1. What does the grand prize include?
| A．A job opportunity. |
| B．A large sum of money. |
| C．A chance to study abroad. |
| A．Sand. | B．Boxes. | C．Rice. |
| A．Find three boxes. |
| B．Solve math questions. |
| C．Stand on a piece of wood. |
| A．At the seaside. | B．In a building. | C．In a wood. |
2 . 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. |
1. What does the grand prize include?
| A．A job opportunity. |
| B．A large sum of money. |
| C．A chance to study abroad. |
| A．Sand. | B．Boxes. | C．Rice. |
| A．Find three boxes. |
| B．Solve math questions. |
| C．Stand on a piece of wood. |
| A．At the seaside. | B．In a building. | C．In a wood. |
(1). 2023年9至10月，第19届亚洲运动会在杭州成功举行。(the Asian Games; host)
(2). 有着悠久历史的杭州，为这次盛会做好了充分准备。(定从;make preparations for)
(3). 来自亚洲各国的运动员们为了奖牌和荣誉拼搏，为观众们树立了良好的榜样。(struggle for; set an example)
(4). 正是他们的精彩表现激起了我们对体育运动的渴望。(强调句;stir up)
(5). 虽然学习很忙，为了保持健康，让我们一起锻炼吧! (workout; keep fit)
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The Save
Instantly Casey raised her hand, she feared she had made an awful mistake.
“OK,” Coach said. “Casey will be goalie (守门员) in the fourth quarter.”
Casey nodded uneasily. She had just joined the Eagles. Now she had volunteered to be goalie, a position that required confidence, which she lacked.
Casey swallowed hard when taking her turn in front of the goal for pre game warm-ups. The goal suddenly looked as big as a movie screen.
When Casey jogged over to her dad near the sidelines, she said quietly, “I cannot do it.”, blinking back tears. “Sure you can,” Dad encouraged her. “Just keep your head up and be aggressive (好斗的). You might surprise yourself.”
The game kicked off and Casey’s teammates scored three quick goals. Clearly, they were the better team mostly because their opponents’ best player was at a piano recital (演奏会). At halftime the Eagles led, 4 to 0. But then she noticed the Comets’ star, number 25 racing toward the field. The piano recital had ended.
Number 25 was flashing across the field, dribbling (带球) past defenders. She zipped past several players and kicked the ball hard into the goal. It was 4 to 1. Two minutes later, number 25 intercepted (拦截) a pass and weaved down (穿行) the field, controlling the ball as if it were tied to her foot. She scored again. It was 4 to 2.
Casey felt her stomach tighten. Soon she would be the one helplessly guarding the goal.
The whistle went. Number 25 scored a third time. The Eagles led by one goal.
“OK, Casey,” Coach said as the Eagles huddled up before the fourth quarter. “You go in goal.”
Casey stood in front of the net. She yelled for her teammates, who were dominating the game again. They hadn’t scored, but Casey hadn’t had to make any saves either. Number 25 appeared to be tired.
Casey’s heart raced whenever the ball came. But each time it was kicked away. Now there were two minutes left. “Hurry up,” Casey thought. “If I never have to touch the ball, we’ll win the game. I’ll never ...”
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。
Suddenly number 25 had the ball and was racing up the side-line.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Casey backed quickly toward the net as number 25 sent another shot.
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6 . Coco Gauff used to visit the Grand Slam tournament (大满贯锦标赛) as a kid to see her idols Serena and Venus Williams. Now she is a champion there herself. On Sept 9, the 19-year-old from the US won her first major women’s singles title at the 2023 US Open (美国网球公开赛).
After an average start, Gauff surged to a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 victory over her bigger, stronger opponent, Aryna Sabalenka, from Belarus, who became the new world No.1 the day after the tournament ended.
Unlike the Williams sisters, who have obvious force and power, Gauff is small and slim. But she moves fast on the tennis court. Forbes magazine said, “She is the quickest and perhaps already the best returner of impossible shots in tennis history.”
Even though Sabalenka is a very powerful hitter, it felt like she had to finish each point four or five times, as Gauff’s defense was so perfect, noted The Telegraph. This ended up frustrating Sabalenka and caused her to make 46 unforced errors.
Gauff thus became the first American teenager to win the US Open since Serena Williams, then 17, in 1999. When asked about “taking the torch” from the 23-time Grand Slam winner and the similarity between their tennis careers, Gauff told ESPN, “Serena is Serena. She’s the greatest of all time... I’d hope to do half of what she did. But I’m not going to compare myself to her. She’s some one that I look up to.”
Now, Gauff’s big win has left tennis fans wondering: When’s her next Grand Slam? That’s no easy task. Two of the past four US Open women’s champions were teenagers at the time, Canada’s Bianca Andreescu in 2019 and the UK’s Emma Raducanu in 2021, and neither has come close to repeating their success yet. But one thing about Gauff is certain — that at just 19 years old, the sky’s the limit.
1. What do we know about Gauff’s performance in the game at the 2023 US Open?| A．She made 46 unforced errors. | B．She was leading from the start. |
| C．She defeated a stronger opponent. | D．She became world No.1 afterwards. |
| A．Her force and power. | B．Her speed and defense. |
| C．Her figure and height. | D．Her services and attacks. |
| A．Aryna Sabalenka. | B．Bianca Andreescu. | C．Coco Gauff. | D．Serena Williams. |
| A．It is hard for Gauff to push back her limits. |
| B．Gauff will consider switching to other sports. |
| C．Gauff has potential for greater future success. |
| D．Teenage sportsmen often fail to continue their success. |
7 . I was first going into this final day, the Junior Sled Dog Championship. We’d trained two years and wanted to beat Blake. I knelt down to pat Kenai and my hands
Just before the count down started, Blake shot me a
“Kenai! No!” My voice came out a howl. Kenai
The race vet examining Kenai, I watched Blake accept the trophy. Kenai squirming in my lap, I leaned over upon him. Just at that moment, I felt a warm tongue on my wet cheek. I smiled and realized that I had the
| A．softened | B．shook | C．withdrew | D．extended |
| A．clever | B．thirsty | C．helpful | D．ready |
| A．broad | B．satisfied | C．tight | D．slight |
| A．As | B．Beyond | C．Before | D．After |
| A．pulled | B．charged | C．jumped | D．barked |
| A．cut | B．missed | C．kept | D．rounded |
| A．took off | B．flew away | C．turned around | D．bent forward |
| A．race | B．difference | C．gap | D．goal |
| A．Suddenly | B．Finally | C．Gradually | D．Occasionally |
| A．way | B．hold | C．temper | D．sight |
| A．quitted | B．insisted | C．sighed | D．froze |
| A．struggled | B．decided | C．refused | D．pretended |
| A．forcing | B．begging | C．ordering | D．persuading |
| A．took up | B．put up | C．brought up | D．wrapped up |
| A．achievement | B．companion | C．prize | D．friendship |
8 . International Letter-Writing Competition for Young People 2024
Since 1971, the Universal Postal Union (UPU) has inspired young writers aged 9-15 to write letters on a given theme to win exciting prizes. The competition is an excellent way of making young people aware of the important role postal services play in our societies. It develops their skills in writing and their ability to express thoughts clearly. A group of international judges invited by the International Bureau judge the letters and select the winners.
The UPU has launched its 53rd International letter-writing Competition for Young People this year.
Competition theme
In 2024, participants will be encouraged to reflect on the future of the world under the theme: “At 150 years old, the UPU has served people around the world for more than eight generations. The world has changed enormously since then. Write a letter to future generations about the world you hope they inherit (继承).” The theme encourages young people to voice their thoughts on current global challenges and propose innovative solutions. It also allows youths to draw upon the principles of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, providing a framework for their visions of a better world.
Competition rules
• Entries must be in the form of a letter and contain the necessary parts of a letter (heading, greeting, body, complimentary close, signature line and postscript).
• Letters must be strictly in agreement with the topic and contain no more than 800 words in the original language.
• At the national level, the competition is organized by UPU member countries. Entries must reach the UPU International Bureau no later than May 5th.
For more information, please contact us at communication@upu.int.
1. What can competitors learn from the competition?| A．The history of the UPU | B．The skills of communication. |
| C．The importance of postal services. | D．The meaning of expressing thoughts. |
| A．The enormous change in the world. | B．The world for the future generations. |
| C．Global challenges and innovative solutions. | D．Sustainable development for a better world. |
| A．Write the letters in right format. | B．Hand in their entries on May 6th. |
| C．Write a letter of at least 800 words | D．Send their entries to the official email. |
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.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What do you think Jim is?| A．A journalist. | B．A basketball player. | C．A coach. |
| A．Practise basketball. | B．Have some lessons. | C．Receive interview. |
| A．History. | B．English. | C．Geography. |
