I stood in the restaurant kitchen, my eyes wide, arms hanging awkwardly, ready to work but unsure of what to do. “You will be trained first,” my manager Aaron said, “and do remember to check every detail!” With these words, he walked away.
A workmate threw me a dish brush and said, “Let’s get started.” He introduced me to the basics of washing dishes and demonstrated the process. This was the beginning of my part-time job, a new stage where I was both eager to learn and anxious about the challenges ahead.
On a Friday night, Aaron swiftly entered the kitchen. “Who has just bused (收拾) the back right table?” he shouted, his voice sharp with urgency. My hands, slippery with bubbles from the bowl I was washing, nearly let it slip through my fingers. I wanted to say I was guilty, but Aaron’s cold stare didn’t promise a happy reward for the guy who admitted. Finally, a mix of fear and my own conscience pushed the response out of my mouth.
“I did, Aaron.”
“What were you thinking? Get back out here and look at what you missed!” His words forced me forward. I grabbed a rag (抹布) and followed him out to table twenty-two. As we made our way through the restaurant, he said something about rags, but I didn’t hear clearly with other conversations going on around us.
I quickly realized the true issue was the mess beneath the table. A nearly full cup of beer had tipped over, creating a small lake on the floor. It was a significant mistake on my part. “Take care of it!” Aaron tuned and stormed off to the front of the restaurant.
I dropped down to clean up the beer. That was when another problem occurred. I had brought only one rag. One already wet rag. It did nothing but increase the size of the lake. “More rags,” I thought. Immediately, I rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly grabbed five dry rags, hoping Aaron wouldn’t notice my brief absence.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I had just rushed out when I found Aaron standing in my way.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
After cleaning up the mess, I reflected on Aaron’s words.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2 . When instant cake mixes first appeared in the 1950s, American housewives were doubtful. These mixes, promising easy cake-baking, felt too easy. The manufacturers discovered that requiring the addition of an egg in the baking process was just enough to make the housewives happy with their work. The greater sense of effort gained from a little extra labor is believed to have been essential to the later success of the cake mix.
This reflects the IKEA effect (宜家效应), which is identified by psychologist Michael I. Norton and his colleagues, suggesting we place greater value on things we have worked to create. They conducted four studies in which they asked participants to fold paper cranes and frogs, assemble IKEA boxes, and build sets of Legos. They then asked the builders to bid (出价) for their creations, and compared the prices with bids from people who hadn’t built them. The builders consistently outbid the non-builders.
Interestingly, the IKEA effect works even when people have no opportunity to fully personalize their creations. While most participants’ folding skills left much to be desired, they loved their imperfectly personalized products all the more. Builders valued their wrinkled crane-like creations nearly five times as much as non-builders. Beauty, it seems, is in the eye of the builder.
Today, as cities are suffering from severe housing crises, the IKEA effect can give us insight into the well-being benefits of a self-building approach to housing development. Projects like WikiHouse and the “half-a-house” approach pioneered by Alejandro Aravena’s architecture company Elemental are working to make housing more affordable and sustainable by making it easier for people to build and personalize their own homes.
“The moment people are involved with their built environment, they have a totally different relationship to it,” WikiHouse co-founder Alastair Parvin explained. “When the roof starts leaking or a door starts creaking, they have the power to fix it themselves.”
1. What brought customers the joy of cake-baking according to paragraph 1?| A．A better taste. | B．An easy approach. |
| C．A detailed recipe. | D．An additional effort. |
| A．Creations are based on skills. | B．Extra labor increases perceived value. |
| C．Beauty is found through contrast. | D．Strict management brings good quality. |
| A．Critical. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Supportive. |
| A．To promote a brand. | B．To make a proposal. |
| C．To explain a concept. | D．To introduce a study. |
3 . Students to Compete in 34th National Science Bowl
Thousands of students from middle and high schools across the country have committed themselves to extra study hours as they prepare to compete in the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s)34th National Science Bowl(NSB). These students are hard at work now to win their regional competitions, hoping to advance to the final competition.
The first regional event will take place on January 13th with high schools from the D. C. /Maryland area. Teams will face off in a fast-paced, question-and-answer format, and their knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics will be tested. Regionals will continue weekly until mid-March.
The winning team from each qualifying regional competition will be qualified to compete in the National Finals to be held in Washington, D. C. , from April 25-29, 2024, with all expenses paid by DOE. The national event consists of several days of science activities and sightseeing, along with the competitions.
In the National Finals, the top two teams will earn $5, 000 for their schools’ math and science departments. Schools ranking in the top 16 will receive $1, 000 for their science departments. But to many, the ultimate prize is simply the honor of winning the National Championship.
Today, the NSB annually draws more than 10, 000 middle and high school competitors. Since the first competition in 1991, approximately 344, 000 students have faced off in the NSB Finals. The 2024 competitors will follow in the footsteps of previous NSB contestants and will blaze a trail for students in science, math, and engineering. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website.
1. Which word can best describe the regional competitions?| A．Fair. | B．Interesting. | C．Special. | D．Challenging |
| A．The championship victory is highly valued. |
| B．The event only involves fierce competitions. |
| C．Most of the expenses will be covered by DOE. |
| D．The prize money will be awarded to individuals. |
| A．A news release. | B．A survey report. |
| C．A learning project. | D．A scientific review. |
4 . Kwane Stewart, a devoted vet (兽医) in San Diego, had reached a point of burnout in his career. The animal
One fateful day, outside a convenience store, he
Stewart began working as a street vet during his free time, determined to
For Stewart, the most rewarding aspect of his work lies in the one-on-one
| A．shop | B．shelter | C．lab | D．farm |
| A．struggled | B．managed | C．intended | D．hesitated |
| A．trained | B．examined | C．adopted | D．selected |
| A．assessing | B．advancing | C．delaying | D．quitting |
| A．mentioned | B．interviewed | C．recognized | D．encountered |
| A．regretful | B．desperate | C．grateful | D．responsible |
| A．delivered | B．sold | C．offered | D．returned |
| A．ignoring | B．hurting | C．blaming | D．bothering |
| A．game | B．chapter | C．firm | D．research |
| A．have a try | B．keep a balance | C．make a difference | D．set an example |
| A．free | B．safe | C．expensive | D．private |
| A．decisions | B．connections | C．discussions | D．competitions |
| A．slightly | B．hardly | C．simply | D．generally |
| A．celebrate | B．follow | C．test | D．restore |
| A．hope | B．freedom | C．pride | D．respect |
Tang Yan gave up a promising career in 1992 to save an almost lost art—that of “Beijing silk figurine” (北京绢人) . In 1997, she established a studio with five other enthusiasts. Then they spent
“A figurine could cost
The first failure taught Tang
After decades of whole-hearted devotion
6 . I run a lot of writing workshops in secondary schools and what I often see is this: teenagers in class just look at the blank page and freeze. Even when I assure them they can’t get it wrong in creative writing, they still pause and feel painful, looking to me for clear and definite instructions. This behavior results from their training to mimic (模仿).
However, creativity is highly valued by employers. According to The Conversation, creativity has been the number-one skill demanded by 20 million job ads on LinkedIn for two years in a row.
So how do we help teenagers be hopeful and brave? Firstly, we need to avoid the idea that their entire futures depend on this very assignment or that decision.
Young people need reminding that their stories haven’t been written. They need opportunities to try new things. They need permission to keep asking “what else is possible?” because anything is.
| A．But in schools, it is different. |
| B．Being creative isn’t a magical skill. |
| C．It allows us to understand their feelings better. |
| D．They know it is a safe way to get good grades. |
| E．The main problem is how to keep those creative juices flowing. |
| F．Life is long enough to try many things, and to change directions. |
| G．The universe is held together with unanswered questions and endless possibilities. |
7 . Five times stronger than steel, spider silk’s unique qualities were recognized by the Ancient Greeks—and more recently, scientists have looked at applications from medicine to engineering. Now, a Japanese startup, Spiber, has begun to change the textile industry with this remarkable material.
The company started by making a substitute in the lab that is similar to spider silk in structure. After studying thousands of different spider species and other silk-producing life forms, Spiber successfully produced an alternative to spider silk. This breakthrough was achieved by fermenting (发酵) a mixture of water, sugar, and nutrients with special microbes to produce protein polymers (聚合物). These polymers are then made into fibers, paving the way for a range of innovative fabrics.
However, shifting from lab to practical application presented challenges. In 2015, Spiber partnered with The North Face Japan to produce a limited-edition run of 50 “Moon Parka” jackets to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the moon landings. But during the design process, the team discovered that spider silk became smaller when exposed to water, and had to transform the protein to make the fiber suitable for an outdoor jacket, which took them four years to perfect.
Currently, the company uses sugarcane and corn for its fermentation process—crops that use large volumes of land and change food resources. To reduce its environmental impact, Spiber is developing a process called “biosphere circulation” that will transform deserted clothes made from natural materials like cotton into the sugars needed for fermentation.
With approximately 100 billion yen ($783 million) in funding, Spiber plans to significantly speed up its production of protein polymers by the end of 2025. “Mass production will help bring the price of fibers down and allow Spiber to expand beyond the high-end designer market and thus we have the means to create solutions to enable more circular fashion,” says Higashi, head of business development at Spiber. “It’s our mission to bring those solutions to the world.”
1. What breakthrough did Spiber achieve in the early research?| A．It mixed various protein polymers. | B．It produced a silk making machine. |
| C．It identified different spider species. | D．It created a replacement for spider silk. |
| A．High design costs. | B．Spider silk’s sensitivity to water. |
| C．Limited raw materials. | D．The partner’s unwillingness to help. |
| A．It will replace the current fermentation process. |
| B．It will use recycled materials for needed sugars. |
| C．It will promote the development of food industry. |
| D．It will simplify the procedure of clothing production. |
| A．To raise more money for mass production. | B．To increase the output of protein polymers. |
| C．To work with other high-end fashion brands. | D．To develop a wider range of expensive fibers. |
8 . In the early 19th century, New England farmers, tired of wrestling with their poor land, journeyed to the Midwest. In states like Illinois and Iowa, they found rich, black soil. Unfortunately, many soon felt like thirsty sailors in the middle of the ocean—water everywhere but not a drop to drink. They were surrounded by fertile soil, but had to stop every few seconds to remove the sticky dirt off their iron plows (犁) with large wooden paddles. This dilemma caught the attention of John Deere, a blacksmith who moved to Illinois in 1836.
Deere decided to look into the problem. From his previous work on plows, he knew that dirt was less likely to stick to highly polished metal. That thought was in the back of his mind when he visited a sawmill (锯木厂) in 1837 and noticed a broken saw made of steel. Deere brought it home and began making a better plow. The plow he wanted would have to cut deep into the soil at a sharp angle so that dirt would fall off, yet it could not put too much burden on the horses pulling it. After several experiments, Deere constructed a new plow that featured wood handles. It proved a success. Unlike the old iron plows, Deere’s not only had a blade from which dirt fell away cleanly, but it also turned the soil more efficiently and quickly.
Demand for Deere’s plows increased sharply, but production was limited by the shortage of polished steel. Initially, Deere could only produce a few plows each year. However, Deere’s persistence paid off as he sourced cheaper steel from Pittsburgh. Amazingly, in 1857, his company manufactured and sold 10, 000 plows!
Deere, a perfectionist, continually improved his plows, introducing multiple new versions in a single year. While this slowed down his production ability, it ensured Deere a solid reputation among his customers. Deere plows became world famous in the 1870s when they outshone the competition in a demonstration in France. That same decade, his company built its first riding plow and designed the leaping deer as its trademark.
1. What was the main problem the newly settled farmers met?| A．A shortage of fresh water. | B．A lack of rich farming land. |
| C．The trouble in handling the soil on plows. | D．The difficulty of growing plants in season. |
| A．Its unique features. | B．Its operating method. |
| C．Its invention process. | D．Its working efficiency. |
| A．wide recognition | B．marketing strategy |
| C．technical standards | D．production challenges |
| A．A Famed Farmer | B．A Successful Company |
| C．A Sticky Problem | D．A Historical Experiment |
1. What is the woman doing?
| A．Borrowing a tent. | B．Packing a tent. | C．Returning a tent. |
| A．To have fun. | B．To improve her fitness. | C．To get close to nature. |
| A．At a gym. | B．In the wild | C．At a climbing center. |
10 . Getting negative feedback never feels good. In fact, it pretty much always sucks. Even though it feels bad, constructive feedback is meant to help us grow and improve. Here are some strategies that can help you use negative feedback constructively, leading to positive change.
Recognize the good intentions. Remember, the people who will give you tough feedback are the people who really care about your success. People who tell you only what they know you want to hear don’t really care about you.
Don’t let it harm your confidence. Whatever you do, don’t allow negative feedback to destroy your self-esteem.
Practice self-affirmation.
Set actionable goals. It can be helpful to break down the feedback into specific, actionable goals.
Though negative feedback may be disheartening, take the necessary steps to become an even better version of yourself.
| A．Avoid reacting defensively. |
| B．Don’t take the feedback personally. |
| C．These can feel easier to work with and give you direction. |
| D．You don’t have to apply every piece of feedback you receive. |
| E．Negative feedback can sometimes make you feel like a failure. |
| F．It’s almost impossible to consistently do everything right all the time. |
| G．So instead of reacting negatively, thank those caring about you to give you honest feedback. |
