1 . Lots of kids like to talk about sports, but Joseph D’Avirro talks about sports like a professional host in a show called Sliders & Curveballs. The 9-year-old from Newington, Connecticut is a natural at sports talk and has been broadcasting the show—which is about baseball, basketball and other sports—with his dad, Mike D’Avirro, since September 2019.
The D’Avirro started the broadcast after two former college roommates of Mike died, which made Mike want to spend more time with his son. Then the idea came to him. So far, they have done about 50 programs. Joseph’s favorite is when the father-and-son team interviewed Jim Calhoun, the coach leading the Connecticut Huskies to three national titles. They have also interviewed important sports authors.
The father and son make about one 30- to 40-minute podcast each month. They prepare for the podcasts by deciding on the questions they want to ask the guest. Joseph asks half of the questions, and Mike handles the other half. Joseph reads his questions again and again to get them in his brain well. It is a lot of work, but Joseph says it is “a lot more fun than homework”. Joseph has also learned to speak up and speak clearly. He has to listen and to go with the flow of the conversation. For example, he said, “If the guest is talking about sports in the 1990s, you have to think about sports in the 1990s.”
When asked how long he and his dad will continue doing the show, he answered, “Until my dad starts growing gray hairs.” Joseph has other ambitions when he grows up—to be a sports player, a sports broadcaster or to own a basketball team. Those are big dreams, but Joseph is already living a dream: talking sports and spending time with his dad.
1. What is Joseph’s show about?| A．Some talk shows on sports. |
| B．Ways to get along with parents. |
| C．Stories about famous sports players. |
| D．Sports that his family loves playing. |
| A．His son’s talent for sports. |
| B．His wish to be a host since college. |
| C．The deaths of his college roommates. |
| D．The encouragement from his roommates. |
| A．It’s as boring as homework. |
| B．It’s challenging to his brain. |
| C．It takes a lot of time but means a lot. |
| D．It’s more interesting than homework. |
| A．A rising sports broadcaster |
| B．A long road to go to success |
| C．The father-and-son team hosts |
| D．Joseph D’Avirro’s big dream |
2 . I was shocked when my socially awkward sister, who had suffered from Asperger Syndrome (阿斯伯格综合症), decided to sing in front of the school. I knew she would
As I waited in the hall, sweat
I shifted nervously in my seat, afraid what was about to happen. But as my sister started to sing, I was
| A．embarrass | B．impress | C．surprise | D．support |
| A．hide | B．quit | C．escape | D．perform |
| A．protect | B．save | C．recover | D．rescue |
| A．picked up | B．climbed upon | C．took off | D．went up |
| A．impressive | B．exciting | C．fine | D．challenging |
| A．characters | B．lectures | C．curtains | D．signals |
| A．confident | B．nervous | C．prepared | D．relaxed |
| A．Cries | B．Crashes | C．Whispers | D．Screams |
| A．entertained | B．disappointed | C．relieved | D．shocked |
| A．power | B．weakness | C．silence | D．darkness |
| A．softly | B．loudly | C．quietly | D．beautifully |
| A．abilities | B．failures | C．talents | D．weaknesses |
| A．Without | B．Despite | C．Beyond | D．Within |
| A．extremely | B．equally | C．unconditionally | D．finally |
| A．lifted | B．dropped | C．covered | D．hidden |
It’s hard being an astronaut’s son. I often wonder how my father ever had a son like me. I mean he’s so special and so good at everything he does. But I’m just an average eleven-year-old kid.
Nowadays I dream about being a famous writer, but I used to dream about doing something special to impress my father and make him proud of me-something like rescuing a child from a burning building.
I was dreaming in school one morning, which I often do. I was daydreaming about being some kind of hero when my friend Ellen reminded me of my English teacher’s announcement about a Father’s Day essay contest.
“I hope we have a winner right here in my English class.” she said. “There are three prizes for each of you.”
When I got home, I kissed my mom quickly. Then I went upstairs to my room and sat down with a pen and a pad of paper. I started to think about what I would write.
How did I see my father? Mmm…
I saw him teaching me how to use a bat and how to throw baseball.
I remembered how he hugged me for hours when my dog Spotty was hit and killed by a car.
And I remembered how he sat and tried to explain death to me when Grandpa Bob died.
These were the things I was going to write about my dad. To me, he wasn’t just a famous astronaut. He was my dad.
I wrote about all these memories and put them in my essay. I handed it in the next day and was surprised to find out that the winning essays would be read in the lecture hall on Thursday night. All the parents and students were invited.
My parents and I went to school Thursday night. One of our neighbors said, “I bet you’ll win the contest, David. I bet you wrote what it’s like to be the son of an astronaut, and you’re the only one in town who could write about that. ”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右。
2. 请按以下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I shrugged and then the first winner - Ellen was announced.
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The second prize winner was announced next - It was me.
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With a wide smile on her face, 15-year-old Sirin eagerly rushed to her mom to show off her new painting. But Mom raised her eyebrows with eyes wide open, and spoke impatiently, “No time, baby. Right now I am busy with an important talk. Just wait for some time, OK?”
Holding her oil painting, she frowned (皱眉),and then searched for her dad. “Dad, see what I have done,” Sirin exclaimed cheerfully. Her dad turned around while adjusting his tie, grinned at her, and showed his thumbs up!
Immediately, Sirin replied angrily, “Dad, you haven’t seen it yet.”
He smiled at her saying, “No time, baby. I will see it later.” He just patted her back lovingly, kissed her forehead, and rushed for his office.
She was not a kid to be pleased with simple gesture or smile. She stood there for a few seconds, and then stormed off to her own bedroom. Hot air was blowing from her nostrils (鼻孔) ; her face turned into apple red. She threw the painting on the table, slammed the door and threw herself on her bed.
“Why is everybody so busy?” She recalled thousands of incidents that hurt her in preschool, middle school and even in high school too! She assumed at least her own family members would give some values to her thoughts, but they were no exception. Unconsciously, her eyes were filled with tears.
The knocking sound on the door put a sudden stop to her thought. Her mom was calling her for dinner. Sirin deliberately (故意地) came late to join them. She kept silent and didn’t look at anyone, scratching the table mat with her nail. Her mom was puzzled at the unusual behavior. Suddenly the morning incident came to mind. Softly, she asked, “ Honey, did I do anything wrong? ”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；2.续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好。
At this very moment, Sirin could no longer resist her anger.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When back from school the next day, Sirin was surprised to see her beautifully-decorated paining on the wall.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I hadn’t decided whether to fly home for Thanksgiving yet. I didn’t have the money for the ticket, plus I wasn’t sure I could get enough time off from my job.
All that wondering changed when my mom called. She got right to the point: “Your grandmother isn’t well. Your dad and I decided I should fly out there for Thanksgiving.” Mom was an only child, so that made sense to me. But I was not ready for what I heard next. “We decided you should come along, so I cover your ticket.”
As always, Mom’s plan went off all right. I met her at the airport. Mom was anxious to see her parents, especially her mother, who was really fragile(虚弱). When we finally got to their house, we said hello and then Grandpa helped Grandma lie down again and took us to the living room, telling us we would eat Thanksgiving dinner at noon. He went into the kitchen.
Mom paced(踱步) the floor. I asked her what the matter was. “He can’t cook,” she shook her head. “How’s he supposed to fix a Thanksgiving meal for us?”
I tried to reason with her. “Can’t you smell dinner? Grandma is upstairs resting. Grandpa is the only one who could be cooking.” But we couldn’t see through the kitchen door.
Mom had an idea. “Let’s sneak out(溜出去) the front door and see what’s going on. Then we will know who is really cooking.” Grandpa had trouble hearing, so he didn’t hear us leave. It was a crazy plan. I followed her around the house to the kitchen windows. There we watched Grandpa fill water glasses and make coffee. “When did he learn to make coffee?” Mom asked. Quietly, we ran back around the side of the house and into the living room.
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。
Finally, the kitchen door opened at noon.
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“Wow, I can’t believe it! This smells so good,” I said.
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6 . If you’ve ever been in a cheerful mood, then met up with a bad-tempered friend, you’ll know how infectious emotions can be. Before you know it, you realize that you’re feeling down too.
You might wonder who wins out—if you’re feeling happy and your friend is feeling sad, do you yield to their sadness or do they catch your happiness? Part of the answer is likely depending on their and your levels of expressiveness and receptiveness.
If and when you encounter an opposite emotion to your own, the experience will likely vary depending on how invested you are in that other person or people.
| A．Happily, it can work the other way around too. |
| B．This is especially true when we’re interacting with someone we care about. |
| C．Everyone varies in how emotionally expressive and impressionable they are. |
| D．That isn’t to say that facial expressions are the only way for emotions to spread. |
| E．These processes have to do with effective communication and mutual understanding. |
| F．If you care about them, you’ll be more motivated to shift emotionally to match their state. |
| G．People exposed to more negative posts are more likely to post something negative themselves. |
7 . If you have ever lost touch with old school friends, you may find yourself wanting to make contact again. Some teens find that certain school friends are worth keeping contact with and want to keep the friendship going strong.
Hang out at the same places
One way you can get together with old friends from your school is to go to the same places that they go to. If you still go to school together, you probably know where everyone goes on the weekends. If you are able to go there too, you may find that your relationships with your old school friends start up again.
Sports teams
If you are athletic and your former friends are too, joining school sports teams is a great way to catch up with old friends. This doesn’t mean that you should join a sport which you do not like just so you can see your old friends. However, if you like sports, wish to join a team and your former friends are on that team, and then playing the team sports is a great way to get to know them again.
Take part in school clubs
There are often a lot of school clubs in which teens participate. Depending on your interests and your former friends’ interests, you may just find a club at school. Sharing a common interest such as a club activity will help you to have something in common and something to talk about.
1. You can get together with old friends by .| A．joining the dance clubs |
| B．having dinner with them |
| C．going to the places where they go |
| D．going shopping with them every day |
| A．playing sports helps you get your old friends again |
| B．you have to play a sport to make more friends |
| C．team sports are interesting activities at school |
| D．you have to play the sport your friends like |
| A．To tell a hobby. |
| B．To share same interests. |
| C．To join clubs. |
| D．To contact old friends. |
Ali and his younger sister, Zahra, lived with their parents in a poor neighborhood. Their mother was very sick and their father was struggling to find a job, and they had only a little money with which to buy food. As they had not paid the rent for several months, the landlord was breathing down their necks.
One day, Ali took Zahra's shoes to a shoe repairman to be fixed, but he lost them on the way home. It wasn’t until he got home that he realized he had lost the shoes. He was afraid that his parents would be angry and disappointed, so he begged his sister to keep it a secret. Zahra agreed and the two decided to share Ali’s running shoes. Zahra's school hours were in the morning, so she would wear them first. After school, she would rush back and give them to Ali. He could then run to his school, which began in the afternoon. Although he ran as fast as he could, Ali often arrived late and was warned by the school.
Ali heard about a long distance race that was held for the boys in the city.When he learned that the third prize was a new pair of shoes, he decided to take part. He ran home excitedly and promised his sister that he would win her the new shoes.
The day of race arrived. Ali had a strong start, but halfway through the race he began to get tired and his legs began to ache. Getting more and more exhausted he thought only of Zahra and his promise to her. Dreaming of the new shoes he would win for his sister gave him strength, and he stayed right behind the two fastest runners, determined to finish third. Suddenly, as the finish line drew near, another runner collided(碰撞) with Ali from behind and he crashed to the ground.
Ali looked up and saw the other boys rushing ahead.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Filled with delight, Ali walked home quickly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . When children do something wrong, parents expect an apology. Children often try to read their parents’ mind or butter up (奉承) their parents by saying, “I’m sorry”. Even though they did not do anything wrong, they will act in that way because they are scared to make their parents angry. Children always look timid (胆小的) because they have been anxious or nervous about being punished by parents.
When parents force them to apologize, they will lose the opportunity to think by themselves why they should apologize or what was wrong. So, how can we make them understand properly what was wrong?
If parents never give children a chance and say something like, “That’s not good” or “Say you’re sorry”, children cannot learn to reflect their behavior. So, the first thing that parents should do is listening to their children, asking questions such as what happened, why they did it. Once children have their parents’ attention and feel at ease, they can easily accept their parents’ words.
Children do not have enough skill to tell good or bad things, therefore, it is necessary for parents to teach them what was wrong. When parents explain what was wrong to children, short and simple words should be used as much as possible. Moreover, it would be more effective to tell children what kind of behavior makes parents feel a certain way. For example, it would be good to express mom’s feelings with something like “When you hit me, mommy will get hurt.” “When you call me stupid, I feel sad.”
In this way, children can understand that they hurt mom or they make her sad, therefore, they will become able to apologize naturally. That would be more understandable for children why their behavior was wrong than being scolded by parents something like “Hitting is not good!” “You cannot say stupid to someone else.”
Many people believe that children are too young to understand what parents say, however, children actually can understand a parents, feeling if parents use simple words and speak calmly. Parents should avoid speaking one-sidedly and always try to listen to children. Talking to each other would be the best way.
1. Why do children apologize when they don’t want to?| A．They want to show their politeness. | B．They want to please their parents. |
| C．They show regrets for their mistakes. | D．They want to act like their parents. |
| A．Timeliness. | B．Seriousness. | C．Patience. | D．Kindness. |
| A．Speak briefly and clearly. | B．Teach them the harm seriously. |
| C．Do the same thing to children. | D．Show what other children do. |
| A．Trying to let children listen to them. | B．Communicating with them equally. |
| C．Giving them a lesson about behaviors. | D．Letting them alone because of small age. |
10 . If you are looking to improve your relationship with your parents, you are not alone.
Be grateful. Consider all that your parents have done for you. You may find yourself feeling thankful to your parents. You will be more willing to improve the relationship. Let your parents know that you are appreciative for all they have done for you.
Avoid unnecessary arguments. Sometimes arguments are unavoidable, but do your best to avoid unnecessary quarrels. This may mean that you have to bite your tongue when one of your parents says something controversial.
Don't ask for their advice unless you really want it. Sometimes problems arise in relationships between parents and children, particularly at the teenage years and beyond, because parents can try to give advice that might hurt your sense of independence.
| A．Put yourself in their shoes. |
| B．Be happy with them for this. |
| C．Show your appreciation with your actions. |
| D．It can hurt to feel taken for granted, even for parents. |
| E．Problems between parents and children are common. |
| F．So try only asking for their advice when you really want it. |
| G．Determine whether the need to respond is really necessary. |
