1 . I was in first grade in Mrs. Bauer’s class at a time when elementary schools held student gift swaps. I was to
I bought a Matchbox car for Paul. After all, all boys
As Paul and other boys raced their new Matchbox cars delightedly in the classroom, I tried to hold back hot tears. Though I felt
When school was over, Mrs. Bauer asked me to remain behind for a moment. I sat
Afterwards, I became
| A．arrange | B．exchange | C．create | D．share |
| A．needed | B．identified | C．possessed | D．loved |
| A．took apart | B．put away | C．picked out | D．checked up |
| A．excited | B．sorrowful | C．concerned | D．proud |
| A．amusement | B．punishment | C．puzzlement | D．embarrassment |
| A．generally | B．simply | C．eventually | D．instantly |
| A．nervously | B．shyly | C．comfortably | D．casually |
| A．respect | B．courage | C．kindness | D．confidence |
| A．shame | B．regret | C．intention | D．disappointment |
| A．toy | B．tool | C．decoration | D．prize |
| A．certain | B．hopeful | C．happy | D．serious |
| A．understand | B．assess | C．remember | D．ignore |
| A．strict | B．content | C．popular | D．familiar |
| A．afford | B．choose | C．expect | D．agree |
| A．useful | B．fashionable | C．precious | D．necessary |
2 . Brightly—Raise Kids Who Love to Read
We believe reading has the power to improve kids’ lives and link members of a family by creating a space in which children and the adults in their lives can spend quality time together. But we also know how hard it can be to find the right book. That’s where Brightly comes in.
Editorial Mission
Brightly provides passionate parents, educators, and caregivers with the tools they need—such as tips and advice, book recommendations, and Brightly Storytime—to keep kids connected to books. We take pride in working with a diverse group of contributors, authors, and partners who cover a wide range of topics for readers of all ages in order to develop a love of books and reading in children.
Brightly Shop
Over the years, countless readers have come to us searching for gifts for the young bookworms in their lives. While it’s always been our mission to provide content that offers great book recommendations, your feedback has helped us realize the value of a more browsable, store-like experience.
The Brightly Shop helps to find exceptional book gifts for kids by offering a diverse collection of age-appropriate titles for kids ages 0–8. Whether you’re looking for a baby shower gift, birthday present, or just want to treat the child in your life to a great book, each title in the Shop is hand-selected by our editorial team—with more added every week—to bring you a satisfactory book buying experience.
We hope you’ll take a moment to browse our Shop and let us know what you think! Send us an email at shop@readbrightly.com.
Contact
We’d love to hear from you! Reach out by emailing hello@readbrightly.com—we’re listening!
1. What does Brightly think of reading?| A．It demands proper guidance. | B．It requires quality family time. |
| C．It helps to keep families connected. | D．It promises to interest people of all ages. |
| A．Leave their feedback. | B．Update its weekly book list. |
| C．Share their reading experiences. | D．Get a free book on their birthdays. |
| A．The power of reading. | B．A pretty useful website. |
| C．How to choose books for kids. | D．How to make kids love reading. |
3 . Taking care of your body is an important part of your mental and physical health at any age. But do you enjoy sticking to all the universally acknowledged healthy habits? Here are 4 activities that will help keep you healthy and bring you joy at the same time.
*Eating dark chocolate
Dark chocolate is made from the seed of the cacao tree.
*Dancing
There is no need for equipment or any knowledge.
*
Studies have shown that a simple walk and just being outside can decrease cancer risks, help with your mental health, and regulate your blood pressure. Go outside to sit in your garden or find a beautiful spot in the park and relax for a few minutes. Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin and improve your vitamin D levels.
*Making sure you are well-rested
Being well-rested is something that affects the quality of your day after waking up from sleep. If your sleep has been restful, you will feel refreshed and restored throughout the day. But what if even after sleeping for 6 — 9 hours you still feel tired?
Make sure you do all the little things that can help you to feel better and be more joyful.
| A．Being in nature |
| B．Exploring the wild |
| C．Your life is as exciting as you make it be |
| D．Taking a nap during the day might be your answer |
| E．Dance is an art practiced largely by professional performers |
| F．It’s so rich in nutrition that it can positively affect your health |
| G．All you have to do is let your body move to the rhythm of the music |
4 . During the COVID-19 pandemic (疫情), US citizen Elizabeth Hulanick has turned to toys from her childhood to deal with worry and stress. She started bringing Lego toys to work to build things out of the colorful blocks with her colleagues. She also started playing with Silly Putty, a toy made of special rubbery material that changes colors. She said it brought her comfort.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, many adults turned to toys to recall feelings from their childhood. The stresses from the worldwide health crisis only made that trend grow.
Many toy makers see adults’ interest in toys as a durable thing, even after the pandemic fully ends. This so-called “kid-adult” market is a big part of the toy industry. The market is the second-fastest-growing group after customers aged 12 to 17.
Some toy companies are creating new products, services and websites designed for adults. For example, Mattel’s American Girl Cafe recently added alcoholic drinks to their menu after seeing adults show up without children. American Girl makes popular, costly dolls. Last year, the company Build-a-Bear started a website called Bear Cave for customers aged 18 and over. Products include a toy rabbit holding a bottle of wine. Even the fast-food restaurant McDonald’s is marketing to toy-loving adults. It started its adult Happy Meals in October. McDonald’s President and CEO Chris Kempczinski said the company sold half its supply of collectible toys in the first four days of the special deal. The Lego Group has been increasing its products for adults since 2020. It now has 100 toys designed for adult customers. Among the most popular toys for adults are Star Wars and Harry Potter-linked Lego sets.
Genevieve Cruz is senior director at Lego. She said, “The pandemic certainly served as a catalyst (催化剂) for this trend as adults found themselves stuck at home with nothing else to do and a lot of time on their hands. We do believe the trend goes beyond the pandemic.”
1. What’s the author’s main purpose in mentioning Elizabeth Hulanick in paragraph 1?| A．To recommend a fun way to handle stress. |
| B．To prove the benefits of playing with toys. |
| C．To introduce the topic to be discussed in the text. |
| D．To show the popularity of toys among US adults. |
| A．Long-lasting. | B．Far-reaching. |
| C．Time-consuming. | D．Brand-new. |
| A．They keep improving service quality. |
| B．They aim more products at grown-ups. |
| C．Their marketing direction remains unchanged. |
| D．Their adult toys sell better than child ones. |
| A．Opposed. | B．Doubtful. | C．Optimistic. | D．Tolerant. |
5 . Restaurants, farmers, and food businesses are turning to chemistry and physics to address the problem of food waste. Some companies are testing coverings to slow the ripening process in fruit and packets to keep food fresh. Others are developing digital sensors that can tell when meat is safe to eat.
Experts say growing awareness of the costs of food waste has led to more efforts to deal with the problem. ReFed is a group that studies food waste. It says new businesses raised $300 billion in 2021, double the amount raised in 2020, to solve the problem. The group says that in 2019, around 35 percent of food available in the US — worth about $418 billion — went unsold or uneaten. The US Environmental Protection Agency says that food waste is the largest kind of material placed in local waste areas. And the agency notes that rotting food gives off methane, a gas that is not good for the environment.
ReFed says 225,000 kilograms of food could be kept out of waste areas each year with special, high-tech coverings. Many companies are working on ways to help reduce food waste. Swedenbased Innoscentia is developing a sensor that can show if meat is safe to eat by measuring the buildup of microbes (微生物) inside its container. And Ryp Labs, based in the US and Belgium, is working on a sticker for fruits and vegetables that would give off gas to slow ripening. SavrPak has developed a plant-based packet that can fit inside a container and take in moisture (水分), helping the food inside stay crispy.
“The science is promising, but it’s only part of the solution,” said Yvette Cabrera, who is the director of food waste for the Natural Resources Defense Council. “Most food waste happens at home. Reducing food sizes, buying smaller quantities, or improving the accuracy of freshness date could have even greater effects than new technology. Overall as a society, we don’t value food as it should be valued,” Cabrera said.
1. According to paragraph 2, food waste in the US has caused ______.| A．great economic losses | B．seasonal food shortages |
| C．growing awareness of food safety | D．serious water pollution |
| A．Maintaining the freshness of meat. | B．Keeping food from getting wet. |
| C．Freeing food from microbes. | D．Preventing fruits and vegetables from ripening. |
| A．Developing new technology. | B．Promoting Empty Plate Campaign. |
| C．Shortening the process of producing food. | D．Changing people’s consuming habit. |
| A．Dealing with Food Waste Calls for Combined Efforts |
| B．Public Awareness Is the Key to Handling Food Waste |
| C．Food Waste Remains a Hard-to-handle Problem Worldwide |
| D．Companies Develop Technologies to Deal with Food Waste |
6 . Biar Kon, a 17-year-old student, whose parents were working in neighboring Sudan, moved to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, to attend school. Once he
The woman told Kon that she had seen him asking questions of multiple people as they
They cleared up the
Today, it’s an encounter he
| A．worked | B．arrived | C．changed | D．graduated |
| A．permission | B．comments | C．explanation | D．directions |
| A．passed | B．watched | C．struggled | D．hesitated |
| A．awkward | B．homeless | C．careful | D．shy |
| A．evidence | B．difficulty | C．confusion | D．conflict |
| A．generosity | B．wisdom | C．responsibility | D．confidence |
| A．put it aside | B．take it easy | C．kick it off | D．pay it forward |
| A．persuaded | B．spotted | C．questioned | D．inspired |
| A．witnessed | B．reported | C．recalled | D．shared |
| A．praised | B．thanked | C．blamed | D．mistaken |
| A．common | B．unintended | C．serious | D．similar |
| A．clue | B．rise | C．job | D．solution |
| A．creates | B．expects | C．deserves | D．values |
| A．reminder | B．protector | C．challenge | D．practice |
| A．secretly | B．actively | C．loudly | D．anxiously |
7 . Elito Circa is a Filipino artist who rose to fame for using his own blood to create canvas (油画布) paintings, which has attracted both praise and criticism over the years.
Born in a poor family that couldn’t afford to buy proper art supplies, Elito Circa experimented with a variety of unusual mediums as a child, including tomatoes, but it was when he accidentally scraped (刮破) his hand that he discovered the art medium that would mark his artistic career—his own blood. He quickly realized that the blood was not only harder to erase from the canvas, but it also made his artworks his own in a way that he had never imagined before.
Every time he scraped his body, young Elito used the blood as paint, but as he grew older he realized that his “paint” needed to be supplied stably, so he started visiting a clinic in Manila to have it drawn periodically. Nowadays, he stops by the clinic about once every three months. He then stores his blood in a freezer in his studio.
Although Elito has been criticized for his use of blood as paint in the past few years, the Filipino artist has always made it clear that he wants to change people’s view of blood through his art. “People are afraid of blood, because in their minds, blood means death,” Elito said in an interview. “But I want to twist that belief. That’s why I’m addressing its use because I want people to think that it’s not death, but love and life.”
It’s unclear how much of his own blood Elito Circa has stored in his art studio, but it must be a lot, because he has announced a plan to create the largest ever “blood painting” on a 100-meter canvas next year, expecting to set a new world record.
1. Why did Elito Circa become well-known?| A．Great details were reflected in his artworks. |
| B．He used a special art medium in his artworks. |
| C．He showed extraordinary skills in his artworks. |
| D．Unique thoughts were expressed in his artworks. |
| A．His family’s economic conditions. | B．His great interest in experiments. |
| C．His strong desire to stand out. | D．His rich artistic imaginations. |
| A．By keeping himself in shape. | B．By scraping his body periodically. |
| C．By having his blood drawn regularly. | D．By collecting blood from a local clinic. |
| A．Practice makes perfect. |
| B．He who laughs last laughs best. |
| C．God helps those who help themselves. |
| D．Go your own way regardless of what people say. |
8 . Students at an elementary school in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline that people can call to get cheerful advice from kids during difficult times. Shortly afterwards, the hotline began getting thousands of calls an hour.
The hotline is available in English and Spanish. It offers the happy voices of children of different ages sharing positive messages. For example, by pressing 1, you can hear a group of kindergartners saying together, “You can do it! Keep trying, and don’t give up!” Pressing 2 brings the sounds of children laughing-a sound certain to bring a smile to anyone’s face.
Jessica Martin, who teaches art at West Side School in Healdsburg, California, thought her students just might have the magic words needed to bring calm to people in difficult times. Ms. Martin worked with students at West Side on a project they called “PepToc”. Actually, they called it “Pep Talk” first. But when Ms. Martin’s 6-year-old son drew an ad for the hotline and spelled it “PepToc”, they decided they liked that even better.
Most of the project was completed in a day. Ms. Martin worked with students from kindergarten to the sixth grade. She had the same basic question for all the students-What could you say to help or encourage someone else? Students working on the hotline thought of what they would like to say. When they were ready, Ms. Martin recorded each one. Later, she sorted out the recordings into the different parts of the telephone hotline.
Ms. Martin thought the project would only attract interest from people near the school. But the hotline was soon getting hundreds of calls a day-and then, thousands of calls an hour. It’s become unbelievably popular with stressed adults, patients in hospitals, older people in homes, and others who just want to hear the happy voices of children.
1. What does the text say about the hotline?| A．It is answered by teachers. |
| B．It has offered callers all kinds of help. |
| C．It’s mainly aimed at cheering kids stuck at home. |
| D．It enjoyed great popularity quickly. |
| A．Out of a mistake. | B．From a similar project. |
| C．On the recommendation of students. | D．At the request of Ms. Martin’s son. |
| A．Students’ interest in the hotline. | B．Primary purposes of the hotline. |
| C．What the hotline focuses on. | D．How the hotline was set up. |
| A．Unacceptable. | B．Unreasonable. | C．Unexpected. | D．Unpleasant. |
Joe worked as a night watchman in a factory after he graduated from high school. It was a lonely job, but he was content. He stopped by the beach every day on his way home to watch the sunrise.
One day, he was walking on the beach when he noticed a bottle in the surf. Joe picked it up and saw a roll of paper inside it. His heart beat fast. He removed the lid and opened the letter. “Hi! My name is Ritchie. I’m sending this message in the hope that somebody will find it and become my friend.”
It saddened Joe to think of this boy waiting and hoping somebody would answer his message. He took his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number written near the bottom of the page.
However, the number didn’t exist anymore. Joe was determined to find Ritchie, so he went straight to the city library for help. A librarian took him to a section of the library that felt deserted. There, she pointed him to the shelves filled with old telephone books. She sat down with him, and they searched the telephone books for Ritchie’s phone number together. Two hours later, the librarian let out an excited scream. “I found him!”
“Thank you,” Joe said, quickly copying down the address. He immediately headed for the address from the phone book. He almost screamed when he saw that the house at the address had been transformed into a hair salon. Joe stared at the sign. He held the message from the bottle in one fist and the paper with the address in the other. He walked in and explained everything to the barber. “Ritchie was born with disabilities. He has been using a wheelchair since he was a kid. Well, he’s an old man now. If you still want to find him, I hear he’s at the Serenity nursing home.” Joe thanked the man and drove to the nursing home.
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。
After asking to see Ritchie, Joe was shown to a sunlit room.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One day, Joe received a call, learning that Ritchie had passed away the previous night.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . Every year, as many as 50, 000 elephants in Africa are killed illegally for their tusks (象牙). Now scientists have improved DNA methods that allow them to match up elephant tusks, and help track down criminals that are selling them.
Even though it’s against the law, African elephants have long been killed by criminals for their tusks. Other people, called “traffickers”, buy the tusks and transport them out of the country on a ship. The traffickers re-sell the tusks for even more money, usually in Asia. Elephant tusks can sell for about $1, 000 a kilogram.
In the past, it was hard to catch the criminals. Usually by the time the dead animals were found, the illegal hunters had been far away. And when traffickers were caught with elephant tusks, it was impossible to say where the tusks came from. Traffickers usually hide them in tricky ways inside shipments of other products. That means that only about 10% of tusks from illegally killed elephants are ever found.
Several years ago, scientists led by Dr. Samuel Wasser figured out a new way to solve the problem. Using elephant waste, they built a list of the DNA of almost all elephants in Africa.
Now when elephant tusks are found on a ship in another country, DNA tests can show where they came from. This information can trigger quick action in the country where the animals were killed. It can also help the police discover patterns in the ways the illegal hunters and traffickers work.
Dr. Wasser is hopeful that the method of using DNA information from elephants to track illegally killed wildlife will soon be adopted to help protect other kinds of animals and break up more criminal groups.
1. Why do scientists use DNA information from elephants?| A．To improve the health of elephant tusks. |
| B．To keep track of the illegal dealers. |
| C．To protect elephants against natural disasters. |
| D．To research into elephants’ habits. |
| A．The way they are transported. |
| B．The lack of tracking technology. |
| C．The difficulty in catching criminals. |
| D．The various tricks of illegal hunters. |
| A．start with | B．result from | C．hold back | D．lead to |
| A．It can make all criminals have nowhere to hide. |
| B．It can scare away potential illegal hunters. |
| C．It can be widely used in wildlife protection. |
| D．It can make elephant tusk sales unprofitable. |
