浙江省湖州市2019年中考英语仿真卷（三）

    My father was a self-taught mandolin（曼陀林琴）player. He was one of the best players in our town. He could not 1 music, but if he heard a tune（曲子）a few times, he could play it. When he was young, he was a2 of a small country music band. They played at local dances and the radio station.

    At home Dad often got out his mandolin and played for the family. We three children sang along. 3 played the mandolin like my father. He could 4 your heart with the music that came out of that old mandolin. He seemed to shine when he was playing. You could see his 5 in his ability to play so well for his family.

    But Dad had to find another 6 in a factory later because the money he made at the band wasn't enough to 7 the family. Unluckily he had an 8 one day and lost one finger. He couldn't play as 9 as before. From then on, every time we asked him to play, he would make up reasons to 10 down our request. However, we missed his performance so much. 11, he agreed and said "Okay, but remember, I can't hold down on the strings（琴弦）the way I 12 to". When he played the old mandolin, it carried us back to a 13, happy time in our lives.

    Dad was that kind of man.14 was what he was doing all his life. If he could give 15 to others, he would, especially his family. He was always there, sacrificing（牺牲）his time to see that his family had enough in their life.

    Car-hailing company DiDi signed an agreement with TAL Education Group to provide free online courses for the children of taxi drivers. The courses, worth 3 0 million yuan, cover all subjects from primary to high school. Children can study courses at home, saving parents' time to spend or pick up children from off-line after-school classes.

    According to Zhu Jingshi, vice president of DiDi, all 153 million registered (注册) taxi drivers of DiDi can ask for the courses on the company's mobile app. The car-hailing company will evaluate (评价) the drivers and provide courses on the basis of the time they became registered drivers with the company, the number of passengers served and evaluation from passengers.

    The health and education of children have remained top priorities of Chinese parents, including taxi drivers. A survey done by DiDi and TAL showed that although the average monthly income (平均月收入) of taxi drivers is only 6000 yuan, many would like to pay 40 percent of their income for their children's education.

    The survey found that most taxi drivers were born in the 1970s and 1980s and worked seven days a week. More than 70 percent of them have children under 18 but very few have time to be with family and children. Only 8 percent of them said they had guided their children in doing homework. Because of these, 60 percent of drivers hope their children could receive the guidance from professional services.

    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.

    My house is on a hill. There was only a small parking place. As a new driver, I was so scared when I realized I would have to reverse（倒车）out of the driveway. I knew that if I parked backwards（朝后）, it would be easier to get out later. .

    For three months, I didn't even think of trying. . But one day, I suddenly thought to myself, "How am I ever going to know whether I can do it if I don't even try?"

    So I started my car, went down that hill, turned around and reversed. I made it. I got into the parking place. .

    As weeks went on, I continued trying. The more I practiced, the better I did. But I had never practiced parking in the dark before. Then I decided to push myself. .

    When I slowly drove to the parking place, I couldn't see anything. My heart was beating rapidly. A moment later I guessed I was getting somewhere, I let the car go. Oh, my god! The car hit a tree. . But I tried it after all.

    A man feared his wife wasn't hearing as well as she used to and he thought she might need some hearing aid (助听). Not quite sure how to  （帮助）her, he called the family doctor to discuss the problem. The doctor told him there was a simple test the husband could do to give the doctor a better  （主意）of her hearing loss.

    "Here's what you do," said the doctor. "Stand about 40 feet away from her, and in a  （通常的）conversational speaking tone (音调) see if she hears you. If not, go to 30 feet, then 20 feet, and so on until you get a reply."

    That evening, the wife was in the dining room, and he was in the yard. He said to himself,"I'm about 40 feet away, and let me see what will (发生)." Then in a usual tone he asked,"Honey, what's for dinner?"

    No   （回复）.

    So the husband moved closer to the kitchen, about 30 feet from his wife and asked,"Honey, what's for dinner?"

     （仍然）no reply.

    Next he moved into the dining room where he was about 20 feet from his wife and  （重复）, "Honey, what's for dinner?"

    Again he got no reply. He walked up to the kitchen door, about 10 feet away. "Honey,what's for dinner?" Again there was no reply.

    So he （走到）right up behind her. "Honey, what's for dinner?"

    "Chicken! James, for the  （第五）time I've said that."

    " Sharing"and "original aspiration" became the Chinese Character and Word of the Year for 2017, according to a survey. The survey also  (choose)"intelligence"and "a community with a shared future for mankind " as the International Chinese Character and Word of the Year for 2017. It was  (do) by the Chinese National Language Monitoring and Research Center, the Commercial Press, People.cn and QQ.com.

    "Sharing" is taken  "sharing economy（共享经济）", a business model which has become  (popular)in China during the past few years. "Original aspiration"comes from "remain true to our original aspiration and continue marching forward"（不忘初心,继续前行）". The saying has been  (wide) used by Chinese leaders in many situations.

    In2017, artificial intelligence（人工智能） was one of the most discussed topics in the world. It is  (change) our world in many ways. And "a community with a shared future for mankind" is an idea that China has developed all over the world. Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned it in his  (speech) and talks both at home  abroad many times in 2017. It shows our country's determination（决心）to work for an equal, open and peaceful world.

    The Chinese Character and Word of the Year was  (start)in 2006 and has been going for 12 years. The chosen characters and words have been a   (record) of changes to both the Chinese language and Chinese society.

要求：⒈语言表达要准确，语意要通顺、连贯；

⒉词数80-100左右，电子邮件的格式、开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。

参考词汇：欺骗tick；许可permission