Outside the Box
The Harvestfest contest was falling on Friday and everyone in school was talking about it. All the students would show up in their self-made costumes and a winner would be chosen by the principal.
“Do you have your costume for the Harvestfest contest?” Alice asked. “I’m going as a chocolate bar. My mom and I have been working on it all week.”
“Yeah, I have a costume,” said Jordan Eastman, popping up the two front wheels of his wheelchair as he waited for his dad to pick him up. “But it’s boring.”
“Why? What is it?” Alice asked.
“MaxMag the superhero, but Danny, Tom and Izzy are all going as MaxMag too.” Jordan shook his head. “That’s too many to stand a chance at winning the contest.” He waved to his dad, who had just pulled up in front of the school.
Jordan rolled his wheelchair toward his dad, and Alice walked with him to the minivan.
“Maybe you should go as something else.”
“The contest is Friday night.” Jordan sighed. “It’s too late to change costumes.”
“Jordan, you have to think outside the box. Look around your house and see what you have. There’s hidden potential in everyday items.” She took a sip of her drink, and told Jordan that her chocolate-bar costume was made from old fabric her mom had lying around and recycled plastics.
On his way home, Jordan was quiet. He kept thinking about Alice’s words: Think outside the box. There’s hidden potential in everyday items. When he got home, he found his mum handling with some wooden pieces. She was putting a new desk together. On top of the desk was the huge empty cardboard box the pieces had come in. Mom smiled at Jordan, pointing at the desk, “What do you think?”
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。
Jordan’s eyes fell on the box and he smiled, “It’s perfect . … with my wheelchair.”
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Soon it was Friday night, and Jordan couldn’t wait to show his costume.
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2 . Wholesale prices for gas and electricity are increasing suddenly across Europe,raising the possibility of increases in already-high utility (公共事业）bills and further pain for people who have taken a financial hit fromCOVID-19.
Governments are struggling to find ways to limit costs to consumers as scant natural gas reserves present yet another potential problem, exposing the continent to even more price increases and possible shortages if it’s a cold winter.
In the U.K., many people will see their gas and electricity bills rise next month after the nation’s energy regulator approved a 12% price increase for those without contracts that lock in rates. Officials in Italy have warned that prices will increase by 40% for the quarter that will be billed in October.
There are multiple causes for the price increases, energy analysts say, including tight supplies of natural gas used to generate electricity, higher costs for permits to release carbon dioxide as part of Europe’s fight against climate change, and less supply from wind in some cases.
Analysts at S&P Global Platts say electricity prices have risen due to strong demand from places like data centers and electric cars, but above all because of the rise in the price of natural gas used in generating plants. Utility companies’ exposure to natural gas prices has increased as high-emission coal plants have been retired, while utilities face higher costs for carbon allowances required by the European Union’s emissions trading system, which is aimed at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases.
The tight gas market could bite even more sharply if there’s an unusually cold winter. That’s because European distributors did not refill reserves reduced during last winter as they typically had done in summer months. In March 2008, when the freeze named “the beast from the east” hit Europe, industrial users in the U.K got a notice that there was a risk of interruption, although it didn’t come to that.
Could Europe run out of gas? “The short answer is Yes, this is a real risk,” said James Huckstepp, an analyst at S&P Global Platts. “Storage stocks are at record lows and there isn’t currently any spare supply capacity that is exportable anywhere in the world.The longer answer is that it’s hard to predict how it will play out given that Europe has never run out of gas in two decades under the current distribution system.”
1. What does the underlined word “scant” in Paragraph 2 probably mean?| A．Total. | B．Additional. | C．Limited. | D．Regular. |
| A．The closure of some coal plants. |
| B．The great demand for electric cars. |
| C．The competition between utility companies. |
| D．The change in the emissions trading system. |
| A．More natural gas will be needed for industrial use. |
| B．European distributors don’t make good preparations. |
| C．It is not easy to fill reserves during the cold weather. |
| D．Utility companies work can be easily interrupted. |
| A．Europe is expected to seek help from other countries. |
| B．It is hard to control the gas price in Europe at present. |
| C．Europe might face a serious shortage of gas in the future. |
| D．There’s something wrong with Europe’s distribution system. |
| A．Devoted; admired | B．Devoted; admiring |
| C．Devoting; admired | D．Devoting; admiring |
| A．thrived | B．swelled | C．prospered | D．flourished |
5 . Ahh... Fish, chips and mushy peas! There is nothing more British than fish and chips. Freshly cooked, boiling hot fish and chips, topped with salt and seasoned with vinegar, packed in newspaper and eaten out-of-doors on a cold and wintry day — it simply cannot be beaten!
Both Lancashire and London claim to be the first to invent this famous meal. Chips were a cheap, basic food of the industrial north while fried fish was introduced in London’s East End.
Fish and chip shops were originally small family businesses, often run from the front room of the house and were commonplace by the late 19th century. Through the latter part of the 19th century and well into the 20th century, the fish and chip trade expanded greatly to satisfy the needs of the growing industrial population of Great Britain. Fish and chips became vital to the diet of the ordinary people.
In 1999, the British consumed nearly 300 million servings of fish and chips. That equates to six servings for every man, woman and child in the country.
| A．It quickly became a favourite of the workers. |
| B．People soon decided to put fried fish and chips together. |
| C．John Lees owned a restaurant and sold the famous pairing. |
| D．So how, when and where did this British dish come about? |
| E．There are now around 8,500 fish and chip shops across the UK. |
| F．Some shops had to employ doormen to control the queue at busy times. |
| G．The first fish and chip shop in Lancashire is thought to have opened in 1863. |
As a young boy, I was carefree. Every vacation I looked forward to two things—seeing my grandpa and hearing his wonderful stories. My grandpa was a very good storyteller. He had worked various odd jobs when he was young and wove his adventures and misadventures into fantastic tales. These wonderful tales colored my childhood.
As I grew up, I had to admit that Grandpa’s stories went on a little long, even a little boring and gradually lost their magic. However, not wanting to upset him, my brother and I would sometimes take turns sitting in the living room, listening to grandpa tell his stories.
When my grandpa was approaching 91, he suffered from serious memory-loss. It was kind of what doctors called dementia (痴呆), probably the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease. Following the doctor’s directions, we moved him into a Sunrise Assisted Living Community, where he could get a better care. After that, grandpa hardly came to our house.
One weekend before my grandpa’s birthday, I came to visit him. Seeing grandpa sitting in his armchair, dull-looking, I was consumed with mixed feelings. I wheeled grandpa to the sunshine in the courtyard, talking to him. He couldn’t express himself clearly and spoke in short bursts, but I listened to him patiently and carefully just as I used to be a little boy.
It was then that I noticed a shadow box with some old and yellowish photos in it. I picked one up, in which my brother, several boys in our neighborhood, and I were playing basketball with grandpa cheering us on twenty years before. My mind flashed back to those beautiful memories. Back then, Grandpa was in good physical condition and we were all wearing basketball jerseys, playing and laughing with abandon. I presented the photo to my grandpa, pointing at each member and reminding him of their names. Incredibly, grandpa could speak out the name of every player. I even caught a soft light in grandpa’s eyes and a smile on his lips.
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。
A bright idea for grandpa’s birthday came to my mind.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing “the same players” playing there, grandpa seemed to have thought of something.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . Apps play tricks on you to turn an activity into a habit. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to encourage healthy behaviors such as exercising or playing word games.
Do a cost-benefit analysis.
Build in “cheat days”. They are like days off from a strict diet.
| A．Use digital timers. |
| B．Schedule a limited amount of time for your habit |
| C．It’s hard to be mindful of why we do what we do. |
| D．Limiting tech overuse can’t be only your responsibility. |
| E．But even a good habit can cross the line into unavoidable overuse. |
| F．Actually, doing your favorite activity without a goal can be relaxing. |
| G．However, don’t be so motivated by rewards that you ignore signs your body needs a rest. |
| A．process | B．benefit | C．position | D．climate |
9 . On a tram smoothly pulling into the heart of Luxembourg City, Marck gives a smile and takes a look at the fabric of the seat next to him. For him, the city’s trams are more than just transport. More even than the focus of his job. They are about transforming his country and, perhaps, changing the world.
Marck is the director general of Luxtram, Luxembourg’s modern trams. It first started running services two years ago. Next year, Luxembourg will become the world’s only country to get rid of fares on all its forms of public transport. Luxembourg’s traffic problems come from its army of workers. The population of the capital city almost doubles during the working day, when more than 110,000 people travel in and out.
After three decades when its roads have become so crowded, Luxembourg is going to do something remarkable. Free fares, and a plan to persuade people to switch from cars to trams or trains. Marck, along with many others, is excited to see what happens next. “The fact that this is free means that everyone can use it — young or old, rich or poor,” he said. “Everyone can say to themselves it’s better to leave the car at home. We must continue to improve and extend the network. It must always be comfortable, well-connected, efficient.”
Lydie Polfer, the city’s mayor, says she hopes to reach the point where more than a third of people come into the city using public transport — at the moment, it’s less than one in five. She said, “It’s not practical to ban cars because some people, like the elderly, need them. But everyone has to be aware that he or she can do something to improve the situation. There is an expression in German — you are not in the traffic jam — you are the traffic jam, and that is true. I think that making it free will be the biggest arguments for people to use public transport. ”
1. Why does Marck think the city’s trams are more than just transport?| A．The trams are his goal that he strives for. |
| B．There are more means of transportation than trams. |
| C．City’s trams bring more changes beyond transport. |
| D．The trams are the heart of Luxembourg City transport system. |
| A．The cause of the traffic problems. | B．The means of public transport. |
| C．The development of running services. | D．The increase of working population. |
| A．The convenience. | B．The fare. | C．The comfort. | D．The efficiency. |
| A．The elderly needn’t use public transport. |
| B．It’s possible to persuade most people to use the trams. |
| C．Everyone can do his part to improve transport situation. |
| D．Those who don’t take public transport cause traffic jams. |
This “dazzling” animation, Suzume (铃芽之旅), from Japanese director Makoto Shinkai has already become
