10-year-old Buddy was just an ordinary boy but with an extraordinary heart. He had a lot of friends but never really had a “best friend” until he met Simon — a new boy in class who used a wheelchair.
Nobody showed any interest in making friends with Simon except for Buddy. He quickly bonded with Simon because he believed true friends come in different sizes and shapes...
Buddy lived with his grandma, Doris, in their small home in the suburbs. He had lost his parents five years ago in a car crash. Doris raised him, and she was all he had. Buddy promised himself that he would do anything to make his grandma proud and happy, and his prayers (祈祷) were soon answered, but in a way he never imagined.
Buddy had always wanted to help Doris with her rent, so during his free time, he cut grass for neighbors, walked dogs, and even helped older people carry their groceries home in exchange for $1. So far, he had saved $70, but that wasn’t enough to meet their expenses. Not one to be discouraged, Buddy kept going and the only other person who comforted him was Simon.
The two boys often ventured (冒险) into the woods near their school to watch birds during their spare time. It was their favorite hobby. One afternoon before the summer vacation, they went to their favorite spot in the woods. Buddy pushed Simon’s wheelchair, discussing how exciting their adventure would be. They laughed their way into the dense forest, knowing little about what was coming.
Moments later, the boys had a problem moving forward. One of the wheels sank into a branch beneath the mud. The wheelchair broke down, making it difficult to move ahead. Worse still, it seemed the rain was around the corner. The boys could hear rolling thunder across the mountains, which scared them. They wanted to run but could not leave one another. “Wait! I’ve got a plan,” shouted Buddy, trying to lean (倾斜) over and lift his friend up from the wheelchair. His attempt failed because Simon was too heavy for him.
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。
Paragraph 1: But he wouldn’t give up just yet.
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Paragraph 2: A few days later, Doris got surprising news from their landlord (房东).
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Hanfu was the standard dress code for people during the Han Dynasty and was worn by both men and women. The clothing is characterized by its long robes, wide sleeves, and
Nowadays, Chinese Hanfu is making
Overall, Chinese Hanfu continues to gain popularity as a symbol of cultural heritage and national pride, with many embracing it as a way
3 . Getting a story or a book published is difficult for most ambitious authors. But in Malaysia, a unique program for
“The JWP is not just a writing program,” said Brigitte Rozario, who
The program focuses on writing, revising, and editing, with publication the reward. Only the most dedicated writers are
Rozario founded the program in 2018. “A couple I knew said that their daughter was very interested in writing,” she explained, “but they didn’t know how to
Each year, about 20 students get the chance to improve their
The JWP proves the fact that a teacher, friend, or instructor can make your talents shine. That is who Rozario is and what she believes.
1.| A．poor | B．active | C．young | D．creative |
| A．sold | B．written | C．published | D．translated |
| A．publicized | B．founded | C．joined | D．supported |
| A．joint | B．describe | C．double | D．understand |
| A．listed | B．attracted | C．noticed | D．accepted |
| A．pass | B．record | C．design | D．study |
| A．fail | B．hesitate | C．leave | D．miss |
| A．measure | B．introduce | C．nurture | D．recognize |
| A．forced | B．inspired | C．allowed | D．reminded |
| A．habits | B．grades | C．skills | D．memories |
| A．question | B．book | C．secret | D．theme |
| A．Stories | B．Topics | C．Lessons | D．Pictures |
| A．Notes | B．Profits | C．Awards | D．Examples |
| A．buy | B．collect | C．read | D．recommend |
| A．common | B．worthy | C．global | D．successful |
4 . Actions speak louder than words — unless, of course, your partner’s love language is “words of affirmation (肯定).”
Words of affirmation are words that communicate your love, appreciation, and respect for another person.
People who give and receive love through words of affirmation tend to be the people who notice and care about the details of other people’s lives.
Then why not make words of affirmation a habit?
| A．In this case, words are everything. |
| B．How do words of affirmation make a difference? |
| C．What are the tips for using words of affirmation? |
| D．They’re positive words and phrases used to uplift someone. |
| E．You are showing your partner that you notice and appreciate them. |
| F．They will likely feel a boost in spirit and appreciate you for noticing. |
| G．For instance, they may be the first to notice their partner’s new haircut. |
5 . The world’s largest whales are more than just astonishing creatures. Much like the ocean, soil and forests, whales can help save humans from the increasing climate crisis by storing carbon. In a paper published recently, climate researchers suggest that whales are important, but often overlooked, carbon sinks.
The enormous size of these marine mammals, which can reach 150 tons, means they can store carbon much more effectively than smaller animals. And because whales live longer than most animals, they could be “one of the largest stable living carbon pools” in the ocean. Even when whales die, their dead bodies fall down to the deepest parts of the sea and settle on the seafloor, trapping the carbon they’ve stored in their bodies. An indirect way whales can be critical carbon sinks is through their waste. Whale poop (粪便) is rich in nutrients which can be taken up by phytoplankton — tiny organisms that suck up carbon dioxide as they grow.
The process of carbon sequestration helps reduce climate impact, because it locks away carbon that otherwise would have warmed the planet somewhere else for hundreds, if not thousands of years.
Yet whales are threatened, with six out of 13 great whale species classified as endangered or vulnerable due to threats including industrial whaling, as well as trap in fishing equipment, climate change-caused shifts in prey availability, noise pollution and more.
Heidi Pearson, a researcher at the University of Alaska Southeast, said the research shows that protecting whales has a double benefit — helping to stop the biodiversity crisis as well as human-caused climate change. Protecting whales is a low risk and low regret strategy, because there’s really no downside. She said there was no risk to this strategy compared to other untested, expensive solutions to capturing and trapping carbon, such as geoengineering.
But there remain big gaps in knowledge to fully determine how whale carbon should be used to slow down climate changes. Pearson hopes the current paper pushes policymakers to consider whales as a significant part of climate change solution.
1. What does paragraph 2 focus on about whales?| A．What their life cycles are like. | B．Why their roles are overlooked. |
| C．Why they are called carbon sinks. | D．Where they are on the food chain. |
| A．The waste of whales. | B．The carbon trap of whales. |
| C．The death of whales. | D．The carbon cycle in nature. |
| A．Geoengineering is costly and untested. |
| B．The strategy involving whales carries no risks. |
| C．Protecting whales can be a natural climate solution. |
| D．Whales’ survival is the key to stopping biodiversity crisis. |
| A．To call for further research on whales. | B．To call on people to balance the ecosystem. |
| C．To present a new reason for protecting whales. | D．To stress the need of addressing climate changes. |
6 . For the Birds! (FTB!) is a place-based city conservation education program serving 2,000+ New York City youth and community members with a focus on schools and communities across all five boroughs (行政区) that are underserved by environmental education. The mission of FTB! is to get youth excited about helping birds and the places they need to survive. FTB! not only provides knowledge of local species and habitats but also encourages a sense of ecological place in one’s own community and empowers youth to take an active interest in protecting their local environment for birds and people.
For the Birds! Program Options
In-person Programs: During a 4, 8, or 12 session program, program participants learn about birds and local habitats in their neighborhood through both in-class and outdoor lessons. The curriculum is adaptable for grades 6-12. Each program ends with a field trip to a local park and/or a habitat project designed to attract birds and other wildlife to their community. Click here for our full course catalog.
Contact FTB!
To get started, learn more, or for questions about New York City FTB! programs, please contact our New York City team member.
Located outside of New York City? Audubon New York centers also offer FTB! program and volunteer opportunities. Reach out to a center near you to learn more.
| New York City Lianne D’Arcy, Senior Coordinator, Education & Volunteer Outreach lianne.darcy@audubon.org | Finger Lakes Region Montezuma Audubon Center 2295 State Route 89, Savannah, NY 13146 montezuma@audubon.org |
| Hudson Valley Region Rebecca Schultz, Education Manager Constitution Marsh Audubon Center and Sanctuary 127 Warren Landing Road, Garrison, NY 10524 rschultz@audubon.org | Long Island Julie Nelsen, Education Manager Theodore Roosevelt Sanctuary and Audubon Center 134 Cove Road, Oyster Bay, NY 10524 jnelsen@audubon.org |
| A．To build up community connections. | B．To get youth involved in bird protection. |
| C．To raise money for bird-saving programs. | D．To inform youth of endangered bird species. |
| A．They feature online lessons. | B．They involve hands-on activities. |
| C．They focus on global environment. | D．They offer 6 options for program duration. |
| A．lianne.darcy@audubon.org | B．rschultz@audubon.org |
| C．montezuma@audubon.org | D．jnelsen@audubon.org |
7 . College and high-school teachers are expressing concern about ChatGPT, an AI program that allows people with limited writing skills to create high-quality texts. It calls into question how and why we teach writing at all. If AI can do a fairly good job at most writing tasks, why spend so much time learning writing in school?
In fact, learning to write goes beyond just mastering grammar, punctuation, and sentence structure. It involves much more. For one thing, it’s about learning to turn a loose set of thoughts into a clear line of reasoning — a skill that is useful for everyone, not just those who enjoy writing or need to do a lot of it for work.
Learning to write also trains your imagination to construct the person who will read your words. It puts you in relation to someone you may not know, someone who may even not exist. When you learn to write, you learn to meet their needs in an unfamiliar context. Even ordinary assignments teach students to predict what another person knows and expects.
Writing is never simply self-expression. It’s expression to a specific audience for a specific purpose. In some cases, like a love letter, a writer knows their audience very well. In others, the audience is every bit a work of the imagination as a novel’s characters are. Writers, then, should give up trying to address the public at large, but should imagine that a friend, though not the closest friend, is listening to our talk.
When this act of imagination is done well, a reader can feel deeply understood, as if a stranger has told them some previously unknown truth about themselves. That’s how I felt reading “Difference Maker” — an essay about parenthood. While our situations were unique, naming the problem provided a deeper understanding.
It seems unavoidable that large-language models of AI will allow us to offload some of the writing tasks that students learn in school. But we can’t allow ourselves to lose the capacity to empathize (共情) with distant strangers at just the moment when we’re more able than ever to communicate with them.
1. What is teachers’ concern about ChatGPT?| A．It’s a challenge to apply it to teaching. | B．It’s hard to grade a paper written by it. |
| C．It limits students’ imagination and creativity. | D．It questions the necessity of teaching writing. |
| A．It helps with logical thinking. | B．It is a basic skill for everyone. |
| C．It focuses on correct expression. | D．It is closely related to social skills. |
| A．Expressing oneself. | B．Targeting intended readers. |
| C．Conveying imaginative ideas. | D．Creating attractive characters. |
| A．What AI Can’t Teach the Writing Students | B．ChatGPT Writing VS Traditional Writing |
| C．Never Lose the Capacity for Empathy | D．What Is the Future for AI Writing |
8 . In the world of contemporary art, there are artists whose creativity and originality challenge the established boundaries, attracting the public with their wisdom. One of these innovators is the famous Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, whose art installations (装置艺术) leave everyone speechless.
With an imaginative mind and an unconventional approach, Cai Guo-Qiang has become a master of fireworks display, employing the gunpowder of fireworks in his art in a truly extraordinary way. Through the mastery of said material and the explosions controlled, Cai creates installations that go beyond expectations and take the public on an unforgettable journey.
One of his most important creations is the installation titled “The rise of butterflies”. In this work, Cai uses a combination of gunpowder and paper to create a striking cloud of flying butterflies. The delicate winged creatures move back and forth in the air, creating a magical and ephemeral effect that goes against the laws of gravity.
But perhaps one of the most curious and daring installations of Cai Guo-Qiang is “The garden of ephemeral sculptures”. In this work, the artist uses controlled explosives to sculpt shapes in huge blocks of ice. As the explosions occur, the icy figures gradually transform, creating an ephemeral and ever-changing scene. It is as if the sculptures come alive for a brief moment before disappearing completely.
Cai Guo-Qiang is an artist who breaks the limits of imagination. His installations transport us to a world of magic, where fire and gunpowder become tools for creation. He combines aesthetic (审美的) beauty with unusual elements, making his works unique and fascinating. Without a doubt, Cai’s impact on contemporary art is undeniable. His installations have attracted audiences around the world and will inspire future generations to break free and find beauty in the unpredictable (不可预测的).
1. Which might be the best title for Cai Guo-Qiang?| A．An explosive genius. | B．A creative sculptor. |
| C．A traditional painter. | D．An artistic pioneer. |
| A．Unique. | B．Short-lived. |
| C．Unconventional. | D．Breath-taking. |
| A．Cai’s impact on art is unpredictable. |
| B．Cai’s success results from global recognition. |
| C．Cai’s art changes traditional concept of beauty. |
| D．Cai’s art inspires artists to think outside the box. |
| A．A diary entry of Cai Guo-Qiang. |
| B．A profile of celebrity in a magazine. |
| C．A scientific research paper on fireworks. |
| D．An advertisement for a fireworks company. |
9 . Having bright colors and greenery in our cities can make people happier and calmer, according to a recent experiment.
Researchers at the University of Lille tested how volunteers reacted to variations of a minimalist concrete (混凝土), glass and metal urban landscape. The participants walked on the spot in a laboratory wearing a VR headset with eye trackers, and researchers adjusted their surroundings, adding combinations of vegetation, as well as bright yellow and pink colors, and contrasting patterns on the path. By tracking their blink rate, the researchers learned about what the volunteers were most interested in.
Researchers found the volunteers walked more slowly and their heart rate increased when they saw green vegetation in their urban setting. They also kept their heads higher, looking forward and around, instead of toward the ground. While adding and taking away color didn’t make quite as much of a difference for the participants, they were more curious and alert when colorful patterns were added to the ground they were virtually stepping on. According to Yvonne Delevoye-Turrell, a professor of cognitive psychology at the university and the lead author of this study, the results demonstrated that the urban experience had been made more pleasurable.
The research, published in Frontiers in Virtual Reality, suggests that making some small changes to the city could boost morale, even when people are experiencing them through virtual reality. “We think that the variations in human behavior obtained in virtual reality can predict the changes that would be obtained in the natural settings,” said Delevoye-Turrell.
Michal Matlon, an architecture psychologist and consultant, said: “I think that though most people appreciate nature in cities — they find it beautiful, and they usually react with anger when it’s taken away — they don’t fully understand how beneficial spending time in nature is.”
“We often underappreciate the compounding effects that enriching ordinary places with nature can have.” Matlon said even the smallest of changes could affect the experience of someone on their way to work, for example.
1. What did researchers try to find in their experiment?| A．What landscape interests urban people most. |
| B．What helps people adjust to new surroundings. |
| C．The effects of vegetation and color in urban settings. |
| D．The most appealing colors and patterns for urban paths. |
| A．Their hearts beat faster. | B．They increased their walking speed. |
| C．They focused on the ground. | D．They became nervous and alert. |
| A．Health. | B．Imagination. | C．Spirits. | D．Abilities. |
| A．Enriching our lives with colors. | B．Combining nature into our daily lives. |
| C．Making regular, small changes in our lives. | D．Spending as little time as possible in nature. |
10 . When glaciers melt, they leave behind infertile (贫瘠的) landscapes. But a new study found that within just three years, such exposed land was restored by llamas (美洲驼), whose activity enriched the soil and promoted plant growth. By the foot of Peru’s melting Uruashraju glacier, researchers partnered with local farmers to farm llamas on four specific plots. For three days a month from 2019 to 2022, the llamas grazed (吃青草) the plots, fertilizing them with waste and spreading seeds from droppings.
As is the case worldwide, glaciers are disappearing in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca mountains at an alarming rate. And as the ice melts, nearby ecosystems wither: They lose access to summertime supplies of freshwater and sometimes encounter harmful acidic minerals in rocks once covered by the glaciers.
Llamas may help count er some of these effects. Their transformation of the land, as seen in the new study, could reduce rock weathering and help the soil hold onto more dampness, thus limiting the acidic runoff that can poison farmers’ crops. Such pollution is one reason why local farmers partnered with the researchers. The animals’ behavior could one day even generate new grasslands as soil quality improves.
The idea that animal grazing may positively impact a landscape is not new. Nor is rewilding, the push to bring key species back to their native ecosystems, unique to the Cordillera Blanca mountains. In Finland, for example, the Indigenous Sami are working to reintroduce reindeer in deforested land, potentially restoring it. But the size and speed of the changes the llamas helped bring about surprised the researchers. From 2021 to 2022, the average amount of plant cover in the llama plots grew from about 9 percent to nearly 14 percent—faster than it did in four control plots. The research underscores the valuable roles animals play in shaping landscapes, says ecologist Kelsey Reider of James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., “The animals themselves are doing a lot.”
1. What did the new study find?| A．Llamas could help improve ecology. | B．Llamas needed to be exposed to soil. |
| C．Llamas might survive poor situation. | D．Llamas were able to stop ice melting. |
| A．Expand. | B．Arise. | C．Integrate. | D．Worsen. |
| A．Because they longed to be more learned. |
| B．Because they profited from the research. |
| C．Because they wanted to keep llamas away. |
| D．Because they failed to know llamas’ behavior. |
| A．Llamas restore the forest in Finland. | B．Wildlife helps a lot in restoring nature. |
| C．The idea of rewilding isn’t common. | D．The research should collect more data. |
