1 . What Kids Eat for Lunch Around the World

Australia

While Aussies are largely lunchbox people, Australian schools have indoor and outdoor canteens, where students order from a menu of snacks and standard dishes like hot dogs, meat pies, and sausage rolls.

Brazil

Brazil began one of the world’s oldest school feeding programs in 1955, providing lunch for more than 43 million children. The Guideline 2009 limited processed foods and sugars and required schools to offer students one third of their daily nutritional requirements. A school lunch might include meat with vegetables, rice and beans, fresh-baked bread, salad and banana.

France

Unsurprisingly, France takes food seriously, especially school lunches. Each lunch usually has a multicourse meal including a raw vegetable starter and dairy course and a warm main meal with more vegetables, followed by a dessert.

Cuba

Cuban schools provide free lunches that usually feature rice, beans, hard-boiled eggs, vegetables such as sliced tomatoes, and a dessert. Children bring their own drinks and sometimes some snacks from home.

Japan

In Japan, children are typically used to at least trying every food on their plates out of respect for its preparation. A traditional lunch usually consists of local and seasonal ingredients that result in healthy meals such as hearty soups and stews, grilled fish, seasoned rice, and fried noodles. Each lunch contains a specific number of calories.

4 . Do you remember that cold you had when you were 10? No? Well, your body does. Each time you faced some viruses, and after you fought them off, your body stored a memory to recognize these threats if they appeared again. It is the memory of cell in your immune system (免疫系统).

The immune system is so adaptable and long-lasting that it might be able to help our bodies to become immune to viruses we’ve never met, or even give us universal immunity. But how does it do the job?

Our first level of defense is physical, like your skin. If something goes through skin, your second line of defense comes into action. White blood cells will search your body for these dangers and attack them. They’ll call in helpers to kill the dangers, and start an alarm system called inflammation (发炎). This is your body’s innate (先天的) immune system at work.

But it isn’t always enough, especially if a more serious threat appears. Some viruses can double in your body every 20 minutes. This can quickly defeat that innate immune system, but luckily, we’ve developed a more complicated line of defense to stop these terrible enemies: the adaptive immune response.

This army of cells is like your body’s special army, and its best soldiers are antibodies (抗体). Each antibody carries a unique area with a special shape that allows it to latch onto one particular enemy, just like a key fits into its lock. When one antibody catches its enemy, it can work together with all your body’s defenses to fight this enemy. And your immune system learns from this fight so it can attack even more strongly if you ever meet that enemy again in the future. That’s called being immune to something.

5 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

My dad was always building and repairing things. When he was six, he sawed (锯) the legs of the dining-room table in half so he could sit at it more comfortably. By the time he was ten, he’d formed a bicycle from useless parts. He did the same in his 20s with a used car. Building taught him the value of solving a problem with his own hands.

I was almost seven when one day Dad and I walked by a toy store window. There in the corner was the most unusual doll house I’d ever seen. Little egg-shaped windows were cut into it, with tiny balconies.

“Oh, Daddy,” I said, “isn’t it beautiful? Can you buy it for me as a birthday gift?”

My father looked at the price — $100 — too much in those days. “I think we can’t afford this house,” he joked. I was quite disappointed at the reply and angry. “But I will build one for you,” Dad then added.

Though I had known about Dad’s building skills, I cast a doubtful eye on him and fell into complete silence.

Days later, after the doll house was almost forgotten, Dad, despite all the unfinished projects at home, started making one for me. Night after night, Dad would come home from work very tired, yet he’d always find time to work on the doll house. He cut, sawed, painted, and did all that was necessary. In those days, the small yard was occupied by various instruments that Dad needed and things that Dad produced for later use. Our ears had got used to all the noise. Every morning, I was greeted by something new that Dad had made the previous night. I was so excited. Dad even added a tiny path to the front door.

The doll house was the greatest gift a child could ask for and it kept me company for over ten years.

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。

One day, when getting ready for college in another city, I accidentally dropped it on the ground.

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On Christmas day, entering my room, I was truly amazed by what I saw.

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6 . In a fast developing world, many old-fashioned skills seem to be disappearing. It’s hard to find people who know such skills as sewing, but a few decades ago, it was common for every person to learn them.

Now many would think sewing isn’t as useful today. The garment (服装) industry is producing clothing that is cheaper, faster and more fashionable than ever, making it possible to buy a suit for less than $10 at home.

However, that doesn’t mean clothing isn’t indestructible (破坏不了的). Garments with simple tears that could be fixed in seconds with a needle are just thrown away. This causes more than 26 billion pounds of garbage and millions of dollars wasted because of a tear. Even dirty or worn clothing that still has plenty of usable cloth is being thrown away.

The ability to create hand-made clothes doesn’t only reduce waste. It is also tailor-made just for you. Most buy clothes made for a general body type, and to get it tailored by a professional is expensive. So why not do it yourself?

Perhaps the greatest problem of sewing is simply the time involved. Buying a skirt online takes a few seconds. Making a skirt can take weeks. But learning to sew doesn’t always involve complicated projects. Instead they might just be simple adjustments to help the garments fit or match your style.

Schools could easily teach sewing. Yet, they focus more on college preparations, ignoring traditional skills. Actually sewing is a valuable skill to be used in daily life. It wouldn’t take much time to teach children how to sew.

So, instead of letting old things die in this new age of the Internet, how about learning some of the lost skills that helped us for so long?

7 . I first saw a real durian (榴莲) in an Asian supermarket in Queens. That strange-looking fruit was big, heavy, and covered with sharp pricks (刺). I decided to buy one. The Chinese checkout girl carefully wrapped it thickly in a newspaper before putting it into a shopping bag.

On the train home, I cautiously opened the Chinese newspaper and lifted it out. Its strangeness made me think of kung fu, yoga and Taijiquan.

Upon arriving home, I dug out the biggest knife and cut through the tough prickly husk (壳). I tasted the pale-yellow flesh, delicious!

After that, durian was my favourite fruit. My skill at cutting durian open was improving. I showed the skill to my girlfriend.

A few years later, we moved to Taiwan. One day I noticed some durians had begun to open by themselves. The owner tried to get me to buy one but I shook my head, thinking it was far-gone. Instead I selected one whose outer husk wasn’t open.

The next morning I woke up to a strong durian smell. I found a small crack (裂缝) had appeared all on its own. I used the smallest pressure and tasted a more delicious durian. Suddenly, I realized something. I ha felt so satisfied with my own skill in opening the durian that I never thought about letting the durian open itself. The higher art was not in doing but in not doing — letting the thing happen on its own in the way it happens best.

8 . “You can get a kitten,” I promised my daughter Cali after her father and I divorced (离婚). After _________ in our new apartment, we headed to North Bay Animal Services.

One orange-and-white kitten drew Cali’s _________.

“_________, we’ve got two of those,” said the attendant. “They are _________, Caramel and Butter.”

“Can we take them both?” Cali _________.

“We have to follow the _________ of our new apartment,” I said. “Only one cat, remember?”

“I know,” Cali _________.

We brought Caramel home. Caramel seemed _________ without his twin and Cali cried for it. Two weeks later we drove back to the _________, hoping our landlord wouldn’t realize there were two of them because they looked __________.

However, we were told Butter was __________ four days ago.

Two years later I had a new boyfriend Brain. The first time I went to his home, I saw a flash of orange and white. Caramel? I thought, __________.

“That’s my daughter’s cat Butter,” Brian said.

After comparing the adoption papers, I __________ Butter was Caramel’s twin!

“They might not __________ each other after two years,” Brian said. But when brought together, Caramel and Butter nuzzled (依偎) each other with __________.

Today Caramel and his brother are inseparable. As are Brian and I, and our daughters after our marriage.

9 . In this globalized era, it has become more and more common to work, live, befriend, and even create families with people of diverse backgrounds. In this sense, understanding how to bridge cultural gaps among various diverse groups is important. The better we understand each other, the less misunderstanding would occur.     1    .

Recognize cultural differences.

Be as open-minded as possible. Recognize cultural differences among the people you are communicating with.    2     before you know the person more in depth. It is a way to respect their differences.

Show respect.

    3    . Some cultures show it more physically, like bowing in Japan. Others are less physical, but more on the verbal level, like in most Western cultures. Respect the way people express respect.

Speak clearly.

Speaking clearly means using concrete words, not abstract words, which can often confuse those who speak English as a foreign or second language. Use a calm and soft intonation as well, as people tend to take in information better when listening to a calming tone.

    4    .

With awareness and understanding of cultural differences, asking for clarification should not be hard. Offer clarification as well, so the person would feel you are doing your best to communicate meaningfully.

In short, bridging cultural gaps requires a respectful and honest communication where clarifying and asking for clarifications should come naturally.     5    . So is the final quality of the results.