Amy’s youngest child, 2-year-old Jenna, wouldn’t go to sleep until Amy read her a story while rocking her. Rocking and reading became their favorite nighttime routine.
Jenna awoke one night screaming in pain. Hospital tests later revealed that she had cancer, but luckily she had a successful operation.
During Jenna’s first week in the hospital, Amy stayed with her day and night. The nurses put a rocking chair in her room so they could continue their nighttime routine. After Jenna was asleep, Amy got some rest in the hard armchair by Jenna’s bed. Jenna was doing well, and Amy began sparing time to help her husband Joe take care of their little boys. She would go home in the evening, have dinner with the boys, and then return to the hospital until Jenna was asleep. Then Amy would come home for the remainder of the night.
It was pouring rain one evening as Amy hurried home to make dinner. By the time the meal was done, the roads were dangerous. Joe stood nearby as she looked out of the kitchen window. He firmly stopped Amy from going out in such weather.
“Joe,” Amy cried, “I have to read Jenna a story and rock her. She won’t be able to sleep if I don’t.” “Honey,” he said, “be reasonable. What if you have a bad car accident? The roads will be better tomorrow. Then, you can go.”
Amy finally nodded and called Sally, a middle-aged nurse who worked a twelve-hour shift from 8 am to 8 pm. In tears she told Sally that it was the first time since Jenna was born that she hadn’t rocked her at bedtime.
Sally comforted Amy in a calm voice. She promised that she would go in to see Jenna before she left and tell her that when she woke up her mommy would be with her. “Thank you, Sally,” Amy said.
When it was time to go to bed, Jenna couldn’t find her mom and got panic.
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Just when her tears welled up, Sally came in.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The next morning Amy opened the door, finding Jenna was sleeping peacefully in Sally’s arms.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________内容包括: 1.不同观点; 2.你的观点和做法。 注意:1. 词数应为80个左右; 2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
How to Express Love for Moms
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . “Renewable energy development is a critically important component of the transition away from fossil fuels, making our air cleaner. However, bird death has become an unintended consequence of renewable energy development,” said Hannah Vander Zanden, an assistant professor of biology at the University of Florida. Birds can be killed when they hit wind turbines (涡轮机), fly into solar panels they mistake for bodies of water or get burned by the intense heat from concentrating solar power plants. While the death rate of birds due to these energy facilities is far less than deaths due to domestic cats and crashes with buildings, efforts to deal with this new problem are important, scientists say.
Vander Zanden and her colleagues performed geospatial (地理空间的) analyses of stable hydrogen isotope (氢同位素) data obtained from feathers of 871 individual birds found dead at these renewable energy facilities in California, which represented 24 species. Results from the study show that the birds killed at the facilities were from a broad area across the continent. Their geographical origins varied among species and included a mix of local and nonlocal birds. Researchers found most birds killed at solar facilities were nonlocal and peaked during the migratory periods of April and September through October. The percentage of migratory birds found at wind facilities nearly matched that of local birds, at 51%.
“The data can help inform us about the best strategies to use to minimize the deaths,”Vander Zanden said. “For example, facilities management could work with conservationists to improve the local habitat to help protect local birds or improve other parts of the species’ range where the migratory birds originate.” The results also illustrate the power of stable isotope data to assess future population growth or decline patterns for birds due to a variety of reasons.
“Studying the remains of animals like what we did is a noninvasive approach to get information that is otherwise hard to track and apply to conservation,” Vander Zanden said. “It’s a great way to understand the mysteries about animals.”
1. What is the new threat to birds according to Vander Zanden?A.The high-rise buildings. | B.The loss of natural habitats. |
C.The devastating climate change. | D.The rise of renewable energy facilities. |
A.Solar facilities were primarily responsible for bird death. |
B.Non-migratory birds faced a greater death risk at wind facilities. |
C.Migratory birds were more affected by solar facilities than local ones. |
D.The bird death rate was closely associated with migration patterns. |
A.Animals hold many mysteries to humans. |
B.The research possesses scientific significance. |
C.Keeping track of and analyzing birds is challenging. |
D.The remains of dead birds should be well conserved. |
A.Renewable energy is a two-edged sword. |
B.Solar energy is a major cause of birds’ death. |
C.Studying birds promotes energy development. |
D.Birds are threatened by renewable energy facilities. |
4 . It felt as if we had been climbing for hours. I stopped to catch my breath as a wave of dizziness swept over me in the thin mountain air. I was on an amazing trip with my family to experience the festival of Qoyllur Riti, which takes place at 4,300 meters high in the southern Andes of Peru.
As I looked back down the trail we had climbed, and up towards where we had to go, the colorful sight struck me a lot. Entire families wearing local costumes were travelling to this unique festival from all over Peru. Among them were old men, mothers with small babies and children all following the same route. Many of them had horses and donkeys carry their food, blankets, cooking pots and tents. Others had made their way on foot through the mountains for days to attend this remarkable event.
We continued climbing upward for another hour and a half before reaching the Sinakara Valley. Right across this flat piece of ground people were putting up shelters and tents to protect themselves from the freezing mist and rain. It was clear, however, from the sound of the drums and singing rising from the campsite that the weather was not going to weaken the festival spirit. The air of excitement, even from our place more than a mile away, was palpable.
After dinner, we went to bed fully clothed inside our sleeping bags. We were up early the next morning, the main day of the festival, despite having slept badly on the frozen ground. The ukukus, men wearing black masks and costumes, had left the campsite in the early hours to climb the nearest mountain by the light of the full moon.
From time to time during the procession, they stopped to dance on the glaciers, believing this would bring luck to their villages for the year to come. In the dawn light, we watched them winding their way back down like a large black snake. As they descended, they were joined by groups of dancers in bright traditional costumes. They performed wherever there was space. Although there did not seem to be anyone organizing them or any timetable, the whole festival had become a huge harmonious celebration.
1. What do we know about family’s climb up and down the trail?A.They were too tired to enjoy the sight. |
B.They regretted extremely taking the trip. |
C.They were fascinated by the scenes there. |
D.They were greeted warmly by local people. |
A.suitable | B.endurable | C.noticeable | D.understandable |
A.They were all dressed in plain clothes. |
B.They were determined to reach the festival. |
C.They only continued their journey during daylight hours. |
D.They performed dances to demonstrate their traditional costumes. |
A.A health report. | B.A sports newspaper. |
C.A fashion forum. | D.A culture magazine. |
5 . One hot summer we discovered ice cream sandwiches at the corner store. Although it was expensive, we managed to buy one and taste it, and then we were
My dad worked nights. When he came home one
That went on every day for about two weeks. One day there was no change in dad’s pocket so I felt
Early that afternoon, I
A.mad | B.excited | C.disappointed | D.happy |
A.noon | B.morning | C.afternoon | D.night |
A.meaningful | B.creative | C.ugly | D.pleasant |
A.rushed | B.slipped | C.ran | D.stormed |
A.dog | B.mice | C.pigs | D.ducks |
A.unhappy | B.guilty | C.annoyed | D.hesitated |
A.hot | B.pale | C.cold | D.dry |
A.hid | B.lay | C.rested | D.enjoyed |
A.tired | B.stressed | C.embarrassed | D.frightened |
A.money | B.courage | C.change | D.encouragement |
A.remember | B.regret | C.retell | D.forget |
A.glad | B.confused | C.sad | D.exhausted |
A.utter | B.recall | C.write | D.signal |
A.overjoyed | B.grateful | C.relieved | D.overwhelming |
A.left | B.reached | C.connected | D.embraced |
6 . During my university days, I joined a school overseas community project coordinated by The Green Volunteers. After the trip, I
Watching my plants grow from
In our work, we
One day, when you find yourself having some free time and having this
A.waited | B.offered | C.failed | D.hurried |
A.grass | B.grain | C.flowers | D.seeds |
A.hooked | B.stressed | C.exhausted | D.excited |
A.special | B.difficult | C.satisfying | D.comfortable |
A.rely on | B.learn from | C.look after | D.cheer for |
A.alone | B.unique | C.lonely | D.abandoned |
A.send· | B.watch | C.leave | D.reach |
A.faithful | B.reliable | C.conscious | D.knowledgeable |
A.productivity | B.movement | C.possession | D.inspiration |
A.desperately | B.temporarily | C.secretly | D.obviously |
A.field | B.garden | C.university. | D.community |
A.practice | B.demand | C.urge | D.task |
A.talent | B.body | C.soul | D.phone |
A.legs | B.ears | C.arms | D.hands |
A.follow | B.shift | C.delay | D.recover |
7 . Human experts spend years roasting and tasting coffee from many places to learn about the beans. They might then combine a coffee bean from Africa with another one from South America to come up with a new blend. But, a coffee roasting company in Helsinki, Finland is hoping that artificial intelligence, or AI, can help ease the workload.
Kaffa Roastery recently launched its “AI-conic” blend at the Helsinki Coffee Festival. The blend is a mixture of four kinds of beans, including Fazenda Pinhal from Brazil. It is the result of a joint project by Kaffa and Elev, a local AI business. Elev told The Associated Press that its computer models, similar to ChatGPT and Copilot, created a blend that would “push the boundaries of conventional flavor combinations. ”
Svante Hampf is the founder of Kaffa Roastery. He and his partners wanted to do an experiment to see what blend the computer would produce. “We basically gave descriptions of all our coffee types and their flavors to AI and instructed it to create a new exciting blend, ” Hampf said. The “AI-conic” blend combined beans from Brazil, Colombia, Ethiopia and Guatemala. It is described as “a well-balanced blend of sweetness and ripe fruit”.
Hampf said he thought the combination was “somewhat weird. ” He was surprised that the AI program chose to make the blend out of four different kinds of beans. Most humans choose only two or three beans. However, after the first blind test of the new blend, Kaffa’s coffee experts agreed that the AI-assisted blend was perfect. There was no need to change.
Elev’s Antti Merilehto said “AI-conic” is an example of “how AI can introduce new perspectives to seasoned professionals.” And the roasters at Kaffa said they hope the AI project will help to bring more things to the strong coffee culture in the country.
1. What does the first paragraph aim to do?A.To present a trend. | B.To give an example. |
C.To introduce a topic. | D.To interpret a working principle. |
A.It came from a joint effort. | B.It received positive feedback. |
C.It showed us more possibilities. | D.It proved AI was better than human. |
A.It was perfect. | B.It was a little strange. |
C.It needed improving. | D.It was too sweet to eat. |
A.Devoted. | B.Frustrated. | C.Overjoyed. | D.Experienced. |
8 . In many movies, the clothing the actors wear is an important part of the story. In Rome, there is a workshop that has been a big part of Italian and international film history for 60 years.
Tirelli Costumes in Rome’s Prati neighborhood is an atelier, a business that makes special clothing and costumes. It has earned the nickname the “Oscar tailor’s shop” for its incomparable work in film costume design.
Umberto Tirelli started the shop in November 1964. It has been behind 17 Academy Awards for best costume design. Most recently, its workers helped create the costumes for Ridley Scott’s movie Napoleon. The film’s costume designers were nominated (提名) for an Oscar that will be decided at the Academy Awards in Hollywood this weekend.
At the start, the shop had “a sewing machine, two cutters and two other seamstresses,” Trappetti said.
After the 1984 costume design Oscar for Amadeus, Tirelli could have accepted many international projects “because the market was immediately interested,” Trappetti said. But Tirelli, who died in 1990, was not sure. Trappetti remembered him saying, “I’m not going to America If America wants, America will come looking for me.”
Over 60 years, the tailor’s shop has created more than 300, 000 costumes that are now stored near Rome. Costume designers come for ideas and historical information. They also come for hand-cut, hand-sewn creations by the team of Tirelli workers.
“You can’t make those costumes in a factory. In a factory you can make films with robots, futuristic or fantasy, ” Trappetti said. “But these things have to be made by hand.”
1. Why is the shop called the “Oscar tailor’s shop”?A.Because there are many collections. | B.Because it works for famous directors. |
C.Because of its top-class film costume design. | D.Because Oscar winners like wearing its clothing. |
A.To list Umberto Tirelli’s works. | B.To prove Napoleon’s popularity. |
C.To show Ridley Scott’s importance. | D.To illustrate Tirelli Costumes’ achievement. |
A.The shop started small. | B.He didn’t realize his potential. |
C.He is a man of strong self-confidence. | D.The clothing made by the shop was unique. |
A.They are hardworking. | B.They fall victim to conservatism. |
C.They are pioneers of the industry. | D.They boast the craftsmanship spirit. |
9 . For many people, memory improvement is possible. The extent to which memory can improve, however, will be different from person to person.
Timing activities strategically
How you order your daily tasks can impact your ability to remember them and get them done smoothly.
Difficult or cognitively taxing activities should be completed at the beginning of the day when fatigue is low and attention is at a high level.
A clean living and working environment with minimal distractions may help you focus on your tasks and remember what you need to do.
Writing down your personal experiences
Avoiding multitasking
One study found that people between the ages of 60 and 80 have significantly more trouble remembering tasks after they’ve experienced a brief interruption than do people in their 30s and 40s.
Research has shown that switching your attention from a laptop to a cellphone or texting while watching TV decreases the gray matter in our brains that helps us with sensory perceptions including decision-making and memory.
A.Minimizing distractions |
B.Cleaning up your environment |
C.Record the time each task takes |
D.Here are some tips that will offer you some help |
E.Large projects should be broken down into smaller tasks |
F.The best way to remember personal experiences is to write about them |
G.Doing multiple things at once could affect your short-term memory, particularly as you get older |
It was a particularly dark and stormy night, with the fierce wind shook the windows wildly, as if some unseen force was beating them from outside. The clouds had gathered in a dense mass, blocking out the moon and the stars. Contrasting dramatically with the outside, the air in the house was filled with joy and warmth as family members gathered together, all eagerly anticipating the festival. The children were laughing and playing, chasing each other around the living room. Their laughter and chatter filled the air, creating a lively and festive atmosphere. The adults who sat around the dining table, sharing stories, were infected by their energy, finding themselves wearing smiles all the tire. It was New Year’s Eve and our annual party is in full swing.
Unexpectedly, our hearts skipped a beat as loud explosions echoed through the night, sending shivers down our spines. We rushed to the windows, hearts pounding, and looked out into the hills, where a terrifying sight awaited us. The electrical transformers (变压器) were now erupting in a chaotic display of sparks and flames. One by one, the lights in the surrounding areas began to flicker and fade. The darkness swallowed up the hills and just in a minute only a few scattered lights remained, twinkling weakly in the distance. And then, without warning, came a deafening explosion, and our own house went dark too.
I quickly gathered all the candles we had and lit them, casting a soft glow that transformed the room into a cozy atmosphere. However, we faced a challenge. With fifteen people gathering around. we still needed to prepare dinner. How could we possibly cook without electricity? The question hung in the air, but we knew we had to find a way to make the most of our situation and ensure everyone had a memorable New Year’s Eve.
注意:1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
The barbecue!
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As the clock ticked closer to midnight, the excitement in the air reached a feverish pitch.
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