Helen was putting her dress on. It was a bit small, but she could manage.
She would be getting the rent with her father, Mr. Resnick, today. Helen didn’t often get to spend time with her father these days. He was always working, and always trying to make enough money to support the family. The rent was what kept them going during the Depression (经济大萧条). When Helen worried about her too-tight dress, other children had to worry about food or even their homes.
The houses were not far, and three families lived there. Everything went smoothly at the first two apartments, but both Helen and her father were worried about the third. The Katz family never had enough money, and it had become harder and harder to accept their rent, even though her father had lowered it.
Mrs. Katz opened the door when Helen’s father knocked. “Her eyes were red—from crying,” Helen thought. “Good afternoon, Mr. Resnick,” she said, hands nervously smoothing her gray dress.
“How are you, Mrs. Katz?” he asked.
“We’re. we’re getting by (勉强度日),” she said, but she wouldn’t meet his eyes or even Helen’s. “You’re here for the rent.”
“Yes, Mrs. Katz, I’m afraid so.”
“Please come in.”
Inside of the apartment, Mr. Katz and the two children were sitting at a table, waiting for Mr. Resnick. “They all have such thin faces!” Helen thought. She was embarrassed, suddenly, by her own round cheeks and strong body.
Mrs. Katz gave Helen’s father the money. He thanked her and turned to go.
“Mr. Resnick?” Mrs. Katz said before they could leave. He turned to look at her. In a shaking voice she told him, “We haven’t eaten in two days.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为120词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答；
3. 写作提示：第一段可写出Helen和她父亲听到消息后的反应；第二段可写出Helen买东西及众人的反应。
Two days! Helen couldn’t imagine such a thing.
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“Yes, Dad,” she answered and started running on the way to the store.
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2 . My phone was an extension of myself. I couldn’t go anywhere
When I was watching TV shows or movies and there was a boring part, I
I have welcomed silence into my life with open arms and am enjoying the increased
As much as having a smartphone was
| A．through | B．without | C．despite | D．upon |
| A．updates | B．instructions | C．assessments | D．decisions |
| A．symbol | B．responsibility | C．reality | D．addiction |
| A．conscious | B．shameful | C．foolish | D．random |
| A．sell | B．pull | C．throw | D．mind |
| A．avoided | B．denied | C．missed | D．allowed |
| A．assist | B．improve | C．associate | D．occupy |
| A．requests | B．thoughts | C．directions | D．comments |
| A．instead of | B．regardless of | C．but for | D．apart from |
| A．creativity | B．productivity | C．knowledge | D．independence |
| A．routine | B．necessity | C．loneliness | D．temptation |
| A．genuine | B．grateful | C．direct | D．desperate |
| A．naturally | B．certainly | C．seemingly | D．gradually |
| A．wonder | B．imagination | C．interest | D．authenticity |
| A．depressive | B．comfortable | C．stressful | D．boring |
The fourth graders’ school day was coming to an end. Wilson was filling his backpack when a voice came out of the loudspeaker. “Good afternoon, students. This is a reminder that the All-City Math Contest will be in two weeks. The contest is open to fifth and sixth graders, and the top prize is fifty dollars. Please speak to your teacher if you’d like to participate.
“I am confident that I could excel in that contest,” Wilson thought to himself. Determined to participate in the competition, he rushed to his teacher’s desk and told her that he wanted to enter that math contest.
Ms. Jones looked up from her papers and said, “That’s wonderful, Wilson, but I’m afraid that this contest is for fifth and sixth graders only. Besides, our class has not yet covered some of the topics that will be tested.”
Wilson was not ready to give up. He knew he had a natural talent for math. “But you know that I’m good at math!” Wilson protested. “I do math problems with my brother all the time - and he’s in sixth grade! I think I could do really well!”
“You are a very good math student, Wilson, but rules are rules. I’m sure that you can enter next year.”
Wilson came home frustrated and disappointed, stormed upstairs without saying a word to his mother, and slammed the door to his room shut. His mother quickly appeared at his door, knocked, and came in. “Dear, did something happen today?” She was concerned.
Wilson was quiet for a minute, then it all came out. In a burst of emotion, he told his mom about the contest, how excited he was to enter, and how angry he felt when his teacher told him that he wouldn’t be allowed to do so this year. “It’s just not fair, Mom,” he complained. “I know I could really do well on it. Why won’t they let me?”
Wilson’s mother put her hand on his shoulder. “Sometimes, son,” she said softly, “people follow rules even when they don’t make sense. Perhaps you can persuade your teacher to make an exception for you.”
Wilson perked up: he had an idea.
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。
The next day, Wilson went straight to Ms. Jones’ office.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Forty minutes later, he finished Ms. Jones’ test and handed it to her.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . We may weep for the dodo, but could and should we bring this lovely bird back from the dead? De-extinction is the science of restoring lost species and it has been in the news for decades.
The story in modern times began in 1990 when Michael Crichton published his science fiction novel Jurassic Park, in which he imagined a world where scientists were able to bring dinosaurs back to life. Crichton imagined that polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technology could be a way to amplify (放大) tiny quantities of dinosaur DNA and thus build a living embryo.
Sadly, biologists soon realized that DNA in fact breaks down super-fast; even after 100 years, DNA from museum skins of dodos was decayed (腐烂) beyond repair. They could be sequenced (测定序列) using massive computational power, but then only with considerable uncertainty. And even if you capture a DNA sequence, there’s still the problem of how you get living cells to read that sequence and express proteins that make the dinosaur or the dodo.
But why would anyone want to see mammoths, or something like them, roaming (漫游) present-day Siberia? Well, they were undoubtedly amazing beasts. As well as hunting them, our distant ancestors painted their likenesses in caves across Europe. Fascinating as they may be, there's some ecological justification for the project too.
It was this diversity of land surface, broken up by heavy limbs and randomly fertilised by faeces (排泄物), that supported so much flora (植物群). Without the mammoths, that diversity disappeared. Return them and landscapes would once again be with a variety of species, including flowers and bushes.
True, it’s not de-extinction in the sense of bringing a long-dead species back to life. Instead it’s more like making a “dodo” by engineering a modern pigeon, its closest relative, to become huge and flightless. The result would be a big, fatty pigeon that, whether it looked like a dodo or not, would probably fulfil some of its ecological roles.
As a palaeontologist, I would of course love to see living dinosaurs, mammoths and dodos. In some ways, though, I am relieved that the optimistic claims for cloning and genetic technologies have not been borne out. The slowdown gives us time to consider the outcomes—and hopefully avoid some of Michael Crichton’s more fevered imaginings.
1. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?| A．A science fiction review. | B．The development of DNA. |
| C．An inspired guess of de-extinction. | D．The application of PCR technology. |
| A．DNA is hard to keep for long. | B．Computational power is limited. |
| C．Biologists are opposed to it. | D．Living cells cant be sequenced. |
| A．They expect to seek hunt fun. | B．They lack sources of modern art. |
| C．They need them for research. | D．They want to see biodiversity. |
| A．Cautious. | B．Unclear. | C．Dismissive. | D．Approving. |
It’s common to see a barista create coffee art (咖啡拉花), but
Over the past six years, the 40 year old Shanghai artist
Han has been
With his increasing input to the art, Han quit his job at the games company in 2019 and has been spreading dian cha culture ever since. He put the process of dian cha
The Class Poet(诗人)
When Thanksgiving Day was approaching (临近), my primary school decided to celebrate(庆祝 ) by presenting shows with dancing and singing that all students could join in. Parents would also be invited to watch.
One afternoon, my teacher called me into his office. He said with a smile, “Nancy, could you write a poem (诗) and read it during the coming event?” “Of course,” I answered excitedly. I had loved poetry since fifth grade. When my first poem was published, my friends and teachers started to describe me as the class poet.
I left the schoolmaster’s office that afternoon feeling quite happy. Then, for weeks, I worked on my poem, carefully designing the content, structure and sound. I practiced reciting(朗诵)it aloud every day.
When the evening for the event finally came, I was ready. Well, I was ready until I looked around and realized how many people there were in the school hall. How could I present my poem in front of more than 400 people? I was just a seventh-grader. No one would take my work seriously. What was worse, I had never spoken in front of a huge crowd before. I sat in my chair, wanting to bury(隐藏) myself. Maybe they would forget I was supposed to read.
“Hey, Nancie, I saw your name in the program. Good luck,” my little brother shouted. His voice rose as he took his seat a few rows (排)down with his class. I nodded (点头), struggling to keep calm. I knew my parents were somewhere in the hall. Before long, the lights faded (暗下来), the crowd went quiet, and the schoolmaster got on stage to introduce the list of performers. My name was at the end of the list, so I had to sit through an hour of absolute anxiety.
It wasn’t until the students from the fourth grade were singing that my teacher led me downstairs to the area next to the stage. My mind was blank (空白的). Then suddenly, I was on stage with the bright white lights blinding (使眼花) my view of the audience. When I walked to the microphone in the center of the stage, I somehow tripped (绊倒) over something and stupidly fell down. All of the kids burst into laughter.
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。
I was about to run away when my teacher came up to me
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I finished my reading, the hall was silent at first.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________At a neighbor’s pool the summer after sixth grade, Charley shouted out those famous last words, “Hey, watch this!” As he dove into the pool, Tad froze. It wasn’t the deep end!
Charley was hurt bad when he hit the bottom of the swimming pool. The doctor said he might have broken his back and could lose the use of his legs. His life would change forever. Tad didn’t see Charley for over a month after he was carried away in the screaming ambulance.
When Tad went to visit Charley in the hospital, his “Hey, dude, how’s it going?” was greeted by an annoyed grunt (嘟哝声) . Looking small and pale, Charley cried, “I can’t walk-how do you think I feel? I wish I was dead!”
“Bro, you’ll get well! You’re tough.”
“No, the doctor said I won’t.”
“Aw, man. That’s horrible!” And the conversation died right there.
Tad didn’t go back after that. He just didn’t know what to say. When Charley got out of the hospital, Tad went over to his house a few times and played video games, but it just wasn’t the same. Not only was his friend’s body damaged, so was his spirit. Tad had made friends with other boys who enjoyed all the things he and Charley used to do. Even if he felt sad and guilty, he wasn’t spending more time at Charley’s. Tad wanted to help and be a good friend but didn’t know how now.
Charley just became sadder and sadder, and Tad spent less and less time with him as the school year passed.
When summer break started again, Tad didn’t see much of Charley. He had made the baseball team and didn’t have time for video games. At least he told himself that was the reason. He was shocked right before eighth grade started when he saw Charley sailing down the sidewalk with a big black dog by his wheelchair. “Wow, what’s this?” Said Tad, running over to his friend.
“This is Rowdy! He helps me.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式作答。
“Wow, what does he do?” Tad was interested.
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After that, Tad could sense something had changed.
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At the end of the fifth grade, there was a burst of excitement in the classroom. The school year was almost over, and we would be moving on to a new school for the sixth grade. All the girls made autograph books (签名册) and collected signatures.
As I signed my classmates’ books, I noticed their moms had written in them, too. Such sweet thoughts were expressed, “I couldn’t be prouder of you. Can’t wait to see how you like junior high!” “You’re graduating. Congratulations! We love you and know you have a bright future!” ...
I asked my mother to sign mine, too. She was busy, but she said she’d sign it. Several days later, when I asked about it, she told me she just forgot. Anyway, she handed it back to me later. I was anxious to see what encouraging words she had written. And this is what I found on the page:
When a thing is first begun,
Never leave it till it’s done.
Be the labor great or small,
Do it well or not at all.
Mom
My heart sank. That was it? I was disappointed that there were no words of pride or encouragement. It was just a stupid poem-another indication to me that if I couldn’t be perfect, I wasn’t good enough.
I held back my tears, not expressing my disappointment.
That page in that handmade book bothered me for years,
I battled perfectionism and low self-respect and never felt good enough for most of my life. Many times, I gave up on things after I barely got started. All I could hear was "You’re not good enough."
When my mother was in her eighties and in a nursing home, I gave her a book to fill out so we could know more about her. It had hints (暗示) at the top of each page and then blank space to respond. I wanted her to write down her memories and a lifetime of experiences, so I. along with her grandchildren, would have some precious sections of her life.
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。
In the beginning, she was very excited.
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One day I went to the nursing home to see her, only to find her sleeping, with the book lying beside her.
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| A．By plane. | B．By car. | C．By train. |
1. What is the purpose of the speaker?
| A．To forecast the weather. | B．To keep people informed. | C．To make an advertisement. |
| A．A terrible storm. | B．Heavy air traffic. | C．Mechanical problems. |
| A．Change their flight route. | B．Offer them free hotels. | C．Return all their money. |
| A．Cairo. | B．Panama. | C．Buenos Aires. |
