1 . Autumn Reading
Rez Dogs
Rez Dogs, by Joseph Bruchac is a book written in verse (诗). It’s about an eighth-grader named MalianShe’s visiting her grandparents at their home on a Wabanaki reservation when COVID-19 hits. During lockdown, Malian learns more from her grandparents about her Native family’s history.
Omar Rising
Omar Rising, by Aisha Saeed tells the story of the son of a servant in Pakistan. Omar is excited that he has won a scholarship (奖学金) to a boarding school. But when he gets there he discovers that his scholarship is offered with special conditions. To stay at the school, Omar must do chores (杂活) and get better grades than the wealthy students. And he’s not allowed to join clubs or teams. When his future at the school does seem bright, he and his friends work hard to create fairness for all.
The Ice Cream Machine
The Ice Cream Machine is no common book. It’s six different stories rolled into one book. Each story has a very different plot (情节) about ice cream. One ice-cream story is about a boy and his robot in the distant future. Another is about a father and daughter who invent an ice-cream machine. The Ice Cream Machine is inventive and fun. Its author,Adam Rubin, hopes the book encourages kids to write.
Sugar and Spite
Sugar and Spite, by Gail D.Villanueva, finds 12-year-old Jolina newly arrived on an island in the Philippines. It’s there that she learns how to make magic. Jolina uses that magic to get a bully (仗势欺人者) named Claudine off her back. Filipino history and culture are shown in the book. Villanueva said that kids should read about places and cultures different from their own.
1. What problem does Omar have?A.He finds it difficult to learn magic. | B.He is unable to visit his grandparents. |
C.He receives unfair treatment at school | D.He has no money to buy an ice-cream machine |
A.It is a guidebook. | B.It is a travel diary. |
C.It is a verse novel. | D.It is a collection of stories. |
A.Rez Dogs. | B.Omar Rising. |
C.Sugar and Spite. | D.The Ice Cream Machine. |
2 . How to Be Creative
Most of us think that creativity is a quality (品质) belonging only to artists, writers, or dancers, rather than ourselves.
Get out of your comfort zone
We eagerly accept the familiar and fear the unknown. Break out of your usual patterns and welcome creativity into your life. As said earlier, the human brain was designed to recognize patterns.
Try different things
If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got. We are creatures of habits and routines, and creativity hates routines (常规). If you usually drive to work, take the subway for a few days.
Having a great idea is not enough, you must work to make it a reality. Have you ever seen a new product and realized that you thought of the same thing long ago? Yet someone else is making money with “your” idea.
A.Take action |
B.Seek several options |
C.Think from the other person’s point of view. |
D.If you normally eat in the office, have lunch under a tree. |
E.We continue to create patterns for almost everything we do. |
F.The truth is that we are all born with the ability to be creative. |
G.We all have great ideas sometimes, but only a few people turn their ideas into realities. |
I always wondered how people would react if I tried to approach a stranger for help in a busy place like a street corner or in a bustling mall. I personally have hurried past a stranger who tried to catch my attention in a busy place.
Yesterday I had a taste of being stuck in such a desperate situation where your only hope of help would have to come from a total stranger.
I was in a busy shopping mall buying a large piece of luggage. After the purchase in one of the large and expensive shops, I picked up my phone from my pocket to call my driver waiting in the parking lot and my phone was dead.
I then requested the shop assistant selling me the luggage, which was not cheap at all, if she could ring the number of my driver for me. She replied, still all smiles, “I’m sorry Sir, but it is the shop policy that we cannot use mobile phones while working in the shop.”
As I was wondering what kind of policy that was, I saw a nice-looking teenage boy coming toward me. Remember my wife’s interesting theory that beautiful people are more likely to give you a hand when you’re in trouble, I thought I might have a chance. But before I could say a word, he walked past me. It turned out he simply didn’t see me.
I waited in the mall but it seemed nobody bothered to look at me. Disappointed and tired, I got out of the shop on to the busy street in front. I stood there with people rushing by, looking at their faces to see if they will show kindness to me. I began wondering how many times I had reacted to strangers like the shop girl and the teenager.
注意:1. 续写的短文词数应为100左右;2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
That was when I saw a young mother with her two kids.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Finally a man wearing a cheap T-shirt and dirty jeans seemed to notice me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . For the past few years, I’ve taken my vacation in the spring. One April I planned to visit a friend in Nepal who had lived in the country for over 15 years.
I flew into Kathmandu and spent a week visiting sites, and on Friday, April24, 2015, we went to Lukla, a mountain town to the northeast. My friend had worked there before. We visited a nearby village on Saturday. We were served a delicious pancake and endless cups of milk tea; villagers made small talk and caught up with each other. After a couple of hours, my friend and I made a polite exit(离去) for a coffee break across the dirt path to our lodging, a house he had lived in while working in Lukla years ago.
As we sat in the kitchen taking a rest, I wondered why it felt like an underground was running under the village. As the sound started to shake, I looked out the window at the passers-by and thought it felt like a truck was driving by-impossible in this village. I looked at my friend and he said off-handedly: “It’s an earthquake.” Before I could ask questions, he began shouting to get out of the house.By the time I was running down the dirt path, I couldn’t run straight.
Away from buildings, we lowered our bodies near a low wall, and unbelievably before our eyes, walls and buildings fell. In front of us the end wall of the house we slept in collapsed(倒塌), the stones dislodging(移开)and falling to the ground. In a matter of seconds, every house in the village was damaged(损坏), with walls either seriously cracked(破裂), or partially or completely damaged.
In the days and weeks that followed we checked in with friends and shared stories of where we were and what we were doing. The event was so wide-reaching that it was difficult to understand except through personal stories.
1. What did the author do in Nepal?A.He visited his friend. | B.He tried to look for a job. |
C.He built a house for villagers. | D.He moved to a village to enjoy life. |
A.Shy. | B.Bored. | C.Friendly. | D.Humorous. |
A.He was injured by a collapsed wall. | B.An earthquake struck the village. |
C.A truck drove by the village | D.He missed the train. |
A.It was left empty. | B.It was quite peaceful. |
C.It was badly damaged. | D.It was attractive to visitors. |