1 . 假如你是李华，你校英文报正在征稿。请你结合下面的名人名言(famous quote): “I don’t know what ‘home’ is, but unhappiness and worries melt away once there.” (From Bing Xin)，写一篇题为“My Understanding of Home”的征文。
内容包括：
1. 你对该名言的理解；
2. 举例说明你的观点。
要求：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
3. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

My Understanding of Home

Bing Xin once said, “I don’t know what ‘home’ is, but unhappiness and worries melt away once there.”

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2 . My plan to learn to play the cello (大提琴) was a health y choice. So I took the next innocent step of going to a shop that sells and rents string instruments, especially violins, violas, and cellos. The place was a hole-in-the-wall, up a steep flight of stairs. Instruments left a narrow path to the counter where a woman with grey hair and warm eyes greeted me. Since I couldn’t form a question about what I wanted, I just stood there exploring the scene, which felt immensely pleasurable.

I rented a cello, a bow, and a case to hold them. What attracted me to the cello was its enormous size and its soft, smooth, and memorable sounds. It’s an instrument made of beautifully polished wood that I could wrap my arms around and feel its powerful vibrations when the strings were played. That was a good starting point for me. The only problem was that I didn’t know how to play it.

There’s a popular belief that the cello is a particularly difficult instrument to learn. Another is the admonition, “Don’t bother if you are a beginner over age 10!” Well, I was 70, and what others thought no longer influenced me. And besides, I thought of the words of Dr. Cohen, who suggested that learning causes physical changes in the brain.

So I found a teacher who had respect for older adult beginners and I practiced diligently, daily for years, and sometimes disheartened, but I kept up. I’m happy to report that now, more than a decade later, I can hold my own in a string trio and two quartets （two violins, a viola, and me, the female cello）and even a senior community band. Of course, I’ll never sound like Yo-Yo Ma but you could recognize a Mozart piece if you heard me play it. And, more importantly, I don’t need to please anyone but myself.

Whether it’s a pleasurable pastime or a new career, the starting point is the same: wonder, curiosity, determination, and the desire to keep your brain sharp.

1. How did the writer feel in the shop?

A．Amused by the shop assistant.

B．Anxious for a live performance.

C．Pleased at the nice music atmosphere.

D．Curious about where to find a teacher.

2. What does the underlined word “admonition” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Approval.	B．Criticism.
C．Puzzlement.	D．Warning.

3. Why does the writer mention Dr. Cohen in paragraph 3?

A．To recommend a reliable doctor.

B．To provide proof for common belief.

C．To add another reason for her decision.

D．To stress the crucial function of the brain.

4. Which of the following can best convey the writer’s idea?

A．Art is man’s second nature.

B．One is never too old to learn.

C．Education is the key to success.

D．Happiness is the best form of health.

3 . I’m 52, and as surprising as it may seem. I’m a gymnast. In a sport for young girls, I have found an unlikely path to joy. When I enter the gym, no matter how much stress I might be feeling, my mind clears and I forget my life. I think of nothing but what I am doing.

When I was 9, I went every Saturday to a gymnastic academy. The coach had gray hair and wore ballet shoes and had boundless enthusiasm. He would say, “You are going to be a gymnast.” And I believed him. I vividly remember the first time I did a roundoff back handspring by myself, the weightlessness of it. I lived for Saturday mornings. I only ever did gymnastics recreationally—I didn’t even know real gyms existed—but I always loved it.

That long dormant (蛰伏的) love came roaring back in my forties. It happened in an instant, at parents’ day for my daughter’s beginning gymnastics class. The bars were just sitting there, and I had this overwhelming urge to grab hold and swing. But I couldn’t make it through the warmup (热身运动) at the first adult class I went. I felt bad during conditioning. I was the oldest person there. But that spark of memory glowed with possibility. I went back to class again, and again. It was hard and it was humbling. But soon I was doing back handsprings like I used to.

There is nothing like the thrill of getting a new skill, that combination of speed, mechanics, timing, muscles, guts. There is an ineffable (不可言喻的) element, too, something like faith. By the time we reach middle age, most of us have had to deal with our fair share of unwelcome surprises, like illness, family crisis or the death of a beloved parent. But gymnastics has brought the most delightful surprises-I keep getting better, surpassing what I thought were limits, amazing myself by what I can do. At a time in life when many things feel like they are sliding down the slope towards old, gymnastics is a gift of fluency and competence in motion. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m a better gymnast now than I was at 16.

1. What inspired the author to love gymnastics when she was young?

A．Her Saturday routine.	B．The coach’s enthusiasm.
C．Her wish to be a gymnast.	D．Pleasure from gymnastics.

2. What made the author go back to gymnastic classes in her forties?

A．Her duty as a responsible parent.

B．The desire to fit in with her daughter.

C．The strong urge to play with the bars.

D．Her sweet memory of doing gymnastics.

3. Which of the following can describe the author’s personality?

A．Faithful and easygoing.	B．Humble and competent.
C．Passionate and persistent.	D．Ambitious and considerate.

4. What does the text mainly talk about?

A．The dream of a fitness woman	B．A middle-aged person’s pursuit.
C．The story of a successful gymnast.	D．A sport-lover’s unusual experience.

4 . 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。

Different sports filled my days in my youth. I dreamed or a big win some day, with a big trophy (奖杯). I was skillful and fast, or so I thought. However, I soon learned my skills seemed quite weak because the bigger, stronger boys seemed to occupy every corner of the playground. Once I was in the 100-yard hurdles, the only recognition I received for my performance was two bloody knees.

In college, I took a swim competition, dreaming of the glory! It turned out I achieved nothing. As an older adult, I still maintained an active lifestyle. In 2010 I signed up for a stair-climbing challenge to raise money for fighting against lung cancer. My father had died of the same disease, so this was a meaningful cause for me. Then, in 2019,the organization offered an even more challenging climb option: the vertical (垂直的) mile. So I would have three hours to climb up and down twenty-eight floors fifteen times, plus three more.

I trained hard. When the challenge started. I felt confident. But soon my legs started feeling heavy. What was worse, I began experiencing leg cramps (抽筋). My progress slowed dramatically and I quickly fell behind. When came down after finishing lap 14, it was past the time limit, so my big win had escaped once again.

Soon after the climb, I struggled to experience the sense of self-satisfaction. And I had, after all, set a goal for myself to prove what I was made of, what I had inside me. And what I had inside me was, “Nice try, but you didn’t make it.” So, a year later, at age 62 and after numerous workouts, I was back. Like last year, I was well ahead after an hour and I again started feeling some discomfort in my legs. I heard myself cry out loud, “Oh, no not again!” I finally stopped and sat down on the stairs, feeling quite depressed and wondering if my dream was over. A few climbers stopped to offer help. I was touched, but embarrassed to accept. Except for one climber. An angel climber, really.

Jessica, who I happened to know, was a salesman’s friend when I bought new running shoes at his store. And without that connection, she might have climbed past me as I sat on those steps, my legs shaking. But all those things did happen, and Jessica stopped to help.

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。

When she saw I was cramping, she offered me some sports drinks containing electrolytes (电解质).

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The cramps in my legs finally started to go away.

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5 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Independence is such a beautiful word. It is the growth from dependence to independence     1     leads us to maturity. Independence is another word for freedom,     2     is a universal value     3    (cherish) by all people. Freedom is     4     the drifting of white clouds in the open sky and the happy blooming of a flower in the woods. When we do not depend on anything to feel good and happy, we can truly be free. But how can we achieve independence? We must first of all have     5    (confident) in     6    (we). We should trust life and trust our own abilities to understand     7     is right and wrong, what decision to make     8     how to solve problems. We must also be brave enough     9    (take) responsibility for our decision and action. When we become independent, we     10    (be) truly mature.

6 . Dr Max is a thoughtful and devoted expert. I couldn’t agree more with Dr Max’s ____ that the empathy (移情) shown by a doctor is the key in a patient’s evaluation of the ____ received.

While having a colonoscopy (结肠镜检查) without sedation (镇静剂), I was working hard to keep myself ____ by using techniques learned to ____ panic attacks. As the camera ____ the twists and turns of my bowel, the specialist ____ I was quietly humming a tune to myself. He asked what the ____ was and I replied, “Puff the Magic Dragon.” However, I ____ that I only knew two ____ of the song.

The specialist then started ____ along with my humming and agreed that he also only knew two lines. He asked the student observing to google the lyrics. When the student ____, he explained that anything they can do to help a patient through a difficult ____ was worth doing. ____ with the words we then sang along for the rest of the process!

Not only do I remember this years later, but when ____ by the student afterwards my advice was to learn from the specialist’s bedside manner as it was so ____.

1.

A．devotion

B．warning

C．belief

D．mission

2.

A．treatment

B．operation

C．condition

D．recovery

3.

A．quiet

B．alarmed

C．sensible

D．calm

4.

A．generate

B．maintain

C．rid

D．control

5.

A．witnessed

B．measured

C．explored

D．outlined

6.

A．concluded

B．noticed

C．justified

D．assessed

7.

A．matter

B．tune

C．singer

D．poet

8.

A．explained

B．whispered

C．implied

D．revealed

9.

A．editions

B．composers

C．lines

D．titles

10.

A．surfing

B．dancing

C．working

D．whistling

11.

A．hesitated

B．protested

C．complained

D．threatened

12.

A．infection

B．process

C．dilemma

D．event

13.

A．Linked

B．Confronted

C．Armed

D．Flooded

14.

A．interviewed

B．followed

C．accompanied

D．remarked

15.

A．demanding

B．lacking

C．wonderful

D．important

7 . As a child, I was proud of my southern origin. My own voice reflected my family’s past and present-part northern Mississippi, part Tennessee, all southern. There was no sound I loved more than my grandmother’s accent: thick, sweet, warm.

While growing up, I began to realize outside of our region, southerners were often dismissed as uncultured and ignorant. I was ready to leave behind my tiny town in West Tennessee, starting a new life and jumping at big chances in some far-off cities. In that embarrassing space between “teen” and “adult”, my accent was a symbol of everything I thought I hated about my life in the rural South. I feared it would disqualify me from being a noted magazine writer. I would have to talk less “country”. So I killed a piece of myself. I’m ashamed of it, but I’m more ashamed that I tried to kill that part of someone else-change Emily’s accent.

I met Emily in college. She was determined to work for the student newspaper, which was where I spent most of my waking hours, and we became friends. She, unlike me, accepted her roots. Early in our friendship, her mother asked where I was from, assuming it was somewhere up north. Then I felt my efforts paid off and even wanted to ignore the mistake.

Emily is two years younger and she cared about my opinion. I advised her to be more like me and hide her signature Manchester accent. I stressed that throughout our college years, often by making fun of her vowel (元音) sounds. I told myself I was helping her achieve her dream of working as a reporter. Now, I see that it was actually about justifying my hiding part of myself.

Grandma Carolyn used to tell me, “Girl, don’t forget where you come from.” Now I truly understand that. Many things have faded from memory, but this sticks in my mind with uncomfortable clarity. Now that I am grown and have left the South, it’s important to me.

1. What made the author want to leave her hometown?

A．Appeal of convenience in cities.

B．Her dream of becoming a writer.

C．Outside prejudice against southerners.

D．Her desire for the northern accent.

2. How did the author feel about the mistake of Emily’s mother?

A．Upset.

B．Pleased.

C．Ashamed.

D．Surprised.

3. Why on earth did the author try to change Emily’s accent?

A．To prove herself right.	B．To help Emily be a reporter.
C．To make herself influential.	D．To protect Emily’s self-dignity.

4. What message does the text want to convey?

A．Stay true to your roots.	B．Never do things by halves.
C．Hold on to your dreams.	D．Never judge a person by his accent.

8 . Make friends with your inner voice

Most people have an inner voice.     1     What you say to yourself, and how you say it, makes a difference to how you think, feel and behave, so it’s worth paying attention to it.

What is your inner voice?

Your inner voice is always with you, giving a commentary inside your head. You might notice it when you make a mistake, when you try something new, or when you solve a problem.     2    Sometimes it sounds kind but at other times it can sound mean or scared. Young people’s coach Maria Evans says it should be treated with kindness. “It gets scared when you think about doing something that feels stretchy.     3     ” Often all it needs is to be listened to and spoken to with love.

How does your inner voice affect you?

Your inner voice, also known as your self-talk, has an impact on you because you already pay attention to it.     4     If you keep telling yourself you can’t do maths or you’re no good at making friends or you’re not creative, over time you’ll believe what your inner voice is saying. When you talk to yourself using a phrase like “I’ve got to tidy my room,” it makes the task feel harder. If instead you say, “I choose to tidy my room, and then I’ll be able to find the things I want easily”, it’s more positive.

Befriend your inner voice.

    5     For example, when you do something you felt nervous about, congratulate yourself for being brave and having a go. If you’re not sure what to say, imagine you’re talking to your best friend and trying to support and help them inside your head.

A．Your inner voice has different tones.

B．It’s the internal chatter that goes on inside your head.

C．So what you say to yourself, and what you hear, sinks in.

D．You’re telling yourself how you’ll benefit from tidying your room.

E．It can be helpful to talk to that voice with kindness and understanding.

F．When you make a mistake, tell yourself it’s OK and you’ll learn for next time.

G．Noticing your inner voice and talking encouragingly to yourself make you more confident.

9 . The incident took place, believe it or not, on the playground. I was something of a football player, but I had never been a good player, far less a great one. I played for the mere physical joy that I got out of the game, but I played with a will, and put my whole heart into the game. The result was that, though I had plenty of energy and enthusiasm, I was never picked for my college team.

Let me confess frankly that this was only because there was another player in the same position who happened to be much better than me. I considered myself the better sportsman, but he was certainly the greater player. So I never grumbled or complained. I was content to wait and bide my time.

And at last my patience was rewarded. It was for me a very special day. Our team had shot up into the final and was meeting its rival(竞争对手). Our star­player sent word at the last moment that he was ill and he could not take the field. Imagine the astonishment in the college camp! The thought was that the game was as good as lost, and so also, I confess, did I for this player was our trump card(王牌): That is what everybody always said. However, something had to be done, and that something had to be myself! The captain called me up almost apologetically for having failed to recognize my greatness before, and—there I was, on the playground, greeted by the cheers of my friends, and a few jeers from those who had little faith in my prowess.

I can tell you that I played like a demon(魔鬼). I was here, there and everywhere—now leading the attack, now falling back to help the defense. It was indeed a thrilling moment in my life. For a time, I was the center of all attention, the object of universal applause, and “the observed of all observers”. And, believe it or not, it was I who put in the winning goal. It marked the top of a glorious day. Even now I look back on the episode with unmixed pleasure and satisfaction.

1. What can you learn about the author from the first two paragraphs?

A．He was chosen into the college team.

B．He intended to be a professional player.

C．He performed better than any other player.

D．He showed great interest in playing football.

2. How was the author’s patience rewarded?

A．He received the captain’s sincere apology.

B．He helped his school team to enter the final.

C．He was finally considered as the trump card.

D．He became a replacement for the sick player.

3. Why did the author say it was a thrilling moment in his life?

A．He showed off his patience to the fullest.

B．The audience applauded his performance.

C．The audience observed players attacking.

D．He played attentively in the final match.

4. What can we learn from the author’s experience?

A．Patience is the best treatment.	B．Care and diligence bring luck.
C．Great hopes make a great man.	D．Opportunity is for the prepared.

10 . 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

I tend to go slowly when I drive in the mountains of my home because the forest scenery is     1     (fantasy)no matter what the season. This morning I was driving       2     (slow) than usual because an early March snow had turned the roads slippery.

    3     (amaze)to see a buck deer(公鹿)standing in the middle of the road, I came     4     a full stop and for a few seconds stared at the deer. His eyes seemed wise and were smiling at me. Finally, I     5    (signal) to him to go on. He then leapt across the road, up the hill and back into the woods.

Most of us rush through this life not knowing the very thing     6     we are missing. The next time you find     7     (you) going too fast, slow down. Take the time to watch the sunrise over the horizon and fill the world with light. Take the time to look your children in their eyes, hug them     8     tell them that you love them. If you do, your life       9     (be)so much better and more beautiful. And you might even end up not     10     (hit) a deer on your way home.