1 . Ready to show off your art to the world? Check out our guide to some of the best art contests to enter this year.
Watermedia Showcase
Prize: $2,500 first prize, $1,250 second prize.
Entry Fee: $35.
Requirements: Open to international artists 18 years of age and older.
The Watermedia Showcase awards original art created primarily with water-based media. Judged by the editors of Watercolor Artist, all winners will have their work featured in the magazine.
The Lumen Prize for Digital Art
Prize: $4,000 first prize, with a $13,500 total prize fund.
Entry Fee: $40.
Requirements: Open to artists worldwide.
This digital art competition is organized by Lumen Art Projects Ltd, which provides new opportunities for digital artists around the world. Categories include Still, Moving Image, XR, 3D/Interactive and Artificial Intelligence.
World Illustration Awards
Prize: A cash prize of $2,540 and more publicity opportunities.
Entry Fee: $37.
Requirements: Open to artists worldwide.
Illustrators are invited to submit works to 8 different categories. Winners will win not only a cash prize, but also a feature in a major exhibition in central London, and an invitation to the Awards Evening in October.
Strokes of Genius: The Best of Drawing
Prize: $2,000 first prize, $1,000 second prize.
Entry Fee: $45.
Requirements: Open to artists in the United States.
The Strokes of Genius Competition celebrates original work made in drawing mediums, including pencil, charcoal and even some wet paint mediums. Winning entries (参赛作品) will be published in a special edition publication, The Best of Drawing.
1. Which competition is related to technology?| A．Watermedia Showcase. | B．The Lumen Prize for Digital Art. |
| C．World Illustration Awards. | D．Strokes of Genius: The Best of Drawing. |
| A．To host the Awards Evening. | B．To hold art exhibitions globally. |
| C．To sell their entries at high prices. | D．To become known to the public. |
| A．It is free of charge. | B．It awards the largest prize in amount. |
| C．It is a national competition. | D．It has an age limit for participants. |
2 . Everywhere and in every given time, children spend their days in simple but interesting games. One such game which has passed the test of time, becoming one of the oldest forms of child’s play ever known, is hoop rolling.
Hoop rolling is both a child’s game and a sport. A large hoop is rolled along the ground, generally by means of an object held by the player to keep it rolling. The aim of the game is to keep the hoop upright for as long periods of time as possible. First, the left hand supports the hoop; the right hand holds the long handle of the hook (钩). And then keep the balance of the hoop with the hook. Push the hoop to the ground, keep it rolling steadily and keep the hoop from falling. In the team competition, it is mainly about who is faster, and how far to roll.
Hoop rolling has a very long history and it has been recorded since ancient times in Africa, Asia and Europe. In Asia, the earliest records date from ancient China, and in Europe from ancient Greece. The ancient Greeks welcomed hoop rolling as a beneficial exercise for those not very strong. Besides, the game was also a common pastime of African village children.
Hoop rolling serves as evidence (证据) of everyday life about the long-gone civilization. Every year at Wellesley College, hoop rolling competition started as a memory of the May Day celebration of spring. Now it gradually becomes part of the graduation ceremony. Students celebrate by dressing up in children’s clothing and playing games. The child’s play popular in ancient times helps them escape from real-world worries.
The long history of the game shows that there indeed are inventions that are timeless. The human ability to make himself and others happy has been present since the beginning of civilization, and will be present forever.
1. What does Paragraph 2 mainly tell us about hoop rolling?| A．Its rules. | B．Its types. |
| C．Its history. | D．Its material |
| A．It offered a way to kill time. |
| B．It was fit for village children. |
| C．It could be played anywhere. |
| D．It helped the weak to exercise. |
| A．To remember the May Day celebration. |
| B．To promote a method of reducing stress. |
| C．To encourage other colleges to follow suit. |
| D．To give an example of preserving the tradition. |
| A．People’s hobbies have changed a lot. |
| B．All inventions will survive in history. |
| C．Good things can stand the test of time. |
| D．New games will always be on the way. |
Ever since Jake first watched the 1988 Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea, he had dreamed of being in the Olympics. For years, he had worked hard to become a good swimmer, training and practicing. Two decades later, he was in Beijing, China, for his first Olympic performance, as part of his country’s swimming team!
The Olympic Stadium was packed with athletes from all over the world, all eagerly awaiting the start of the opening parade (入场式). The atmosphere was electric and everything seemed perfect. Almost.
Jake loved his red, white and blue official Olympic jacket with the Olympic rings on the back. But several minutes before, Jake had torn a hole in the left sleeve (袖子) of his jacket when it got caught in a gate.
“Too bad about your jacket,” his teammate, Ben, commented.
“I hope nobody notices it,” Jake sighed.
“Someone will,” Ben laughed.
Jake didn’t respond as he was already feeling annoyed and depressed after having to deal with his lost suitcase when they landed at the airport the day before. He could not believe how things were not going his way.
Suddenly, a lovely little girl about 8 years old came up to Jake and pointed at the tear in his sleeve. Jake smiled at her. The girl started speaking in a language he couldn’t understand, all the while pointing at his torn sleeve. Unable to catch a word, Jake turned to his teammates for help but all of them shook their heads with a helpless expression. At that moment, the little girl began to take off her own jacket that was marked with a red English word “China” and looked up at Jake eagerly, signing to Jake to do so.
“Oh, I get it. You want to try it on. Here you go!” Jake slipped off the jacket and handed it to her. The Chinese girl took it, bowed and took off with his jacket right away!
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。
“Can’t she be a little thief?” Ben joked, pointing at her back.
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Jake turned around, only to see the little girl coming.
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1. 大赛目的；
2. 作品要求(如标题、内容、字数等)；
3. 提交方式(Englishelub@163. com) 及截止日期。
注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：the poster design competition 海报设计大赛； slogan n. 标语；口号
Dear Alan,
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Yours
Li Hua
The football is such a simple game to play is perhaps the basis of its
What’s more, football has become one of the best ways for people to communicate. For example, the famous football game on Christmas Day 1914. World War Ⅰ
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death…” said Bill Shankly, the famous footballer and manager. “I can assure you it is much, much
6 . On Sunday, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia shocked the running world by breaking the women’s world record for the marathon by over two minutes. Assefa finished the Berlin Marathon in just 2 hours, 11 minutes, and 53 seconds.
But Assefa’s record was far beyond what most people expected. After all, it was only her third time running a marathon.
“I wanted to break the marathon world record,” she said, “But I couldn’t imagine that it would result in a time under 2:12.”
When Assefa was younger, she started by running short races, called sprints. Then she became a middle-distance runner, running the 800 meters (half mile) race. Her best time in the 800 meters was 1 minute and 59 seconds.
Last March, she ran her first marathon. Then last September, she entered the Berlin Marathon. She won, and set a new women’s record for the course, finishing in 2:15:37.
This year, she ran almost four minutes faster than she did last year. In both races, Assefa ran faster in the second half of the race than she did in the first half.
Her time of 2:11:53 was over two minutes faster than the old women’s record (2:14:04), which was set in Chicago in 2019 by Brigid Kosgei of Kenya.
When she finished the race, Assefa kneeled down and kissed the pavement before raising her arms in victory.
Though Assefa made it look easy, she said winning the race “…was the result of hard work.” Assefa was coached by Gemedu Dedefo, who has helped train many Ethiopian star runners.
1. What is Assefa’s latest record for the marathon?| A．2:11:53. | B．2:14:04. | C．2:15:37. | D．1:59:00. |
| A．It is what she expected. | B．It is a piece of cake for her. |
| C．It is due to great effort. | D．It is because of her coach. |
| A．Talented. | B．Friendly. | C．Humorous. | D．Warm-hearted. |
| A．Dedefo Helps to Train Many Star Runners |
| B．Kosgei Holds the Women’s Marathon Record |
| C．Assefa Sets a Good Example to Other Runners |
| D．Assefa Breaks the Women’s Marathon Record |
Super Roy
“You’re a halfback(中卫).” I looked over my shoulder at the empty field behind me. “Me?” I asked, pointing to my chest
“Yes,” the coach said again. “You’re a halfback. Yep, no doubt about it.”
The coach’s name was Super Roy. Someone told me his real name once, but it never stuck. When I got to practice that day I was a small kid with little athletic experience or skill. I wondered if I belonged there at all and what Super Roy had seen in me that I didn’t see in myself.
“Are you sure I’m a halfback?” I asked him the next day.
“Let me see,” he said, standing back to have a good glance at me, which made me nervous about what he would say
“Yep. You’re a halfback. Might as well get used to it.”
“Okay,” I said, puzzled but beginning to accept the idea, strange as it seemed.
Later that day we started running plays. Time after time the quarterback put the ball right in my hands. Me, the silly fellow who had to be reminded how many points a touchdown was worth. I expected to go all season without touching the ball. I expected to be a bench warmer, and now the ball was in my hands—literally.
Super Roy had a routine he did every day. As practice came to an end, he would pick one of the players to step forward. The player had to recite a quote Super Roy had given him the day before. It was a very important moment in practice. No one wanted to forget his quote in front of the whole team.
After practice was over one day, Super Roy spoke to me. “Your turn tomorrow,” he said. “Ready for your quote?”
“Okay,” I said, stressed in deep concentration. “I’m ready.”
“Well, here it is: ‘It’s not the size of the man you play, it’s how you play the man.’ Got it?” “Yes, Coach.”
Super Roy winked at me and gave me a pat on the shoulder. “And I believe the quote will help you make a miracle in the inter school match next month,” he added.
On the way home, my mind played like a broken record, which made me murmur the words repeatedly.
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: There came the practice time the next day.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: I stepped into Super Roy’s office after the match.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A Teacher’s Dream
When handball was introduced to Sri Lankan schools in 2010,I wanted to bring it to my school, St Anthony’s, in the remote village of Wasalakotte in central Sri Lanka. This became a challenging task as the sports teacher was unwilling to initiate anything other than traditional sports, such as cricket, rugby and basketball.
I was not a sports teacher and I had never played handball before. In fact, I was an English language teacher before assuming my post as vice principal. However, I was determined to start this game at any cost. Handball is a fascinating game which combines speed, strength, flexibility, technical precision, skill and teamwork. As a new sport, I foresaw it as a golden opportunity for our school as we had never secured a place in traditional sports.
The boys were immediately interested and 40 students aged between 13 and 19 signed up to play. I had the support of their parents. Ultimately, I managed to convince the sports teacher to agree. However, we still needed a coach.
Heshan Pradeep, a St Anthony’s old boy who graduated some nine years earlier, volunteered to coach the team. He was a member of the Air Force handball team and was happy to take on the role in his free time. He assigned exercises and drills to do in his absence.
Although handball is an indoor game, we trained outdoors as our school had limited facilities. Training started early in the morning before class and continued after school until it was dark. The boys loved the game and were enthusiastic about training.
“This handball craze will ruin your studies!” complained some of the teachers in an attempt to discourage the game. Whenever the boys were late for class after morning practice, they were scolded or punished by their teachers, but I was able to keep them cheerful.
After three months of intense training, we were able to send an under-19s boys’ team to compete with 50 other schools at the first all-island school handball tournament held in Colombo—the country’s richest city.
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。
However, the Handball Association rejected our application because we weren’t association members.
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The victory sent the whole school into festive mode.
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| Football game Between the Sunny Club & Youth Club At the City Stadium On Friday, May 18th 8:00 a.m.-9 p.m. All football lovers are welcome! |
| A．At the Sunny Club | B．At the Youth Club |
| C．At the City Stadium | D．At the City Park |
10 . College Podcast (播客) Challenge Open for Entries
The College Podcast Challenge is back for its third year, in the fall. Entries will open on Sept. 1, 2023 and close at the end of the year on Dec. 31, 2023 to give students the entire fall academic term. And, as with last year’s, the college con test will award a $5,000 grand prize scholarship and $500 prizes to finalists.
One big change this year: the college con test will be open to students of all ages doing an associate’s or bachelor’s degree, as well as those who are set to graduate in 2023. College podcasters can enter your own work, without going through your school or professor, as long as you’re 18 years or older.
For the college con test this year, our basic guidelines remain pretty much the same: students can create a podcast about any topic they wish to explore. Some themes we’ve seen over and over include questions on identity and how young people fit in. Your podcast can also be in many different formats: an interview, narrative (叙述的) story or even investigative reporting. You can do it by yourself or with your entire class.
One important rule to keep in mind is that the maximum length of your podcast is eight minutes, and longer entries will be disqualified.
For more tips, advice and the latest updates on this year’s contest, make sure to sign up for our newsletter. We can’t wait to hear your stories!
1. When can you submit your entry?| A．In January. | B．In February. | C．In August. | D．In November. |
| A．It is open to all college students. | B．Its participants under 18 are qualified. |
| C．It requires your school’s approval. | D．Its basic guidelines have changed a lot. |
| A．It should present an inspiring people. | B．It focuses on young people’s life. |
| C．It is eight minutes at most in length. | D．It is created by your entire class. |
