There once was a little village situated in the rich area of New Delhi, Just beyond the village lay a pond, which was a deep dark blue in the middle. Beautiful plants grew all over it. All the children in the village loved the pond. They frequently came to swim and play with water in it. During the summers, the cool water would refresh them from all the dust and heat, and even prevent them from getting immersed (沉溺于) in social networking apps like We Chat or Whats App.“It’s so nice and beautiful,” they would all say.
Then, one day, the villagers began to send the water from the pond into small channels leading to the nearby fields. These channels looked like tiny streams, and they called them irrigation (灌溉) channels, saying that it would help the growth of the plants in their fields to become taller and greener. After some time, the plants did grow taller and stronger. However, the pond was no longer as deep as before; it became shallow.
Sometime later, a factory appeared near the village, letting out a lot of thick black smelly smoke and released (排放) many chemicals into the pond. As these chemicals traveled from the pond through the channels to the fields, many plants died. The pond turned black and produced an awful smell, causing the children to lose their desire to get close to it anymore. They couldn’t even think of splashing water and playing in it as they used to. “It is so dirty.How can we play in it?” they said. Then came the burning hot summer. The pond dried up entirely, without a single drop of water remaining. The beautiful plants surrounding it died too. The once lively village now looked ugly, its beauty lost forever, leaving only memories of what once was.
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。
The children decided to do something to make a difference.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Over time, their efforts, especially what they did through the apps, took effect.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1.推荐合适的小说；
2.阐述推荐该小说的理由。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear James,
Thanks for congratulating me!
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
He could still remember the day when he first met her.
It was a bright morning
He thought that maybe this was the beginning of something wonderful, something he had been waiting for all along.
－Adapted from “Wuthering Heights”
4 . When we wake up, how many of us think of what we want to do today? Almost all of us.
How many of us think of improving at what we do or focus on personal growth and development? Not many.
As Josh Waitzkin, a talented chess player and martial arts world champion, said in his book The Art of Learning, “We focus so much on the result that the details of the learning process are lost on us.”
Why is the process of learning so important? If we are getting the result,why do we have to learn or do things in a better way?
My point: Life is a marathon, not a sprint (冲刺). You have to keep running. You have to build the base of the house strong enough so that it could bear every earthquake or storm. And believe me, bad days come.
That base is the process of learning. Learning is more important than the result. And those who understand this always win.
Many of us, me included, do not realize the importance of this process. When I used to code (编程), rather than understanding the root cause of a code break, I was more interested in just fixing the issue. The next time a similar issue occurred, I worked from scratch again. I didn’t learn anything from the first time and ended up spending even more time later on the same thing.
If you were a designer but didn’t understand how 3D objects could be presented in 2D, you might look at someone else’s sheet and get the work done. But what about the next time? And the next time?
If we don’t do something properly — it could be worse than not doing it at all. But if we focus on the learning process, we could be faster and better for any future problems.
1. If you think of what you want to do today after you wake up, it means you are focusing on .| A．the result |
| B．the learning process |
| C．your personal growth |
| D．building the base of your life |
| A．They are the root cause of failure. |
| B．They can be avoided with careful work. |
| C．We don’t need to worry too much about them. |
| D．We should be prepared for them. |
| A．worked very hard |
| B．lost my interest |
| C．started from the beginning |
| D．solved the problem very fast |
| A．Why the Process of Learning Matters More Than the Result. |
| B．Why the Result Are Often Focused on. |
| C．If You Want to Succeed, Please Learn from Others. |
| D．If You Can’t Get a Good Result, Please Stop. |
1. What was the speaker’s first job at the zoo?
| A．A director. |
| B．A cleaner. |
| C．A spokesman. |
| A．A lion. |
| B．An elephant. |
| C．A tiger. |
| A．The zoo is increasing in size. |
| B．The zoo is making profits. |
| C．The zoo is closing soon. |
| A．The government. |
| B．The zoo’s partners. |
| C．The zoo’s visitors. |
1. Which month is it now?
| A．January. |
| B．March. |
| C．April. |
| A．It will snow next week. |
| B．It’s raining all the time. |
| C．It’s becoming warmer. |
| A．Go skiing. |
| B．Clean his house. |
| C．Visit a beach. |
7 . HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF EVERY BOOK YOU READ
Reading books can be one of life’s greatest pleasures and learning experiences.
Understanding why you’re reading a book can significantly impact how you approach it. The right goal will help you pay attention to what’s most important. If you’re reading a book about photography, you may want to pay particular attention to the images.
After finishing a chapter, take a few minutes to summarize it in your own words.
The process of reading doesn’t end when you turn the last page. Regularly revisiting your notes, summaries, and reflections keeps the material fresh and relevant. Consider setting aside time each month to review previous reads and reflect how they’ve shaped your thoughts and actions. Not for every book, of course, just for the most impactful ones.
| A．Repeat reading for deeper insights |
| B．Review and reflect |
| C．You may notice details, themes, or ideas that were hidden during your first reading |
| D．This exercise deepens your understanding and helps identify the central themes and ideas |
| E．So spend some time reflecting on what you hope to achieve and let that guide your reading process |
| F．However, many of us struggle to remember and apply what we’ve read |
| G．Taking action on what you’ve read transforms theoretical knowledge into practical wisdom |
8 . Childhood can bring a lot of awe (敬畏). Research also suggests that awe is important in promoting well-being beyond our individual lives — it can encourage our children to care for others.
A recent study by researchers Eftychia Stamkou, Keltner, and their colleagues invited children aged 8-13 to take part in an experiment. In the awe group, children were offered a short part of a movie that features a child transformed into a seal (海豹) and exploring the sea while in the joy group, children were offered a short part of another movie where friends were celebrating.
Researchers measured children’s kindness toward poor families by inviting children to support their food drive by spending as much time as they wanted in counting donated things, to make sure the poor got access to the donated food as quickly as possible. They also invited children to donate the reward they earned from taking part in the research (e.g., a snack or a museum ticket) to a poor family.
The results? Children who watched the awe-inspiring video spent more time counting food donations and donated their rewards to poor families more often compared to the children who watched the joy-inspiring video. These findings highlight that awe-inspiring art can motivate children to be sympathetic toward people who have been forcibly displaced (离开家园) from their countries of origin.
As parents, we can also seek out everyday experiences of awe in our communities to share with our children, like wall paintings of the city scenery and folk art. Awe can be inspired by music, like the harmonious sounds of a wooden guitar and the beat of a drum. Awesome architecture, like symphony halls, museums, and even features like staircases, can be a way to experience awe with our children.
1. What does the research find?| A．Awe should be inspired early. | B．Awe helps kids be more generous. |
| C．Individual lives affect kids’ health. | D．Training awe gives kids excitement. |
| A．They watched different movies. | B．They commented on the videos. |
| C．They were asked some questions. | D．They donated money to poor families. |
| A．They learned this from a video. | B．They were motivated by the movie. |
| C．They liked to contribute to charity. | D．They were reminded by the homeless. |
| A．Give reasons for feeling awe. | B．List experiences of awe. |
| C．Show benefits of awe to kids. | D．Appeal for developing awe in kids. |
9 . ACL 500 Word Story Competition
We are pleased to announce the launch of the ACL 500 Word Story Competition. This time the theme is “Awakening”. We’re looking for our community to pen a story that quickly catches our attention and tells a great tale. You can submit (提交) an entry as an individual achievement or as a team effort — we want to read both kinds! Our judges will include a range of our experienced instructors, staff and local Essex Author Sarah Armstrong.
Sarah Armstrong is the author of three novels, most recently The Wolves of Leninsky Prospekt and The Starlings of Bucharest, the first and second in the Moscow Wolves series. She is also the author of A Summer of Spying, a book mainly about her own experience. Sarah teaches undergraduate and postgraduate creative writing with The Open University, and lives in Essex with her husband and four children.
Rules:◆ Your story can be a poem, an essay or any other kinds of writing.
◆ Entries will need to be in a Word format. PDF files are unacceptable.
◆ Please ensure your story is suitable for all to read.
◆ Use the given submission form to submit your details and story. The deadline for submissions is 12th April.
Benefits:
◆ Prizes include a book voucher (代金券), a short creative writing course, and your work published.
◆ Discover new and exciting skills at writing while exploring your creative writing and sharing inspirational moments with others. We have a fantastic range of Creative Writing courses for you to choose from.
1. What do we know about the competition?
| A．It’s organized in honor of Sarah Armstrong. |
| B．It looks for both individual and group works. |
| C．It aims to awaken an interest in writing. |
| D．It’s targeted at undergraduates and postgraduates. |
| A．They should be submitted as a Word file. | B．They must be poems or essays. |
| C．They must be based on personal experience. | D．They should be about life in Essex. |
| A．A voucher for a course. | B．An expert training class by Sarah. |
| C．A vast range of courses. | D．An improvement to writing skills. |
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