I had run away from home after finishing high school. My parents had insisted I go to college, but I was tired of school. I hated it. I was determined not to go. And, besides, my father was too strict. I had too many chores to do around the farm. I haled the work!
There had been a quarrel between my father and me. I threw some things into a bag and left angrily, as my father shouted after me, “If you leave, don’t come back!” My mother cried openly, and I had seen those tears during a hundred sleepless nights.
Then it was time to write a letter to my father.
Dear Dad,It’s been more than a year now. I’ve traveled east to west. I’ve had dozens of jobs. None of them amounted to very much. Always the same questions: “How much education have you got?” It seems they always want college men for the good jobs.
Dad, you and Mother were right about everything. I know now that the work on the farm didn’t hurt me, and I’m convinced I need college. I’m also convinced that both of you loved me.
Dad, I’ve learned a lesson. I want to come home. I know you said if I left, I couldn’t come back, but I’m praying you’ll change your mind. I want to come home and be a part of the family again.
Give my love to Mother and the girls.
Love,Your son
As I folded the letter and put it into an envelope, I felt a refreshing relief. It was as if a heavy load had been lifted from my shoulders. And I had to be on my way home.
I started down the desolate road—the long road home. Fortunately, a car picked me up, and it was good to have someone to talk with. The driver was a salesman and very pleasant.
“Where you going, boy?” he asked good-naturedly.
There was a long silence before I said, “Home.”
“Been away from home long?”
I smiled, a little self-conscious, and said, “One year, one month and two days.”
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。
Having heard my story, he expressed his support for my final decision and told me something surprising.
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___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.关键要素；
2.你的理由。
注意：标题、开头和结尾都已给，请完成中间部分，根据要素的多少，写两段、三段或四段，字数80词左右。
Key elements of a great film
Nowadays films play an important role in our life. And every great film must involve many key elements. Opinions about them vary among people. Below are my ideas about key elements of a great film.
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Of course, there are many other elements leading to a great film. Anyway an outstanding film must come from its inner shining elements. What about your idea?
3 . When you look ahead at the year to come, I hope you focus on all the positives even if the negatives exist, because positive thinking can help you get where you want to go.
Positive thinking is not the same as optimism. Being optimistic means believing that everything is going to work out great. But positive thinking is more than that. It’s a mindset or a way of looking at the world and what you do.
To think positively, first of all, we need to look at problems, mistakes and failures as normal. Imagine you bomb a big job interview. A negative thinker will be upset by the fact that he didn’t get the job.
One trick to positive thinking is to imagine how you’ll think back to things that are happening now.
Positive thinking is a mental habit. It takes practice. Sometimes, we have to remind ourselves to focus on the future and on possibility.
| A．A positive thinker will learn from the experience. |
| B．Negative thinkers will look at failures as end points. |
| C．Positive thinking often means separating the past and the future. |
| D．It’s a belief in possibility, solutions to problems and the big picture. |
| E．Sometimes, it’s hard to learn from our failures or see the big picture. |
| F．We can see the power of positive thinking when it comes to problem-solving. |
| G．You know from experience that the passing of time brings a fresh perspective. |
1. Why does the speaker organize the activity?
| A．To prepare for Children’s Day. |
| B．To celebrate the end of the school year. |
| C．To welcome children in the neighborhood. |
| A．Looking for the hidden gifts. |
| B．Hiding around the center. |
| C．Having a group discussion. |
| A．Find the flags. | B．Write their names down. | C．Stay together with their parents. |
| A．The preschool children. | B．The third-grade children. | C．The fourth-grade children. |
We had just taken a holiday of three days: from Saturday to Monday. Now, it was Tuesday morning, but in some way, it was like a Monday-the start of a new week. And after a busy and tiring holiday, it was time to go to work.
After I hurriedly got up, I looked out of my bedroom window. It was raining. I complained, “This weather is terrible. What an awful morning!” As I stepped out of the front door, a big wind turned my umbrella inside out, so I decided to run through the cold rain to my car. But I didn’t see a puddle (小水坑) until I stepped into it. My new shoes were completely wet. I had to rush back to my room for a change. When I was finally seated in my car, it stalled (熄火) twice before I could back out of the driveway. And I was worried that I would be late for work.
The traffic on the road was heavy. A horn (喇叭) honked—someone thought I wasn’t going fast enough. “This day is terrible. Nothing is cheerful,” I said to myself. To drive easily, I decided to listen to the traffic report on the radio. Under the guidance of the announcer, I drove carefully. I was grateful for that.
Finally, after managing to navigate (导航) my route through the traffic, I decided to stop at a little coffee shop near my office to buy a cup of coffee. The line of cars at the drive-through stretched to the parking lot, so I figured it would be faster if I just got out and went inside.
Clearly, the coffee shop had many customers. I sighed impatiently as I waited in line until I reached the counter where I ignored the friendly greeting from the waiter. I ordered my favorite: a cup of coffee, extra cream and no sugar. Then my order was served. That’s when I realized I had left my wallet at home! I was both upset and embarrassed.
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。
Noticing my anxiety, the man waiting in line behind me pulled out his wallet.
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When I got back into my car, I found the man walking in the rain.
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假定你是李华，最近学习了几篇关于体育方面的文章，请你给校英文报上投稿，介绍体育文化。要点如下：
1.奥运会：
2.体育习语，举例说明；
3.号召学生积极参加体育运动。
注意：
1.写作词数应为100左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Sports Culture
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7 . Scientists have discovered more than 5,000 new species living on the seabed in an untouched area of the Pacific Ocean that has been identified as a future hotspot for deep-sea mining, according to a review of the environmental surveys carried out in the area.
It is the first time the previously unknown biodiversity of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-rich area of the ocean floor that spans 1.7m sq miles between Hawaii and Mexico in the Pacific, has been comprehensively documented. The research will be critical to assessing the risk of extinction of the species, given contracts for deep-sea mining in the near-pristine area appear imminent.
Most of the animals identified by researchers exploring the zone are new to science, and almost all are unique to the region: only six, including a carnivorous sponge and a sea cucumber, have been seen elsewhere.
Contracts for mining exploration in the CCZ have been granted to 17 deep-sea mining contractors in an area covering 745,000 sq miles. The companies, which are backed by countries including Britain, the US and China, want to dig for minerals including cobalt manganese and nickel in part to sell to the alternative energy sector.
To better understand the impact of mining this fragile ecosystem and its newly discovered inhabitants, an international team of scientists has built the first “CCZ checklist” by compiling all the records from expeditions to the region. Published in the journal Current Biology, it includes 5,578 different species, of which an estimated 88% to 92% had never before been seen.
To study and collect specimens (样品) from the ocean floor, biologists have joined research cruises in the Pacific that send remote-controlled vehicles to traverse (穿越) the seabed 4,000 to 6,000 meters below. Adrian Glover, a deep-sea biologist at the NHM and senior author of the study described it as an “incredible privilege”. The expedition, funded through the Natural Environment Research Council and others, is backed by UK Seabed Resources (UKSR), a deep-sea mining company that operates the UK’s exploration area. The scientists watch operations by video link direct from the boat as new species are gathered by remote control vehicles in the darkness below.
The seabed, Glover said, is an “amazing place” where, despite the extreme cold and dark, life thrives. “One of the characteristics of the abyssal plain is the lack of food, but life has a way of persisting down there,” he said, “It’s a mystery.” One of the deep-sea animals discovered was nicknamed the “gummy squirrel”, because of its huge tail and jelly-like appearance, he said. There are also glass sponges, some of which look like vases.
With approval for deep-sea mining looming, Glover said he believed it was “imperative that we work with the companies looking to mine these resources to ensure any such activity is done in a way that limits its impact upon the natural world”.
1. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “imminent”?| A．Easy to carry out. | B．Ready to take place. |
| C．Hard to cope with. | D．Important to look over. |
| A．Identifying new species living on the seabed. | B．Assessing the risk of extinction of species. |
| C．Documenting the biodiversity of the area. | D．Exploring the potential for deep-sea mining. |
| A．Abundance of food. | B．Extreme lifeless environment. |
| C．Presence of glass sponges. | D．Prosperous life despite challenging conditions. |
| A．A magic zone:available to mining companies |
| B．A mineral-rich area: Clarion-Clipperton Zone |
| C．An “amazing place”: new species booming |
| D．Deep-sea wonders: the new species found in a Pacific mining hotspot |
内容包括：
1. 遵守交通法规的重要性;
2. 遵守交通法规的做法及倡议。
注意：
1. 词数80左右;
2. 短文的题目和首句已给出，不计入词数。
Traffic Safety, Our Responsibility
Recently, many teenagers have got injured or even killed in traffic accidents.
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9 . 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 Chair for My Mother
My mother works as a waitress in the Blue Tile Diner. After school sometimes I go to meet her there. Then her boss Josephine gives me a job too. When I finish, Josephine says, “Good work, honey,” and pays me. And every time, I put half of my money into the jar (罐子).
It takes a long time to fill a jar this big. Every day when my mother comes home from work, I take down the jar. My mama empties all her change from tips for me to count. Then we push all of the coins into the jar.
Sometimes my mama is laughing when she comes home from work. Sometimes she’s so tired she falls asleep while I count the money. Some days she has lots of tips. Some days she has only a few. Then she looks worried. But each evening every single shiny coin goes into the jar.
We sit in the kitchen to count the tips. Usually Grandma sits with us too. Often she has money in her old wallet for us. Whenever she gets a good bargain (划算的交易) on tomatoes or bananas or something she buys, she puts by the savings and they go into the jar.
When we can’t get a single other coin into the jar, we are going to take out all the money and go and buy a chair. Yes, a chair. A wonderful, beautiful, fat, soft armchair for Mama and Grandma. When Mama comes home, her feet hurt. “There’s no good place for me to rest my feet,” she says. When Grandma wants to sit back and cut up potatoes, she has to get as comfortable as she can on a hard kitchen chair.
So that is how come Mama brought home the biggest jar she could find and all the coins started to go into the jar.
Paragraph 1:
Now the jar is too heavy for me to lift down.
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Paragraph 2:
Finally we find the chair we are all dreaming of.
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