1. What does Ann say about her performance in the World Championships?
| A．She did better than she had expected. |
| B．She regretted not preparing well enough. |
| C．She was disappointed to win a silver medal. |
| A．Once a week. | B．Every day. | C．Six days a week. |
| A．She avoids close contact with them. |
| B．She often communicates with them. |
| C．She has made good friends with them. |
| A．Flying kites. | B．Reading. | C．Skiing. |
Some kids play sports. They run hundreds of laps, and tackle, kick, or swing. Some kids do makeover parties. They pool their fashion magazines and organize their own spa hair salons. And some kids are computer geeks. Their programming ability is a thing of wonder.
Me? I had the spelling bee (拼字比赛). The bee was my World Series. And what happened during a Spelling Bee remained fresh in my memory.
I trained every day on my front steps after school, the dictionary pages rippling softly in the breeze. I formed a habit carrying around my buddies Longman, Webster, and Oxford.
As soon as I opened my eyes on Friday morning, I felt the hairs on my arm stand up. I glanced at my alarm clock—it was only 6:27. I usually woke up at 7:01, which meant I had an extra thirty-four minutes to study. Starting with the word “judgment” which I always spelt as “J-U-D-G-M-A-N-T”, I went over several words.
To calm my butterflies in my stomach, I reminded myself that I was one of the best spellers in my class. I was not ambitious enough to want to go to the Scripps National Spelling Bee or anything—I just wanted to win the bee at Meadowbrook Middle School, so that I could defeat my main enemy, Nathan Fortescue.
Nathan thought he was a better speller than I was, but he didn’t even study words. He just read tons of science and math books. Really, he wasn’t a speller at heart—he was a mathematician. Nathan and I had nothing in common except being good spellers, but since he was a good speller without even trying, it didn’t count. I bet if you gave Nathan a modern literature word like “denouement”, he’d be out on the first round.
The Spelling Bee wasn’t until after lunch, so all I did in the morning was stare at the clock and wondered how seconds could possibly pass by so slowly. I sneaked away from lunch early so I could get in a few extra minutes of study time.
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。
As soon as I shut the classroom door behind me, I heard a voice.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Now it’s time for the Spelling Bee!” Ms. Hawking said brightly.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. What did David do last night?
| A．He played volleyball. | B．He watched television. | C．He read the newspaper. |
| A．At 2:30. | B．At 3:00. | C．At 3:30. |
| A．Talk with her mom. | B．Give David a call. | C．Take a piano lesson. |
My aunt Helen is an expert on baseball. She is the one who taught me how to play well either as a pitcher (投手) or a batter (击球手). Also, she has always kept me spellbound by her stories of playing baseball as a batter in the 1940s — she was really good at swinging the bat. I love listening to her baseball story over and over. She always says, “Go after what you want. Don’t be afraid of failing. That was exactly what I did when I was young.”
And this is how her story goes.
In 1943, she was one of the young women trying out for the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League which was created to entertain baseball fans because many of America’s young men were fighting in World War Ⅱ.
Aunt Helen had heard rumors that a team would play right in South Bend, Indiana. She dreamed of what it would be like to win a championship for her hometown! She imagined a large flag hanging at the baseball field, and on it the name Helen Baker would be there for all to see.
On the day of the tryouts, Aunt Helen played baseball for hours with many young women. For this new league, some of the rules were different from the rules for regular soft ball. They still used a standard soft ball, but the bases (垒) and pitcher’s mound (投球区土墩) were placed at longer distances, for example.
About a week later, Aunt Helen collected the mail and found an envelope with her name written in blue ink. The envelope was postmarked from Chicago, in which the letter was from the leaders of the girls’ baseball league! Wild with joy, Aunt Helen tore it open and learned that she had been invited to the league’s main tryouts!
But as the days went by, Aunt Helen became worried about traveling to Chicago. “What if I went all that way and failed?” She asked her father as usual, hesitation clear in her tone. When the day of the tryouts was drawing near, she was too afraid to go.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1: She locked herself in the bedroom for most of the day.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: “Helen Baker!” Her name was called and it was her turn to try out.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________“Swimmers, take your marks!”
A beep signaled the start of the race, Tara dove into the pool, beginning her first IM (个人混合泳).Despite being a strong swimmer, the thought of the IM had made her nervous all morning. Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke (蛙泳), and freestyle. She’d been repeating the order in her head all morning, but had messed it up several times in practice.
Tara burst through the water, starting with the butterfly stroke. Soon, she touched the wall and made a swift turn, pushing off hard. She did one frog kick and drew her arms under the water for the breaststroke, then quickly turned over to her back. Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle. She knew the order, but she’d messed up again. Had the officials seen her mistake?
Tara smoothly completed her backstroke lap, then the breaststroke. She moved ahead, and kept the lead through the freestyle lap, scoring a comfortable win. She looked up at the scoreboard. The results listed her as the winner. Would that hold up after her mistake?
A few minutes later, the announce r read the results. Tara had been disqualified, meaning she’d scored none for her team. “Butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, freestyle, I knew the order” Tara muttered as she prepared for the final relay.
Each of the four relay members would complete one lap of the 25-meter pool, and all would swim freestyle. As the final swimmer, Tara had an opportunity to make up for the disqualification.
The first swimmers for each team were lined up at the end of the pool, shaking out their arms and legs as they loosened up. Tara reached her arms to the sides and gently swung them. All set, she thought.
Tara’s teammates swam well. After two lengths of the pool, they had a small lead. But the third swimmer fell back a bit. As the leader approached the wall, Tara’s teammate Hannah was slightly behind. “Come on, come on!” Tara whispered. She leaned forward, ready to spring as soon as Hannah touched the wall.
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:
Soon after the leader dived into the pool, Tara did too.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2:
Tara looked at her teammates, who were celebrating their second-place finish.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Students to Compete in 34th National Science Bowl
Thousands of students from middle and high schools across the country have committed themselves to extra study hours as they prepare to compete in the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s)34th National Science Bowl(NSB). These students are hard at work now to win their regional competitions, hoping to advance to the final competition.
The first regional event will take place on January 13th with high schools from the D. C. /Maryland area. Teams will face off in a fast-paced, question-and-answer format, and their knowledge in all areas of science and mathematics will be tested. Regionals will continue weekly until mid-March.
The winning team from each qualifying regional competition will be qualified to compete in the National Finals to be held in Washington, D. C. , from April 25-29, 2024, with all expenses paid by DOE. The national event consists of several days of science activities and sightseeing, along with the competitions.
In the National Finals, the top two teams will earn $5, 000 for their schools’ math and science departments. Schools ranking in the top 16 will receive $1, 000 for their science departments. But to many, the ultimate prize is simply the honor of winning the National Championship.
Today, the NSB annually draws more than 10, 000 middle and high school competitors. Since the first competition in 1991, approximately 344, 000 students have faced off in the NSB Finals. The 2024 competitors will follow in the footsteps of previous NSB contestants and will blaze a trail for students in science, math, and engineering. For more information, please visit the Office of Science website.
1. Which word can best describe the regional competitions?| A．Fair. | B．Interesting. | C．Special. | D．Challenging |
| A．The championship victory is highly valued. |
| B．The event only involves fierce competitions. |
| C．Most of the expenses will be covered by DOE. |
| D．The prize money will be awarded to individuals. |
| A．A news release. | B．A survey report. |
| C．A learning project. | D．A scientific review. |
For as long as her parents can remember, 11-year-old Breana Carsey has had this crazy dream. She has always wanted a mommy horse who would give birth to a baby horse, who would then grow up to become a racing champion.
“Absolutely, this was a fairy tale for her from day one. We put it off for five years because we don’t have a farm,” said her father, Brian Carsey, who explained that his daughter has “me wrapped around her finger”．
Her horse was born in the spring of 2013. Breana named it MJB Got Faith for the faith she instantly had in him.
“I really loved him. He’s super soft too,” she said.
But that quick bond posed a real problem for this Dad. See, for whatever reason, Brian thought once he explained to his daughter that her horse could never run in a race—that it was a runt from poor breeding stock—she would just agree to sell it.
“She thought her horse was priceless,” he said. “So I had a chat with my wife and we really got ourselves in a mess here. And I didn’t know how we were going to get out of this. So we took him to the races, the horse that I thought we should have got rid of already.”
Brian was stuck, committed to boarding and training this long shot to end all long shots. And this is not a wealthy family. Brian runs a small company. And Ohio racing, which is harness style racing, is a $900 millionayear industry.
MJB Got Faith was so slow that it was barely even qualified to compete but then somehow won his first race, then his second, third and fourth qualifying him for the state championship held in Columbus, Ohio.
“And I said to my daughter, ‘If you finish third, you should be so thankful,’” Brian remembered. “She said, ‘Daddy, if he finishes last, I’m going to be thankful. But he’s going to win.’”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2．请按如下格式作答。
This little horse won an important match.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Her dad now has a racehorse whose name is Steve Hartman.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . 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。
When I was six, I played my first soccer game. It was a real game, complete with coaches, uniforms, and parents cheering from the sidelines.
Our two teams, Team One and Team Two, seemed pretty evenly matched, at least in the beginning. The first period ended without a single goal scored by either side. We were all still learning how to play the game properly, and our inexperience ran through this part. We stumbled over the ball, tripped over our own feet, and often completely missed our kicks. But what mattered most was that we were having fun, pure and simple.
The second quarter brought a significant change in the game. Our coach decided to pull out most of our starting players and put in the substitutes (替补), except for me—I was left guarding the goal. On the other side, Team Two’s coach decided to keep their best players on the field, which made things even more challenging for us. It seemed that winning suddenly become essential, even for us six-year-olds.
Team Two started to rule the game, and I found myself surrounded by their players whenever they came near our goal. I was determined to do my best, but it was tough. I couldn’t match the skills of three or four other really good players. Team Two began to score, one goal after another. I threw myself in front of the ball with all the energy I could gather, trying desperately to stop them but in vain.
The pressure was mounting, and I could feel my frustration building with every goal that slipped past me. I shouted, I ran, and I dove, but they kept scoring. I gave it everything I had, but it seemed useless.
My parents were there on the sidelines, and I could see them in the crowd. As the game progressed, I could see the change in my father’s expression. He had been urging me to try harder, yelling advice and encouragement from the sidelines, but now he seemed different. I could see the pain in his eyes, the pain he felt seeing me struggle. It made me want to cry.
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。
Team Two scored their fourth goal, and it was half-time break.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In that moment, what my father said meant the world to me.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Mrs.Chaisura, a well-known businesswoman from Thailand, has won
Last week, Mrs. Chaisura traveled to Japan,
Along with an
1. What will Russel most likely eat?
| A．A salad. | B．A milk shake. | C．A cheeseburger. |
| A．To lose weight. | B．To feel less sick. | C．To prepare for a race. |
| A．He will become lighter. | B．He will get more meals. | C．He will feel more energetic. |
| A．Having a healthy diet. | B．Participating in a race. | C．Taking more exercises. |
