridge language gap and understand each other without iconicity. When playing a game of charades (猜字谜) , we act out our meaning, using our hands and bodies to describe the sizes and shapes of objects. The key to this process of forming new symbols is the use of iconicity. Not limited to gesturing, iconicity appears in our visual communication too. Traffic signs, food packaging, maps. . . wherever there are people communicating, you will find iconicity.
According to our research, iconicity might also exist in our voices. We organized a contest in which we invited contestants to record a set of sounds to express different meanings. The winner of the contest was determined by how well listeners could guess the intended meanings of the sounds based on a set of written options. Critically, the sounds that contestants submitted couldn’t include actual words or onomatopoeias (拟声词) .
Listeners were remarkably good at interpreting the meanings of the sounds. Yet, all of the contestants and listeners were speakers of English. Thus, it was possible that listeners’ success relied on some cultural knowledge that they shared with the speakers. Did the listeners also understand the speakers from completely different cultural backgrounds?
Later, an Internet survey translated into 25 different languages was carried out. Participants listened to each sound from the English speakers and guessed the meaning by choosing from six written words. Guessing accuracy for the different groups ranged from 74 percent for English speakers to 34 percent for Portuguese speakers. It is far from perfect, but well above the chance rate of eight percent expected by us.
Taken together, these studies show that our capacity for iconic communication has played a critical role. Without this special talent, language would likely never have gotten off the ground.
1. Which of the following can explain “iconicity” ?| A．A skill in foreign language learning. | B．The process of acting out our meanings. |
| C．The connection between form and meaning. | D．A barrier between different language speakers. |
| A．It required sounds containing meanings. | B．Its winners were creative in recordings. |
| C．It aimed to prove iconicity in words. | D．Its entries were familiar to listeners. |
| A．English pronunciations differ. | B．The research has a limitation. |
| C．The cultural gap is narrowing. | D．Listening skills vary in cultures. |
| A．Clarifying the influence of sounds. | B．Proving the necessity of exchanges. |
| C．Uncovering the origin of languages. | D．Identifying the function of gestures. |
I sat in the breakfast corner with my four-year-old son, Matthew, trying to ignore the ache in my stomach. I was still recovering from a surgery. I hoped for strength and happiness. But the future seemed so hopeless.
Matthew jumped up from his spot on the kitchen floor. “Bird!” he shouted, rushing to the sliding door. Sure enough, there was a white dove seated on a rubber tree. It sat there a few moments, and then flew away. I’d never seen one in our neighborhood before.
When I dragged myself to the kitchen the next morning, the dove was back. This time it was with a mate carrying twigs (嫩枝), “Look, Matthew,” I said, pointing to the tree. “They’re going to make a nest.” The doves flew in and out of the courtyard all week, building on the top of the rubber tree. Matthew could hardly contain his excitement. Every morning, he’d run into the kitchen and take his spot by the sliding glass door, talking to the birds while they worked. As much as I was grieving (感到悲伤), I couldn’t help but look forward to the doves’ visits too. We watched their progress as if it were a real-life soap opera unfolding before us. Gradually, my pain disappeared, replaced by joy.
Then it all went wrong. The courtyard was a safe enough spot for a nest, but the rubber tree’s broad, thin leaves were far from stable. One night, a strong wind blew through, throwing the doves’ nest to the ground. I heard the twigs break apart. Nothing good ever lasts. I wouldn’t blame the doves if they never came back. But they returned. And they paid no attention to the pi le of sticks that had once been their nest. They started again from scratch, though the wind destroyed all their hard work. The next day, and the next, they renewed their efforts, as if nothing had happened.
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: I knew I had to do something for the poor creatures.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:“The birds were back!” Matthew announced.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was a quiet and peaceful afternoon. Connie, already home from school, was sitting comfortably in a chair at the kitchen table, doing her homework. Baby Sister was in the living room, building a castle with her bricks and singing softly to herself.
Suddenly they heard a familiar and unwelcome sound: “La-la-la-la-la-la.”
Connie remarked that trouble was coming, and she was right. A moment later the back door flew open and banged against the kitchen wall. As 8-year-old Benjy ran into the dining room, he inquired about everyone’s whereabouts, accidentally crashing the door against the wall with such force that a small vase dropped to the floor and broke into-pieces.
“Benjy, you naughty boy!” cried Connie. “Whatever will Mom say?”
“Hi, Con. What are you doing here? You don’t want to read anymore, do you?” said Benjy excitedly. “Let’s play something. Look what I found today.”
As Benjy emptied his pockets, sticks, rocks, and candies dropped on the floor and rolled in every direction. However, Connie refused to play. She mentioned that she needed to learn the poetry for a test. To Connie’s shock, Benjy suddenly knocked her book out of her hand and ordered her to play with him first.
Connie was annoyed and jumped out of her chair. “Why did you do that?” she cried. “Why can’t you leave people alone?”
“Oh, stuck-up (趾高气扬的), are you?” teased Benjy, pulling Connie’s hair and kicking her book across the room. Unfortunately it hit Baby Sister’s castle and brought it crashing down in ruins.
“Boo-hoo-hoo!” cried Baby Sister. “You’ve broken my castle, and I wanted Mamma to see it. Boo-hoo-hoo!” She picked up a block and cast it as hard as she could at Benjy’s head. He ducked (躲避), and it missed him, striking a picture and breaking the glass.
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。
At this moment the back door opened again and their mother walked in.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Benjy thought a lot about Mom’s advice and decided to make a change.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
