1 . When children are growing up, what they see in their families is what they tend to consider normal. That means family traditions and other activities are generally seen as just normal. If a family eats dinner together or spends time talking with each other, that’s what the child absorbs and internalizes.
Our family traditions are declining as we move toward a more isolated (孤立的) society. How many families no longer share meals around the dinner table, instead choosing to watch TV or text friends on their phones? This tends to isolate and disconnect family members from each other. It also stops families from communicating and catching up on each other’s lives.
For those of us who grew up in a household where families shared meals together and spent time talking with each other, chances are that we are passing along those traditions to our own families. The problem is, children today often want to spend their time in front of screens rather than people. Cell phones, computers and other attention-grabbing devices often mean parents get resistance to traditional family togetherness time. This pressure can lead to parents giving in and letting children do what they want rather than fight with them over sitting at the dinner table. This creates a new normal that no longer values the idea of families and the society at large, connecting with each other.
Family and community traditions are important, not just for the current shared experiences, but for the future as well. Since children internalize their experiences, that means generations to come may not know what it’s like to sit together around the dinner table and truly connect as a family.
That is why it is so important that parents and caregivers create boundaries of behavior that help to keep family traditions alive. If you remember the shared experiences you had with your parents and grandparents, you know the important bonding that took place during those times. It is this shared experience that brings people closer together and is well worth preserving.
1. What is the phenomenon the author describes at the beginning of the text?| A．The increase in shared family meals means a shift towards isolation. |
| B．Increased use of technology replaces traditional family interactions. |
| C．More and more children prefer to spend quality time with the family. |
| D．Family members are more likely to share their updates with each other. |
| A．The inability of parents to understand technology. |
| B．The challenge of preserving traditional family values. |
| C．The influence of technology on children’s education. |
| D．The necessity of controlling children’s digital devices. |
| A．They will be more addicted to advanced technology. |
| B．They will maintain stronger and closer family bonds. |
| C．They may create new and irreplaceable family traditions. |
| D．They may not understand the value of family gatherings. |
| A．Insignificant | B．Irresponsible |
| C．Crucial | D．Overemphasized |
1. What helps Karl most to become successful?
| A．Hard work. | B．Good training. | C．A set schedule. |
| A．He has good meals. | B．He has a good rest. | C．He does more training. |
| A．At about 8: 30 a. m. | B．At about 9: 00 a. m. | C．At about 9: 50 a. m. |
| A．To avoid the mistakes they’ve made. |
| B．To relax themselves completely. |
| C．To know the opposing team. |
1. What’s a disadvantage of the woman’s new house?
| A．It is costly. | B．It is too large. | C．It is inconvenient. |
| A．Old. | B．Modern. | C．Remote. |
| A．In the back of the house. |
| B．In the front of the house. |
| C．Around the house. |
| A．A dining room. | B．A bathroom. | C．A green room. |
Christmas was hanging around. Six-year-old David was thinking what presents he could get from Santa. He wanted slippers; he wanted a silk tie; he wanted some toys. And school starting soon, he also hoped to get something about schooling. In order to get Santa to know what he needed, he thought he would write a letter to Santa, which he believed would bring him those presents. He found a sheet and made a list of the items on it, and then bent down to post the letter up the chimney, waiting for the winds to take it up.
David got up very early on the Christmas morning. He searched his room carefully, but to his disappointment, he didn’t find the presents he hoped for. Hadn’t Santa received the letter? Was he too busy to send him the gifts? Although feeling a little upset, David was convinced that Santa would not forget him and he was bound to receive the items.
Many years had passed and 2019 came. In an old house, a young builder, Lewis Shaw was removing the fireplace with his colleagues when he suddenly found a small piece of paper, which was still in perfect condition even if it had turned yellow. He picked it up and unfolded it. It was a letter written to Santa. The touching hand-written note read:
Dear Father Christmas,
Please can you send me a drum, box of chalks, slippers, silk tie, pencil box, any little toys you have to spare?
Love David
It was then signed off with lots of kisses.
This was the very letter written by David and the house was where he had lived during his childhood! The letter struck Shaw so much. How simple Christmas once was! David didn’t ask for much, just the things he just needed. Nowadays kids always want expensive gifts and take it for granted.
Shaw decided to find out the author of the letter. He shared a photo of the note on Facebook.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5 . If someone created a flying machine capable of tracking you down by listening for your voice, you might be terrified. But what if you were trapped in ruins after a natural disaster and first responders couldn’t locate you? Maybe then a human-seeking drone (无人机) wouldn’t be such a terrible idea. That concept is the focus for engineers at German’s Fraunhofer FIE Institute, who’ve built a drone to find people by detecting (探测) human screams.
“The human-seeking drone would be ideal for post-disaster situations, such as earthquakes, hurricanes and wildfires”, said Macarena Varela, one of the lead engineers. “They could hover over an area that rescue crews have difficulty getting to and locate exactly where people may be trapped.”
Locating people by sound presents its share of challenges. An auditory (听觉的) system would need to distinguish human cries from sounds that often happen in nature, such as animal calls and wind. It might also need to recognize patterns associated with kicking, clapping or other ways people try to get the attention of rescue teams.
Engineers took those situations into account when building out their concept drone. They recorded themselves screaming, tapping and creating other noises that might be a sign of people in trouble. Then, they analyzed each sound frequency to find common signatures and used those to train artificial intelligence software. They also worked to remove the noise created by the drone and other environmental sounds.
Once the software part was complete, the team placed tiny digital microphones under the drone and used signal processing techniques that enabled them to track where human noises are coming from. The microphones also enhanced the volume and clarity of the speech. So far, they have conducted successful open field experiments, finding that the drone can estimate a victim’s location within a few seconds of picking up sound.
Next, they would like to add a higher frequency microphone to a drone to acquire more audio sound signals. The idea is to pick up noises from hundreds of meters away, Varela said. In the real world, victim's location data might one day be sent wirelessly to emergency crews carrying a tablet.
1. What can the auditory system do?| A．Recognize human cries. | B．Pick up sounds from far away. |
| C．Send victim’s location data to a tablet. | D．Improve the quality of human screams. |
| A．Effects. | B．Symbols. | C．Features. | D．Situations. |
| A．Its high speed of flying. | B．Its long working hours. |
| C．Its quick response to screams. | D．Its easy access to disaster scene. |
| A．AI Enables Drones to Give Better Performance |
| B．Human-seeking Drones Replace Rescue Crews |
| C．Rescuers Use Drones to Locate Disaster Survivors |
| D．Engineers Teach Drones to Hunt Human Screams |
My job is just one of the essential jobs, a sanitation（卫生系统）engineer, not a glamorous one, but is considered the alternative. Of course, I never regard it as an ashamed task to be in my position. About the second week of the lockdown because of the Covid-19, I was having trouble finding a sanitizing spray（消毒喷雾）for my truck. The next morning on my way to work at 4 a. m., I stopped at one of the few stores which were open that early, hoping to purchase some. However, it was only open for the police and medical personnel. “Look at my vest please,” I begged to the clerk, “I’m not just buying it for myself.” “I’m more than sorry, sir. But this is just the regulation, and I really can’t help.” replied the smiling girl. As I turned to head back to my car with disappointment, I nearly broke down.
Coming out of the store, my stomach began to call for energy support. I stopped at a 7/11 and ordered an everything bagel（硬面包）with cream cheese to satisfy my poor stomach and my empty heart. It was toasty warm, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. But as I left the store with a little joy coming sweetly from the bagel, I noticed a scene that an old man was sitting at the bus stop, in rags. Knowing that it would probably be his only warm meal of the day, I gave him the bagel without any hesitation. Just when I was ready to turn around for another same bagel, something warming my heart came into being. Another customer, a gentle lady, from the 7/11 offered me half of her bagel. “We everyone should be taken care of at some certain moment.” she said with a tender sweet voice as I smiled to thank her sincerely. I was delighted because I realized that in one way or another, we were all looked after.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
So I decided to go back to the former store to try my luck again for the spray.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Just before I gave up, a local policeman was heading into the store.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
7 . Astronauts traveling in space meet forms of radiation(辐射)that are uncommon on Earth. Some of this radiation has been shown to be harmful to human health. It is linked to cancers and heart problems. Yet a new American study suggests the radiation does not shorten astronauts' lives.
Researchers studied nearly 60 years of health records and other data about male astronauts from the United States. They then compared this data with information about a group of men who are in good health, richer than most Americans and receive good health care-professional athletes. The study found that neither group has higher rates of dying at a young age. In fact, both groups generally live longer than other Americans.
Astronauts are usually well-educated, earn more money and are in better physical conditions than the average Americans Some earlier research has linked being an astronaut to a lower risk of early death, the researchers noted. The findings were reported in the medical journal Occupational&Environmental Medicine.
Much of the existing research on mortality rates(死亡率) in astronauts has not yet explored the mental and physical demands of this job. There also has not been a lot of research on whether astronauts show what is known as the "healthy worker effect". This effect leads people with employment of any kind to have fewer medical problems than people who are unable to work, said Robert Reynolds.
Reynolds said, "The challenge has always been to understand if astronauts are as healthy as they would be had they been otherwise comparably employed but had never gone to space at all. To do this, we need to find a group that is comparable on several important factors."
1. How did researchers carry out their study?| A．By doing interviews. | B．By analyzing some factors. |
| C．By comparing different data. | D．By doing experiments in the lab. |
| A．All radiation is harmful to human health. |
| B．Athletes tend to be poorer than most Americans. |
| C．Healthy worker effect makes working people healthier. |
| D．Research has explored the mental and physical demands of being astronauts. |
| A．They are determined to face the challenge. |
| B．The research is almost impossible to conduct. |
| C．Several important factors hold back the research. |
| D．Astronauts are healthier than they haven’t been astronauts. |
| A．Astronauts--Healthy or Otherwise |
| B．Astronauts Are as Healthy as Athletes |
| C．Radiation Affects Astronauts' Health |
| D．Astronauts--- Well-Educated and Well-Paid |
8 . The whole school was talking about the coming trip at a winter camp. And everyone was
“I’ll hate it,” I told my parents, “I’ll get homesick. I will look stupid at winter sport, and everyone will
“You might be surprised, Bree,” said mum, “The only way to find out is to
“It’s what growing up is all about.” Dad added.
When
“I’m afraid I’ll be homesick,” someone said.
I wasn’t the only one? I began to
“Ha! Ha!” Behind me, someone started laughing. I looked back to see who was making fun of me. To my
At dinner time, I was so happy to to be talking about interesting things that I
The next day, I was
Maybe Dad was right when he said, “You might
Maybe the kind of
| A．excited | B．sad | C．nervous | D．strange |
| A．point | B．laugh | C．aim | D．glare |
| A．move | B．argue | C．apologize | D．try |
| A．running | B．moving | C．throwing | D．arriving |
| A．eat | B．relax | C．ask | D．sleep |
| A．fell down | B．gave up | C．ran away | D．went out |
| A．shame | B．disappointment | C．surprise | D．regret |
| A．suddenly | | B．Hopefully | C．Unhappily | D．Quietly |
| A．pretend | B．forgot | C．refused | D．stopped |
| A．prepared | B．protected | C．chosen | D．allowed |
| A．prevent | B．trust | C．miss | D．enjoy |
| A．winning back | B．growing up | C．showing off | D．working out |
| A．hear | B．dream | C．worry | D．wonder |
| A．new | B．easy | C．right | D．popular |
| A．expect | B．explain | C．admit | D．discover |
9 . People-pleasers want everyone around them to be happy and they will do whatever is asked of them to keep it that way. They put everyone else before themselves. For some, saying “yes” is a habit;
Here is a list of methods to help you stop being a people- pleaser and finally say no.
Think about it.
Whenever someone asks you for a favor, it’s perfectly OK to say that you’ll need time to consider. This gives you the opportunity to think if you can help.
It is also important to ask the person for details about the commitment. Ask yourself: Do I have the time to do this? How pressured am I going to feel ? These questions are key because you need time to think of your must do list and things you don’t want to do.
It’s tempting(诱人的) to want to defend your decision to say no to someone so they understand your reasoning. But this actually backfires（产生反作用）. As soon as you start explaining , you give the other person lots of room to come back and say, “Oh, you can do that later”.“ You can adjust your schedule’ or “That’s not as important as what I am asking.”
Don’t apologize------ if it’s not your fault.
People-pleasers tend to be serial (连续的)apologists. Pay attention to when you’re apologizing and consider if you’re really at fault.
| A．Don’t give a list of excuses. |
| B．Realize you have a choice. |
| C．Say what you’re thinking and what you want. |
| D．People pleasing can have serious risks in fact. |
| E．Ask yourself if you’re responsible for the situation. |
| F．for others, it’s almost an addiction that makes them feel like they need to be needed. |
| G．Because you’re on such overload since you possibly can’t do it all. |
10 . The Munfords were moving into a house they bought. They wanted to see if all the furniture was in good condition before they used it. James Munford was
James and his wife, Clarrisa, who are both retired thought the coins are
“We really didn’t know anything about the
The home’s
The Munfords are still unpacking and their furniture just arrived last week, so they haven’t had a
| A．trying | B．repairing | C．removing | D．checking |
| A．trouble | B．money | C．effort | D．time |
| A．specially | B．actually | C．probably | D．exactly |
| A．got | B．put | C．gave | D．held |
| A．closets | B．drawers | C．cases | D．coins |
| A．return | B．collect | C．sell | D．examine |
| A．number | B．origin | C．value | D．use |
| A．believe | B．care | C．understand | D．agree |
| A．generous | B．real | C．kind | D．former |
| A．named | B．paid | C．rewarded | D．praised |
| A．attempt | B．hope | C．hurry | D．demand |
| A．missing | B．old | C．dangerous | D．secure |
| A．struggled | B．decided | C．helped | D．promised |
| A．place | B．means | C．chance | D．desire |
| A．choices | B．problems | C．suggestions | D．surprises |
