1 . The Self-Portrait Challenge

Have you ever done a self-portrait in an art lesson at school? Today, we’re challenging you to write self-portrait poems. It’s not uncommon to feel like the way people see you on the outside doesn’t quite match up with how you feel on the inside. So creating a self-portrait can be a good opportunity to address those differences and present the realest, truest version of yourself.

Your challenge is to create a self-portrait in lines, using words instead of paint. Read on for some more inspiration.

Writing Tips
● Have a go at writing a list of metaphors exploring your physical appearance, starting from your head and working your way down towards your feet.
● Instead of representing yourself directly, take on another character, such as a fictional character, a historical figure, or even a different version of yourself.
● Play around with personification, by taking on the voice of a physical object in your poem. Think about what a self-portrait from the point of view of a mirror, or a bowl of your favourite food would look like?
How to enter

This challenge is for writers aged up to 25 based anywhere in the world. The deadline is 23:59 GMT, 17 March 2024. You can send a poem, or poems, written down, or as video or audio files. We are using Submittable to accept submissions to this challenge. You will need to make a free Submittable account to submit in this way. Using Submittable helps our team to administrate and process entries more quickly. Selected poets will be published on Young Poets Network.

1. What does the Self-portrait Challenge encourage participants to do?

A．Explore true selves.	B．Convey positive emotions.
C．Illustrate personal profiles.	D．Compare different personalities.

2. What is suggested to better handle the challenge?

A．Using simple language.	B．Presenting yourself directly.
C．Taking a different point of view.	D．Focusing on physical appearance.

3. What is “Submittable” likely to be?

A．A writing tool.	B．A search engine.
C．An email account.	D．An online platform.

2 . Janet, now 37, was playing with her new pet dog, Stitch, who jumped up, grabbed her sleeve, and tore several holes in her sweater with its sharp teeth. Instead of throwing the sweater away, Janet decided to repair it.

She turned to “visible repairing,” an idea of repairing clothes that leaves an obvious fix. She added bright flowers and other small designs to damaged clothes. “Every time you do a repair, it’s like having bought a new piece of clothes,” says Janet.

Actually, repairing is a great opportunity to realize the urgent (迫切的) need to reduce waste. Sadly, we have become used to replacing things instead of repairing them — and the rubbish is piling up. Worldwide, we throw away 92 million tons of cloth every year. Electronic waste is another growing problem: About 50 million tons of it is created each year around the world.

The good news is that fixing things can help deal with the waste problem. There are some solutions. Due to information online, the popular how-to site iFixit.com , a database (数据库) with nearly 100,000 repair brochures for everything from electronics to clothing, has promoted more than 100 million repairs. In addition, since the first Repair Café opened in2009 in Amsterdam, more than 2,700 cafés have been set up to offer in-person fix-it help in various countries. Organizers set up events, and volunteers with repair knowledge bring their tools. They will try to fix whatever people bring in, for free, and teach visitors how to do repairs themselves.

Fixing things is part of a larger change toward a circular economy —the idea that instead of throwing away things once they are broken or out of date, we reuse or repair them, keeping them out of the landfill (垃圾填埋场) for as long as possible. According to a 2023 report from Circle Economy, a Netherlands-based NGO, if the world changed to a circular economy, we could lower the amount of waste by a third.

1. What is the author’s purpose in mentioning Janet?

A．To praise her way of protecting pets.

B．To introduce special clothing designs.

C．To call for attention to repairing things.

D．To market the products of fixed clothes.

2. What can we learn from the numbers in paragraph 3?

A．The action of replacing things is wise.

B．The behaviour of repairing things is popular.

C．The need for reducing clothes is urgent.

D．The problem of producing waste is serious.

3. How do people deal with the waste problem according to paragraph 4?

A．By teaching volunteers repair knowledge.

B．By sharing tips on opening repair cafés.

C．By providing information to the repair database.

D．By offering online and off line help to encourage repairs.

4. Which of the following behaviours contributes to the circular economy?

A．Jim threw away a used bike.	B．Jackson mended a torn sofa.
C．Sue replaced a worn carpet.	D．Windy removed a broken vase.

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Harmony is a core value of China’s Hehe culture, which is    1     (wide) appreciated in modern Chinese society.

The term “Hehe” (和合)     2     (consist) of two Chinese characters that have the same pronunciation but different meanings: the first means harmony, and the second means convergence. In short, Hehe culture involves    3     (seek) common ground while reserving differences, and it means harmonious coexistence and coordinated development. Liuchixiang, a 2-meter-wide alley in Anhui’s Tongcheng City, is a location in China    4    has its own story of harmony.

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi over 300 years ago, high-ranking official ZhangYing received    5    letter from his family in Tongcheng, his hometown. In their letter, they told Zhang that they had quarreled    6    property boundaries with their neighbor, Wu, and asked for help.

Zhang replied to their letter with a poem: “A letter is written, just for a wall.     7    it moves a meter, what harm is done? The Great Wall still stands tall today, yet    8    (go) is its builder, Emperor Qinshihuang.”

Enlightened by his reply, the Zhang family decided    9     (bring) their walls back by approximately one meter. Deeply moved by their generosity, the Wu family also brought their walls back by a meter, and the two households created a 2-meter-wide alley between their homes for passersby.

The alley is now a popular    10     (attract) that is traversed daily by locals.

4 . Strawberry U-Pick at the Boyd Farm

Strawberry U-Pick Season is starting! For now, we are open Monday to Friday from 10 a. m. to 3: 30 p. m. and every weekend from 9 a. m. to 5: 30 p. m. !

Not only do we have our u-pick strawberry fields, we also have fresh produce, prepicked strawberries, snacks and other farm goodies for you to buy. We also have lots of fun activities for the family—hayride with the cows, horse ride, animals to pet and feed, swings, slide, sand pile, corn hole, corn pile and more!

Admission
Admission is $5/person (3 and under free)
Admission includes:
◆Access to u-pick fields
◆Access to swings, corn hole, sand pile, slide, corn pile and petting zoo
◆1 pound of free-to-take-home strawberries
Admission does not include:
◆Hayride with the cows—$5/person
◆Horse ride—$3/person
◆Animal feed—$2/cup
Important information
★Please don’t leave children unattended in strawberry fields and please don’t walk on the plant beds.
★We recommend bringing something to carry berries home to cut down on waste, but we will have plastic bags if needed.
★Usually strawberry season runs through April. This is entirely weather dependent, however.
★We recommend sunscreen / hat / water / closed-toed shoes!
★Pets are not allowed in the fields due to Food Safety regulations.
1. When is the Boyd Farm open to the public in April?

A．9 a. m. Monday.	B．5 p. m. Tuesday.
C．4p. m. Friday.	D．10 a. m. Sunday.

2. What activity is included in the $5 admission?

A．Hayride.	B．Horse ride.
C．Corn pile.	D．Feeding animals.

3. What is encouraged for visitors?

A．Bringing their pets.	B．Wearing open-toed shoes.
C．Playing in strawberry fields.	D．Taking their own strawberry containers.

5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Whenever you have to write a paper, a letter, or any other document for work or school, you probably head toward the computer. Now, most people reach for     1     (keyboard) faster than they pick up pens. In a Scottish primary school, however, Mr. Norman Lewis is taking a different approach. He feels that neat handwriting     2     (be) still an important skill, so he has his students write not only by hand but also     3     old fashioned fountain pens.

Fountain pens     4     (use) in schools long ago and have been regaining popularity lately because they are refillable. Today, a writer     5     (simple) throws an empty pen away and gets     6     new one.

So far, Mr. Lewis is pleased with the results of his experiment. He reports that his students are taking more care with their work, and their self-confidence has improved as well. He is happy with the     7     (improve) he sees in his students’ writing     8     in his own writing. He knows that computers are here     9     (stay) and that they will not disappear. However, he believes that the practice with fountain pens helps students to focus, to write faster, and they can feel proud of     10     (they).

6 . I was halfway across Indiana headed home to Kentucky when my car broke down. My phone was ______, too. I managed to get to a gas station, but it was Sunday in the early fall, and there was no ______ on duty. I was working my way through university then and had little money for ______ the car.

I sat alongside my car for several hours trying to ______ the heat when an older gentleman ______ to fuel his car.   He asked about my car, and I ______ my predicament (困境). To my ______, the gentleman told me that he had a daughter my age, and then he opened his trunk and ______ a tool set.

Right then and there, this total ______ examined my engine, explaining as he worked that my spark plugs (火花塞) hadn’t been charged for so long that they were ______ to function.   After about an hour, he ______ that my car was safe to finish the trip.

______ came at the hands of a stranger. ______ his clothes, working on a hot September afternoon, this man ______ a college student from disaster, just because she could have been his ______ .

1.

A．busy

B．loud

C．dead

D．secure

2.

A．mechanic

B．policeman

C．manager

D．guide

3.

A．washing

B．parking

C．purchasing

D．maintaining

4.

A．feel

B．beat

C．absorb

D．produce

5.

A．promised

B．refused

C．stopped

D．volunteered

6.

A．solved

B．noticed

C．escaped

D．explained

7.

A．surprise

B．regret

C．amusement

D．disappointment

8.

A．called up

B．pulled out

C．put down

D．threw away

9.

A．liar

B．beginner

C．stranger

D．loser

10.

A．free

B．ready

C．uncertain

D．unable

11.

A．pronounced

B．agreed

C．discovered

D．doubted

12.

A．Tiredness

B．Kindness

C．Loneliness

D．Carefulness

13.

A．Folding

B．Drying

C．Soiling

D．Mending

14.

A．saved

B．called

C．judged

D．banned

15.

A．friend

B．daughter

C．coworker

D．customer

7 . 你校英文报正在开展以 Students’ Time Spent on Physical Exercise Weekly为题的讨论。请使用图表中的调查结果写一篇短文投稿, 内容包括：
1. 描述调查结果;
2. 分析其原因并给出建议。

注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右;
2. 短文的题目和首句已为你写好。

Students’ Time Spent on Physical Exercise Weekly

Nowadays, many students are aware of the significance of physical exercise, although the time they spend on it varies.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . Harry Burleigh headed into the woods for a camping trip with his fishing equipment. A few days later, his wife Stacy grew _________ when he didn’t come home as planned.

Stacy called the _________ to report her husband’s missing. Search and rescue teams _________ began their work and went on for days, but there was no _________ of Harry anywhere. Everyone was worried — the temperatures were quite low some nights, and it had even snowed.

On May 15, the rescuers finally caught a break when they _________ a shelter and his fishing equipment. They _________ support from over 16 rescue organizations, and they explored every possible _________ but with no luck. Therefore, the rescuers _________ him a lighter and a note telling him to make a _________ and they would be back. Two days later, a team found another __________, but this time, Harry was nearby and heard his name called! It turned out he was __________ along the path with minor pain.

__________, the crew radioed for a helicopter to take him to the hospital for a complete evaluation after spending 17 long days out.

“This was the __________ we all have been looking for in this case,” a rescuer said. “It is our __________ search and rescue teams and the partnerships we have with other teams that helped __________ Mr. Burleigh and his family.”

1.

A．excited

B．concerned

C．annoyed

D．puzzled

2.

A．authorities

B．hospital

C．agencies

D．family

3.

A．hesitantly

B．instantly

C．secretly

D．suddenly

4.

A．news

B．hope

C．sign

D．wonder

5.

A．spotted

B．offered

C．sought

D．constructed

6.

A．turned down

B．depended on

C．called in

D．cut off

7.

A．equipment

B．break

C．food

D．path

8.

A．bought

B．left

C．presented

D．fetched

9.

A．fire

B．bed

C．video

D．face

10.

A．river

B．chance

C．team

D．shelter

11.

A．hunting

B．exploring

C．walking

D．marching

12.

A．Amused

B．Awkward

C．Upset

D．Relieved

13.

A．cause

B．outcome

C．award

D．evaluation

14.

A．determined

B．tolerant

C．disciplined

D．flexible

15.

A．affect

B．instruct

C．encourage

D．reunite

9 . For the past two months, Mandy Chen, a second-year student at Beijing University of Technology, has been posting photos of herself to Taobao, posing with a reusable cup, climbing stairs and switching off lights.     1     Taobao’s Al algorithm (算法) calculates that Chen’s use of a reusable cup reduced 15.7 grams of carbon emissions (排放), while her choice to take the stairs instead of the lift resulted in a reduction of 19.5 grams.     2    

After seven days of posting her photos, Chen exchanged the points for a dozen of biodegradable rubbish bags from Taobao. Everyone can get an endless supply of free trash bags if they keep going, according to Chen.     3    

Chen uses Carbon88, a platform launched last August by Alibaba Group Holding, to help the more than 800 million users on Taobao adopt a sustainable lifestyle. The platform rewards users for over 70 low-carbon behaviours.     4     It also recommends products that it considers environmentally sustainable, and gives users points for buying them.

    5     “I didn’t know that my actions could produce such carbon reduction,” Chen said, “Now I feel good for what I’m doing to make this world a tiny bit better. We as a part of society can call for more systemic changes.”

A．It encourages them to reduce their carbon footprint.

B．And her efforts to save electricity prevented 65.50 grams.

C．It’s a valuable addition to current carbon-reduction policies.

D．Carbon reduction has helped increase Chen’s environmental awareness.

E．Within minutes, she receives a dozen points from the app as a reward.

F．They range from taking public transport to shopping of second-hand items.

G．She is now saving points for something better, like snacks and water bottles.

10 . You see a shopper trip over in a busy street. Someone else can help. That’s what you tell yourself. This is the bystander effect in action — the dilution (淡化) of responsibility in the presence of others — and it has been demonstrated in many past studies.

But life is complicated and psychologists have seen exceptional circumstances. Two experiments were conducted by Marco van Bommel and his team using an online chat room for people with extreme emotional problems. Eighty-six students were logged into the forum (论坛) and shown five messages from troubled users. They were told to write a reply if they wanted, but it was entirely up to them.

Basically, participants could see their names on the screen alongside others’ names. A counter also told them if the forum was quiet, with just one other person logged in, or busy, with 30 others online. This arrangement reproduced the classic Bystander Effect-participants were less likely to post replies with more people logged in. However, when the researchers cued (提示) self-awareness by highlighting participants’ names in red on the screen, they posted more replies on a busy forum.

A second study was built on these findings, but this time self-awareness was raised by the presence, or not, of a computer web-camera. Over 100 participants took part. Although told the camera wouldn’t be used until later, those with cameras were asked to check the camera’s indicator-light during the study. The Bystander Effect was reproduced when web-cameras were absent-on busy forums participants posted fewer replies to needy users. By contrast, those cued to be self-aware by the web-cam actually wrote more replies.

Nearly any online community can benefit from the research. The ability to turn hesitant bystanders into eager helpers is a recipe for engagement and collective benefit. As in the research, simple design cues could be integrated to help online users remember they are visible to the community. For example, the size of profile images and specific on-site reminders can be used to highlight how users see themselves within the community.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?

A．The hidden danger of a busy street.

B．The bystander effect in action.

C．The dilution of responsibility.

D．The presence of other people.

2. In the first study, the participants posted more replies to the troubled when

A．there were more emotional problems

B．the counter indicated the forum was quiet

C．their presence was reminded on the screen

D．more individuals were logged in the forum

3. Why is the web-camera used in the second study?

A．To encourage more replies.

B．To reproduce the bystander effect.

C．To further test participants’ mindset.

D．To better record participants’ actions.

4. What strategy can online communities learn from the research?

A．Working together to attract more users.

B．Combining designs to boost users’ memory.

C．Building more platforms for public promotion.

D．Exploring ways to change bystanders into upstanders.