1 . Robert was born on August 9, 1910 in the Netherlands. His mother came from a family of musicians and piano manufacturers, a fact that greatly influenced Robert’s life. His father was a physician in army, a position which required frequent foreign postings. The family stayed in various areas of East Asia for most of Robert’s youth. This experience contributed to his appreciation for cultures and mastery of several languages.
Robert was a hardworking academic, collector of art and manuscripts, and translator of ancient writings. He studied and trained to become a master musician on the Chinese guqin, and eventually wrote two books on the instrument. Similarly, his skills as an artist in the traditional Chinese style and knowledge of calligraphy were unparalleled. He wrote and published a number of non-fiction, scholarly articles and books on Chinese music, art, and literature, as well as Chinese culture and folk legends.
In 1940, Robert came across a little-known and anonymous (匿名的)18th-century Chinese novel that would take his career down an unplanned pathway and result in the public fame he never anticipated. The novel, titled Four Great Strange Cases of Empress Wu’s Reign, was a fictional account of the deeds of Judge Dee, one of the heroes of traditional Chinese detective fiction, and was set in the 7th-century Tang Dynasty. Fascinated, Robert not only translated the novel into English, he also did some research on the history of Chinese Penal Code and other legal literature of the period. It was not until 1949 that Robert was able to publish his translation —Dee Goong An: Three Murder Cases Solved by Judge Dee. Robert’s Chinese mysteries comprise over 10 novels and short-story volumes, recording the career of Chinese detective called Di Renjie. Interestingly, the tales first found fame in oriental (东方的)editions, before being translated into English in 1957.
Through all the novels by Robert, he impressively brings to life the sights and sounds of daily Chinese life in the past. His passionate devotion and respect for the Chinese culture was never discounted, yet he also appreciated the purpose of fiction.
1. What inspired Robert’s love for oriental culture?| A．His language competence. |
| B．His previous stay in East Asia. |
| C．His mother’s good family background. |
| D．His father’s professional medical knowledge. |
| A．Robert’s passion for China. | B．Robert’s music proficiency. |
| C．Robert’s early achievements. | D．Robert’s learning experiences. |
| A．He introduced western civilization to China. |
| B．He polished an existing Chinese fiction style. |
| C．He spread Chinese literature to a wider audience. |
| D．He conducted research on famous Chinese detectives. |
| A．Vivid and faithful. | B．Dramatic and realistic. |
| C．Accurate and humorous. | D．Imaginary and accessible. |
2 . 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. |
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
4 . 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. |
1. 中国传统节日的重要性；
2. 如何推广中国传统节日。
注意：
1. 词数80左右，开头与结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Distinguished judges and dear fellow students,
It’s my honor to stand here and talk about “Promoting traditional Chinese festivals”.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Thank you very much for your attention!
1. 活动背景和意义；
2. 活动细节；
3. 效果和感受。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 请按格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Happy Class Break
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I was invited to a cookout on an old friend’s farm in western Washington. I parked my car outside the farm and walked past a milking house which had apparently not been used in many years. A noise at a window caught my attention, so I entered it. It was a hummingbird (蜂鸟), desperately trying to escape. She was covered in spider-webs (蛛网) and was barely able to move her wings. She ceased her struggle the instant I picked her up.
With the bird in my cupped hand, I looked around to see how she had gotten in. The broken window glass was the likely answer. I stuffed a piece of cloth into the hole and took her outside, closing the door securely behind me.
When I opened my hand, the bird did not fly away; she sat looking at me with her bright eyes. I removed the sticky spider-webs that covered her head and wings. Still, she made no attempt to fly. Perhaps she had been struggling against the window too long and was too tired? Or too thirsty?
As I carried her up the blackberry-lined path toward my car where I kept a water bottle, she began to move. I stopped, and she soon took wing but did not immediately fly away.
Hovering (悬停), she approached within six inches of my face. For a very long moment, this tiny creature looked into my eyes, turning her head from side to side. Then she flew quickly out of sight.
During the cookout, I told my hosts about the hummingbird incident. They promised to fix the window. As I was departing, my friends walked me to my car. I was standing by the car when a hummingbird flew to the center of our group and began hovering. She turned from person to person until she came to me. She again looked directly into my eyes, then let out a squeaking call and was gone. For a moment, all were speechless. Then someone said, “She must have come to say goodbye.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为 150 左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
A few weeks later, I went to the farm again.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I was just about to leave when the hummingbird appeared.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 表示理解并给予安慰；2.提出建议；3.表达美好祝愿。
注意：1.词数120左右（开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数）；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Lisa,
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Best wishes,
Li Hua
1.课程内容；
2.你的感受；
3.询问Peter劳动课情况。
注意：1.词数80左右；
2.请按格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Peter,
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Yours,
Li Hua
1、表示理解并给予安慰；
2、提出建议：多阅读、多积累和模仿；
3、说明你建议的理由。
注意：写作词数：80-100
（信的开头语与结尾已给出，但不计入总词数）
Dear Worried,
I’m sorry to know that you’re having a bad time at the moment.
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Yours,
Jennie
