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 . I am a guide at the California Academy of Sciences. Weeks ago, I was
I was so
I recently purchased my first laptop computer. In discussions with the
| A．seeing | B．visiting | C．leaving | D．saying |
| A．trapped | B．called | C．caught | D．fascinated |
| A．quickly | B．slowly | C．frequently | D．temporarily |
| A．going about | B．going by | C．going for | D．going through |
| A．expected | B．forced | C．urged | D．persuaded |
| A．satisfied | B．astonished | C．rigid | D．excited |
| A．wisdom | B．patience | C．passion | D．guilt |
| A．used | B．tried | C．pretended | D．forgot |
| A．fortune | B．greed | C．discontent | D．benefit |
| A．cashier | B．host | C．salesman | D．waiter |
| A．broken | B．old | C．favourite | D．dusty |
| A．want | B．need | C．hope | D．mind |
| A．obviously | B．specially | C．simply | D．necessarily |
| A．violent | B．absurd | C．shiny | D．similar |
| A．promise | B．identify | C．possess | D．access |
3 . In 2010, Justin Horner was driving down a busy freeway in Portland, US, when his tire blew out. He
Three hours later,
As they slowly drove off, Horner unwrapped the tamale and discovered his
Months later, Horner shared his experience online, which
| A．came in | B．moved on | C．pulled up | D．dropped out |
| A．note | B．sign | C．call | D．deal |
| A．notably | B．eventually | C．secretly | D．immediately |
| A．race | B．traffic | C．nationality | D．language |
| A．examined | B．powered | C．cleaned | D．fixed |
| A．hesitated | B．attempted | C．refused | D．pretended |
| A．declined | B．appreciated | C．withdrew | D．accepted |
| A．promised | B．questioned | C．insisted | D．complained |
| A．snack | B．pie | C．soup | D．fruit |
| A．wallet | B．gift | C．money | D．key |
| A．simply | B．carefully | C．truly | D．slowly |
| A．wave | B．bow | C．sigh | D．touch |
| A．confirmed | B．updated | C．made | D．drew |
| A．expressed | B．practiced | C．invented | D．promoted |
| A．regional | B．universal | C．funny | D．creative |
4 . I was born legally blind. Of all the stories of my early childhood, the one about a
I was only two when the
Mom loves to use this story as an
We are almost certain to get
| A．trip | B．race | C．tree | D．driver |
| A．incident | B．change | C．illness | D．problem |
| A．feared | B．refused | C．forgot | D．turned |
| A．delay | B．shortage | C．freedom | D．rest |
| A．landed | B．slept | C．laughed | D．wept |
| A．promised | B．encouraged | C．allowed | D．expected |
| A．woke | B．picked | C．warmed | D．gave |
| A．adds | B．replies | C．admits | D．supposes |
| A．crashed | B．broke | C．climbed | D．looked |
| A．answer | B．example | C．excuse | D．order |
| A．able | B．ashamed | C．afraid | D．anxious |
| A．honesty | B．kindness | C．integrity | D．perseverance |
| A．regretted | B．reviewed | C．made | D．explained |
| A．mixed up | B．fed up | C．knocked download | D．settled down |
| A．play | B．relax | C．dream | D．cry |
The Empty Pot
A long time ago in China there was a boy named Ping who loved flowers. Anything he planted burst into bloom. Up came flowers, bushes, and even big fruit trees, as if by magic!
Everyone in the kingdom loved flowers too. They planted them everywhere, and the air smelled like perfume.
The Emperor loved birds and animals, but flowers most of all, and he tended his own garden every day. But the Emperor was very old. He needed to choose a successor to the throne (王位的继承人). Because the Emperor loved flowers so much, he decided to let the flowers choose.
The next day a statement was issued: All the children in the land were to come to the palace. There they would be given special flower seeds by the Emperor. “Whoever can show me their best in a year’s time,” he said, “will succeed me to the throne.”
This news created great excitement throughout the land! Children from all over the country swarmed to the palace to get their flower seeds. All the parents wanted their children to be chosen Emperor, and all the children hoped they would be chosen too!
When Ping received his seed from the Emperor, he was the happiest child of all. He was sure he could grow the most beautiful flower. Ping filled a flowerpot with rich soil. He planted the seed in it very carefully. He watered it every day. He couldn’t wait to see it sprout, grow, and blossom into a beautiful flower!
Day after day passed, but nothing grew in his pot. Ping was very worried. He put new soil into a bigger pot. Then he transferred the seed into the rich black soil. Another two months he waited. Still nothing happened. By and by the whole year passed.
Spring came, and all the children put on their best clothes to greet the Emperor. They rushed to the palace with their beautiful flowers, eagerly hoping to be chosen.
Ping was ashamed of his empty pot. He thought the other children would laugh at him because for once he couldn’t get a flower to grow.
His clever friend ran by, holding a great big plant. “Ping!” he said. “You’re not really going to the Emperor with an empty pot, are you? Couldn’t you grow a great big flower like mine?” “I’ve grown lots of flowers better than yours,” Ping said. “It’s just this seed that won’t grow.”
Ping’s father overheard this and said, “You did your best, and your best is good enough to present to the Emperor.”
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。
Holding the empty pot in his hands, Ping went straight away to the palace.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When the Emperor heard these words, a smile slowly spread over his face.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________During the first week of high school, one of the major headaches for Eva was finding her way in the huge school building. It was a six-story building. On each floor, hallways stretched in four also a library, a cafeteria, and a gym. directions, leading to classrooms, labs, and teachers' offices. Somewhere in the building, there was also a library, a cafeteria,and a gym.
Having a poor sense of direction, Eva found it impossible to get around in such a huge building. All the different hallways and rooms were too much to think about. She decided that she would memorize where her classes were and then pretend that the rest of the place didn't exist.
In her first P. E. class, Eva was shocked when Coach Pitt announced that everyone had to run one mile around the track outside. There was nothing she feared more than having to run a whole mile.To Eva, “a mile” was used to describe long distances. It was ten miles from her home to her grandfather's, and that always seemed like a long way, even in a car!
When Coach Pitt blew his whistle, Eva figured she would be left in the dust. However, while some of her classmates edged ahead, others actually fell behind. “It's just the beginning," she thought. “I'll come in last for sure."
Soon Eva began to breathe hard, with her heart pounding and legs shaking. Feeling desperate, Eva started using a mind trick on herself. She stopped thinking about the word “mile." Instead, she focused on reaching the shadow east on the track by a tree up ahead. Then she concentrated on jogging to the spot where the track curved (拐弯). After that, she tried to see if she could complete her first lap (一圈). One lap turned into two, then three, then four.
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:When Coach Pitt said “Nice work!” to her at the finish line, Eva was surprised.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Eva decided to use the same trick to deal with the school building.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . Kristin Schell is the founder of The Turquoise (蓝绿色)Table, a movement of ordinary people who want to create community right in their own front yards. Ten years ago, she and her family moved to a new home in Austin, Texas.
One day, Kristin tried to connect with her new neighbors by hosting a party. She bought a few picnic tables but the delivery driver set one table down in her front yard by mistake. “After the party, I painted the table turquoise—my favorite color—and put it in the front yard, just a few feet from the sidewalk,” she says.
That turquoise table became the place where Kristin and her kids hung out. They played games, did crafts and ate snacks. “We got intentional about where we spent our time,” Kristin says. “We became ‘front yard people’.”
Neighbors began to stop by to introduce themselves and sit down for a chat. Kristin invited people to join her at the table for coffee or iced tea. Then neighbors asked Kristin if their family could put a picnic table in their front yard too. A movement was born. It was a simple way to slow down and connect with others,” she says. The turquoise table was inviting and had a shared feel.
People often hesitate to invite others into their homes. They think their house is too messy, it’s not big enough or they don’t have enough time. “Our perfectionism can cause us to miss out on the joy of connecting with others,” Kristin says. Her picnic table takes away the excuses—and the pressure.
She likes how it enables her to take a small step toward easing loneliness and building relationships in her community. “People’s greatest need is to know that they are loved and that they belong,” she says.
A decade after their Texas beginnings, thousands of Turquoise Tables exist in all 50 states and in 13 countries around the world. Not all of them are actually turquoise. “No matter what color it is, it’s a friendship table,” Kristin says.
1. Why did Kristin Schell start the movement?| A．To host more parties in her front yard. | B．To entertain her friends and neighbors. |
| C．To engage with people in the neighbourhood. | D．To create harmonious communities worldwide. |
| A．Creative and sociable. | B．Friendly and humorous. |
| C．Generous and ambitious. | D．Cautious and responsible. |
| A．People don’t like others to step into their houses. |
| B．The campaign has a big impact at home and abroad. |
| C．Kristin Schell bought the turquoise table to host a party. |
| D．People feel unwilling to join in the front yard chat at first. |
April told Bailey as they walked home from school that she just wanted a normal birthday party this year. Bailey understood what April meant because April’s parents loved the environment. And since April happened to be born on Earth Day, all her birthday parties had an Earth Day theme.
Bailey remembered when April turned seven, mentioning the “Garage Sale” event where they helped out at sales and donated the money to charity. When April turned eight, it was a “Tree Planting” where they planted maples. Bailey also recalled last year when they collected newspapers to recycle, calling it the “Paper Drive,” to which April sighed, though Bailey giggled and thought it was fun.
Later that night, when having supper, April expressed her desire to plan her own party this year. Her mom suggested they could have a “Recycling Party,” and her dad thought it was a great idea. April then cleared her throat and said she would like to go to the entertainment park instead. Her dad was surprised, but her mom said they could arrange to send the kids there.
April couldn’t wait for her birthday. She and her friends would have so much fun, and they wouldn’t have to think one bit about the Earth.
The next day at school, April told her friends that she was having her birthday party at the entertainment park. Josie was surprised, remarking that they always did something relating to earth on her birthday. Tyler remembered the little snake they found two years ago. April acknowledged this but explained that this year they wouldn’t even be going outside, which left Tyler a bit disappointed.
The following weekend, everyone gathered in the parking lot outside the entertainment park. April thanked her friends for coming and expressed her excitement about the party, noting there would be no cleaning, no collecting recyclables, and nothing relating to earth. However, as she looked around, she noticed the parking lot was a mess, with plastic bottles thrown across the ground, newspapers and fast-food bags blocking the storm drain, and shopping bags blowing in the trees.
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。
“What a mess!” April frowned.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________April looked at the collected rubbish and smiled.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A girl went to her mother and complained that the senior high school life was so hard for her. Every day she studied very hard and often stayed up late doing homework, but the result was beyond satisfaction. She often felt lonely without anyone to talk with at school. She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.
Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the water came to the boil. She placed carrots into the first pot. Then she placed eggs into the second pot. Finally, she placed ground coffee beans into the last pot. She let them boil without saying a word.
In about twenty minutes, she turned off the burners. She took the carrots, the eggs and the coffee out with a scoop and placed each of them in a bowl. Turning to her daughter, the mother asked, “Tell me, what do you see?” “Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” the girl replied. The mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked her to drink the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted it.
The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, Mom?” Her mother explained that these objects had faced the same adversity—boiling water, but they reacted differently. The carrots had been hard. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, they softened and became weak. The eggs had been weak. Their thin outer shells had protected their liquid interior(内部). But after sitting through the boiling water, their inside became hardened. The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water. “Which are you?” the mother asked her daughter.
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。
The girl became silent and lost in thought.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The girl changed completely from then on.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . On September 17, 2022, a father and son set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman competition in Oxford. David, 59, and his son, John, 28, weren’t the typical competitors. Despite difficulty in walking, John has his dream of being an athlete. His father would act as his arms and legs, carrying the weight of his son throughout the race.
To qualify as having finished, competitors must complete a hard 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running in under 17 hours. David and John had participated together in five Ironman competitions, but they had yet to finish in the required time.
The race began with a 2.4-mile swim in the Choptank River. With one end of a rope tied to a belt around his back and the other end to a boat with his son inside, the father eased himself into the water. Swimming while carrying another person is tough enough — David also had to fight with jellyfish (水母).
The pair completed the swim in 90 minutes, and went through with the 112-mile bicycle ride in about nine hours, then set their sights on the final leg of the 26.2-mile marathon with David pushing John in the racing chair.
With minutes left and 200 feet to the finish line, his mom, on the sidelines, handed him the rolling walker. Not that long ago, John could hardly walk 23 steps. But after years of painful training, he increased his step count and was determined to finish the race on his own. He knew time was almost running out and worried they wouldn’t make the cutoff. “Not because I wouldn’t get my moment,” he says, “but because dad had worked so hard.”
After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds — with just four minutes and 25 seconds to spare — father and son crossed the finish line together.
As the crowd flooded and cheered on John, the weary father kept a low profile. “He didn’t want his finish line moment,” says John. “He wanted it to be mine.”
1. How did David help his son in the swimming part?| A．By pulling a rope tied to a boat. | B．By swimming beside his son. |
| C．By pushing his son’s lifebelt. | D．By carrying his son on his back. |
| A．He wouldn’t get his moment. |
| B．His mom would be disappointed. |
| C．His father had put in lots of effort. |
| D．The audience had high expectations. |
| A．Responsible and selfless. | B．Brave and honest. |
| C．Committed and friendly. | D．Gentle and determined. |
