1. Where does Franco work?
| A．In a hospital. | B．In a post office. | C．On a farm. |
| A．It was not safe by plane. | B．He could enjoy the view. | C．The train was much cheaper. |
| A．On Monday at 10:30 p.m. | B．On Wednesday at 8:45 p.m. | C．On Friday at 10:30 p.m. |
| A．He helped injured people. | B．He traveled in the countryside. | C．He visited the center of the city. |
When Marco was a boy, he tried everything to get his father’s love and attention. He worked hard to earn exceptional marks and always tried to behave well. But he was so sensitive and shy that he always hid behind his hair, which he wore long around his face. To make it worse, Marco was naturally shorter than the other kids. This added to his already low self-confidence.
At 14, he and his younger sister Sandra moved in with their dad and his new wife. His father was busy and their communication was nonexistent. The only time his dad ever spoke to him was to be demanding or critical. He began to fear coming home from school every day, feeling desperately alone and isolated.
One day his father, tripped over Marco’s bike in the garage. The angry reaction left Marco in despair, thus crying out, “That’s it! I’m going to kill myself.”
“You don’t even have the guts!” replied his father.
For two days, all Marco could think of was wanting to die, but he didn’t want to prove his father was right. Angry and sad, Marco was stuck.
Two days later, his aunt called him. This seemed like a miracle. Aunt Ginette usually only called on his birthday. She said she had just seen some young teenagers participate in a public speaking contest and she thought about him. She told him she firmly believed he could perform on stage like those kids, since she had seen him do skits (幽默短剧) for the family at Christmas.
Marco was shocked. Him? In a public speaking contest, which was contrary to his shy personality? But Aunt Ginette was sure it was something he could do. Feeling her strong belief, Marco agreed.
All that winter, twice a week after dinner, he took three different buses in each direction for the three-hour round-trip to practice in the place where the competition would take place. Marco was taken by a feeling he never felt before. The hours and the obstacles no longer counted. The criticism from his father around his absence for after-dinner chores didn’t matter.
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。
Four months later, the big night arrived.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________With the championship, Marco’s new life started.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________On a sunny summer weekend, little Sam, accompanied by his parents, left the noisy city for the peaceful countryside. They drove through green meadows and clear streams. In the afternoon, their journey brought them to a charming lake where they encountered a weathered man who introduced himself as Ben, Ben sat calmly by the water with his fishing rod(鱼竿) leaning on a nearby rock.
Sam’s eyes had been fixed on the bobber(浮漂) floating on the water’s surface since their arrival. His fascination with nature had always driven him to ask questions and seek out new adventures.“Uncle Ben, are you fishing? Have you caught a fish?” he asked, his curiosity bubbling over.
A warm smile spread Ben’s face as he regarded the young boy’s eager expression. “ Indeed, I am, young man, “he replied, “but as for catching a fish, well, that’s a story yet to be told.”
Observing their son express his curiosity and effortlessly strike up a conversation with Ben, Sam’s parents exchanged warm, knowing smiles. They realized that this chance encounter with Ben could lead to some valuable lessons.
“Can you teach me how to fish?” asked Sam, his voice filled with enthusiasm. “Well, young man,” Ben replied, “fishing is more than just catching fish. It’s about patience and embracing the wait. If you’re willing to learn, I’d be happy to teach you.”
With that, Ben reached for another fishing rod and invited Sam to join him. He demonstrated how to cast the line into the lake, hold the fishing rod steady, and patiently await a curious fish to take the bait. He then showed Sam how to respond when the bobber moved. Charmed by the graceful art of fishing, Sam couldn’t wait to give it a try. As he sat down beside Uncle Ben, he appeared as calm and relaxed as the skilled fisherman. Sam’s parents watched with keen 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。
Time went by, but Sam’s bobber stayed still.
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Just then, Sam’s bobber suddenly dipped below the surface.
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Christmas Day was coming. I was just a kid then, and my big sister told me there was no Santa Claus. I fled to my Grandma because she would be straight with me. l knew Grandma always told me the truth. Grandma was home, and I told her everything. She was ready for me. “No Santa Claus!” She shouted. “Ridiculous! Don’t believe it. That rumor has been going around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad.”
“Now, put on your coat, and let’s go.”
“Go where, Grandma?” l asked. “Where” turned out to be Kerby’s General Store. the one store in town that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through its doors, Grandma handed me ten dollars. “Take this money.” she said, “and buy something for someone who needs it. I’ll wait for you in the car.” Then she turned and walked out of Kerby’s.
l was only eight years old. I’d often gone shopping with my mother, but never had I shopped for anything all by myself. The store seemed big and crowded, full of people competing to finish their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there, confused, holding that ten-dollar bill, wondering what to buy and who to buy it for. I suddenly thought of Bobby Decker, who was a kid with bad breath and messy hair. He sat right behind me in Mrs. Pollock’s grade-two class.
Bobby Decker didn’t have a coat. l knew that because he never went out for recess(休息) during the winter. His mother always wrote a note, telling the teacher that he had a cough, but we kids knew that Bobby Decker didn’t have a cough, and he didn’t have a coat. I fingered the ten dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a coat! I settled on a red one, which looked really warm, and he would like that.
“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the counter asked kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down. “Yes.”
The nice lady smiled at me, put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas.
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。
That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat in Christmas paper.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Grandma and I waited breathlessly in the bush for Bobby Decker’s front door to open.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . More American businesses are starting to use artificial intelligence(AI)tools to come up with new ideas and to deal with customers.
Mattel is known for making children’s toys. The company recently used an AI image generator (生成器) called DALL-E to come up with ideas for new Hot Wheels toy cars. The used vehicle seller CarMax is using ChatGPT to gather thousands of customer comments. The social media service Snapchat has added a chatbot (聊天机器人) to its messaging service. And Instacart, a delivery service, now uses ChatGPT to answer food questions. Even the Coca-Cola company plans to use AI to help create new marketing content. It has not said exactly how it plans to use the technology. But the move shows that businesses are under pressure to use the tools that many of their employees and customers are already trying on their own.
Some experts warn that businesses should carefully consider possible harms to customers, society, and their own companies before choosing to use AI tools in the workplace. Chaire Leibowicz works at The Partnership on AI, a nonprofit group. The group recently released recommendations for companies producing AI- generated images, audio and other media. “I want people to think deeply before deploying this technology” Leibowicz said. “They should play around. . . but we should also think, what purpose are these tools serving in the first place?”
While text generators like ChatGPT can make the process of writing emails and marketing documents faster and easier, they also appear to present misinformation as fact. And image generators like DALL-E are trained in copying widely available digital art and photography. This has raise copyright(版权)concerns from the creators of those works.
“It is safer to use AI tools as a ‘thought partner’ but still people as the creator of final products,” said Anna Gressel. She works at the law company Debevoise & Plimpton, which advises businesses on how to use AI.
1. Which company made creative products with Al tools’ help?| A．Instacart | B．Matel | C．CarMax | D．Snapchat |
| A．People rely too much on technology in their daily life. |
| B．AI tools are widely used to help businesses grow. |
| C．AI tools have an effect on improving business conditions. |
| D．Customers are more and more connected online. |
| A．presenting confidently | B．promoting successfully |
| C．debating publicly | D．applying effectively |
| A．AI tools should just be humans’ assistants. |
| B．The use of AI tools should be forbidden. |
| C．A business should partner with a law company. |
| D．Copyright concerns are unnecessary |
For almost every morning, the sun rose to greet the day and the birds sang its songs outside an upstairs window of the house. Inside, Jeff and Jenna would wake up.
Usually, the brother and sister got along very well. They took turns nicely with the bathroom. They said “please” and “thank you” at breakfast. They often sat together on the school bus. Afterschool they worked together happily on their special project—their own backyard house.
But one gray morning they didn’t get along well at all! Maybe it was the weather, or maybe the birds slept late. But whatever it was, they got into an angry argument.
Jenna opened her eyes and stretched. Then she sat up and let her legs dangle (悬挂) over the edge of herbed—right in Jeff’s face. She didn’t mean it. It was just one of those things that happens with a bunkbed (双层床).
That morning Jeff was not in a very good mood.
“Jenna!” he shouted. “Get your silly feet out of my face!”
“My feet aren’t silly, and they’re not in your face!” she shouted back.
Before Jeff could answer, she skipped into the bathroom ahead of him. She took a very longtime brushing her teeth, washing up, and combing her hair.
“You’d better come out of that bathroom!” shouted Jeff, banging (猛敲) on the door.
“Jeff, ”said Mama, coming out of her bedroom, “you know better than to shout at your sister.”
“But she’s taking too long in the bathroom,” complained Jeff. “And she’s doing it on purpose!”
When Jeff banged on the door again, it opened and out came Jenna, all dressed up.
“Good morning, Mama,” she said, taking no notice of Jeff at all.
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。
Jeff and Jenna kept avoiding each other that day.
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“That’s enough, ”said Mama seriously.
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In a quiet suburb of Northern California, a diligent (勤奋的) high school student named Sarah had always been devoted to her academics. However, she found herself with some free time on her hands as the school year came to an end. It was then that she was struck with an idea—why not use this spare time to give back to her community?
With a newfound sense of purpose, Sarah set out to look for ways she could make a difference. She noticed that the local park was in need of some repairs and restoration, but the city lacked the budget to tackle the necessary redecoration. Regardless of some challenges, Sarah decided to take matters into her own hands. She gathered her classmates and engaged with the local businesses to provide donations, materials, and equipment needed for the restoration project. With a clear goal in mind and a team of eager volunteers, they rolled up their sleeves and began the heavy task of cleaning up the park. Everyone worked tirelessly, day after day, in the California sun.
Meanwhile Sarah had another idea in her mind. Seeing so many families in the area had been affected by the economic downturn, Sarah knew she had to do more to help. She partnered with local businesses and launched a food drive to support struggling families. Her efforts brought back hope to many families who had been struggling to make ends meet.
As Sarah and her team faced numerous obstacles (障碍) throughout the restoration project, Sarah made sure to maintain a positive attitude and gathered her classmates to keep going at the same time. One day, while painting the park’s broken fence, one of the volunteers called out, “Sarah, why are we even doing this? It’s never going to look good again.” It was a moment of upset feelings. Sarah approached the volunteer. She placed her hands on the volunteer’s shoulder and said, “I don’t expect this to be easy, but we can’t give up. We have an opportunity to help our community and make it a better place. That’s what makes it worth the effort. Don’t you think so?”
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。
Her words had a powerful effect on the team.
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There were challenges along the way, but she never lost her determination.
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1. 写信目的；2. 提出建议；3. 表达祝愿。
注意：1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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