1 . Gone are the days when a mother’s place was in the home: in Britain women with children are now as likely to be in paid work as their unburdened sisters. Many put their little darlings in day care long before they start school. Mindful that a poor start can spoil a person’s chances of success later in life, the state has intervened ever more closely in how babies and toddlers are looked after. Inspectors call not only at nurseries but also at homes where youngsters are minded; three-year-olds follow the national curriculum. Child care has increasingly become a profession.
For years after the government first began in 2001 to twist the arms of anyone who looked after an unrelated child to register with the schools, the numbers so doing fell. Kind but clueless neighbours stopped looking after little ones, who were instead herded into formal nurseries or handed over to one of the ever-fewer registered child-minders. The decline in the number of people taking in children now appears to have halted. According to data released by the Office for Standards in Education on October 27th, the number of registered child-minders reached its lowest point in September 2010 and has since recovered slightly.
The new lot are certainly better qualified. In 2010 fully 82% of nursery workers held diplomas notionally equivalent to A-levels, the university-entrance exams taken mostly by 18-year-olds, up from 56% seven years earlier, says Anand Shukla of the Daycare Trust, a charity. Nurseries staffed by university graduates tend to be rated highest by inspectors, increasing their appeal to the pickiest parents. As a result, more graduates are being recruited.
But professionalization has also pushed up the price of child care, defying even the economic depression. A survey by the Daycare Trust finds that a full-time nursery place in England for a child aged under two, who must be intensively supervised, costs £194 ($310) per week, on average. Prices in London and the south-east are far higher. Parents in Britain spend more on child care than anywhere else in the world, according to the OECD, a think-tank. Some 68% of a typical second earner's net income is spent on freeing her to work, compared with an OECD average of 52%.
The price of child care is not only eye-watering, but has also become a barrier to work. Soon after it took power the coalition government pledged to ensure that people are better off in work than on benefits, but a recent survey by Save the Children, a charity, found that the high cost of day care prevented a quarter of low-paid workers from returning to their jobs once they had started a family. The government pays for free part-time nursery places for three-and four-year-olds, and contributes towards day-care costs for younger children from poor areas. Alas, extending such an aid during stressful economic times would appear to be anything but child’s play.
1. Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?| A．Nursery education plays a leading role in one’s personal growth. |
| B．Pregnant women have to work to lighten families’ economic burden. |
| C．Children in nursery have to take uniform nation courses. |
| D．The supervision of the state makes child care professional. |
| A．the registered child-minders are required to take the university-entrance exams |
| B．the number of registered child-minders has been declining since 2001 |
| C．anyone who looks after children at home must register with the schools |
| D．the growing recognition encourages more graduates to work as child-minders |
| A．prevents mothers from getting employed |
| B．may further depress the national economy |
| C．makes many families live on benefits |
| D．is far more than parents can afford |
| A．Objective. | B．Skeptical. | C．Supportive. | D．Biased. |
| A．The professionalization of child care has pushed up its price. |
| B．The high cost of child nursing makes many mothers give up their jobs. |
| C．The employment of more graduates makes nurseries more popular. |
| D．Parents in Britain pay most for child nursing throughout the world. |
1、活动目的；
2、活动安排；
3、注意事项。
要求：1、词数100左右。
2、可以适当增加细节，以使行文流畅。
3、开头和结尾已给出，不计入词数。
Announcement
Dear schoolmates，
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That’s all. Thank you!
回信中需要包含如下内容：
1. 感谢他的关心
2. 介绍学校的管控措施（可能需要的单词：口罩（mask），消毒（sterilize）核酸检测（nucleic acid test）,隔离quarantine 疑似病例suspected case）
3. 对战胜疫情的信心
注意：1. 字迹必须清晰，卷面整洁
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯
3. 字数不少于100字
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4 . “NON-FUNGIBLE TOKENS” (NFTs) leapt from the more obscure corners of the internet into the mainstream in March 2021 when Christies, a British auction house, sold a digital work of art for $69m. What it actually flogged was an NFT, a cryptocurrency chit that proves a buyer owns an intangible marker connected to a unique piece of digital art, music or other item. Much like René Magritte’s painting of a pipe that proclaims “this is not a pipe” an NFT is not the thing it represents. Tweets, videos of basketball dunks and even the source code to the world wide web have been sold as NFTs in recent months. From June to September they generated almost $11bn in sales, an eight-fold increase on the previous four months, according to DappRadar, a market tracker. What exactly is an NFT? And why are people spending tens of millions of dollars on them?
An NFT is a record on a cryptocurrency’s blockchain (an immutable ledger（不可篡改的账本） that can record more than just virtual coins) that represents pieces of digital media. Invented a few years ago, it can link not only to art but also to text, videos or bits of code. Promoters of NFTs claim that they solve a thorny（棘手的） problem with digital art: how to own an original. For creators who freely upload their work or sell it as identical copies, the concept of an original is difficult to pin down（确定）. Exclusivity is impossible to enforce when digital files can be shared freely on the internet. But collectors want the cachet that comes with having an exclusive claim on an artwork. This is where NFTs fit in.
To mint（铸币，造币） an NFT, the creator establishes a unique record of the artwork, generally on a website. Then the creator places the record on a blockchain, usually Ethereum’s, which requires a transaction fee known as gas. Possession of a private encryption key associated with the transaction proves ownership. This gives an artist or collector something to sell. An NFT may link to a version of the work, but rarely includes the rights to reproduce or distribute it. That differentiates it from a commercial licensing arrangement, too.
NFTs have myriad（众多的） problems. They often change hands using cryptocurrencies, many of which currently have sky-high valuations, leading to fears of a bubble. Anyone can mint an NFT, since the systems involved are decentralised（去中心化的）, although doing so with someone else’s work could be infringe their copyright. Some artists have already claimed misappropriation of their work.Most NFTs are simply links to images. Unless they have been issued in a certain way to ensure they are tamper-proof（防更改的） these can in theory be meddled with after the sale. The high electricity usage of blockchains—Bitcoin’s is greater than that of Chile—has prompted arguments over whether artists are contributing to climate change by embracing NFTs. And ownership may be difficult to prove in the long term, as web-based records may not last for ever.
Yet NFTs have some value beyond the cryptocurrency hype （加密货币炒作）: artists struggle to make a living when their works can be easily replicated and pirated. NFTs will create new problems in an attempt to solve old ones, but for now many creators and collectors are too busy cashing in to care.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．What is the core concept of NFTs. | B．Where NFTs can fit in. |
| C．How to make NFTs. | D．What’s the disadvantages of NFTs. |
| A．It seldom change hands using cryptocurrencies. |
| B．The systems involved are centralized. |
| C．The high electricity usage of blockchains possibly contribute to climate change by embracing NFTs. |
| D．It is a record on a cryptocurrency’s blockchain. |
| A．Quote. | B．Analogy. | C．Comparison. | D．Personification |
| A．What is an NFT? |
| B．How to make NFTs? |
| C．NFTs have some value beyond the cryptocurrency hype. |
| D．NFTs have myriad problems. |
From the time when I was a child, my mother made it clear that she did not like nursing homes（敬老院）. I remember her saying that nursing homes were terrible places. Whenever my mother mentioned the topic. she would shake her finger at me and add a warning:"If you put me in one of those places, I'll not forgive you! "I knew my mother's wishes and wanted to obey.
Fortunately, my mother lived near me, and for many years it was easy to check on her and help with her care. But with each passing year, my mother experienced a decline in her physical and mental abilities. After ninety, when she was diagnosed with dementia(老年痴呆症) , she needed more assistance with the normal activities of daily living and required close observation just for her own safety.
During the passage of time, I, too, was getting older, I had my own mobility（移动性） issues and health concerns, As the days passed, it became clearer that some changes were needed. If I had to go out for groceries（食品杂货）, I couldn't leave her alone. When I slept, my mother was un-watched, and she could get out of bed and wander off.
Fortunately, while I was figuring out what to do, a brand-new nursing home was built in our town, I toured the nursing home and discovered that they could provide a private room for my mother. They also had staff members that were very professional and well-trained, I tried to convince myself that the new nursing home was the best and safest place for my mother, but I seemed to hear my mother's words and see her finger shake in front of my eyes.
注意:
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
Eventually，I decided and shared my plan with Mom.
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The big day came finally.
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When Valentine's Day was around the corner, Grandma came down with a terrible cold when she was travelling from Colorado to my family's house in California. She was too weak to go out at all, which was sad and disappointing. That was because Grandma and Grandpa had been planning to take my little sister Indi and me to the zoo for Valentine's Day. Grandma, as an animal lover, had been especially looking forward to it.
On Valentine's Day Indi begged Grandma to go to the zoo together. But Grandma jokingly explained that if she went there, she might spread her cold to other visitors, or even to the animals, making them all start sneezing.
In my mind, I imagined the sight that an elephant kept sneezing. Meanwhile I made my arm into a trunk and blurted out a funny trumpeting sound that ended in a gigantic sneeze. "Good one, Brother!" Indi laughed. "That elephant would need a huge box of tissues.”
Grandma was amused. But she insisted that she should stay at home and rest up. She wished us a pleasant visit and reminded us to send her regards to the monkeys in the zoo.
Well, we did go and we did have a great time but I kept wishing Grandma could have been there with us. When we reached the monkey mountain, Grandpa told us to hold still and say “cheese" and snapped a good picture of the monkeys and us.
“Cheese!” I said. But Indi said, “Happy Valentine's Day, Grandma!”
"You were supposed to say cheese." said Grandpa.
Indi shrugged, “It just came out.”
"I'm glad it did" I said, because your words just gave me a fantastic idea! What if we take pictures of different animals, and then turn them into a special Valentine gift for Grandma?" Indi and Grandpa agreed and we kept taking pictures with delight for Grandma's surprise.
注意：1、所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2、续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
Paragraph 1:
When we got home, we set about making the gift.
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Paragraph 2:
Then we took the gift upstairs to Grandma’s room.
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| A. attach B. provoke C. renovate D. wander E. switch F. decline G. initiate H. symbolize I. capture |
the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to push oil prices as high as $100 per barrel.
2. In all of 2020, global large-scale companies had the capacity to
3. Along the way, passengers have the chance to
4. The two things he is sure to
5. The survey predicted that the quality of the educational provision and standards pupils achieve might
6. The report proposed that the authority
7. The options, one to build an entirely new facility and a second to
new part, both come with price tags of several hundred million dollars.
8. Temperatures will remain mild until winds
1.饺子是一种中国传统美食，大多数中国人会在过年的时候吃饺子；
2.饺子的寓意和吃饺子的原因：饺子像古代的金银锭子（ingot）,象征着财富。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3.开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
DearJonah,
I’m so glad you are interested in Chinese dumplings and honored to introduce them to you.
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Welcome to China and enjoy dumplings!
Yours sincerely,
Lihua
There is a farm not far from the coastline. It belongs to a man called Tom. Tom couldn’t do everything by himself on the farm. Thus, he needed to hire one man to help him run the farm. However, no one worked on his farm for long. Why？Because the work was too tiring. Since the farm is near the sea, there are often storms from the sea that strike his farm. When a storm comes, Tom and the man he hired have to get up quickly and try to reduce the losses caused by the storm. Therefore, no one liked working there. Tom had to look for people to work for him all the time.
One day, a man called Henry read the poster that Tom had put up and then came to his farm.
“Sir, I can work for you ,” said Henry.
Tom looked at Henry. This young man was neither strong nor tall.
“Are you sure?”asked Tom.
“Yes, sir. I can do the work well. But you must pay me twice what you paid others before,” said that young man.
Tom was surprised. He didn’t really believe such a man could do the work well. But it was really hard for him to find someone else to work for him. At last, he decided to give Henry a try. However, before hiring him, he said, “Can you really be a good helper？The work on the farm is hard and tiring. And there are often storms.”
Henry smiled and said, “Don’t worry. I can be a good helper. You’ll see. And storms won’t be a problem. They won’t even disturb our sleep. We can sleep very well even on stormy nights.”
And then Henry stayed on the farm. To Tom’s joy, Henry worked hard and did his work well. It was obvious that he hadn’t lied.
However, one night, there was a big storm. Tom was woken up by the strong wind. He was worried that the storm would cause great losses for his farm. And he saw his helper nowhere.
Paragraph 1
Tom thought Henry must still be sleeping.
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Paragraph 2
Tom thought he had hired the wrong man.
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Life On Venus?
Cats Make for Ideal Human Companions
Cats have a reputation for being colder and less cuddly (令人想拥抱的) than their counterparts—dogs. In reality, they form close bonds with their owners and provide a sense of companionship, particularly for women. In fact, the findings of one Austrian study show that owning a cat is the emotional equivalent of being in a romantic relationship.
Some people feel silly talking to their pets, since, of course, they can’t respond. But interacting with your feline (猫科的) companions has proven health benefits. Not only does talking to your cat improve your bond, but it’s also said to be beneficial to your mental health by helping to improve your mood, lower your stress levels, and reduce our feelings of loneliness.
Cats are experts at sleeping, so it’s perhaps no surprise that they can help improve your sleep, too. A Mayo Clinic study found that people who slept with their pets in the same room were almost twice as likely to get a good night’s rest, with only 20 percent saying that they found their pets’ presence destructive.
Cats may not be able to help with the housekeeping, but they can assist in keeping your house free of mice. It turns out there’s some truth behind the cartoon cat-and-mouse chase. When mice smell certain proteins in cat saliva (唾液), they become tearful and therefore avoid the area.
It’s important for children to learn to care for and look after a living thing, just as their parents take care of them. Cats can help children develop social skills as they learn to approach the feline carefully and gently. Looking after a cat also encourages a sense of responsibility.
In addition to filling your heart with love, cats can contribute to keeping your heart healthy. Numerous studies have shown that owning a cat can help reduce your blood pressure and heart rate, as well as lowering your triglyceride (甘油三酸酯) and cholesterol levels, thereby reducing your risk of having a heart attack or stroke.
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