My mother believed in using things up. Last year, our cornfield had a bad harvest because birds feasted on the crops. It was probably then that Mom’s frugality(节俭)became even more extraordinary. She began keeping everything that seemed useless in the attic(阁楼)—worn-out clothes, old sheets, broken umbrellas, and some other old items. Mom’s favorite saying was “waste not, want not”(俭以防匮). My brother Josh and I weren’t sure what that meant until the “Affair of the Scarecrow(稻草人)”, which, as it later became known, left a lasting impression on us.
The story began with a pretty hat that Mom received as a gift to protect her from the sun. However, Josh and I could see that Mom’s frugal nature and fashion sense were in battle. Mom really didn’t want to get rid of the hat—it was new and had a lot of use left in it—but neither could she stand wearing it. She tried to take off the fancy decorations, but they were stuck on tight. She’d have to find some other solution.
Josh and I watched as Mom headed upstairs to the attic with the hat. “Waste not, want not,” she called back down. We heard boxes being moved around. Moments later, Mom leaned out, holding a flour bag full of straw, and with a mysterious smile, she placed the hat on it.
“What is that for?” I asked, confused. “A scarecrow! ” Mom exclaimed. “But not a good one yet.It needs a strong body to stand firm in the field,” she said with a frown. “And it doesn’t look scary enough,” Josh remarked. I had to admit that Josh, though younger than I was, could sometimes be more imaginative. Josh and I turned to each other, searching for a good idea. Soon enough, Josh’s eyes lit up with inspiration.
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。
Paragraph 1: “Come with me!” Josh called out.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: In the following days, the scarecrow stood proudly.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . “While extroverts (性格外向者) often make great first impressions with their outgoing manner and lively personalities in interviews, that value and reputation at work diminish (削减) over time.” says Corinne Bender, an associate professor of management.
“Extroverts disappoint us over time when they’re part of a team,” Bender says. “On a team you’re expected to work hard and contribute a lot. But they’re often poor listeners, and they don’t cooperate.”
“On the other hand, introverts (性格内向者) work hard on a team because they care what others think of them. They don’t want to be seen as not pulling their weight or contributing 100%,” Bender says.
So while companies may be attracted to hiring extroverts because they impress managers greatly in job interviews, bosses also may want to consider whether the extrovert they are considering will be a valuable team player, Bender says.
Amy Jen Su and Muriel Maignan Wilkins, two writers, agree and say managers should recognize the strengths of introverted employees, such as their ability to put themselves in others’ shoes.
“These team members are often easygoing, which can make them exceptional mentors (良师益友) to more junior staff or particularly good sounding boards when you interact with them in one-on-one situations,” Su says.
“Managers must try to help introverts find their voice,” Wilkins says. “Help them see that speaking up is not about self-promotion or being in conflict but rather about offering the team key insights, making better decisions or increasing the efficiency for all.”
What about those extroverts who never seem to be at a loss for words? Should managers cut them off? Managers definitely should weigh in on how an extrovert is affecting others. Wilkins suggests saying something in private to make adjustments.
1. What do we know about outgoing people according to Bender?| A．They are often good listeners. |
| B．They tend to perform well in interviews. |
| C．They often make great contributions. |
| D．They are often good at cooperating. |
| A．Doing their full share of work. |
| B．Making good choices. |
| C．Trusting others. |
| D．Trying to share their thoughts. |
| A．Critical. | B．Approving. | C．Doubtful. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Promote more introverts. |
| B．Learn to work more efficiently. |
| C．Avoid conflict among employees. |
| D．Encourage introverts to speak up. |
3 . One of the easiest things in the world is to become a fault-finder. However, life can be great when you are not busy finding fault with it.
Several years ago I
Unfortunately, it took a horrible accident to change her
Perhaps most of us aren’t extreme at fault-finding,
Train yourself to “bite your tongue”, and with a little
| A．answered | B．received | C．expected | D．rejected |
| A．threatened | B．interrupted | C．spoiled | D．bothered |
| A．nothing | B．everything | C．something | D．anything |
| A．measure | B．plan | C．attitude | D．explanation |
| A．occasion | B．accident | C．event | D．adventure |
| A．memory | B．notice | C．choice | D．evidence |
| A．hear | B．contribute | C．admit | D．express |
| A．what | B．when | C．where | D．that |
| A．afraid of | B．aware of | C．curious about | D．confused about |
| A．life | B．family | C．career | D．education |
| A．so | B．or | C．for | D．but |
| A．proud | B．sure | C．critical | D．hopeful |
| A．face | B．create | C．ignore | D．solve |
| A．rarer | B．worse | C．stranger | D．better |
| A．pity | B．speech | C．rest | D．practice |
| A．To change an appointment. |
| B．To ask about work. |
| C．To arrange a trip. |
要点包括：
1. 以正确的态度对待压力；
2. 通过与人沟通交谈等来释放压力；
3. 积极参加体育活动来释放压力。
要求：
1. 80词左右；
2. 题目自拟；
3. 内容包括以上要点。
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Two disabled Chinese citizens who have planted trees
The vote
Jia Wenqi and Jia Haixia, both of
“I am his hands; he is my eyes,” says Haixia. “We are good partners.”
Fully
Despite their disabilities, they form a great team that makes a huge
7 . Would you like to visit Britain one day?
Overseas travel can be dear.
When to come?
Be prepared. If you are a student, it’s a good idea to apply for (申请) an International Student Identity Card (身份证).
| A．Of course, you can visit it in winter, but it is often dark by 4 p. m. |
| B．Your visit may be cheaper, if you don’t go there in the busy months — July and August. |
| C．With this card, you can save a lot of money. |
| D．But there are ways of visiting Britain cheaply. |
| E．Our country would like to welcome you! |
| F．Do you like to travel? |
| G．It’s good for your health to do so. |
8 . Laughter comes in many forms, from a polite and quiet laugh to a great hearty laugh. Scientists are now developing an AI system to recreate different laughs in proper social contexts. The team behind the laughing robot Erica said that the system could improve natural conversations between people and an AI robot. “We think that one of the important functions of conversational AI is empathy(共情),” said Dr Koji Inoue, the lead author of the research. “So we decided that one way a robot can empathize with its users is to share their laughter.”
The team have set out to teach their AI system the art of conversational laughter. They gathered training data from more than 80 daily dialogues between male subjects and the robot that was initially operated by four actresses remotely. The dialogue data was grouped into social laughs (where polite or embarrassed laughter isn’t involved) and laughter of joy. Based on the audio files, the algorithm(算法) learned the basic characteristics of social laughs, which tend to be softer, and merry laughs, with the aim of mirroring these inappropriate situations.
“Our biggest obstructor in the work was identifying the actual cases of shared laughter because as you know, most laughter is actually not shared at all,” said Inoue. “We had to carefully decide exactly which laughs we could use for our analysis and we couldn’t just assume that any laugh can be responded to. It was really not easy work.” The team said laughter could help create robots with their own distinct character although it could take more than 20 years before it would be possible to have a casual chat with a robot like we would with a friend.
“One of the things we’d keep in mind is that a laughing robot or algorithm will never be able to understand you or the meaning of laughter,” points out Prof. Sandra Wachter of the Oxford Internet Institute. “But with their development, they might get very good at tricking you into believing they understand what’s going on.”
1. Why did Inoue’s team develop the AI system?| A．To better understand human empathy. |
| B．To promote the social skills of robots. |
| C．To explore the differences between laughs. |
| D．To assist robots in identifying people's moods. |
| A．Repeat the details of the 80 dialogues |
| B．Distinguish people by hearing their laughs |
| C．Recreate a scene played by the four actresses |
| D．Master the features of laughs provided by data. |
| A．Potential. | B．Barrier. | C．Alternative. | D．Division. |
| A．Are AI systems going beyond human ability? |
| B．Can conversational AI really understand us? |
| C．Laughing robots are round the conner. |
| D．Robots become laughing masters. |
The Day Mother Cried
Coming home from school that dark winter’s day so long ago, I was filled with anticipation. I had a new issue of my favorite sports magazine under my arm. Dad was at work, my sister was away, and Mother wouldn’t be home from her new job for an hour.
I was shocked into stillness by what I saw . Mother pulled into a tight ball with her face in her hands. She was crying. I had never seen her cry.
I approached cautiously and touched her shoulder. “Mother?” I said. “What’s happened?”
She took a long breath and managed a weak smile. “It’s nothing, really. I’m going to lose this new job. I can’t type fast enough.”
“But you’ve only been there three for days,” I said. “You’ll catch on.” I was repeating a line she had spoken to me a hundred times when I was having trouble learning or doing something important to me. She sobbed in silence .
I felt helpless and out of place. At the age of 16 I still assumed Mother could do anything. To provide enough income for my college two years later, Mother was crazy for ways to save money.
A few months ago, Mother arrived home with an old typewriter. It skipped between certain letters. “That’s all we can afford,” Mother said. “It’s good enough to learn on.” And from that day on, immediately after dinner, Mother would disappear into her sewing room to practice. The slow tap, tap, tap went on some nights until midnight. On Monday, she got a job as a typewriter at a radio station. I was not the least bit surprised but she was excited. But on Tuesday Mother looked drawn. I didn’t care honestly.
My shock and embarrassment at finding Mother in tears on Wednesday showed how little I understood the pressures on her. Sitting beside her on the couch, I began very slowly to understand.
“I guess we all have to fail sometimes,” Mother said quietly. I could sense her pain. I reached out and put my arms around her.
A week later Mother took a job selling dry goods at half the salary the radio station had offered. “It’s a job I can do,” she said simply.
注意：续写词数应为150左右。
But the evening practice routine on the old green typewriter continued.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The old green typewriter sits in my office now, unrepaired.
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . Every fast-food employee knows that the drive-through window is the worst position. It was a freezing afternoon. Drivers
“I`ll get the next car’s order as well,” she said as she came up to the window to pay. She
Completely shocked, I
The trend
| A．hate | B．refuse | C．hesitate | D．attempt |
| A．worry | B．annoyance | C．fear | D．stress |
| A．exception | B．witness | C．employer | D．victim |
| A．nodded | B．stopped | C．stood | D．screamed |
| A．hunger | B．pain | C．tiredness | D．cold |
| A．Take | B．Pay | C．Put | D．Look |
| A．charged | B．aided | C．permitted | D．assessed |
| A．presented | B．recalled | C．explained | D．claimed |
| A．confused | B．excited | C．discouraged | D．disturbed |
| A．honesty | B．kindness | C．bravery | D．integrity |
| A．impatient | B．ashamed | C．polite | D．incredible |
| A．sandwich | B．drink | C．fries | D．recipe |
| A．disappeared | B．ceased | C．continued | D．varied |
| A．rider | B．individual | C．passenger | D．stranger |
| A．warm up | B．hold on | C．put aside | D．kick off |
