My mother believed in using things up. Last year, our cornfield had a bad harvest because birds feasted on the crops. It was probably then that Mom’s frugality(节俭)became even more extraordinary. She began keeping everything that seemed useless in the attic(阁楼)—worn-out clothes, old sheets, broken umbrellas, and some other old items. Mom’s favorite saying was “waste not, want not”(俭以防匮). My brother Josh and I weren’t sure what that meant until the “Affair of the Scarecrow(稻草人)”, which, as it later became known, left a lasting impression on us.
The story began with a pretty hat that Mom received as a gift to protect her from the sun. However, Josh and I could see that Mom’s frugal nature and fashion sense were in battle. Mom really didn’t want to get rid of the hat—it was new and had a lot of use left in it—but neither could she stand wearing it. She tried to take off the fancy decorations, but they were stuck on tight. She’d have to find some other solution.
Josh and I watched as Mom headed upstairs to the attic with the hat. “Waste not, want not,” she called back down. We heard boxes being moved around. Moments later, Mom leaned out, holding a flour bag full of straw, and with a mysterious smile, she placed the hat on it.
“What is that for?” I asked, confused. “A scarecrow! ” Mom exclaimed. “But not a good one yet.It needs a strong body to stand firm in the field,” she said with a frown. “And it doesn’t look scary enough,” Josh remarked. I had to admit that Josh, though younger than I was, could sometimes be more imaginative. Josh and I turned to each other, searching for a good idea. Soon enough, Josh’s eyes lit up with inspiration.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1: “Come with me!” Josh called out.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: In the following days, the scarecrow stood proudly.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . A new study involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the quantity of daily walking steps that will best improve adults’ health and longevity(长寿), and whether the ideal number of steps differs across people of different ages. The study represents an effort to develop an evidence-based public health message about the benefits of physical activity. The often-repeated 10,000-step-a-day saying grew out of a decades-old marketing activity for a Japanese pedometer(计步器), with no science to back it up.
Led by physical activity professor Amanda Paluch, an international group of scientists conducted an experiment among adults aged 18 and older. They grouped the nearly 50,000 participants into four comparative groups according to average steps per day. The lowest step group averaged 3,500 steps; the second, 5,800; the third, 7,800; and the fourth, 10,900 steps per day. Among the three higher active groups, there was a 40—53% lower risk of death, compared to the lowest step group.
More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of early death leveled off at about 6,000—8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity, while for adults younger than 60, about 8, 000—10,000 steps per day.
“So, what we saw was this continuing reduction in risk as the number of steps increases, until it levels off. Interestingly, the study found no definitive association with walking speed.” Paluch says.
The new study supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch before, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of early death. “There’s a lot of evidence suggesting that moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity.” Paluch says. “More steps per day are better for your health.”
1. Why did the scientists carry out the new study?| A．To know about people’s health condition. |
| B．To explain the pedometer’s working principles. |
| C．To determine the best physical activity for people. |
| D．To provide a scientific guideline on daily walking. |
| A．Turned higher. | B．Became stable. | C．Fell sharply. | D．Changed rapidly. |
| A．The old should walk as much as possible. |
| B．Young people usually walk more than the old. |
| C．The most beneficial steps differ by age groups. |
| D．Walking pace is the key to avoiding early death. |
| A．To walk more steps. | B．To control walking speed. |
| C．To limit walking distance. | D．To track the number of steps. |
“Hey! Don’t tell me you’re scared!” Sasha smiled at Rosie, then leaned into her horse’s cheek and circled his head with her arms, as if he were nothing but a big stuffed animal.
“I’m not.” The lie didn’t sound as definite as Rosie wished it did. She turned away from Sasha. How could her roommate be so comfortable around these huge animals?
Rosie shook as Nugget blew out a long snort（响鼻）. After begging to come to two weeks of riding camp, Rosie’s cowgirl riding dreams had dried up like the red -brown dirt at her feet.
All winter Rosie had pictured herself galloping（骑马奔驰）on a horse down the country roads and fields in the camp brochure. Since she was little, whenever she and her parents headed out of town to where Chicago turned into country, Rosie would imagine she was outside the car, galloping on the back of a beautiful horse, hair long and windblown.
“You are so, scared,” Sasha said. “I can tell.” A strange smile grew on her face. “It’s in the eyes,” Sasha said in an odd, silly voice.
Rosie forced a smile and took a small step toward Nugget. “Hi,” she said softly, reaching out an arm.
Nugget gave start, and Rosie jumped back. Her throat closed up, and tears burned the corners of her eyes. “You’ll just scare her, doing that,” Sasha said. She walked over to Nugget and stroked her neck. “It’s OK, girl. Calm down, it’s OK.”
“Sasha, get back to your horse, please.” Callie, the riding instructor, came over, planting herself between Rosie and Sasha. “You afraid, Rosie?” she asked quietly.
“A little,” Rosie whispered to Callie.
“Watch out, Rosie!” Sasha said, and then laughed. “Don’t let Nugget get you!”
“Sasha! Mount up and quiet down,” Callie said.
Sasha reached up to her saddle（马鞍）with the reins（缰绳）in her left hand, and in one quick, smooth move, was up and settled.
“Ready to mount up?” Callie’s eyes questioned Rosie silently.
A cry escaped from Rosie’s throat. Her heart pounded wildly.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1: “You can wait till you’re ready, Rosie,” Callie said.
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Paragraph 2: “I want to get down,” Rosie thought.
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内容包括：
1.获奖情况；
2.个人事迹。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
James: Among the Top 10 Most Popular Teachers
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The ancient Chinese built two great engineering wonders: the Great Wall and the Grand Canal (运河). The Great Wall’s function in military defense
The Grand Canal,
Now, it has inspired the name of Chenchen, one of the three mascots of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Chenchen,
The Hangzhou section stretches a total
6 . As humans, we’re meant to be social creatures. In fact, being socially connected is key to our mental and emotional health.
People aren’t thinking about you—at least not to the degree that you think.
You don’t have to be perfect to be liked. In fact, our imperfections can be pleasant.
It’s okay to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes; it’s part of being human.
Overcoming social fear requires practice. Don’t expect to become socially comfortable without putting in the time. That said, you can start small. Take baby steps towards being more confident and social, and then build on those successes.
| A．So give yourself a break when you mess up. |
| B．Most people are caught up in their own lives. |
| C．The good news is that you can learn from them. |
| D．People are much more confident than you think. |
| E．Even our weaknesses can bring us closer to others. |
| F．Many other people feel just as awkward and nervous as you do. |
| G．Yet many of us are shy and feel awkward around unfamiliar people. |
7 . In times of intense stress, people sometimes let it out with a scream and a new study suggests that plants might do the same. Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel has found that plants let out ultrasonic (超声的) screams when damaged or stressed by drought.
The noises, falling within a range of 20 to 100 kilohertz, are too high-frequency for humans to hear, but other plants and some animals perceive them. Insects might be listening for sounds from stressed plants to assess their condition before laying eggs on their leaves. A moth (蛾) may decide against laying eggs on a plant that sounds water-stressed.
Researchers attached recording devices directly to plants to listen for secret sounds inside their stems (茎). In drought, air bubbles formed, burst and caused vibrations (振动) within the tissue that normally carries water up the plants’ stems. The process was picked up by the attached recording devices, but researchers wanted to know if any plant sounds could travel through the air.
So the team placed microphones 10 centimetres from stressed-out tomato and tobacco plants. They subjected one set of crops to drought and another to physical damage. A third group was untouched.
The microphones did pick up distinct sounds. On average, drought-stressed tomato plants let out about 35 ultrasonic screams per hour, while those with cut stems made about 25. Drought-stressed tobacco plants let out about 11 screams per hour, and cut crops made about 15 sounds in the same time. The average number of sounds from untouched plants fell below one per hour.
The researchers also attempted to identify each plant group just based on its screams. Using a type of artificial intelligence calculations, the team picked out distinct features in each set of sounds and successfully sorted their plants into three kinds: “dry, cut or untouched.”
If it is not too costly to set up the recording in a field situation, farmers might be able to hear these stress signals too. In future, enabling farmers to listen for water-stressed plants could “open a new direction”, which will be increasingly important as climate change exposes more areas to drought.
1. The moth is mentioned in paragraph 2 to show __________.| A．moths need enough water when laying eggs |
| B．some animals are able to hear plants scream |
| C．some insects are picky about their surroundings |
| D．wildlife species depend on each other when stressed |
| A．Plants’ sounds couldn’t be detected by humans. |
| B．Plants can be grouped according to their features. |
| C．Plants’ screams are related to stress types in a way. |
| D．Air bubbles contribute to the lack of water in plants. |
| A．Supporting evidence for the research result. |
| B．Potential application of the research findings. |
| C．A further explanation of the research methods. |
| D．A reasonable doubt about the research process. |
| A．Plants’ Vibrations: Way to React to Stress |
| B．Stress Signals: Secret Newly Found in Plants |
| C．Green Screams: Plants Make Noises When Stressed |
| D．Ultrasonic Screams: Discovery Opens a New Chapter |
8 . “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” opens Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina. While Tolstoy’s quote is famous, it is also inaccurate. It ignores the fact that happiness is a subjective (主观的) experience. Therefore, happy families and individuals come in all shapes and sizes. Even nations, we now know, can be happy in different ways.
Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has been ranking countries according to their levels of happiness. The latest report ranks Finland as the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark and Iceland. Happiness matters.
Happier people more often engage in their communities and help others, making them important building blocks for advancing societies. So nations worldwide have increasingly focused on promoting people’s happiness.
Scientists employ “subjective well-being”, commonly termed “happiness”, to include both happiness and life satisfaction. They have identified characteristics typical of countries with high levels of happiness. Studies suggest richer countries are happier. Institutional quality, such as strong courts and good laws, also plays a vital role in shaping happier nations.
A country’s culture also influences subjective well-being. It is frequently analyzed from four main aspects: individualism, masculinity (男子气概), power distance and uncertainty avoidance. In individualistic countries, people tend to put their own interests first, leading to higher levels of happiness. Happier nations usually have lower levels of masculinity, which show a preference for cooperation, care and equal opportunities for both men and women. Happier nations also tend to more evenly distribute (分配) power, called “low power distance”. Finally, happier nations appear to be more tolerant of uncertainty, less anxious about risk-taking, and therefore more likely to seize life’s opportunities.
Although the image of a happy country sounds similar as described in these terms, all happy nations are not alike. That’s because each nation has different cultural, economic, and social factors that shape their unique identities and experiences.
The takeaway from this research is that governments worldwide should adopt a flexible approach to policy making, recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to promoting well-being.
1. Why does the author quote Leo Tolstoy?| A．To give the definition of happiness. | B．To introduce the topic of happiness. |
| C．To show the inaccuracy of his statement. | D．To recommend his novel Anna Karenina. |
| A．It is related to people’s satisfaction with the government. |
| B．Happiness of a nation helps improve its international image. |
| C．Individual happiness contributes positively to social progress. |
| D．Nations worldwide are competing for high happiness rankings. |
| A．The importance of happiness. | B．The differences among happy nations. |
| C．The ways to promote happiness. | D．The impact of culture on happiness. |
| A．Message. | B．Method. | C．Reason. | D．Result. |
9 . Taking toddlers to the hairdressers isn’t always a walk in the park. But worry no more. There are lots of great kids’ hair salons in Singapore that make the whole process a breeze.
LA Kids Cowboy
Wouldn’t it be good if you or your partner could head somewhere for a quick cut and have the kids’ hair cut at the same time? Sure would, which is why we’re loving LA Kids Cowboy. It’s Singapore’s first parent-child haircut and styling concept. Cut s are a great value of $20, making it a cheap and cheerful barber for kids.
Bonbon Blowout Bar
Bonbon Blowout Bar comes with individual tablets and sweets, so haircuts won’t seem like such a terrible affair for kids. The full-service salon provides haircuts, styling, and hair perm services for children from $28; and if it’s their first haircut, your kid will even bring home a First Haircut Certificate!
BabySpa
If you’re looking for a baby haircut, look no further. At BabySpa, your kids’ hair is in good hands. The wonderful stylists will ensure the gentles t of haircuts while your baby watches Barney, sitting in a toy car. BabySpa also offers a bathing service for kids up to age two.
Kids ‘N’ Me
This kids’ hairdressers over at United Square are a firm fan favorite. It’s down to the experienced hairstylists, who are known and loved for their awesome kids’ haircuts for football matches, from simple “short back and sides” to a full-on Mohawk. We hear children can even have their hair sprayed with temporary hair d ye for special occasions!
1. Where will a boy probably have a haircut for a football match?| A．At LA Kids Cowboy. | B．At Bonbon Blowout Bar. |
| C．At BabySpa. | D．At Kids ‘N’ Me. |
| A．An adult haircut. | B．A toy football. | C．A bathing service. | D．A Haircut Certificate. |
| A．Parents. | B．Hairstylists. | C．Children. | D．Athletes. |
10 . Long ago, Anne and I had a big argument over a piano!
“The family should learn to play,” she said, having seen one in a shop. I told her there was
Later, I found a grand piano at an auction (拍卖). It was a fine piece, if a bit
She was
One day, Anne came back from tea with a friend, full of praise for her friend’s
When I returned home one day, the piano was in the doorway, ready for the removers to take it to a sale. We came as near to a
In fairness to Anne, she loves the house and I am proud of it. I couldn’t handle the
| A．no way | B．no problem | C．no doubt | D．no risk |
| A．sport | B．game | C．song | D．instrument |
| A．ugly | B．light | C．old | D．big |
| A．Eventually | B．Gradually | C．Surprisingly | D．Fortunately |
| A．repaired | B．examined | C．painted | D．polished |
| A．critical | B．ashamed | C．proud | D．careful |
| A．thinking | B．acting | C．music | D．entertainment |
| A．spacious | B．comfortable | C．bright | D．elegant |
| A．furniture | B．piano | C．vase | D．flower |
| A．removed | B．replaced | C．valued | D．played |
| A．tackled | B．dropped | C．discussed | D．clarified |
| A．comeback | B．comedown | C．breakup | D．breakthrough |
| A．repeated | B．asked | C．announced | D．suggested |
| A．pain | B．loss | C．pressure | D．failure |
| A．in the end | B．in general | C．above all | D．after all |
