1 . As we close out the final days of this year, treat yourself to a deliciously distracting new book —a book that you can dip into and out of throughout the holidays. Read up, rest up, and enjoy yourself.
Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and beyond
A must-have guide for yoga-loving mamas, Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond offers helpful relaxation techniques and breathing exercises that are tailored to each pregnant woman. The book also lays out valuable techniques for labor and staying in touch with your body as it continuously changes.
Mindfulness Activities for Kids
We could all use a little more peace in our lives. Uniquely suited for children and parents to do together, the 40 mindfulness exercises recommended here —from pausing to fully enjoy a tasty sandwich to taking chalk walk together—will not only teach children calm and gratitude, but also bring grown-ups and their littles closer together.
Before She Disappeared
Frankie Elkin is a recovering alcoholic who devotes her time to solving cold cases, especially those involving people of color. A new investigation brings her to Boston, searching for a Haitian teenager who disappeared months ago. But as Frankie starts asking questions, someone else will stop at nothing to keep the answers hidden.
Oak Flat
Lauren Redniss’ Oak Flat tells the story of the land near the San Carlos Apache Reservation through an Apache family fighting to protect the land which the U. S. government and two world-power mining enterprises are attempting to seize and destroy for its copper resources. Visually striking and deeply reported, Oak Flat tells a larger story of endless westward expansion and native resistance.
1. Which book can help to improve family relations?| A．Oak Flat. |
| B．Before She Disappeared. |
| C．Mindfulness Activities for Kids. |
| D．Yoga for Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond. |
| A．It’s a brief account of mining enterprises. |
| B．It centers on an Apache family’s struggle. |
| C．It sings high praise of the US government. |
| D．It supports westward expansion and native resistance. |
| A．Teenagers. | B．Men. | C．Kids. | D．Grown-ups. |
| A．At 1:00 pm. | B．At 1:30 pm. | C．At 2:30 pm. |
| A．To make an apology. | B．To cancel a meeting. | C．To reschedule an appointment. |
4 . Art and science may seem like opposite things. One means the creative flow of ideas, and the other means cold, hard data-some people believe. In fact, the two have much in common. Now, a study finds art can help students remember better what they have learned in the science class.
Mariale Hardiman, an education specialist at Johns Hopkins University, noticed that students who used art in the classroom listened more carefully. They might ask more questions. They might volunteer more ideas. What’s more, students seemed to remember more of what they had been taught when their science lessons had involved(涉及) art. To prove that, Hardiman teamed up with some researchers and six local schools.
In the experiment, the researchers worked with teachers in 16 fifth-grade classrooms. They provided traditional science lessons and art-focused ones. In a traditional science class, for example, students might read aloud from a book. In the art-focused one, they might sing the information instead.
The team randomly assigned(随机分配) each of the 350 students to either a traditional science classroom or an art-focused one. Students then learned science using that way for the whole unit-about three weeks. When they changed to a new topic, they also changed to the other type of class. This way, each student had both an art-focused class and a traditional one. Every unit was taught in both ways, to different groups of students. This enabled the researchers to see how students did in both types of classes.
The team found that students who started off in a traditional class performed better after they moved into an art-focused class. But those who started off in an art-focused class did well even when they went back to a traditional science class. These students appeared to use some of the art techniques(技巧) after going back to a traditional class. Classroom teachers reported that many students continued to sing the songs that they learned after finishing the unit. “The more we hear something, the more we retain it,” Hardiman says. “It suggests that the arts may help students apply creative ways of learning on their own.”
1. Why did Mariale Hardiman do the study?| A．To prove the importance of art at school. |
| B．To see if art might improve science learning |
| C．To find a way to help her students learn better. |
| D．To know how to encourage students to ask questions. |
| A．Take two types of classes. | B．Learn three units in total. |
| C．Learn two topics for three weeks. | D．Choose what they’d like to learn. |
| A．Finish. | B．Express. | C．Improve. | D．Memorize. |
| A．Art helps students develop creativity. |
| B．Art-focused classes interest students a lot. |
| C．Art can make science easier to remember. |
| D．Art has something in common with science. |
| A．It is their favorite sport. |
| B．It is the most boring sport. |
| C．It is more interesting than basketball. |
6 . School rules
All students are expected to read and learn the School Rules. These rules aim to make each student aware of the value of self-control, orderliness and the need to develop a sense of responsibility for their own behavior and for the larger community of which they are a part.
Dress regulations (规定)The school expects its students to wear their full school uniform correctly and with pride. It is our expectation that uniform and shoes will be clean and in good repair. Boys hair should be combed and of an acceptable length (not over the collar, cars or eyes) , with no artificial coloring. Girls’ hair should be of a natural color. Shoulder-length hair or longer must be tied back.
Punctuality (准时) , absence and illnessAll students must be at school on time. If late, the student must sign in the late book in the General Office. Parents are asked to inform the school if their child is absent (缺席的) by 8: 30 a. m. on the day of absence. A written note from a parent explaining the absence MUST be provided to the General Office the day after return. Should a student be ill during school hours, he is to go straight to the School Medical Center. The doctor will then take appropriate action.
SafetyProper behavior is expected within and around buildings and on the sporting field at all times. Students are not to enter laboratories, language rooms and music rooms unless invited to do so by teachers. The riding of bicycles or skateboards is prohibited (禁止) along the front drive. Students riding bicycles must wear an approved bicycle helmet (头盔) . No knives, explosives or dangerous materials may be brought into the school or boarding houses. Students are forbidden (禁止) to interfere (干扰) with fire safety equipment. An automatic (自动的) fine (罚单) will be imposed if this occurs.
Mobile phonesMobile phones are not to be used from 8: 30 a. m. to 3: 30 p. m. At these times, phones should be switched off. If you need to make contact with parents or other significant people, please contact Reception.
1. What shall a student do if he is late?| A．Ask his parents to come to school. |
| B．Write a note explaining his absence. |
| C．Write down his name in the late book. |
| D．Go straight to the School Medical Center. |
| A．One who brings a knife into a boarding house. |
| B．One who plays with the fire safety equipment. |
| C．One who rides a bicycle without a bicycle helmet. |
| D．One who goes into a language room without permission. |
| A．Parents. | B．Students. | C．Teachers. | D．School leaders. |
7 . The Chinese paddlefish (白鲟)-one of the world’s largest freshwater fish-has been announced extinct. Scientists say the paddlefish, also called the Chinese swordfish, is believed to have a lineage dating back at least 34 million years. With its long nose and mouth, the paddlefish could grow as long as seven meters.
But a research paper recently published in Science of the Total. Environment reported the paddlefish was now extinct. The researchers include scientists from the Chinese Academy of Fishery Sciences, Britain’s University of Kent and the University of South Bohemia in the Czech Republic.
The paper says the paddlefish was announced extinct for two reasons. It said that the fish was not able to survive because of widespread overfishing and damage to its native environment in the Yangtze River.
Researchers discovered 332 different species of fish in the Yangtze River in 2017 and 2018. But they did not find a single Chinese paddlefish They guessed the fish disappeared between 2005 and 2010. The extinction of the Chinese paddlefish was “a huge loss” to nature.
Pan Wenjing is a forest and ocean expert with Greenpeace East Asia. “The ecology of the Yangtze River is almost in ruins due to human activity in past decades” Pan said. She stressed that China had taken measures to improve the Yangtze’s environment, including a 10-year ban (禁令) on fishing.
After the extinction was reported in the news, some Chinese media and Internet users took a look back at the large creatures. Many people appeared to have not heard of the Chinese paddlefish before it was announced extinct.
“Every time I see the news of another species going extinct, heart starts to ache,” wrote one Weibo user. “Humans should not live alone on this planet,” the user added.
1. What do we know from Paragraph3?| A．Fishing in the Yangtze River. | B．Environment in the Yangtze River. |
| C．Researchers of the Chinese paddlefish. | D．The reasons for the Chinese paddlefish’s extinction. |
| A．No pain, no gain. | B．To protect animals is to protect humans. |
| C．Well begun is half done. | D．It’s never too late to mend. |
| A．Excited. | B．Sorry. | C．Shocked. | D．Curious. |
| A．Fishing is not allowed in the Yangtze River |
| B．Few people are familiar with the Chinese paddlefish |
| C．The Chinese paddlefish has been announced extinct |
| D．Damage to the environment has bad effects |
A boy named Ali had a large and harmonious family, happily living with his sisters, parents and grandmother. His grandmother loved everyone a lot and was respected by all family members. She was very old, but sometimes she would recall things from her past and share with them. Sometimes they would believe her but at other times they would think that Granny might be mixing up the facts due to her old age.
One day, when Ali was in school, suddenly while knitting (编织), Granny remembered something and she couldn’t contain her emotions so she got up to tell her son — Ali’s father. She walked as fast as she could to his room and said, “You always asked about my birth date, but do you know today is the day when I was born?”
She looked at her son with an excited expression, expecting an immediate response. However, her son wondered how she could remember her date of birth in this old age when she forgot so many other things, so he didn’t pay much attention to this. Disappointed at her son’s reaction, Granny then went to Ali’s mother and Ali’s sister, but like Ali’s father, nobody believed her.
Sadly, she went and sat in the terrace (庭院). When Ali returned from his school, he found his grandmother sitting alone with a sad expression. Ali asked his granny about the matter, but she said there was nothing to worry about. After a lot of persuasion she finally told him what was troubling her — nobody seemed to care that it was her birthday today!
After hearing what Granny said, Ali thought of a plan. Purely by chance, some of Ali’s friends were playing nearby so he shared his plan with them.
His friends were all willing to help Ali achieve what he planned.
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Ali was so happy to see his granny with tears of joy shining in her eyes.
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9 . Let me tell you about a young boy who made a model car all on his own. The boy is me, six years ago when I was just 11.
The car was small and simple, but in my imagination it was a high-speed racing car, speeding along the race road. It was during the school summer holidays and workmen were building a new driveway and garage (车库) beside our house. It meant to add something new to our home. When I watched the workmen, I came up with an idea — I would build a car to drive into the garage in celebration of it. I told my mother and began with my plans. But I couldn’t find the right things for making the car, so I gave up and sadly spent several days doing nothing. My mother noticed that I had stopped working and asked me why. I explained and she suggested that maybe I should change my plan to fit the things I had, rather than give up.
And that’s just what I did. I found small pieces of wood in my father’s workshop and made my car from anything that was lying around the house. When I found a small engine (发动机) from one of my old model planes, I added that. The power came from a battery (电池) I found in a box.
By the time the garage was finished, so was my car. I called my family together outside the house, started the engine and put the car on the driveway. It was fast and I had to run to the garage to prevent it from hitting the new door. My family began to cheer and I smiled proudly. Thanks to my mother I learned the value of continuing to do things, especially, something difficult. Soon I was making plans for my next project: a robot!
1. What was the writer when he made the model car?| A．A student. | B．A driver. | C．A workman. | D．An engineer. |
| A．Explained the plan to him. | B．Brought him to the workshop. |
| C．Gave him some suggestions. | D．Found him some pieces of wood. |
| A．The writer thanked his father. | B．The family was called together. |
| C．The writer put it into the house. | D．The family began a new project. |
| A．Keep on doing things to the end. | B．Think hard before doing something. |
| C．Always ask for help when in trouble. | D．Try the best to find the right things to do. |
1. 自我介绍；
2. 遇到的困难；
3. 希望得到的建议和帮助。
注意：1.词数80词左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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