I was a single parent of four small children, working at a low-paid job. Money was always tight, but we had a roof overheads, food on the table, clothes on our backs, and if not a lot, always enough. Not knowing we were poor, my kids just thought was serious. I have always been glad about it.
It was Christmastime, and although there wasn’t money for a lot of gifts, we planned to celebrate with a family party. But the big excitement for the kids was the fun of Christmas shopping.
They planned weeks ahead of time, asking each other what they wanted for Christmas. Fortunately. I had saved $120 for presents to share by all five of us.
The big day arrived. I gave each kid a twenty dollar bill and reminded them to look for gifts of about four dollars each. Then everyone scattered (散开). We had two hours to shop; then we would meet back at the gate,
On the way home, everyone was in high Christmas spirits, except my younger daughter Ginger who was unusually quiet. She had only one small, flat bag with a few candies—fifty-cent candies. I was so angry, but I controlled myself and didn’t say anything until we got home. I called her into my bedroom and closed the door, ready to be angry again. This was what she told me:
“I was looking around thinking of what to buy, and l stopped to read the little cards on the ‘Giving Trees’. One was for a little girl, four years old, and all she wanted for Christmas was a doll. So I took the card off the tree and bought the doll for her. We have so much but she doesn’t have anything.” I felt so proud of my younger daughter.
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 gathered the other kids and shared with them what Ginger had done.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________We walked excitedly to the nearby children’s hospital.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________建议:1.读书;2.锻炼;3.做家务;4.其他……
要求:
1.短文必须包含所有要点;
2.语句通顺,意思连贯,书写工整;
3.文章不得出现你的任何真实信息(姓名、校名和地名)。
注意:
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Boys and girls, here is my advice on how to spend our holiday wisely.
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3 . Every decision we make is arrived at through hugely complex neurological processing. Although it feels as though you have a choice, the action that you ‘decide’ to take is entirely directed by automatic neural activity. Brain imaging studies show that a person’s action can be predicted by their brain activity up to 10 seconds before they themselves become aware they are going to act. Multiple neuroscientific studies show that even those important decisions that feel worked out are just as automatic as knee-jerk reactions (膝跳反应) (although more complex).
Decision-making starts with the amygdala: a set of two almond-shaped nuclei (杏仁状核) buried deep within the brain, which generate emotion. The amygdala registers the information streaming in through our senses and responds to it in less than a second, sending signals throughout the brain. These produce an urge to run, fight, freeze or grab, according to how the amygdala values various stimuli.
Before we act on the amygdala’s signals, however, the information is usually processed by other brain areas, including some that produce conscious thoughts and emotions. Areas concerned with recognition work out what’s going on, those concerned with memory compare it with previous experiences, and those concerned with reasoning, judging and planning get to work on constructing various action plans. The best plan—if we are lucky—is then selected and carried out. If any of this process goes wrong, we are likely to hesitate, or do something silly.
The various stages of decision-making are marked by different types of brain activity. Fast (gamma)waves, with frequencies of 25 to 100 Hz, produce a keen awareness of the multiple factors that need to be taken into account to arrive at a decision. If you are trying to choose a sandwich, for instance, gamma waves generated in various cells within the ‘taste’ area of the brain bring to mind and compare the taste of ham, hummus, wholemeal, sourdough, and so on. Although it may seem useful to be aware of the full range of choice, too much information makes decision-making more difficult, so irrelevant factors get dismissed quickly and unconsciously.
After this comparison stage, the brain switches to slow-wave activity (12 to 30 Hz). This extinguishes most of the gamma activity, leaving just a single ‘hotspot’ of gamma waves which marks the chosen option.
Although there is no ‘you’ outside your brain to direct what it’s doing, you can help it to make good decisions by placing yourself in a situation which is likely to make the process run more smoothly. Doing something that is physically or mentally stimulating before making a decision will help your brain produce the initial gamma waves that generate awareness of the competing options. Getting over-excited, on the other hand, will prevent the switch to the slow brainwaves, making it much harder to single out a choice.
1. Why does the writer mention “knee-jerk reactions” in the first paragraph?A.To introduce the finding of the latest brain imaging studies. |
B.To illustrate that decisions are not consciously thought out. |
C.To call attention to a kind of neural reaction that is not very complex. |
D.To show the difference between decision-making and other brain activity. |
A.It works out conscious thoughts and emotions. |
B.It selects the best action plan for a given situation. |
C.It dismisses factors that are irrelevant to the decision to be made. |
D.It processes sensory information and generates emotional responses. |
A.Slow-wave activity usually lasts longer than fast-wave activity. |
B.The brain prioritizes information before settling on a final choice. |
C.Decision-making is difficult when slow-wave activity occurs first. |
D.The brain needs as much information as possible to make a decision. |
A.By preparing the brain to single out the most reasonable choice. |
B.By helping the brain switch to slow-wave activity more quickly. |
C.By getting the brain to focus on those most relevant alternatives. |
D.By making the brain more aware of the factors and choices involved. |
1.你的建议。(平衡膳食,体育锻炼,良好心态……);
2.你的期望。
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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内容包括:
1.表示理解和关心;
2. 沉迷抖音的影响
3. 提出具体建议。
要求:1.词数80左右
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;
3.开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数
参考词汇: addiction n 瘾
Dear John
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Yours,
Li Hua
赞成:55% | 拓宽视野;提高外语能力 |
反对:45% | 增加花销;占用学习时间 |
你的看法 | …… |
1.词数100左右;
2.参考词汇:海外研学overseas study tours
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7 . On March 7, 1907, the English statistician Francis Galton published a paper which illustrated what has come to be known as the “wisdom of crowds” effect. The experiment of estimation he conducted showed that in some cases, the average of a large number of independent estimates could be quite accurate.
This effect capitalizes on the fact that when people make errors, those errors aren’t always the same. Some people will tend to overestimate, and some to underestimate. When enough of these errors are averaged together, they cancel each other out, resulting in a more accurate estimate. If people are similar and tend to make the same errors, then their errors won’t cancel each other out. In more technical terms, the wisdom of crowds requires that people’s estimates be independent. If for whatever reasons, people’s errors become correlated or dependent, the accuracy of the estimate will go down.
But a new study led by Joaquin Navajas offered an interesting twist (转折) on this classic phenomenon. The key finding of the study was that when crowds were further divided into smaller groups that were allowed to have a discussion, the averages from these groups were more accurate than those from an equal number of independent individuals. For instance, the average obtained from the estimates of four discussion groups of five was significantly more accurate than the average obtained from 20 independent individuals.
In a follow-up study with 100 university students, the researchers tried to get a better sense of what the group members actually did in their discussion. Did they tend to go with those most confident about their estimates? Did they follow those least willing to change their minds? This happened some of the time, but it wasn’t the dominant response. Most frequently, the groups reported that they “shared arguments and reasoned together”. Somehow, these arguments and reasoning resulted in a global reduction in error. Although the studies led by Navajas have limitations and many questions remain, the potential implications for group discussion and decision-making are enormous.
1. What is paragraph 2 of the text mainly about?A.The methods of estimation. | B.The underlying logic of the effect. |
C.The causes of people’s errors. | D.The design of Galton’s experiment. |
A.the crowds were relatively small | B.there were occasional underestimates |
C.individuals did not communicate | D.estimates were not fully independent |
A.The size of the groups. | B.The dominant members. |
C.The discussion process. | D.The individual estimates. |
A.Unclear. | B.Dismissive. | C.Doubtful. | D.Approving. |
A peacock was very unhappy with her ugly voice, so she spent most of her days complaining about it. “It is true you cannot sing,” said a fox, “but look how beautiful you are!”
“Oh, with such an unpleasant voice,” cried the bird, “what good is all this beauty?”
“Listen,” said the fox, “each one owns something good. You have such beauty; the nightingale (夜莺) has her songs; the owl (猫头鹰) has his eyes. Even if you had a sweet voice, you would still complain about another thing. Why can’t you just be happy about what you have already got?”
注意:
1.词数不少于80;
2.可以适当增加细节,以使行文连贯。
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9 . Think back to when you were in a maths classroom, and the teacher set a difficult problem. Which of the two following responses is closer to the way you reacted?
A: Oh no, this is too hard for me. I’m not even going to seriously try and work it out.
B: Ah, this is quite tricky, but I like to push myself. Even if I don’t get the answer right, maybe I’ll learn something in the attempt.
Early in her career, the psychologist Carol Dweck of Stanford University gave a group of ten-year-olds problems that were slightly too hard for them. One group reacted positively and loved the challenge. She says they had a ‘growth mindset’ and are focused on what they can achieve in the future. But another group of children felt that their intelligence was being judged and they had failed. They had a ‘fixed mindset’ and were unable to imagine improving. Some of them looked for someone who had done worse than them to boost their self-esteem.
Professor Dweck believes that there is a problem in education at the moment. For years, children have been praised for their intelligence or talent, but this makes them vulnerable (脆弱的) to failure. They become performance-oriented, wanting to please by getting high grades, but they are not interested in learning for its own sake. The solution, according to Dweck, is to lead them to become mastery-oriented (i.e., interested in getting better at something). She claims that the ever-lasting effort over time is the key to outstanding achievement.
Psychologists have been testing these theories. Underperforming school children on a Native American reservation were exposed to growth mindset techniques for a year. The results were nothing less than incredible. They came top in regional tests, beating children from much more privileged backgrounds. These children had previously felt that making an effort was a sign of stupidity, but they came to see it as the key to learning.
1. What can we learn about a person if his answer is closer to “B”?A.He is performance-oriented. |
B.He tends to set limits to his life. |
C.He enjoys the process and focuses on the future. |
D.He boosts his self-esteem by comparing with others. |
A.To reward children for their high grades. | B.To emphasize the importance of intelligence. |
C.To ignore the result brought by failure. | D.To praise children for their engagement in the process. |
A.Children showing no interest in learning. |
B.Children who use fixed mindset techniques. |
C.Children from much more privileged backgrounds. |
D.Underperforming school children on a Native American reservation. |
A.To distinguish growth mindset and fixed mindset. |
B.To inform readers of the importance of growth mindset. |
C.To show several psychological study results. |
D.To point out a problem in education at the moment. |
1.尽力用英语交流,不要怕犯错误。
2.坚持每天早晚朗读英语。
3.多读英文报纸,看英文电影。
注意:1.词数100左右;
2.可以适当增加细节,使行文连贯;
3.开头已给出,但不计入总词数。
Dear Xiao Dong,
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Yours,
Li Hua