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 . My Father, the Family Man
This year, my seasonal depression took me deeperssion the past, and a new portrait of my father came into my mind. He was a sometimes difficult, always determined man.
In my early memories, I was sitting at the kitchen table listening to my father yelling (叫嚷) about his challenges as an Italian immigrant. Back then, I couldn’t have known his pain as he struggled to find his footing in this new land.
“We left Italy to give you three girls more opportunities for a better life,” he said. “But we’d had a shaky start. The apartment your aunt had secured for us fell through at the last minute. It went to someone without children. So the five of us moved into your aunt’s living room.”
Bills mounted up. “And then I saw your mother’s face was as white as a sheet.” He said bitterly but soon stared down at the table to compose himself. “And the baby was crying. I worried that the houseowner would come knocking on the door.”
Dad jumped to the end of his story, “What more can I say? I went looking for a job. I found one.”
Armed with a few English phrases and determination, he’d walked for miles in a city he didn’t know, stopping at every hair salon, asking for a chance to show his skills as a hair stylist, his profession and passion. That’s what he’d been doing all day, supporting for his family.
Forty years later in Toronto, he sat at the table, asking if I thought he’d provided well for his family. I answered. His eyes watered. Mine did, too.
1. What did the author think of her father in the early years?| A．The father left Italy for a better job. |
| B．He was moved by his father’s story. |
| C．The father’s early struggle was in vain. |
| D．He didn’t realize his father’s difficulties. |
| A．Show off. | B．Cheer up. | C．Calm down. | D．Make up. |
| A．The father had a big family to support. |
| B．The author’s eyes watered for her childhood. |
| C．The father and daughter misunderstood each other. |
| D．The father learned to be a hair stylist in Toronto. |
1. 给妈妈准备惊喜的缘由；
2. 简述准备惊喜的过程；
3. 描述妈妈见到惊喜后的感受。
要求：
1.词数 100 左右；
2.不要出现真实姓名及个人信息，否则记0分；
3. 短文题目已为你写好。
A Surprise for Mum
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A good parent-children relationship should
5 . When the weather starts to warm up, we love heading to the beach for a few days. During one such trip, after a few days of being
We
It was a breathtaking drive and we kept our eyes glued to the window. The scenery was
After a few minutes of looking and pointing at a shiny object in the sky, he was pretty
We eventually got back in the
It is one of the short funny travel
| A．lazy | B．confident | C．different | D．angry |
| A．walk | B．challenge | C．drive | D．rest |
| A．bought | B．borrowed | C．found | D．fixed |
| A．plan | B．dream | C．future | D．game |
| A．took up | B．moved on | C．went away | D．turned out |
| A．boring | B．excellent | C．normal | D．bad |
| A．suddenly | B．quickly | C．luckily | D．carefully |
| A．letting | B．bringing | C．leaving | D．telling |
| A．worried | B．nervous | C．sad | D．excited |
| A．decide | B．promise | C．mention | D．agree |
| A．believes | B．understands | C．guesses | D．follows |
| A．sun | B．car | C．hotel | D．store |
| A．replied | B．remembered | C．thought | D．cheered |
| A．books | B．tips | C．stories | D．tests |
| A．hopes | B．ideas | C．problems | D．trips |
In the spring sun, my aunt and I headed for her flower shop. Normally I would be delighted to help in her shop, but not recently because of Rosa. Rosa was my sister, just one month old, who was settled in my old bedroom. For ten years, the small room was full of my toys and books. But now it was transformed into her baby room, decorated like a garden with pinks and yellows. My space, my old life, was gone.
“Here we are!” We arrived at the shop, a wave of colour and sweet smell washing over me. My aunt said I could pick some flowers for Mum and Dad. I used to love this, but today I was so overcome with tiredness and envy. Why bother to bring them flowers when they were enjoying Rosa at home without me?
Silently I helped my aunt arrange flowers. “Your mum told me there hasn’t been much shut eye recently for any of you.” “Not much, since Rosa the alarm clock was installed (安装).” I complained with a huge yawn (哈欠).
“I remember having to creep (蹑手蹑脚地走) around like a worn-out mouse when your mum was a baby. I spent the first months hating her so much.” “But you and Mum seem so close,” I said, guiltily hiding away my envy of Rosa.
“Now we are. But it took me years to grow into the role of big sister. Few flowers blossom (绽放) overnight, you know.” She pulled me in for aside hug, glancing up at the clock, and suggested I take a walk outside.
Behind her shop was a field dotted with spring flowers. Stepping into the field, I began to pick little flowers. It was like gathering my childhood memories. I remembered how I’d sit with Dad, making flower chains, crowning (授予) each other with the silliest titles: Queen of Junk Food and King of Mess. My smile grew wider. The shining yellow flowers reminded me of the color in Rosa’s baby room. Was she awake? I wondered.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。
Suddenly I saw two familiar figures walking towards me.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Rosa was wide awake in her baby basket beside the picnic blanket.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . Communication is a problem for parents and children of all ages. If it’s hard for you to communicate with your parents, don’t worry about it. Here is some advice for you.
Don’t argue with your parents. Don’t try to talk about something with your parents when you are angry. Your parents probably won’t listen to you if you are shouting at them. Go somewhere else to cool off. Then think about what you want to say to your parents. If you think you can’t speak to them at the moment, try writing a letter to them.
Try to understand your parents. Your parents may think differently from you. Tell your parents what you think, what you care about and why. Perhaps you and your parents disagree on something. Put yourself in their shoes and you may find a better way out.
Michael’s mother didn’t agree with him about buying a motorcycle. They argued over it. But they finally came to an agreement. Michael bought the motorcycle, but only drove it on certain days.
It is also important to show your love to your parents. Try to do some small things at home, like making them a cup of tea, helping do some chores, and so on. It helps to keep your relationship closer. A good relationship with your parents can make you a better and happier person. It is worth having a try.
1. The passage mainly talks about the communication problem between ________.| A．parents and school teachers |
| B．school kids and their parents |
| C．teachers and their students |
| D．parents and children of all ages |
| A．show your love to them | B．often stay with them |
| C．speak to them politely | D．do chores for them |
| A．understand each other |
| B．stay away from your parents |
| C．argue with each other |
| D．disagree with your parents |
| A．you are happy | B．you love them | C．you like chores | D．you are relaxed |
| A．It’s certainly necessary to show your love to your parents. |
| B．It’s hard for all the teenagers to communicate with their parents. |
| C．Think it over before you want to talk to your parents about something. |
| D．Put yourself in your parents’ shoes and you may find some good ways to communicate with your parents. |
After twenty years of marriage, Melissas lost her husband, who was a brave soldier and passed away while defending his country.
They had a son, Mathew, who was 18 years old and very considerate. In his spare time, instead of paying, he worked at a local shop so he could help his mother reduce the financial burden.
When Mathew got his first pay cheque from the part-time job, he bought Melissa a beautiful dress and flowers. During the next few months, he often bought something to make his mother smile because he knew she still hadn’t recovered from the death of her lover.
As Christmas neared, Matthew’s friends began planning what to do during the holiday. Soon, they decided to go to a party, but Matthew refused to go with them. He didn’t want Melissa to feel lonely at home on Christmas. For him and Melissa, the day was special and significant, not only because it was their traditional holiday, but also because it was Melissa’s birthday.
“I’ll stay at home with my mother,” he told his friends, “We rarely get to spend time together because she’s mostly on her flights when I’m home.” But later that day, Matthew learned his mother wouldn’t be home on Christmas. “Mom? Why are you working on the big day?” he asked. The airline company Melissa worked for was quite short of attendants recently because many were sick. Besides, there was sharp increase in flights due to the holiday. So Melissa decided to continue working on Christmas to support her company and help serve passengers.
Melissa said, “I’m sorry, Matthew. You’ll have to spend the holiday alone.” She felt sorry that she could not enjoy the holiday with Matthew. Matthew was also upset. But before going to bed that night, Mathew got an idea to stay with his mother on Christmas. He would surprise her on the plane where she worked.
“I can still spend Christmas with her,” he thought. And he turned on his computer to check if the light his mother would be on still had seat left. “Yes! It still has seats!” he yelled.
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。
Immediately, he booked himself a ticket for Christmas.
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Later, while passing by Matthew’s seat, Melissa yelled, “Matthew? Is that you?”
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9 . Conflict (冲突) between teenagers and parents happens for a lot of reasons. Sometimes conflict happens between teenagers and parents just because conflict happens between human beings anyway. Humans have different needs, different feelings, different opinions about what they want, and the relationship with people can be really difficult. However, teenagers can cause further conflict because of the hormonal (生理的) changes that are happening and the stage of life that they're in.
Teenagers and parents have different understanding about rules and at times they find it difficult to look into the future. So parents and teenagers will often experience conflict about many things, do chores, homework, whether teenagers speak respectfully or not and about what they're allowed to do.
Before we think about rule boundaries (界线) for teenagers, we need to make sure that we have a really good relationship base. There's no point saying “From now on, you have to listen to me”: if you don't have a positive relationship with your teenager. We need to go back and make sure there is some degree of shared respect, and some degree of positive communication and enjoyment being together. you do that first, it means that rule boundaries are a lot easier to set up.
Often we're dealing with conflict on the fly. This is not the right time to be dealing with it. We really want parents and teenagers to sit down and think about the kinds of things that may happen in the house before the problems come. The more detailed your rule boundaries are for teenagers, the more likely it is that they are going to follow them. So this means we don't have rule boundaries like “Have the bathroom cleaned”. It needs to be “The floors mopped, nothing on the countertop and the mirrors cleaned by ten o'clock every Saturday”: Rule boundaries need to be written down, and set out ahead of time so the teenager knows exactly what's expected.
1. What's important to set up a rule boundary easily for teenagers?| A．Being strict from the start. | B．Developing a good relationship with them first. |
| C．Saying"No" to their requirements. | D．Avoiding close talks with them. |
| A．Doing some housework. | B．Having a good reading habit. |
| C．Cleaning the bathroom. | D．Finishing your homework by five. |
| A．In a hurry. | B．On the plane. | C．By oneself. | D．Another day. |
| A．Growing Pains | B．Teenage Problems |
| C．Parent-Child Conflict and Solutions | D．Knowing the Conflict |
10 . When I was growing up, Father Christmas played an important part in my family’s Christmas tradition.
Each year my parents would feed us a light meal, make sure we put on our new pajamas (睡衣), and put us to bed. Father Christmas himself was going to leave presents at night! A few hours later, my mom would wake us up telling us to hurry up because he was getting ready to leave. With our eyes barely (勉强地) open, we would go down the stairs and Father Christmas would meet us at the bottom of the stairs by name, tell us how good we were that year, and hand us each a present. In all the excitement, we didn’t realize that our dad was missing until he walked in the door.
When I was 8 years old, my mom very gently (温柔地) and lovingly told me that Father Christmas was just a fun story. She then asked me to never tell my younger sisters or any of the other kids in our family. She believed every child should decide on their own when they were ready to move on and know the truth about Father Christmas. It was a promise I have kept all these years.
Until this year.
My youngest is 10, and I thought other children might make fun of him if he were to say Father Christmas was real. So I gently mentioned that there really wasn’t a man who lived in the North Pole.
“Oh, okay. I know that.”
I then told him not to ever tell anyone else, especially his two cousins, who at 7 and 5 still believe. I didn’t want him to blow my father’s cover.
“Mom, I know Father Christmas is Grandpa and I won’t say anything to them.”
It then dawned on ( 开始明白) me that for my children, Father Christmas would always be real. For them, he was their grandfather who took the time each year to dress up and their grandmother helped him get ready so that their Christmas could be a little more special. My mother was right; Christmas is the spirit of love and giving.
1. What does the author mainly tell us in Paragraph 2?| A．Her great expectation of Father Christmas. |
| B．The importance of Father Christmas to her. |
| C．Her memories of Christmas celebrations in her family. |
| D．The preparation her family made for Christmas Eve. |
| A．She wanted to give them a surprise. |
| B．She didn’t know how to explain it. |
| C．She didn’t think they were old enough to understand it. |
| D．She thought they should decide when to unlock it by themselves. |
| A．Say no to the Christmas present from my father. |
| B．Regard my father as the real Father Christmas. |
| C．Tell the truth about my father dressing up as Father Christmas. |
| D．Notice my father being away from the family party at Christmas. |
| A．The True Spirit of Christmas |
| B．The Real Life of Father Christmas |
| C．A Secret My Son Found at Christmas |
| D．My Experience of Meeting Father Christmas |
