浙江省杭州市2019年中考英语试卷（含听力音频）

    This painting is called The Fighting Temeraire. Temeraire is the name of the big, old sailing ship that you can see on the left of the picture. People chose this picture to be the greatest painting in Britain.

    J.M.W. Turner painted it in 1839.It shows the old sailing ship, the Temeraire, on the River Thames near London. There's a small tugboat pulling the old ship. It's in fact taking the Temeraire on its last journey. The old ship is going to the breaker's yard. In the background we can see the sun setting.

    The picture, however, is more than just a painting of two boats in the evening. The artist wanted to show the end of an era (时代). The time of the beautiful, old sailing ships is coming to an end. That's why we see this happening at sunset. In the little, brown tugboat we can see the new industrial era starting. The tugboat is small and dark and it's making a lot of smoke, but it's very strong, because it's pulling the much bigger ship.

    The painting shows a real event. Turner watched the Temeraire taking its last journey up the Thames, but he changed some of the details. He painted the old ship white and gold so that it looks like a ghost. In fact, the real ship was black and yellow. We also see the sun setting behind the ship, but in fact, the ship travelled towards the sunset. However, Turner wanted to show the sun setting on the time of the beautiful old sailing ships.

    Turner painted The Fighting Temeraire when he was quite old, so perhaps he wanted to show the sun setting on his own life, too. He loved the painting and he never sold it. You can see it today in the National Gallery in London.

    Smile Train is a charity (慈善团体) that helps the millions of children around the world, who suffer from a facial defect (缺陷). The defect happens when a baby's top lip or mouth doesn't form properly before birth. Eating and drinking is very difficult for these babies. The charity provides free operations, which give these children a new smile, and with it, new hope and a new beginning.

    Children with the defect need all the help. Although many sufferers are accepted by their families, sadly, others are not. In some countries, children with this defect are often abandoned at birth because their parents feel ashamed of them or cannot afford the operations. The good news is that the operation is not difficult. It takes less than an hour and costs the family nothing. The charity raises money and finds the right medical volunteers to perform the operations.

    A Smile Train doctor from the UK said, "Each child who has the operation is given a second chance at life. After years of staying at home, the children can finally go to school and be happy. Every year I perform hundreds of operations free of cost through Smile Train. Some of the stories I have heard are quite surprising. One newborn baby girl was found abandoned on a train. Luckily for her, she was found and adopted (收养) by a passenger. This lady then heard about Smile Train and brought the baby to our hospital. I did the operation and gave hope to the family. Experienced doctors like me share our skills with local doctors. In this way we make sure that these operations will always be available."

    If you go shopping in any toy store, you can see clearly the differentgames and toys for boys and girls: there are a lot of pink toys on one side ofthe store for girls; and dark colored cars, guns, and soldiers for boys. Somebig stores with toys may even have a pink floor for girls and a blue floor forboys. In fact, it is difficult to buy a toy for a girl that is not pink.

    Somepeople think that too much pink is bad for girls. Sue Palmer, writer of ToxicChildhood, is very worried that most girls over the age of three are crazyabout the color. According to some scientists, this happens for two reasons. Firstly,most companies offer too many products in pink. Also, many parents think theirlittle daughter looks cute in pink. Sue Palmer says that girls at this agecannot make proper decisions by themselves, but the pink can affect (影响) the choices and thedecisions they will make in the future.

    Someparents are worried too-for example, Vanessa Holburn, thirty-two, who has twogirls under the age of four. Their bedrooms are a sea of pink and Vanessa isnot happy. "Pink says that you are soft and gentle. Blue says that you arestrong and powerful. I want my daughters to be strong and powerful. I'm worriedthat pink will not help them with that,"she says.

    Butnot everyone thinks there's something wrong with pink. Grayson Turner is afather of three girls and he isn't worried at all. "People forget thatthings change all the time," he says. "My girls used to love pink whenthey were little, but as they get older, they change." Turner explainsthat his twelve-year-old daughter never wears pink clothes anymore. "Thislove of pink is just a fashion and all fashions change," he adds. "It'sonly since the 1940s that people have started dressing girls in pink-beforethat it was a color for boys."

Where you sit and how you fit

    For more than seventy years, researchers and teachers have studied the link between the place where students choose to sit in class and what they are like as people and learners. Where do you usually decide to sit? Have you ever really thought about the reasons for your decision?

    But is this really true? Well, some researchers say it is not. In fact, shy students often choose the back row because it is far away from the teacher and they don't want to answer questions. At the back, students probably won't speak much, but in big classrooms, it can be hard to see the board and hear what the teacher is saying. This could be the reason why students who sit here often get lower grades on tests and exams. For students with poor eyesight or hearing, a seat at the back of the classroom is not a good choice.

    However, they like watching and listening rather than joining in. These students are usually also very good at taking notes. Next time you miss a class, borrow notes from someone who sits here. On the sides of the classroom you will generally find modest and thoughtful people. These people usually get good grades in school and are interested in learning.

    Then the statistics (统计数据) say you probably like your teacher. You probably also have a good relationship with your classmates. Caring, outgoing, and cheerful people usually sit in the middle. They are normally serious about learning and feel disappointed with low grades on tests and exams.

    Students who sit here usually want to discuss things with the teacher and are often very interested in the subject. They want to be in the best place to see and hear everything the teacher does and says. The only problem with sitting here is that it can be difficult to see and hear what other students do and say in class. So, if you really want to hear what everyone says in class, choose a different place to sit.

    Katy Sullivan is an actress, an athlete (运动员), and a person who also refuses to accept the words no or I can't.

    She was born without the lower half of her 1 and has worn prosthetic (假体) ones all her life. She grew up in Alabama, US and had a(n) 2 childhood. She kept up with her sisters and brothers at the gym and the swimming pool. She feels lucky 3 her family treated her in just the same way as the other members.

    When a person is born without legs, there are plenty of things that are 4 to do. But Katy believed she could 5 anything. So she chose two jobs that are difficult, 6 with both legs. As a teenager, she once saw a good movie. Before it was 7, Katy had made her mind up to be a(n) 8.

    She did a degree in theater and then moved to Los Angeles, where she has played 9 in theater, television and movies. She has a positive (积极的) view of life. She thinks that if you believe 10 can do something, you should 11 it. So when Katy's friend asked her 12 she'd like to try running, she said "yes". She was given a pair of running legs and she 13 her new life.

    Katy was the first person in the world with two prosthetic legs to 14 running as a competitive sport. She entered the final of the 100 meters in the 2012 London Paralympics.

    Katy's family, friends, and fans look up to her as an 15 of someone who has overcome her difficulty and achieved her dreams.

The eco-house

    Simon Dale didn't want to live in a city's apartment building. So he made up his mind (build) his own home in the countryside. He moved to Wales with his family and built a wooden eco-house. With the help of his father-in-law, a builder, he moved into a (comfort) new home after only four months.only cost $4,700 to build the house.

    The eco-house is made of natural (material). Simon Dale and his father-in-law (dig) into the side of a hill and then used the mud and stone to make the walls. The floors (make) from wood from the nearby area. The design is open-plan. There is no central heating, there's a wood-burner and solar panels (太阳能电板) on the top can provide power for lighting, music and computing. Drinking water is from a nearby spring. The fridge stays cool, thanks air from under the ground. Simon Dale says, "We try to live in peace with the natural world." He has (certain) done his best to achieve that.