Kevin and I were friends in the elementary school. As top students, both of us sat in the front of the class, but in opposite sides. He was the smartest boy I’d ever known, who almost always got A+ in assignments. Actually, I was second only to him. Part of me wanted to hate him, but I couldn’t. After all, we were close companions. Instead, I envied him and longed with all my heart to be just like him.
Mrs. Becker, our teacher, was a patient, kind old lady. She would flash a pleasant smile, when the class got into an argument, and patiently guide us toward the correct answer. Last week, Mrs. Becker, put a big circle on the blackboard and said it was a pizza pie. “David,” she said to me. “If I were to divide the pizza, would you like one-third or one-tenth?” Ten is the bigger number, so that’s what I picked. At that moment, Kevin started waving his hand in the air, shouting that he chose one-third. Mrs. Becker drew lines on the circle, showing that Kevin’s piece of the pie was bigger than, mine. “David’s gonna get hungry,” Kevin joked. Then the whole class was laughing. My expression changed from a half smile, to a half frown, to one hundred percent unhappy face.
With a mixture of bitterness and envy slipping into my heart, I began to argue with him on purpose during the rest of class. Thus, a heated argument unavoidably broke out when a controversial topic appeared. After hearing our separate statements patiently, Mrs. Becker brought us up to the front of the class and placed Kevin on one side of her desk and me on the other. In the middle of her desk was a large, round object. I could clearly see that it was black. She asked Kevin what color the object was. “White,” he answered. “I couldn’t believe he said the object was white, when it was obviously black!” Another argument started between us, but this time about the color of the object. Mrs. Becker smiled gently. She explained that the object was actually a sphere with half black and half white, demonstrating the importance of perspective and understanding before jumping to conclusions.
1. Who is Kevin and what was his relationship with me? (use less than 20 words)2. Why couldn’t I just hate Kevin completely? (use less than 10 words)
3. Describe my personalities with two adjectives (2 words)
4. How did I feel when I was joked by Kevin in class? (use less than 5 words)
5. What can you learn from the story? (use less than 20 words)
More than 25 years ago, Saroo Brierley lived in rural India. One day, he played with his brother along the rail line and fell asleep. When he woke up and found himself alone, the 4-year-old decided his brother might be on the train he saw in front of him — so he got on.
That train took him a thousand miles across the country to a totally strange city. He lived on the streets, and then in an orphanage (孤儿院). There, he was adopted by an Australian family and flown to Tasmania.
As he writes in his new book, A Long Way Home, Brierley couldn’t help but wonder about his hometown back in India. He remembered landmarks, but since he didn’t know his town’s name, finding a small neighborhood in a vast country proved to be impossible.
Then he found a digital mapping program. He spent years searching for his hometown in the program’s satellite pictures. In 2011, he came across something familiar. He studied it and realized he was looking at a town’s central business district from a bird’s-eye view. He thought, “On the right-hand side you should see the three-platform train station” — and there it was.” And on the lef-hand side you should see a big fountain” — and there it was. Everything just started to match.
When he stood in front of the house where he grew up as a child, he saw a lady standing in the entrance. “There’s something about me,” he thought-and it took him a few seconds but he finally reminisced about what she used to look like.
In an interview Brierley says, “My mother looked so much shorter than I remembered. But she came forth and walked forward, and I walked forward, and my feelings and tears and the chemical in my brain, you know, it was like a nuclear fusion (核聚变). I just didn’t know what to say, because I never thought seeing my mother would ever come true. And here I am, standing in front of her.”
1. Why did Brierley get on the train in front of him?(No more than 10 words)2. What made Brierley move to Tasmania from India?(No more than 12 words)
3. How did Brierley manage to find his hometown in India?(No more than 10words)
4. What does the underlined part mean in Para.5?(No more than 2 words)
5. How are you inspired by Brierley’s words in an interview? Please explain in your own words.(No more than 20 words)
About 15 years ago, Andrew McLindon, an entrepreneur and avid cyclist was riding his bike in Austin, Texas, when he thought about a friend’s 12-year-old son. The boy had never known the joy of biking because he suffered from hydrocephalus, a build-up of fluid in the brain that often causes balance disturbances.
When he got home, McLindon, now 60, went online and found a three-wheel recumbent bike with a seat belt, perfect for a child with balance issues. Soon the boy was pedaling around the street with his peers, having fun and getting exercise. But there was more, as McLindon got from his friend’s reaction. “To see his son interacting with other kids,” McLindon says. “I’ll never forget the smile on his face.”
That smile launched the McLindon Family Foundation. Funded by donations, the group works with pediatric rehab clinics (儿科康复诊所) to find children who can benefit from owning an adaptive bike and to help craft each bike to the particular needs of the child. A bike may include a headrest, a shoulder harmess, a seat belt, and a caregiver’s steering and brakes in the back. The bikes are expensive: $3,000 to $4,000, and that’s with the foundation’s steep manufacturer’s discount, For kids lucky enough to get one, they’re a life changer.
“We worked with a 14-year-old who has spina bifida (脊柱裂),” says McLindon. “She spent most days on the couch watching TV. Soon after she got her bike, she was training for special-needs triathlons. In a magazine interview, she said, ‘I always knew there was an athlete in me.’”
So far, the foundation has given away 450 bikes, and that’s just a start. “I do a lot of things. I run a lot of companies,” McLindon says. “But getting these kids their bikes is the most important thing that I do.”
1. What kind of disease is “hydrocephalus” ?(no more than 15 words)2. What inspired McLindon to launch the McLindon Family Foundation?(no more than 15 words)
3. What’s the purpose of the McLindon Family Foundation?(no more than 15 words)
4. What does the bike recipient mean by saying “I always knew there was an athlete in me”?(no more than 10words)
5. What kind of person do you think McLindon is? Please explain in your own words.(no more than 20 words)
4 . In his senior year of high school, Wei Fangjie happened to see a poster for recruiting (征募) PLA Air Force pilots. “The pilots on the poster looked really cool, and I got to know that a pilot is known as a profession of the brave. So, I decided to give it a try,” said Wei, 26, who now works as a flight instructor at the Air Force Aviation (航空) University.
According to Wei, pilot students need to not only study aviation theory but also practice difficult aerobatics (飞行特技), which require strong resistance to gravity force. “To do some of the movements, a pilot has to bear about three times their body weight pressing down on them,” said Wei. They also use special equipment like a spinning ladder to overcome dizziness.
Despite all the training, becoming a top PLA Air Force pilot remains a tough job. “During flight, pilots must carefully decide how to land, especially at night, and maintain position during formation flight,” explained Wei. He added that the key to these skills lies in continuous practice.
In the world of aviation, a balanced mentality and quick thinking are very important. One of Wei’s most unforgettable experiences was dealing with illusions during a formation flight up above the clouds. All he could see in front of him was the lead aircraft and clouds. “I felt like I was turning all the time, but my instruments showed that my flight was level,” said Wei. “In such situations, trusting instruments is essential to making sound decisions.”
But what always remains constant is the great sense of freedom and pride that Wei feels as he flies his aircraft in the sky and looks down at Earth from above. Now, as an experienced flight instructor, Wei hopes to channel his passion for aviation into the “training and development of a new generation of skilled pilots.”
1. Why did Wei Fangjie determine to become a pilot?(no more than 20 words)2. What should students learn to qualify as pilots according to Wei Fangjie?(no more than 5 words)
3. In Wei Fangjie’s opinion, what is crucial in mastering the skills required to become a top pilot?(no more than 5 words)
4. What does the underlined word mean in Paragraph 5?(1 word)
5. What do you think of Wei Fangjie? Please explain it in your own words.(no more than 25 words)
Books have great power. Between their pages, readers can be transported to anywhere imaginable and become just about anyone … or anything. Unfortunately, many children all over the world don’t have access to books! For several years now, Maria Keller, a 16-year-old girl from Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been changing that fact.
When she was 8 years old, Maria already loved reading. She also noticed that some of her classmates didn’t read as much as she did. When she asked her mother why that could be, her mother said that they might not be able to afford books. Maria had never thought of this. She could not believe that some children might not have bedtime stories read to them. She became determined to change this. With her mother’s help, Maria created Read Indeed, a non-profit organization committed to collecting and distributing books to children in need.
During the early stages of Read Indeed, Maria set the goal to collect and distribute 1 million books by the time she was 18. It didn’t take long to reach that goal! She reached her goal at age 13! Today, at age 16, she has collected over 2.8 million books and has shipped them to many states and countries around the world.
She says, “I cannot live without books. As I continue my mission, I have learned that the number of kids who have no books is in the hundreds of millions, so I just can’t leave off, even after reaching my original goal of 1 million books distributed.”
She recently set a new goal: to distribute donations to kids in need in every state in the United States, and every country in the world. She keeps track of her progress on a large map at the warehouse where they store and sort books. And now, as Maria prepares to attend college, her younger brother Ryan Keller is taking over Read Indeed.
1. What had young Maria never thought of? (no more than 10 words)2. What is the main idea of Para.2? (no more than 10 words)
3. What does the underlined phrase in Para.4 probably mean? (1 word)
4. Why will Ryan Keller be in charge of Reed Indeed? (no more than 5 words)
5. What can you learn from Maria’s story? Please explain. (no more than 20 words)
I am a Grade 11 student, and all my peers are obsessed with the future. 9 out of 10 conversations with my friends are about universities, dream jobs, or what we want to pursue after high school. My laptop is already plastered with stickers from universities I don’t know if I’ll even apply to yet, and my diary is filled with more notes about grades for admissions than personal thoughts. My best friend and I have already planned the fantasy apartment that we’ll rent together if we get into the same university.
However, I recently found that keeping my mind on the future is preventing me from living in the present. I selected courses I had absolutely no interest in just to boost my average. I found myself doing schoolwork with the intention of getting good grades for university admissions. At one time, I had thought of high school as nothing more than a highway to transport me from childhood to adulthood. I felt that way until last month when I attended my school’s semi-formal dance (半正式舞会).
As I danced with 200 sweaty teenagers in the venue, I felt a feeling I hadn’t felt for a long time: I was present, and we were all present. I wasn’t worried about my future because that wasn’t relevant at that moment. All that mattered was that we were young. We all lost ourselves in teenage bliss (幸福) on the dance floor without a single thought of our futures in our heads. What a wonderful feeling adolescence is.
That night changed everything. I understand now that high school is more than just a pathway to adulthood. High school is a rightful destination of its own. Ever since I’ve been trying to spend every second of my life living in the moment. Every time I catch myself going down the mental rabbit hole of the future, I take a step back and recenter myself. Instead of thinking years into my career, I try to think just one day at a time. Since my semi-formal, I’ve lived my life as an adolescent, not an adult-to-be.
1. Why did the author select courses he disliked?(no more than 5 words)2. What did the author use to think of high school?(no more than 10 words)
3. What does the underlined phrase mean in Paragraph 4?(no more than 2 words)
4. What’s the author’s new attitude towards high school?(no more than 10 words)
5. What’s the highlight or unforgettable moment of your high school life? Please explain it.(no more than 25 words)
A seed expert who brought high-quality vegetable seeds to many countries, was awarded the 2019 World Food Prize. Simon Groot of the Netherlands is credited with introducing high-quality, disease-resistance vegetable seeds to more than 60 countries including the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia.
He began his search to create better vegetable seeds to help farmers in Southeast Asia in 1981. Sixteen years earlier, he had made his first trip to Indonesia. There, Groot learned that vegetable seeds which were developed for the climate of Europe, did poorly when planted in the hot tropics (热带). He thought there was a great possibility to introduce hybrid (杂交的) vegetables to the area. The area lacked vegetable seed developers who were trying to create hybrids for the local climate.
“I noticed the seed quality in that part of world was so much below our standards and below achievable standards. I could not stand that the farmers there did not have better seeds.” Said Groot.
At that time, farmers in Southeast Asia usually saved seeds from season to season. That was because the seeds available for sale were often old. Those seeds were usually from Europe or North America and did not grow well in their -tropical climate. This meant that the farmers ended up with smaller crops, and lower quality that changed greatly from season to season. The plant also could easily become infected with diseases.
Groot partnered with seed trade r Benito Domingo of the Philippines. They put together a team of seed researchers and growers from Wageninge University. Within a few years, they developed a hybrid bitter gourd that sold successfully. Then they adapted a tomato plant, followed by eggplants, pumpkins and leafy vegetables.
The early success led to the start of the East-West Seed Company, which now has more than 970 improved seeds of 60 vegetable crops. Over the past 40 years, the discoveries have led to the creation of a tropical vegetable seed industry aimed at small farmers. The tropical seeds are now spreading into Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The award was announced during a ceremony at the U. S. Department of State hosted by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. “The remarkable improvements made in these tropical vegetable seeds helped small farmers in developing nations produce more food and importantly get more income for themselves and their families,” Pompeo said. He added that these seeds fight hunger and help increase economic growth.
1. Who is Simon Groot? (no more than 4 words)2. Why was Groot awarded? (no more than 6 words)
3. What caused lower incomes from crops in Southeast Asia in the past? (no more than 3 words)
4. How many continents are the tropical seeds now spreading into? (no more than 2 words)
5. Why does the author mention the Pompeo’s statement at last? (no more than 5words)
ROSS TOWNSHIP, OHIO—Some Ohio high school students are regional winners in a national contest after inventing a mobile device app that helps needy families find local food pantries (食品储藏室).
And someday the teens, who are students at Ross High School in Ross Township, may be selling the app to food pantries and food banks across America.
Their “Smart-Pantry” app has won the local U. S. Congressional App Challenge, which spans 47 states and territories, for the 8th Congressional District that includes their Butler County school system of Ross Schools.
Created as part of computer science class coordinated by Butler Tech career school system at the high school—three students, Jacob Kahmann, Gunner Nonnamber and Kyle Inderhees, recently were visited by Congressman Warren Davidson, R-Troy. Davidson issued a statement praising the teens for creating “this app to set the standard for efficient food collection and distribution.”
Butler Tech IT Instructor Tom O’Neill said the students’ app includes features that help users locate the nearest food pantry, improve food collection procedures and allows pantries to better monitor for fraud (欺骗) by users, and the national challenge provides a real-life learning opportunity for his students.
“The Congressional App Challenge provides my students with an opportunity to develop solutions to real-world problems. This app helps people locate food pantries and is designed to increase efficiency at food pantries and food banks,” said O’Neill.
The students are continuing to add features to the app and are working on turning it into a commercial product, said O’Neill, who in recent years helped numerous Ross High School teens win national honors for their computer-science-based inventions.
Brian Martin, principal of Ross High School, said it’s “extremely exciting” to watch students excel on the state, national and international stages.
“The staff and students in the Ross school district continue to amaze me with their future-thinking and innovation,” said Brian Martin. “Our students are not only thinking about carecrs, they are thinking about problems and issues they want to change, solve or improve. The app that was created is very unique and will make serving a population in need more efficient.”
The three inventors will be invited in the spring to a Congressional App Challenge hosted by Congress in the nation’s capital.
1. According to Davidson, what can the app be used to do? （不多于10个单词）2. How did Brain Martin feel about what the staff and students did? （不多于5个单词）
3. What is the main idea of the passage? （不多于9个单词）
4. What kind of app would you like to design to solve a real-world problem? （单词数不限）
Can a Robot Really Freestyle?
Engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology, led by Gil Weinberg, have designed the first musical robot capable of not only playing music, but creating it. His name is Shimon. Weinberg, who is a musician, engineer, and professor of musical technology, found himself in a creative rut (俗套) and decided to create a robot that could inspire him with new musical ideas. Shimon was trained on a vast data set of everything from progressive rock to jazz to rap. His works really surprise human listeners.
Up until recent advancements, applications of AI (artificial intelligence) have mostly consisted of well-defined tasks, but many are concerned that new technology like Shimon could result in lost jobs for millions of people, even those in creative industry.
While the concern of an offing future in which humans are entirely replaced by robots certainly isn’t unfounded, a much more likely future is one in which robots work alongside humans to improve their work. Experts say that AI will actually create jobs for humans, not des troy them. The Guardian recently reported that by 2037, AI will create more than 7 million new jobs in the healthcare, education, and science fields in the UK.
Shimon is showing us what can happen when robots don’t just work for us, but with us. Instead of putting any of our favorite musicians out of work, robots will certainly be challenging and inspiring them in new ways. The cooperation between humans and robots can produce new and attractive music, leading to novel musical outcomes. Thanks to the innovation of Weinberg and his team, rap battles, Jam sessions, and symphony orchestras alike may begin to look and act considerably different.
1. What can Shimon do?2. Why did Gil Weinberg create Shimon?
3. How do many people like the applications of AI in the field of work?
4. According to the writer, what effect will the applications of AI have on creative industry?
10 . Mark was a 11-year-old boy. One day he was selling magazines for his school fees, walking up to a house that people rarely visited. The owner hardly ever came out. When he did come out, he would not say hello to his neighbors or passers-by but simply just glared at (怒视) them. It was said that the old man’s name was Henry.
Mark knocked on the door and waited, sweating due to fear of the old man. Dusk found Mark wandering and hesitating (犹豫) what to do. As he was ready to walk away, the door slowly opened: “Why are you standing here?” the old man Henry said without any patience. Mark was very afraid but he got up the courage and said, “Uh, sir, I am selling these magazines and, uh, I was wondering if you would like to buy one from me.”
Henry just stared at Mark without saying a word. Mark could see Henry had dog figurines (小雕像) on the shelves inside his house. “Do you collect dog figurines?” Mark asked. “Yes. They are my family here and they are all I have.” Mark then felt sorry for Henry, as it seemed that he was a very lonely soul.
“Well, I do have a magazine here for collectors. It is perfect for you. I also have one about dogs since you like dogs so much.” Henry was ready to close the door on the boy and said, “No, boy. I don’t need any magazines of any kind, now goodbye.”
Mark was sad that he was not going to achieve his goal of selling a certain number of magazines. He was also sad for the old man. Mark went home and then had an idea. He had a little dog figurine given by his parents as a birthday gift. But it did not mean so much to him since he had a real living dog and a large family.
1. 根据文本内容从方框中选择恰当的词并用其正确形式填入文本图示中，每词限用一次，有两词为多余选项。| excite polite patient nervous sell sympathy refuse intend mention lonely share show | ||
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| Henry opened the door and asked |
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| Henry was sad for not selling enough magazines and also had |
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2. What kind of person is Mark?
3. What might have happened to Henry?
4. What may happen next?
