Rikki’s mom was preparing baked beans and mixing up potato salad to go with Saturday night barbecue when Rikki stormed in the front door and marched to her room. She glanced out the window and saw their neighbor Lexi walking back to her house across the road. Mother’s intuition told herself this situation might need some direction.
“Rikki, come in here. I need some help with dinner.” Rikki came out with an obstinate look on her face — the kind that kids have when they know they are wrong but have convinced themselves they are right.
“I noticed that Lexi came over but didn’t stay long. She is your age and in your class at school. Why doesn’t she stay longer?” Mom watched Rikki out of the corner of her eye as she continued to prepare food. “I don’t like her,” Rikki whined. “I wish she would stop coming over here all the time. She dresses terrible, and sometimes she doesn’t smell good. Her nose is always runny, and her hair is tangled. None of us like her.” Mom knew that “none of us” meant the popular crowd Rikki ran with.
“That’s not her fault, Rikki. I don’t know what her family is like, but maybe she doesn’t have anyone to help her. Some kids don’t have the extra things that you and your friends have. That doesn’t make them any less worthy than you.” Rikki replied that she knew that, and those things were not the real issue. “I just don’t like to play with her, Momma. She doesn’t like to do the same things that I do.”
Mom told Rikki to go on outside and play. What she didn’t know, however, was that Rikki’s dad had been watching while he was grilling. He didn’t like the fact that Rikki had ignored Lexi, so he decided to intervene. He wanted to know why Lexi was leaving with her head down and looking so sad.
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。
Then Rikki’s father came over and asked what happened.
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Rikki went with her dad to invite Lexi.
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It was ten years ago. I was at the departure gates of the airport, reading a cartoon book to pass the time while waiting for my parents to check in. A sea of people filled the airport and loud chatter echoed (回响) throughout the vast terminal (航站楼) halls. People were coming in and out of countless doors.
The cartoon shop caught my eye, for it was filled with cartoon figurines (小雕像). I caught sight of a new figurine from my favourite cartoon, “One Piece” it was an action figurine of my favourite character, Luffy! My jaw dropped to the floor and my eyes brightened like diamonds.
Without thinking twice, I ran towards the store. Holding the action figurine carefully in my hands, I imagined the scenes I could come up with using my action figurines at home. Filled with excitement, I hugged the toy and jumped for joy. Unfortunately, I did not have any money on me. Without doubt, I knew I had to share this newfound discovery with my parents!
After returning the action figurine to its shelf, I darted (飞奔) out of the store, retracing my steps back to where I had left my parents. When I reached the location where I had last seen them, I realised that they were nowhere to be found. I tried to look for the terminal departure gate my parents were supposed to be waiting at, but the gates all looked the same. As I stood rooted to the ground, my excitement started to die down. Anxiety enveloped me and my heart started pounding in my chest.
Tears rolled down my hot cheeks like a waterfall as I blamed myself. Why did I have to get distracted and leave my parents without informing them? There were thousands of people at the airport! It would be impossible to find them! Regretting my actions, I blamed myself silently.
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。
Suddenly, my mother’s advice echoed in my mind: “If you are ever lost, don’t panic! Stay calm, and ask for help!”
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A few minutes later, my parents, extremely breathless, appeared at the information counter.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Knitting (针织) has always been a passion of mine. A few years ago, I finished knitting a scarf and couldn’t help but burst into laughter. It was my first attempt at knitting and it hadn’t gone as planned. It was misshaped and far too short, making it only the perfect size for a kid. “I have to show this to the team at work tomorrow,” I thought.
I work at a hospital, where I perform ultrasound scans. It was a stressful job, and humor was always appreciated.
The next day, I brought my delicately knitted scarf to work, and my colleagues couldn’t help but have a good laugh at its tiny size. Then we got back to our patients. Intending to give it to one of my colleague’s children, I casually placed the scarf in a drawer.
One day, as I waited in the examination room to attend to a patient, a very young girl entered. She was about six or seven years old, with curly (卷曲的) hair and wearing a blue coat. In her arms, she held a doll (洋娃娃) that matched her appearance, also sporting curly hair and a blue dress.
The little girl seemed frightened and totally at a loss, constantly avoiding eye contact and refusing to undergo the examination. “Poor kid,” I thought. My heart filled with sympathy and tenderness for such a young patient.
I tried to approach her to offer comfort, reaching out to pa t her shoulder, but she quickly moved away. That’s when I had an idea —I could talk about her doll.
“Is this your friend?” I asked.
She nodded. And now I saw my chance. I continued, “Does she have a name?”
“Yes, she has a name — Nora. It’s from my favorite comic storybook.”
“Your friend Nora is lovely and beautiful, just like you. But honey, it’s getting cold now, and you should probably find her a new coat to keep her warm.”
The little girl listened intently, showing more interest.
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。
Suddenly, I remembered the small and misshaped scarf in my drawer.
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After the examination, the girl’s mother was so surprised at the scarf the doll wore.
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1. How many presidents are there before Lincoln?
| A．15. | B．16. | C．17. |
| A．Rich. | B．Poor. | C．Large. |
| A．Lincoln was elected to the president of the U.S. |
| B．Some southern states wanted to break off. |
| C．Some slaves began to fight for their rights. |
| A．He was one of the greatest lawyers in the U.S. |
| B．He gave one of the most famous speeches. |
| C．He managed to keep his country together. |
Lilly was on her way to meet friends when she noticed an older woman struggling to navigate the railroad tracks in a wheelchair. Her efforts were clearly hindered by the uneven surface and the weight of the chair, and she appeared to be making little progress. Without hesitation, Lilly jumped out of her car and rushed over to assist. However, their attempts failed as both Lilly and the elderly woman fell twice, struggling to get out of harm’s way.
As they scrambled (爬) to their feet, a deafening horn (喇叭) blast rent the air, followed by the blinding flash of lights. A train was barreling down the tracks, its approach growing ever more urgent.
“He was honking his horn and the lights started flashing,” Lilly recalled, her voice trembling as she spoke. “I was like, ‘Oh no, we gotta go now!’”
With adrenaline (肾上腺素) pumping through her veins, Lilly summoned all her strength and managed to pull both herself and the elderly woman to safety just second s before the train thundered past. The narrow escape left her shaken to the core, her heart pounding in her chest.
“It’s a near-death experience,” she said, her voice breaking. “And I’ve never really been that close to death before.” The railroad company later informed her that they had been mere inches away from being struck by the train, a revelation that sent shivers down her spine.
Ardmore Police Chief Jereme Robison, who was called to the scene, recounted the incident to WKRN with a mixture of amazement and relief. “She barely gets herself out of the way, and the train actually still clips the lady’s leg and spins her around,” he said. “I mean, it was like a split second. They almost died.”
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 elderly woman, though injured, was quickly transported to the hospital for treatment.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________News of the incident spread quickly through the community, and Lilly’s actions were praised by all.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . A new study by a team of researchers shows that searching to evaluate the truthfulness of false news articles actually increases the probability of believing misinformation, not the opposite.
The reason for this outcome may be explained by search-engine outputs in the study. The researchers found that this phenomenon is concentrated among individuals for whom search engines return lower-quality information.
“This points to the danger that ‘data voids’ — areas of the information ecosystem that are dominated by low quality, or even outright false, news and information — may be playing a resulting role in the online search process, leading to low return of credible information or, more alarming, the appearance of non-credible information at the top of search results,” observes lead author Kevin Aslett, an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida.
To study the impact, they recruited participants through both Qualtrics and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk for a series of five experiments and with the aim of measuring the impact of a common behavior: searching online to evaluate news (SOTEN).
The first four studies tested the following aspects of online search behavior and impact:
◎ The effect of SOTEN on belief in both false or misleading and true news directly within two days an article’s publication
◎ Whether the effect of SOTEN can change an individual’s evaluation after they had already assessed the truthfulness of a news story
◎ The effect of SOTEN months after publication
◎ The effect of SOTEN on recent news about a key topic with significant news coverage
A fifth study combined a survey with web-tracking data in order to identify the effect of exposure to both low- and high-quality search-engine results on belief in misinformation.
Across the five studies, the authors found that the act of searching online to evaluate news led to a statistically significant increase in belief in misinformation. This occurred whether it was shortly after the publication of misinformation or months later. This finding suggests that the passage of time does not lessen the impact of SOTEN on increasing the likelihood of believing false news stories to be true. Moreover, the fifth study showed that this phenomenon is concentrated among individuals for whom search engines return lower-quality information.
“The findings highlight the need for media literacy programs to ground recommendations in search engines to invest in solutions to the challenges identified by this research,” concludes Joshua A Tucker, professor of politics.
1. What can we learn from the first three paragraphs?| A．The more you assess the realness of fake news online, the more you’ll believe it. |
| B．There is little low quality, or false news in the areas of the information ecosystem. |
| C．Evaluating online the realness of fake news would prevent you believing it. |
| D．Fake news and information usually can’t be found at the top of search results. |
| A．Knowledge level. | B．Time effect. |
| C．Web-tracking data. | D．News type. |
| A．Rely on. | B．Focus on. | C．Work on. | D．Hold on. |
| A．Economics | B．Entertainment | C．Science | D．Insights |
We Survived Getting Swallowed by a Whale
Respect and revere (敬畏) nature. I’m Julie, 56 years old, living in San Luis Obispo, California, about four miles from the beach. Every few years, the humpback whales come into the bay for several days while migrating.
In November 2020, the whales were around, so I took out my yellow double kayak (皮划艇) to watch the wildlife. I paddled out the pier (长堤) and saw seals, dolphins, and about 20 whales feeding on silverfish. They sprayed through their blowholes. Each one is huge, about 15 metres long. Sometimes they turned side fins as if waving at me. It was incredible.
At the time, my friend Liz was with me. We had met 28 years earlier. I asked Liz if she wanted to see the whales. I really wanted to share the magnificent experience with her.
“No way,” she said. She’s terrified of whales and sharks. I promised that the craft was stable and safe enough. Moreover, humpback whales couldn’t swallow down kayaks for their throats were tight even though they had enormous mouths and white-wall-like internal mouth structures, not to mention that we got paddles and life jackets. After some persuasion, Liz finally agreed.
We set off at about 8:30 the next morning. There were already about 15 other kayakers in the bay. One hour later, I spotted two whales right past the pier, swimming toward us. We were in awe, feeling amazed to be so close to a creature that size.
When whales swam down after breaching (跃身激浪), they disappeared in ripples. I figured if we paddled there, we’d be safe since they’d just left. We followed them at a distance—or what I thought was a distance. I later learned that it’s recommended to keep 90 metres away, or about the length of a football field. We were probably 18 metres away.
All of a sudden, a swarm (群) of fish started jumping out of the water into our kayak. Their movement sounded like crackling glass. Now I knew we were too close. I was terrified. Then our kayak was lifted out of the water—about two metres—and tipped back into the ocean. I figured the whale was going to drag us down somehow, and I had no idea how deep.
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。
I didn’t realize that Liz and I sitting in the kayak were in the whale’s mouth.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thankfully, the whale spitted us out, people paddling to help, shooting videos.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Police chief Matthew Bruce’s son, Adam, came late into his lives, so he always spoiled him and never said no to him for anything. As Adam grew older, he began to take his parents’ love and concern for granted, as if it were permission for him to do whatever he pleased. There were certainly times when he was criticized for bad grades or sneaking out of the house, but that was limited to only minor blame. Adam thought that if he pretended to be an “ideal” son, he would have to face absolutely no blame from his parents. So he began to act like a good son in front of them while engaging in all sorts of wrongdoing behind their backs, such as breaking the law. However, Adam always got away with it.
One day, Adam was driving back from a party with his friend Freddie when he began over-speeding. Freddie warned him to slow down, but Adam didn’t listen. Adam’s driving worried Freddie. He asked Adam to slow down again, and when Adam didn’t, he grabbed the steering wheel himself, causing the car to slide off the road and ran into a tree on the side. Then they heard the alarm of a police car behind them. The car came to a stop in front of them, and a police officer approached them.
“I’ve been following your car for a while now, and I’m afraid I’ll have to take you to the station for speeding. May I have your driver’s license first?” the police officer said.
Freddie was scared. “Here’s my driver’s license, sir,” he said, offering it to the officer. Adam tried to explain that he was the police chief’s son, but the police officer turned a deaf ear to him. They drove him to the station, and when Adam stepped inside, he was surprised to see his father there. He had been called to the station for an urgent case.
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。
Adam felt no worries and thought he was out of trouble.
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He told Adam he would need to earn money himself to pay for the fine.
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A woman remarried a man from Mexico. She already had a 16-year-old daughter named Bethany, while her husband had a 14-year-old daughter named Maria. Maria and Bethany had been in each other’s lives since they were children. Their relationship as stepsisters was good until recently.
The entire family was busy planning Maria’s Quinceanera (成人礼). The woman’s husband and his ex-wife joined forces to get her a beautiful dress to celebrate the occasion. In total, the dress cost $3,000.
Bethany made it clear that she was jealous (嫉妒的) of the party. Her mom had to make her understand that in Mexican culture, a Quinceanera was a great deal, just like how she had a sweet sixteen party. However, Bethany kept comparing her party to that of Maria’s. It was a massive issue for her, and it reflected in the way she behaved around everyone at home.
Knowing how it made Bethany feel, the mom tried to spend more time with her daughter to assure her that she wasn’t being disregarded. They even got her a lovely dress for the Quinceanera, but much cheaper than Maria’s dress.
Two weeks before the big day, Maria and Bethany got into an argument regarding the TV. Bethany retaliated (报复) against her stepsister by tearing off the back part of her Quinceanera dress. After finding out what Bethany did, everyone was angry. The mom couldn’t believe what her daughter did and quickly gave her husband and his ex-wife money to get a new dress.
The mom told Bethany that she needed to get a job to pay back the total price of the dress. It was her punishment for such an unreasonable act against her stepsister. However, Bethany claimed her mom was unfair by choosing Maria over her. This made the mom question whether she was in the wrong for giving her daughter no choice but to find a job. She wrote about the story online, hoping to get opinions from others on whether what she did was wrong.
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。
To her surprise, she got everybody’s support.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally, the mom was determined to teach her 16-year-old a lesson.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In our family, we have a beloved pet named Max, a golden retriever (寻回犬) with a heart of gold. Max has been an integral part of our family for the past five years, bringing joy, laughter, and countless precious memories into our lives. His intelligence and adorable personality never fail to bring joy and laughter into our lives. Every day, when I come home from school, Max greets me at the door with his tail wagging and his eyes sparkling with excitement. He always seems to know when I need a comforting presence, and his playful bahavior never fails to cheer me up.
Max’s intelligence is truly remarkable. He has learned numerous tricks and commands over the years, and he never ceases to amaze us with his problem-solving skills. One time, I accidentally dropped his favorite toy behind the couch, and without any prompting (提示), Max fetched a stick and used it to fish the toy out. His creativity and resourcefulness never fail to impress us.
Max’s playful personality brings endless joy and laughter into our family. Whether we are flying disc in the backyard or going for walks in the park, Max is always ready for a good time. His boundless energy and enthusiasm are contagious (有感染力的), and he has a way of making even the simplest activity feel like an adventure. His playful barks and exaggerated jumps when he’s trying to catch a ball never fail to make us laugh.
Max’s ability to sense our emotions and respond with love and affection is truly remarkable. He seems to know when we are feeling down or stressed and always finds a way to comfort us. One warm summer evening, as the sun was beginning to set, I was sitting comfortably in my living room, buried in a captivating book. Max, my loyal golden retriever, was lying peacefully beside me, enjoying a well-deserved nap. However, as the day drew to a close, Max suddenly sprang to his feet, his ears got a lift, and his eyes fixed intently on something outside the window. Without warning, he let out a series of loud, urgent barks, as if trying to alert me to a potential threat or disturbance. Alarmed by his sudden outburst, I set my book aside and joined Max at the window, curious to see what had caught his attention.
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。
As I approached the window, I witnessed my elderly neighbor, Mr. Thompson, lying motionless in his backyard.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In the days following Mr. Thompson’s accident, Max and I visited him at the hospital as often as we could.
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