1 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

It was my job to watch my younger brother, Jack, and sister, Kelly, as we walked home from school.

“I’m tired,” Kelly whined “and hungry.” “Me too,” added Jack So we stopped to rest. “What do you think Mama is cooking?” I asked. “Noodles!” Kelly said. “Barbecue!” said Jack “Come on.” I stood up. “We need to keep walking.”

At a busy corner, I noticed a street banner, reading “First Walking Race to Jasan Park! Climb the Mountain to Win a Washing Machine.”

It might be fun to race. But could I walk fast enough to win?

At home, Mama was working in the kitchen. We had only a single burner stove, so it often took ages to prepare a meal. Sometimes when father came back from work, Mama was still cooking with the single burner stove.

Afterward, Mama and I washed dishes. When Mama pulled out two metal laundry tubs, her smile disappeared. I knew doing laundry hurt Mama’s back and knees. Mama heated a kettle of water on the single burner stove and filled a tub. She filled the other with cold water. Then kneeling, Mama began scrubbing shirts.

Then we carried the wet laundry to the flat roof, where Mama hung it to dry. On roof tops all over the city, clothes and towels danced in the wind. I loved being on the roof with Mama, but I wished we hadn’t had so much housework. Then I would have had more time to play with friends.

How I wish we would have a washing machine! Both Mama and I would be happy.

I remembered the banner and told Mama about it. Mama sighed, ”Maria, many people will enter that race. You can not expect to win.”

On the race day, I woke up early. I laced up my shoes and put on a head band. Mama kissed the top of my head. “Be careful and be safe. Just keep walking!” Mama said.

At the foot of the mountain, large crowds of people gathered.

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。

Then the race began.

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With the big cardboard box aside, I rang the doorbell of our house.

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2 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一个完整的短文。

Mom always has the purse with her. The purse contains a receipt for everything she has purchased since around 1980. At first, the purse was relatively normal in size, but over the years it has expanded to what seems like two feet in width. It is hopelessly, permanently open and overflowing. I always hated the purse.

Last Friday afternoon, I called Mom to tell her I had some lab work that needed to be done at school. So, I would be home late. Instead, my friend Heather and I went directly to the movies after school. When we came out, to my complete horror, Mom was standing there with the purse. She’d taken my sister to the movies as well.

Surprisingly, Mom smiled at me, and then at Heather, and invited us to dinner. It seems she had a coupon(优惠券) for McDonald’s. A coupon? What were we, homeless? I couldn’t believe she suggested a coupon in front of Heather.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, she started looking for the coupon. Oh no! Not the purse! She put the purse onto a resting chair outside the theater and began shuffling through(胡乱翻动) the papers. Then, all of a sudden, it dropped to the ground. Each one of those million receipts ended up on the ground, too. Crowds of people were stepping on all those papers.

That’s when I lost it. The words just came out. “I can’t believe you!” I shouted. “You are totally embarrassing me! Why do you have to carry all this useless stuff with you all the time?” My mom and my sister were on their knees picking up all those little pieces of paper. We left the theater and drove Heather home in silence.

Mom didn’t speak to me for the rest of the weekend. I came home from school on Monday and walked in as usual. I went up to my room to do some homework. It was silent. I felt bad. And I wanted to go down there and talk to her.

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。
Paragraph1:

I finally got up the courage to go down there.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

“I’m really sorry,” I said, helping to put things into the new purse.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . Ollivier Jean-Baptiste, 25, a vlogger from France living in China, delivered a speech on the latest episode (电视剧集) of the China Daily Youth Power series. The episode, named “Timeless Tales from China”, was _______ on Jan 30.

In his speech, titled “Bridging Cultures: A Personal _______ from France to China”, He spoke about his _______ impressions of China. Just like his family and friends, he saw China as a distant and _______ place with a culture entirely different from France and other Western countries.

“My wife took me to see the flag-raising _______ in Tian’ anmen Square. Witnessing countless young people rushing _______ the flag, I was deeply moved. It’s a country of strength, unity, and love,” he said.

When Jean-Baptiste visited his Chinese wife’s hometown for the first time, he couldn’t speak much Chinese. He felt the warmth of home in a foreign country and was _______ to live in China, he said. All of these experiences made Jean-Baptiste eager to _______ different aspects of Chinese culture. He visited many tourist _______ in China. When he returned to France for vacation and ________ photos of his travels and life in China with his family, they were also excited.

________ his fantastic personal experiences in China, Jean-Baptiste noticed that friendly interactions between the two countries are ________. After learning about the 15-day visa-free travel from France to China, his family and friends couldn’t wait to ________ their trip to China. “I’m overjoyed to __________ them during the 60th anniversary of China-France diplomatic relations, showcasing China’s modern development and rich history,” he said. “I may be just an ordinary person with __________ influence, but everyone can be a cultural ambassador.”

1.

A．produced

B．published

C．acknowledged

D．aired

2.

A．Business

B．Journey

C．Program

D．Exhibition

3.

A．last

B．real

C．initial

D．right

4.

A．similar

B．familiar

C．mysterious

D．plain

5.

A．ceremony

B．activity

C．show

D．display

6.

A．from

B．in

C．toward

D．for

7.

A．thrilled

B．worried

C．embarrassed

D．surprised

8.

A．collect

B．explore

C．fetch

D．accumulate

9.

A．homes

B．attractions

C．centers

D．routes

10.

A．shared

B．delivered

C．exchanged

D．printed

11.

A．Regardless of

B．In spite of

C．Apart from

D．Far from

12.

A．declining

B．increasing

C．stable

D．flexible

13.

A．cancel

B．stop

C．book

D．suspend

14.

A．relax

B．join

C．visit

D．host

15.

A．special

B．limited

C．significant

D．extensive

4 . A recent study, led by Professor Andrew Barron, Dr. HaDi MaBouDi, and Professor James Marshall, illustrates how evolution has fine-tuned honey bees to make quick judgments while minimizing danger.

“Animal lives are full of decisions,” says Professor Barron. “A honey bee has a brain smaller than a sesame (芝麻) seed. And yet it can make decisions faster and more accurately than’ we can. A robot programmed to do a bee’s job would need the backup of a supercomputer.”

Bees need to work quickly and efficiently. They need to make decisions. Which flower will have a sweet liquid? While they’re flying, they face threats from the air. While landing, they’re vulnerable to potential hunter, some of which pretend to look like flowers.

Researchers trained 20 bees to associate each of the five different colored “flower disks” with their visit history of reward and punishment. Blue flowers always had sugar juice. Green flowers always had a type of liquid with a bitter taste for bees. Other colors sometimes had glucose (葡萄糖). “Then we introduced each bee to a ‘garden’ with artificial ‘flowers’. We filmed each bee and timed their decision-making process,” says Dr. MaBouDi. “If the bees were confident that a flower would have food, they quickly decided to land on it, taking an average of 0.6 seconds. If they were confident that a flower wouldn’t have food, they made a decision just as quickly. If unsure, they took on average 1.4 seconds, and the time reflected the probability that a flower had food.”

The team then built a computer model mirroring the bees’ decision-making process. They found the structure of the model looked very similar to the physical layout of a bee brain. “AI researchers can learn much from bees and other ‘simple’ animals. Millions of years of evolution has led to incredibly efficient brains with very low power requirements,” says Professor Marshall who co-founded a company that uses insect brain patterns to enable machines to move autonomously, like nature.

1. Why does Professor Andrew Barron mention “a supercomputer”?

A．To illustrate how a honey bee’s brain resemble each other.

B．To explain how animals arrive at informed decisions fast.

C．To demonstrate how a robot could finish a honey bee’s job.

D．To emphasize how honey bees make decisions remarkably.

2. Which of the following can best replace “vulnerable to” underlined in paragraph 3?

A．Easily harmed by.	B．Highly sensitive to.
C．Deeply critical to.	D．Closely followed by.

3. What influenced the speed of trained bees in making decisions?

A．Their judgments about reward and punishment.

B．Their preference for the colors of flower disks.

C．Their confirmation of food’s presence and absence.

D．Their ability to tell real flowers from artificial ones.

4. What message does Professor James Marshall want to give us?

A．The power of bee brains is underestimated.	B．Biology can inspire future AI.
C．Autonomous machines are changing nature.	D．AI should be far more efficient.

5 . People in a series of layers in colder weather often adopt “the layering system”. Wearing multiple thin layers will keep you warmer than a single thicker layer, because warm air gets trapped between each piece of fabric. It may sounds complicated to some extent.     1    

    2     The layer closest to your skin should trap warm air against your body. But you want the fabric to be breathable, especially when you’re doing exercise, to avoid sweat getting trapped against your skin. Our body’s built-in cooling system is to sweat when we get too warm, and when the sweat evaporates (蒸发), it cools us.

Choose your mid-layers. While the base layer is all about controlling sweat and evaporation, the mid-layer’s main priority should be maintaining warmth.     3     It is enough to keep warm in winter. But in really cold weather, some site s recommend adding a soft-shell jacket.

Buy the best outer-layer.     4     There is no doubt that you need to look for a coat that’s wind and rain-proof if you’re heading outdoors. The color isn’t really that important when it comes to heat regulation, but we recommend opting for something that fills you with cheer.

Top it off with a hat. Contrary to popular belief, studies suggest we actually lose more heat from our torsos (躯干) than from our heads. However, once you’ve nailed your other layers it’s still worth wearing a hat.

Add a blanket if you’re in the house.     5     A study of elderly hospitalized patients conducted Southern Illinois University School of Medicine found feels of being uncomfortable (in pain, being cold, or feeling anxious) were significantly reduced when a nice, warm blanket was provided.

A．Simple but effective.

B．Wear more layers if necessary.

C．And it can easily be achieved.

D．Select a breathable base layer.

E．But there are some effective tricks to make it.

F．The main function of it is to protect you from the elements.

G．A good one usually consists of one or two pieces of breathable woolen cloth.

6 . My wife and I had decided on Ireland for our first big family trip. It’s been about a hundred years since my Irish ancestors left County Carlow for Canada. I’m so-so on U2 (a famous Irish-rock band). Irish pubs in Ontario don’t inspire me much. The most “Irish” thing about me is a ginger(姜黄色) beard and an occasional drink. My excitement for this trip was firmly rooted in the opportunity to drive on the “wrong” side of the road for a couple of weeks.

We arrived in Dublin from the overnight flight with our two kids. After picking up our rental car, we headed west. Wherever we went, I felt an undeniable sense of closeness with strangers. It wasn’t just the faces that looked like they were pulled out of my family’s photo albums. I felt at ease with the simple way of expression here, too and the shared appreciation for a self-deprecating(自嘲式的) joke.

I’ve recently learned the word “anemoia” means missing a time or a place you’ve never known. For me, the word describes the kind of longing I encountered on this trip. I’ve never experienced a longing to know Ireland or even my family’s history beyond a couple of generations. But during an hour-long trip to Inishmore Island, with the North Atlantic waves knocking us about, I felt a desire to repair the connection to my ancestors.

One day on the island, when the rain got worse, we chose a tour bus to take us to Dun Aonghasa, a 3,000-year-old stone fort(堡垒). As I walked around, I started to feel excited. By the time we entered the innermost ring of the fort, I was swimming in enthusiasm for our trip. Dun Aonghasa was full of meaning I couldn’t understand but sensed was valuable to me. For the first time in my life, I could personalize something ancient. I felt that I belonged. Yes, Ireland had many memorable things. But it was a pile of rocks that gave me the ancestral awakening I needed.

1. Which part of the trip to Ireland excited the author?

A．Enjoying local drinks occasionally.	B．Meeting a famous rock band.
C．Finding his long-lost family members.	D．Driving differently from usual.

2. How did the author feel when he was in Dublin?

A．Proud.

B．Awkward.

C．Comfortable.

D．Confused.

3. What does “anemoia” mean to the author?

A．The desire to connect to his roots.	B．The longing for another trip to Ireland.
C．Unforgettable life experiences.	D．Mixed feelings about the good old days.

4. How did the visit to Dun Aonghasa impact the author?

A．It awakened his enthusiasm for nature again.	B．It helped him rediscover himself.
C．It started his understanding of Irish culture.	D．It excited his interest in travelling.

7 . Winter 2024 Story Contest

OUR WINTER CONTEST is open to all fiction and nonfiction writers. Entries must be previously unpublished, no longer than 15,000 words, and must not have been previously chosen as a winner, finalist, or honorable mention in another contest.

Narrative winners and finalists have gone on to win Whiting Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Atlantic prize, and have appeared in collections such as Best American Short Stories, Best American Non-required Reading and many others.

As always, we are looking for works with a strong narrative drive, characters we can respond to, and language, situation, and insight that are intense and total.

We welcome and look forward to reading your pages.

Awards: First Prize is $2,500, Second Prize is $1,000, Third Prize is $500, and up to ten finalists will receive $100 each. All entries will be considered for publication.

Submission Fee: There is a $27 fee for each entry. With your entry, you’ll receive three months of access to Narrative Backstage at no cost.

Timing: The contest closes on March 31,2024, at midnight, Pacific Standard Time.

Judging: The contest will be judged by the editors of the magazine. Winners and finalists will be announced to the public by April 30,2024. All writers who enter will be informed by email of the judges’ decisions, which will be final. Please make sure info@narrativemagazine.com is in your address book and your email settings permit messages from www.narrativemagazine.com.

Submission Guidelines: Please read our Submission Guidelines for contributions formatting and other information.

1. What is required of the entries?

A．They should be related to winter 2024.

B．They should be based on real-life events.

C．They should be submitted before April 30.

D．They should be limited to 15,000 words.

2. What will each of the participants get?

A．A copy of excellent narrative works.	B．Access to the Pulitzer Prize.
C．Free visits to Narrative Backstage.	D．A collection of winners’ works.

3. How can participants know the contest’s final results?

A．By entering the official website.	B．By checking an email.
C．By attending the awards ceremony.	D．By making a phone call.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话， 回答以下小题
1. What did NASA call the area?

A．The Light of Venezuela.

B．The Lightning Capital of the World.

C．The Never-ending Storm of Catatumbo.

2. What causes so many storms in this area?

A．The warm ocean current.

B．The strong mountain winds.

C．The special geographical location.

3. How many local people get struck by the lightning every year?

A．About 12%.

B．About 30%.

C．About 70%.

4. What can we learn from the conversation?

A．The man is afraid of lightening very much.

B．The locals are surprisingly fearless of lighting.

C．About 12,000 American people get hit in their lifetime.

9 . 听下面一段较长对话， 回答以下小题
1. What is Daniel planning to do on Friday afternoon?

A．Go skating.

B．Go snowboarding.

C．Watch the Olympic Games.

2. Where is Daniel planning to go?

A．Genting Snow Park.

B．The Olympic Park.

C．His cousin’s home.

3. Who will go together with Daniel?

A．His cousin and parents.

B．His cousin and Judy.

C．His parents and Judy.

10 . 听下面一段较长对话， 回答以下小题
1. Why is the mother unwilling to keep a young dog?

A．It costs money.

B．It needs extra care.

C．It affects her sleep.

2. How does the son feel about the pet dog?

A．Easy to teach.

B．Bright and friendly.

C．A good companion.