1 . A speech in a play by Shakespeare can be as short as a word or as long as several hundred. But what is the most common length?
Staying away from Shakespeare himself for a moment, we can take Ben Jonson’s play Volpone (1606) and count the number of speeches and their lengths. The most common length is four words. The next most common length is five words. Of the other 16 Jonson’s plays, 12 also have a speech length mode (模式) of four. It was not just Jonson; it was everybody. After 1602, four-word speeches were the most common kind across all the early modern plays that survived.
The London theatre industry took off in the late 1580s and early 1590s and we see a concentration of speech length modes of nine or ten. After 1602, the mode of four predominated. If we look just at Shakespeare’s plays, we find him doing what everyone else did: changing from favoring nine-word speeches to favouring four-word speeches around 1597-1602 and never going back.
Our suggestion is that the playwrights (剧作家) learned progressively from one another how to represent more closely the speech lengths of everyday exchanges and found that audiences responded well to these. They started to focus less on strict writing rules and more on the liveliness of everyday speech.
Another way to think of this is offered by the Russian literary scholar Boris Yarkho. He put forward an “index (指数) of liveliness” — the ratio of the number of speeches to the total number of lines in a play. He researched the works of the 17th-century French playwright Pierre Corneille and found that his comedies have a higher index because of their shorter speeches. The move from a mode of nine words to a mode of four represents the shortened average speech, and thus a move to livelier drama in Yarkho’s terms.
Nevertheless, we have no record of any dramatist or playgoer reflecting on the shortening of average speech lengths; our only knowledge of it comes from counting the words in the plays for ourselves.
1. What happened in English plays around the 1600s?| A．Their storylines were about famous writers. | B．They were influenced by a poetic writing style. |
| C．They featured different storytelling techniques. | D．Their speeches were generally shorter in length. |
| A．Remained unique. | B．Took the leading position. |
| C．Disappeared slowly. | D．Played an educational role. |
| A．To challenge traditional writing rules. | B．To stand out by applying their unique style. |
| C．To avoid being affected by social values. | D．To create realistic and acceptable speeches. |
| A．It saved actors the trouble of memorizing their lines. |
| B．It reflected people's preference for serious dialogues. |
| C．It helped present dramas in an active and pleasant way. |
| D．It made the characters express their feelings effectively. |
I will share the kind act that I met with all of you. We had dozens of restaurant options within a short distance, so we often took advantage of this luxury. On one occasion, I ran out to get some food. I saw the clouds in the distance and decided I could make it there and come back in time, but I was wrong. I was about to leave the restaurant when the rain just poured. The street was flooded within minutes.
But I had my little girl and husband waiting for me back at home, and they were hungry, so I knew I had to make a run for it. The owner of the restaurant tried to encourage me to wait inside, but I insisted that I should go. At this point, he grabbed his umbrella and said, “Okay, let’s go.” Of course I tried to convince him that it wasn’t necessary for him to walk me home, but I knew I wouldn’t prevent him from doing so. So off we went. We quickly realized that the umbrella wouldn’t help much in keeping us dry. He walked me all the way to my apartment building, where he said goodbye and ran back to the restaurant.
Again I encountered this act of kindness when I was making my way to the bus. As I waited at the crosswalk (人行道), it began to rain lightly. Nothing was too bad, but a young guy nearby felt like it was heavy enough to make him step next to me and hold his umbrella above both of us. After a while, the lights turned green. I thanked him and walked across the street.
Getting around the city when you are six months pregnant (怀孕的) and have a two-year-old kid can be challenging sometimes. One spring afternoon, I realized I needed something from the store to finish preparing for dinner. The weather seemed a bit questionable but the store was around the corner so I decided to risk it.
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:
It wasn’t raining when we left so we didn’t carry my umbrella.
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As we crossed the street the woman offered me her umbrella.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. How do students enter the library?
| A．With a password. | B．With a student card. | C．With a library account. |
| A．At most 11. | B．At most 12. | C．At most 9. |
| A．Books borrowed by local citizens. |
| B．Books published recently. |
| C．Books loved by many people. |
| A．Tell the students where to buy drinks. |
| B．Show the students around the library. |
| C．Take the students on a campus tour. |
Dora Kellert was the school’s spelling bee champion, winner of the reading contest at the public library three summers in a row and the playground grand champion in chess. She was a straight-A student.
Though Dora was talented, she was no good at sports. She could not figure out in which direction to kick the soccer ball. She was no good at baseball or basketball either. It wasn’t until last year, when she was eleven years old, that she learned how to ride a bike. And even then she had to use training wheels.
“I’ll never be good at sports,” she thought one day as she lay on her bed staring at the shelf her father had made to hold her trophies (奖杯). “How I wish I could win something, anything, even marbles (弹珠).”
At the word “marbles,” she sat up, “That’s it. Maybe I could be good at playing marbles.” She jumped out of bed and found a can full of her brother’s marbles. “Yes,” she thought. “I could play marbles, and marbles is a sport.” At that moment she realized that she had only three weeks to practice. The playground championship was coming up. She had a lot to do.
To strengthen her wrists (腕关节), she decided to do twenty push-ups on her fingertips, five at a time. By the end of the first set she was breathing hard. She did one more set and decided that was enough push-ups for the first day. She squeezed (握) a rubber eraser one hundred times, hoping it would strengthen her thumb (大拇指). This seemed to work because the next day her thumb was painful. She could hardly hold a marble in her hand, so Dora rested that day and listened to her brother’s tips on how to shoot.
After school the next day she practiced three hours straight. After practice, she squeezed the eraser for an hour. Practice, practice, practice. Squeeze, squeeze, squeeze. Dora got better and even beat her brother for the first time.
注意：1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Time flew and soon came the big day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Dancing home, she placed the trophy on the middle of the shelf.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was my tenth birthday and I would have the biggest party ever. The guest list began with a few close friends. But in the two weeks before that special Friday night, it had quickly grown from seven girls to a total of seventeen. Nearly every girl in my fifth-grade class had been invited to come to my house for a big celebration. I was especially happy when each guest I invited excitedly accepted the invitation. But as I later realized, I would truly treasure only one gift I received that night.
The family room was filled with shouts and laughter. We had just finished a game and were lining up for a dance when the doorbell rang. I hardly paid attention to who might be at the door. What did it matter? Everyone I liked from school was there, in my family room.
“Judy, come here for a minute,” Mom called from the front door.
I walked toward the front door, and then stopped. My mouth dropped open and I could feel my face turning red, for there on the front porch (门廊) stood Sarah Westly — the quiet girl who sat next to me in music class — and she was holding a gift.
I thought about the growing list. “How had I forgotten to invite Sarah?”
I remembered that I only added a name to the list when someone had shown an interest in me. But Sarah had never done that. Never once had she asked me about my birthday party. Never once did she step into the circle of kids surrounding (围绕) me at lunchtime. And once she even helped me carry my schoolbag while I held my science project walking to our third-floor classroom.
I guess I had forgotten to invite her simply because she wasn’t pushing to be invited. I accepted the gift from Sarah and asked her to join the party.
“I can’t stay,” she said, looking down. “My dad’s waiting in the car.”
“Can you come in for a little while?” I nearly begged (恳求). By now I felt pretty bad about forgetting to invite her and did want her to stay.
“Thanks, but I have to go,” she said. “See you Monday.”
注意:1.续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
I had no choice but to say goodbye to her.
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Now, I realized that Sarah was my true childhood friend.
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The library was typically so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. But on this Wednesday afternoon, there was a roar of laughter that spread through the halls. It was coming from a table in the back. Books were piled so high that one could barely see the source of all the noise. Brian and Josie were hiding behind the mountain of history texts, their faces bright red from laughing.
Mrs Cane, the librarian, followed the laughter and then approached the table. As she cleared her throat and looked over the piles of books, Brian and Josie looked up to meet her gaze. Mrs Cane looked at the books, then at the kids. “And what is it you two are supposed to be working on?”
Brian hesitated a moment, and then answered, “We’re working on a paper for our history class.”
“I see,” Mrs Cane said harshly. “Perhaps one of the private reading rooms would be a better place for you to concentrate and study. Quietly.”
The kids collected their books and their backpacks and followed Mrs Cane down a long hallway until they got to a dark row of doors. Mrs Cane pulled out a ring of keys from her pocket and unlocked a door. She turned on the light, which shone brightly overhead. The kids placed their books on the dusty table and reluctantly (不情愿地) climbed into the chairs. Brian and Josie shrugged (耸肩) and opened their books, finally focusing on the project at hand.
Time was ticking away. After what seemed like hours, Brian and Josie decided to take a break and when Josie opened the door of the room, Brian’s eyes opened wide. The library was completely dark. Looking at his watch, he let out a gasp. “It’s 9:30! The library closed an hour ago!”
Paragraph 1:Brian looked through his backpack for his cellphone.
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They heard a noise that sounded like a telephone ringing.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Holidays are not necessarily for fun or rest. Doing something meaningful can also gain special pleasure. When the final bell rang, the students were reminded that there was no school on Monday—the Labor Day. “Enjoy your extra day off” said the teacher to her class.
An extra day off unsuited Kayla just fine. She loved breaks. She wanted to go out to play with her friends. When the school bus dropped Kayla off, she ran into the house happily.
“How was school, Kayla?” asked her mom.
“It was great, Mom. I am excited about no school on Monday.”
“You just started back to school two weeks ago. Already in need of a break, huh?” asked Kayla’s mom with a laugh.
Kayla slept in the next morning. Saturday was her favorite day of the week. I trained most of the day, so Kayla enjoyed playing videogames inside. On Sunday, her friends came over and they played basketball for several hours.
Then it was Labor Day, you know, the extra day off that Kayla was so looking forward to. But Kayla was awakened early that morning by her dad. He told Kayla that in honor of Labor Day, the family would be cleaning both inside and outside the house. Kayla couldn’t believe it. This was a holiday. A day when she was supposed to be enjoying freshly squeezed lemonade while playing in her tree house. As Kayla wiped here yes, she began to wonder if this was just a bad dream.
“Kayla, your breakfast is ready. We have a lot of work to do today. Let’s get a move on,” said Kayla’s mom. As she sat down at the kitchen table, Kayla asked her parents，
“Are you serious about working today? Isn’t Labor Day a holiday?”
“Yes, Kayla. It is,” replied her dad. “But your mom and I thought working hard today would make you appreciate why Labor Day was observed in the first place.”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右;2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At first Kayla felt disappointed at her parents’ plan for the holiday.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________But things began to change as she was doing the chores.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As an epic (史诗)
Produced by Light Chaser Animation, a Beijing-based animated studio known for its focus on tales inspired by traditional culture and mythology, the movie
Xie Junwei, who co-directs the movie with Zou Jing, says that he made multiple trips to Xi’an in search of inspiration during the production,
9 . My photographs are the items I would definitely take or guard in case of an emergency. But what else? This was the question I asked myself as a
Unlike some friends and
Because when you hear the roar of the winds, or when something
As
Months and years after the hurricane, I often told people that there are two parts to
But we will do it,
| A．flood | B．drought | C．wildfire | D．hurricane |
| A．hosts | B．partners | C．relatives | D．architects |
| A．applying | B．packing | C．exchanging | D．delivering |
| A．sign | B．gap | C．clue | D．summary |
| A．kit | B．gym | C．space | D．greenhouse |
| A．rests | B．erupts | C．carves | D．cracks |
| A．cheap | B．expensive | C．graceful | D．economic |
| A．destruction | B．appreciation | C．challenge | D．determination |
| A．as usual | B．as follows | C．as scheduled | D．as promised |
| A．annoyed | B．amazed | C．confused | D．frightened |
| A．escaped | B．protested | C．identified | D．processed |
| A．causing | B．preventing | C．surviving | D．suffering |
| A．cutting out | B．putting back | C．giving up | D．working out |
| A．devotedly | B．creatively | C．individually | D．dependently |
| A．in favor of | B．in times of | C．in need of | D．in search of |
After his wife passed away, Stewart had to take on all the parental responsibilities, and it also meant paying for all the expenses alone. When his twin sons’ 7th birthday came, he couldn’t buy them the gifts they wanted. When his daughter was laughed at because of her worn-out shoes, he couldn’t buy her a pair of new shoes immediately. Stewart felt sorry that he could not give his children a good life, so he tried his best to look after them well and worked more than one shift (换班) a day to give them as happy a life as possible.
When Christmas came that year, Stewart tried to prepare the children’s favorite food because he had no extra money for individuals gifts. Gregory, Sean and Lucy were disappointed but they didn’t want to ruin the day. After having dinner together, the kids went outside to build a huge snowman and had a snowball fight with their dad. That was their family tradition on Christmas Eve Many years passed, and Stewart’s children had their own families. Although they all lived in the same city, they seldom came back and celebrated Christmas with Stewart because they were always busy working.
Stewart would sit in a chair alone, recalling their happy time in the past. One year, Stewart once more sent his children an invitation to spend Christmas together. “Maybe they’ll accept my invitation this year,” he thought.
Stewart waited nervously on Christmas Eve, but no one appeared. Stewart became sad. Just then he heard a short knock on the door. He answered the door excitedly, only to find his grandson Tim—Sean’s son—alone at the door.
“What a surprise!” Stewart smiled. “How did you get here alone?”
Tim said sadly, “Even on Christmas Eve, my parents ignore me. They’re too busy with work. I know how much you love Christmas, so I decided to walk here.”
To cheer Tim up, Stewart decided to get dressed and build a snowman with him. The two walked outside even though Stewart’s doctor warned he would suffer a heart attack if he stayed outdoors for long in cold weather.
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: Anyway, Stewart was determined to make his grandson glad.
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Paragraph 2: Hours later; Stewart woke up in hospital, seeing all his children standing around his bed.
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