浙江省杭州市2020年九年级英语中考模拟试卷（四）

    One day, Tom's teacher, Miss Mak, held a class meeting. "There will be a flag day next Saturday.Does anyone want to join this meaningful event?"asked Miss Mak. Tom was interested in raising money for homeless children, but he was not brave enough to talk to the strangers, so he kept quiet in his seat.

    Tom, you haven't sold flags before, "said Miss Mak suddenly. "Would you like to have a try?" Tom was hesitant(犹豫的)，but he finally nodded.

    On the flag day, Tom and Angela sold flags in a busy street. "Excuse me. Could y-o-u pl-ea-se buy...?" said Angela softly to the first person she met. The man smiled and put a five-dollar coin into Angela's collection bag. Then she said thanks and put a flag under his shoulder. "I did it!"said Angela happily. "It s your turn now."

    Feeling nervous, Tom began to shake. Soon, he saw a young lady walking towards him. The lady was smiling and holding a few coins in her hand. She asked, "Are you selling flags for Fund for the Homeless Children?" Toms face became red and said yes. Then the lady made the donation(捐赠) and Tom gave her a flag. "You made it! "laughed Angela.

    In the next couple of hours, Angela and Tom sold flags quickly and bravely. At last, their collection bags were so heavy that they had to hold them with both arms. They felt very proud.

    Have you ever wanted to see the Great Wall of China, or win an Oscar for Best Director, or swim with dolphins(海豚)? If so, you are not alone. We all have things we want to do or achieve. These are part of our "bucket lists". A bucket is a list of things that someone wants to experience in his or her lifetimes. These things can be big or small. Have you ever thought about what is on your bucket list?

    Lindsay, 15, created her bucket list when she was 14. She has given her list serious thought. "I've always wanted to travel into space," she says. "I don't really want to be an astronaut. But I do want to go to space as a tourist. I want to see the Earth from above." Other things on her list include being on TV, seeing her favorite band in concert, learning how to speak Portuguese(葡萄牙语), and living in a foreign country. "I've always wanted to live in Brazil. As part of my bucket list, I want to attend Carnival(狂欢节)in the capital of Brazil," she says.

    Jose, 16, recently created a list of things he wants to achieve. It changes sometimes he adds and takes away things because he wants to keep the number of the things at seven. One thing has stayed at number one, though: he wants to visit a movie set(影视基地). He would like to see the Harry Potter of The Hobbit movie sets. Other things on the list include being on TV, meeting his favorite sports star, living in a foreign country, skateboarding down a mountain, attending the World Cup, and backpacking across Europe. He would like to spend two months visiting Eastern Europe with his best friend Adam. "Maybe after I graduate from college," says Jose.

    Carrie, 14, also has a bucket list. She first created it when she was 12. She would like to live in a foreign country for at least two years. She also wants to learn as many foreign languages as possible. But the number one thing on her list is to see her favorite band in concert. She also wants to go on a trip and to visit a movie set. Her favorite movies are the Hunger Games and Star Wars. Carrie is confident she will do most or all of the things on her bucket list. "I'm only 14," she says, "I have my whole life ahead of me!"

    Have you ever had trouble sleeping in a new place?

    Lots of people do. And now researchers from Brown University in Rhode Island think they know why. They found that one-half of the brain "remains more awake" than the other half when people are trying to sleep in a new place.

    The sleep findings were reported in Current Biology by Brown University. In their report, the researchers said many people report they have a harder time sleeping the first nightat a hotel or other places outside their home. They call it "first-night influence". "In Japan they say, 'If you change your bed, you can't sleep,'" said Yuka Sasaki, one of the report's writers. "You don't sleep very well in a new place. We all know about it."

    The researchers measured brain waves (测量脑波) for 35 volunteers over two nights in a laboratory. The two nights were a week apart (间隔). They found during the first night the left half of the brain was more active than the right half. This was during the first deep-sleep period, the researchers said.

    Sasaki said a lot of questions remain.

    Researchers did not keep measuring brain waves all night long. So, they don't know if the left half keeps "watch" all night, or whether it "works in shifts (轮换) with the right half later in the night". They also do not know why the brain activity, at least during the first period of deep sleep, is always on the left half.

    For some, this research may be calming. It is good to know that our brain is "looking out for us" in a new place. But it may not help with sleep. That brain activity, at least according to this new research, makes it harder to get the sleep people need to wake up well rested in the morning.

Using iPads to Make Learning Fun

    Paper, pencil, whiteboard, textbook are the tools you need if you want to go to school. But recently, you can add another one to the list: an iPad.

    Because the popular Apple tablet is not only useful for searching the Internet and watching videos, but it is also being used to make learning fun.

    Scientists now know that we learn better when we are enjoying ourselves, so recently software developers have made iPad applications(应用程序) that look like video games, but have strong educational content. One of the best examples of this new form of teaching application is Futaba, game in which up to four children try to recognize a spinning(旋转的) object, and then identify what it is. The game can be used to teach English, math, foreign languages, or just about anything, and students love it. Teachers can even make their own questions. The important thing is that children enjoy the game, and don' t even realize how much they are learning!

    So the next time you have to choose between making your child study or letting them play game, just remember—they could do both at the same time!

    In 1997, Lottie Williams was walking through a park in Oklahoma, USA. with her friends.  She picked the object up. It was about as heavy as a tennis ball. Later, scientists told her it was a piece of a Delta II rocket that had been used to launch a satellite(发射卫星).

     We need satellites to send and receive TV and radio signals to report the weather and for many other things. But when they become old or break down, we just leave them there. They become space junk.

    Scientists think there are about 16,000 objects larger than 10 centimeters wide flying around the Earth, and tens of millions of smaller objects too.  That's fast! And it's their speed that makes these pieces of space junk really dangerous. If one small piece of space junk hits something at high speed, it can do a lot of harm.  But in 2009. an old Russian satellite hit an American satellite and created 2, 000 pieces of space junk.

    Pieces of space junk enter the Earth's atmosphere(大气层) again. Lottie Williams is perhaps the only person who has been hit. Most space junk burns up and doesn't reach the Earths surface.  It made a hole in the ground 30 centimeters deep and over 3.3 meters wide. Lottie was lucky she wasn't hit by it!

    As a new teacher at Doull Primary School in Denver, Kyle Schwartz thought of a simple way to get to know her third graders, most of whom came from 1 families. She asked them to complete the 2 "I wish my teacher knew, "and share something about themselves.

    Their3answers gave the teacher a chance to understand her students' difficulties. I wish my teacher knew I have no pencils to do my homework, "4one child. "I wish my teacher knew sometimes my reading homework is not signed(签名), because my mom is not5a lot, "wrote another. Some shared hope for the6,"1 wish my teacher knew that I want to go to college.

    "Some notes are really heartbreaking, " Schwart tells ABC News. "I care7 about each of my students and I don' t want them to be poor forever. "She explains," I hoped to know8I could better support them. So I9to let them tell me what I needed to know. That was why I created the fill-in-the blank exercise."

    10 the third graders were allowed to answer anonymously(匿名), most wanted to include names. And some were even excited to read their notes out loud,11 one shy girl who bravely said that she lonely. "After she told the class, "I dont have friends to12 me, 'I was worried what they would do,"Schwart tells Us Weekly. " However, I felt encouraged to see how much support the other kids offered 13. They invited her to play at break and sit with them at lunch. You see,14 have an unusual ability to express empathy（同情）."

    "The results have been 15 , "says Schwartz."It speaks to the importance of giving people a voice and really listening to them."

    Lao Tzu was a philosopher (哲学家）in ancient China. He  (work) as an archivist（档案保管员）in imperial library, which gave him the chance to read more and learn a great deal of knowledge. As a result he got a large  (number )of students and fans. And it is said that even the famous Chinese philosopher,Confucius, heard about Lao Tzu, and came to  (visit) him.

    Lao Tzu believed that the human life, like everything else in the world, is influenced by outside forces. He believed "simplicity"to be the key to  (true), encouraging people to watch and think  (careful)to understand the laws of nature. He also advised people to build up  (person )power, and use it for leading a good life with love.

    Here are several  ( amaze) /quotes (语录）of Lao Tzu. I believe you will learn a lot from them.

    When you accept  (you), the whole world accepts you.

    He who talks more is sooner tired.

    A journey of a thousand miles begin  one step.

    If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

    Knowledge is a treasure,  practice is the key to it.

    To become learned, each day add something.

要求：⒈短文内容应包括表格中的所有要点，可适当增加一些细节，以使行文连贯

⒉词数80-100左右，短文的开头已给出，但不计入总词数。

参考词汇：方面 aspect；使平衡 balance 自信的 confident

    Is it good for students to take many extracurricular classes? Different students have different opinions about it.