Jane was still sleeping when the phone rang in the living room. She opened her sleepy eyes and looked at the clock on the table. It was already nine o’clock! Although Jane was still very sleepy, she knew she had to get up because her mother was working in her office and she couldn’t expect her younger brother Tom, who was sleeping like a pig, to answer the Phone. She quickly put on a coat and ran to the living room. When she picked up the receiver, on the other end came the warm greeting, “Good morning!”
It was from her father, who was a seaman and rarely came back. Suddenly, Jane’s sleepiness disappeared.
Born in a not-so-rich family, Jane and Tom felt the stress of life, but they were happy to enjoy the family atmosphere. At school, they were straight-A students and took part in various after-school activities. They were the pride of the family.
“Good morning, Dad. Why do you call us so early on the weekend?” Jane said and pretended to be annoyed. “Tom and I have been very nice recently.” “My dear, today is your mother’s birthday, and I have ordered a cake online and it will be sent to our home late in the afternoon. Do remember to take the cake. It is my surprise for your mother.”
Hearing her father’s words, Jane felt a little ashamed. How could she forget her mother’s birthday?!
While she was chatting with her father, Jane looked around the room and saw a lot of dirty clothes on the sofa. The floor hadn’t been cleaned for a few days since her mother had to work all this week.
She looked at the clock again and was sure that she still had enough time to prepare a surprise for her mother.
“Well, Dad, now I’m going to wake Tom up. We will give Mum a surprise, too!” Jane said and hung up the telephone.
注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Jane hurried to Tom’s room and shared her plan with him.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Happy birthday, Mum!” Jane and Tom shouted when their mother opened the door.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was in the afternoon before the end of the Second World War that Antonio Black, who was twelve, caught sight of a beautiful brooch (胸针) in a shop window. The brooch is so beautiful that he was unwilling to leave the store until he had purchased it. But it was too expensive — $5. His family was very poor and his parents struggled to make ends meet. Five dollars would buy almost a week’s food for his family.
Antonio couldn’t ask his father for the money. Everything his father made through fishing went to his mother, Susan. Slim and beautiful, his mother was the center of the home and the glue that held it together. The housework was never-ending, and she struggled to feed and clothe their five children, but she was happy as her family and their well-being were all she cared about.
Nevertheless, he opened the shop’s door and went inside. Standing proudly and straight in his flour-sack (面粉袋改做的) shirt and washed-out trousers, he told the shopkeeper what he wanted, adding, “But I don’t have the money right now. Can you please hold it for me for some time?”
“I’ll try,” the shopkeeper smiled. “People around here don’t usually have that kind of money to spend on things. It should keep for a while.”
Antonio respectfully touched his worn cap and walked out. He would raise the money and not tell anybody, for he thought Mum would be surprised when she saw that brooch. On hearing the sound of hammering (锤打) from a side street, Antonio suddenly had an idea that he could raise money by selling the used nail bags. People built their own homes in Bay Roberts, using nails bought in bags from a local factory. Sometimes the used bags were thrown away at the construction site, and Antonio knew he could sell them back to the factory for five cents a piece. That day he sold two nail bags and hid the money in a rusty soda tin.
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。
Every day after school, Antonio started his plan.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The day finally came!
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When coming to this city for high school, I moved into the new house with my parents. We were very grateful to the owner for renting us this house at a cheap price. The house was really comfortable to live in. It was warm inside and full of life outside.
A tree in the front yard attracted my attention, and all I could confirm was that it was a fruit tree. My father thought it was a fig(无花果) tree, and sure enough, as the months went by, the tree grew huge leaves and finally bore the fruit—figs, the size of my fist. How wonderful they were! I took many pictures of the fig tree. And then we wondered how to deal with the figs. My mother thought for a while and said, “Why not try making fig jam?” I responded quickly, “That’s a good idea!”
Jack, one of our neighbors, just visited us and asked if he could pick some figs from our tree. Certainly, we encouraged him to take as many as he liked. In fact, Jack was extremely polite and friendly to us. He introduced himself at the first sight of us. He always waved to me as he came home or as he left for work.
When I picked the figs with him, he told me about how he had been living in the house next door for close to twenty years. He said, “Bruce, the owner of the house you live in now, used to be my best friend. And we had planted this very fig tree a few years before he went to the nursing home.” I was amazed to know that we actually enjoyed the fruit of his work. He told me that he was so impressed by the quality of the fruit this year. I found a fruit box for him to put the figs in. Both of us enjoyed the pleasure of sharing.
When Jack set out for his home, I turned to my parents and advised doing something in return for Jack and Bruce’s kindness and friendliness.
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.
Finally, we decided to invite Jack and his family to dinner that night.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next day, our family and Jack visited Bruce in the nursing home.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4 . It is hard to imagine that plants or animals could ever exist on Mars. But scientists continue to look for evidence. NASA, America’s space agency, has found evidence that, a long time ago, there was surface water on the Mars. Scientists believe water is necessary for life as we know it. So since that discovery, they have been looking for chemicals that would be present if there once was or still is life on the planet.
At a December 13 meeting in California, NASA scientists reported an important discovery on Mars. They said for the first time that they had found very small amounts of boron(硼). Boron is important because it could help build RNA molecules(分子). And RNA molecules are important because they are one of the basic building parts for life.
One of the next steps in the scientists’ search for life on Mars comes soon. The next spacecraft is planned to launch. It will bring rocks from Mars back to Earth. Scientists in Britain are getting ready for those Mars rocks now. Before this, using a powerful microscope(显微镜), they have already examined 200-million-year-old volcanic rocks found deep in the Pacific Ocean. The microscope showed holes on the rocks caused by tiny living things called microbes(微生物). Microbes are the oldest form of life on Earth.
Next, the scientists in Britain will examine rocks which contain ancient material from Mars. The material comes from a time when Mars would have been more likely to support life. The scientists hope to get the same findings in the rocks from Mars as the ones they saw in the ocean rocks. If they do, they predict that the rocks coming directly from Mars will also show signs of life. That, in turn, could finally prove that we are not alone in the universe.
1. What caused scientists to look for evidence of life on Mars?| A．The discovery of plants. | B．The discovery of chemicals. |
| C．The discovery of surface water. | D．The discovery of RNA molecules. |
| A．It is hardly seen on the earth. | B．It might prove the existence of life. |
| C．It might cause the holes on the rocks. | D．It is the most necessary part of life. |
| A．Tiny living things. | B．Ancient material from Mars. |
| C．Volcanic rocks. | D．Holes caused by microbes. |
| A．Scientists Try To Look For Life On Mars |
| B．Does Surface Water Really Exist On Mars? |
| C．A Discovery Of Life In The Pacific Ocean |
| D．Boron-An Important Chemical Supporting Life |
Nowadays, the life of many people in the world
1．推荐要参观的建筑；
2．约定参观的时间；
3．提出其他建议。
注意：
1．词数80左右；
2．可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
1. What might the speaker be?
| A．A teacher. | B．A student. | C．A principal. |
| A．Texas. | B．California. | C．Nevada. |
| A．Put new soda machines in the cafeteria. |
| B．Build a new baseball field. |
| C．Set up a technology lab. |
| A．It will be free. |
| B．It will be very popular. |
| C．It will benefit everyone. |
1. What does the woman think is the problem living on the moon?
| A．Money. | B．Distance. | C．Technology. |
| A．A space pioneer. | B．A moon settler. | C．A shuttle designer. |
| A．It is very cool. | B．It isn’t practical. | C．It is reasonable. |
Everything about moving day was a puzzle. I didn't know anything about our new building on a new street. Our old life was broken into pieces and packed up in piled boxes. I wondered if it would ever fit back together again.
Mom introduced me to our new neighbours, the Chens. Mrs Chen worked with Mom at the job she'd just started. Mr Chen was a famous craftsman(匠人) from China.
Mom said it was a fresh start, but it felt broken to me. I just wanted things to go back to how they had been before.
After the first day at my new school, I walked home alone. Mom had told me she had to work. I was still hoping she'd meet me after the bell. I had to open the door myself with the new key. I felt a bit hungry and went straight into the kitchen, ripping tape from the packed boxes while I searched for a clean plate. My fingers slipped, and something went crashing to the ground.
“Benjamin” cried Mom from the doorway. I didn't hear her come in. “What just broke?” she asked, kneeling to pick up the pieces. In her hands, I recognized the shattered pieces. It was Grandma's bowl. “I can't believe you broke this,” she said.
“Well, I can't believe we have to live here now! I can't believe I have to switch schools, and I can't believe you didn't even meet me after my first day” I ran into my room, slamming the door behind me.
The broom swept across the kitchen floor. Then the click of Mom's bedroom door closed behind her. I sneaked out into the kitchen and found the fragments in the dustbin. There were so many pieces in here, but maybe I could put them back together. Turning the pieces, I tried to match them,but this bowl would never look the same again.
“I'm sorry I yelled,” said Mom, as she opened her door. “Please just throw out the pieces. We can't make a fresh start with broken things.”
As I wandered down the hall, Mr Chen was emptying his garbage.
注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1：
“Are you sure you want to throw that out?” he asked.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2：
I brought the repaired bowl into her room.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . Istman Simon’s factory in western Hungary produces more than one million plastic parts every day. But on a busy morning in one of its large production areas, there is only the sound of machines.Workers have all but disappeared.
“We can see human workers being replaced with AI machines. It has already led to job losses,” said Zoltan Laszlo, a Hungarian workers’ leader.
Hungary’s economy grew nearly 5 percent last year. Yet the industry lost nearly 23,000 jobs, ending six straight years of employment growth. In the Czech Republic, employment numbers showed a year-on-year loss of almost a thousand jobs between July and September of last year. This suggests employment could have decreased for the first time since 2013 over the full year in Eastern Europe.
“Workers are becoming more expensive. This is the necessary way to get returns,” said Peter Simon, a manager of Simon Plastics, which is hoping to expand production. But pressured (挤压) by increasing human costs and falling product prices, the plastic industry spent over $3 billion on AI machines last year, he added.
“Employment numbers are one sign that Eastern Europe’s industry may be at a turning point,” said David Marek, an economist with Deloitte. “The average (平均的) yearly increase in human costs in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary is around 10 percent. That is far higher than in many western countries. Factory owners find themselves with little choice but to buy machinery if they want to remain competitive.”
Josef Stredula is the head of the Czech-Moravian Trade Unions. He notes that up to 10 percent of jobs could disappear in the next five years.
“Big changes are awaiting us,” Stredula said. He added that although AI machines might free people from heavy or boring physical work, it was important to ease the change, for example, by retraining affected workers. “We have to do everything to make the future easier for everyone,” he said.
1. What are the first three paragraphs mainly about?| A．The problems with Hungary’s economy. |
| B．A factory with advanced AI technology. |
| C．The worries of a Hungarian workers’ leader. |
| D．The increasing job losses in Eastern Europe. |
| A．He is worried about the falling product prices. |
| B．Simon Plastics’ products are very competitive. |
| C．The workers are too expensive in western Hungary. |
| D．The plastic industry has to use more AI machines. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Uncaring. | C．Concerned. | D．Unsupportive. |
| A．AI Machines Are Pushing Workers Out of Their Jobs in Eastern Europe |
| B．Rising Workers’ Payments Lead to Big Job Losses in Eastern Europe |
| C．Eastern European Factories Have Found Ways to Cut Production Costs |
| D．Eastern European Workers Are Freed From Heavy and Boring Works |
