四川省成都市简阳市2022-2023学年九年级上学期英语期中测试卷

—At 6:00, in about 10 minutes. You should hurry up.

— I        like asking others for help, but now I       solving problems by myself.

— Helping others. The        I do for others, the       I am.

A: Hey, Mike! Don't you remember me?

B: Oh, yes. You're Tony, aren't you?

A: That's right.

B: Yes. And I remember you used to be quiet, and have long hair.

A: Yeah. I wasn't outgoing. And I wasn't brave enough to communicate with others.

B:  And you always helped others with their basketball. I remember you really helped me a lot. Wait a minute!

A: No. I gave up playing basketball because I hurt my knee in an accident.

B: I'm sorry to hear that,  That's your dream.

A: Yes. But doctors said that I had to stop playing. When I heard that, I felt very sad.  So I get better grades than before.

B: That's a good habit.

A group of classmates got together to visit their old teacher.

These classmates all had good jobs and made lots of money. They talked happily. Then their talk soon turned to the 1 in work and life. The teacher went to the kitchen and came back with a large pot of coffee and 2 cups. The teacher told them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the teacher said, "Can you notice that all of you took nice-looking expensive cups, leaving behind the plain (平常的) and cheap ones. You 3 want the best for yourselves, and that is exactly the source (根源) of your problems."

"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you went for the best cups and then began 4 each other's cups."

"Now think about this: life is the coffee, and the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold, and do not change the life. Sometimes, by caring only about the cups, we 5 to enjoy the coffee. So don't let the cups drive you, and enjoy the coffee instead."

"No problem." This phrase has almost replaced(代替) the  1words "You're welcome". This situation   2 me.

Here's what happens when I buy something:

The shop staff says, "No problem."

Actually, it is really a(n) 3. What I expect is "You 're welcome", and that means "You are welcome to 4 here and thanks for letting us help you."

But when someone says "No problem", what I hear in my head is "It's no problem at all for you to go to another store next time. I've 5you, so now get out of here". "No problem" seems to say that you are really not " 6" at all.

Maybe you're thinking Come on! It's just a popular expression. It doesn't mean to 7 you. But that worries me even more, because it shows that people just aren't listening to or 8 what others say. It's a big problem.

Some people may say "No problem" is a phrase only for 9 people. But they're wrong. Almost all age groups are using it. You can hear "No problem" everywhere you go.

So, next time you're about to say those unwelcome words, stop and think for a minute. Try,   10, to be a little more polite and say "You 're welcome".

The Double Third Festival is an ancient Chinese festival. It comes on the third day of the third lunar(农历) month. The day is said to be the birthday of the Yellow Emperor. He, along with the Yan Emperor, is considered to be the ancestor(祖先) of all Chinese people. The date was fixed after the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty, people often took a bath in the river on that day to wash away bad luck. Wang Xizhi wrote in his Lantingji Xu about how people took a bath and wrote poems(诗) while drinking from cups moving along the river. In the Tang Dynasty, people enjoyed drinks. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people did activities like drinking from cups moving along the river, throwing stones, climbing mountains and listening to music.

In modern times, it is mainly celebrated by the people in the southern parts of China. For the Zhuang people in Guangxi, it is a festival for young people to sing songs and find their true love. Bamboo dancing is another important activity for them. For the Li and Miao people in Hainan, it is a day to remember ancestors. For the Han people, it is a time to go outside to enjoy flowers and cook eggs with jicai (芥菜). The Han people believe the special eggs are good for their health.

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Paper was invented by a Chinese man called Cai Lun almost 2,000 years ago. It didn't spread to Europe until the year 1100. And four hundred years later, a German discovered that he could make the best paper from trees. After that countries rich in forests, such as Canada Sweden, America, and Finland became the most important ones in paper making.

The common uses for paper include newspapers, magazines and books. But do you know that paper can be used for keeping warm? For example, in Finland, the farmers wear paper boots to keep their feet warm in the snow. And even houses can be insulated (使绝缘) from heat or cold with paper.

However, we have to understand that paper still comes from trees now. If we keep on wasting so much paper, there will not be any trees left on the earth some day in the near future. Every day people throw away about 2,800 tons of paper in the world, which means that we are cutting down nearly 48,000 trees every day. The fact is that it takes more than 10 years for a tree to grow.

As for this problem, we can do many things in daily life. We can use both sides of every piece of paper. We can make useful things out of used paper. We can use china or glass cups instead of paper ones. When shopping, we can use fewer paper bags and reuse them if we have some.

In short, we should keep a balance (平衡) between using paper and protecting trees, and do it now before it is too late.

A: Hi, Peter. You seemed sleepy in class. Didn't you sleep well last night?

B: Your guess is totally right. I only slept for 4 hours last night. So I couldn't focus on what Mr. Wang said.

A: How ? I don't think we had too much homework last night.

B: Don't you know it was Halloween Day yesterday? I  my cousins in celebrating it.

A: I know it was Halloween Day. But you know, it came on the weekday. As a ninth grader, I  not waste any time doing anything else except study.

B: Don't take ninth grade too  even though there is an entrance examination to high school. Sometimes, we need to relax ourselves for better study.

A: Sounds reasonable. But the more time you spend on study, the more  you can get and then the higher scores you can get/

B: Not really. That depends. If you pay little  while studying, you will get nothing.

A: Haha, you got nothing just now because you  to listen to Mr. Wang.

B: You are making fun of me. But I don't regret going to celebrate Halloween. It was really exciting.

A: By the way, where did you celebrate it?

B: At Happy Valley. Every year on that day, a big parade attracted many young people like us. So it was really  there last night.

A: Did you feel  while watching many ghosts or witches walking beside you?

B: Not at all. On the contrary (相反), I felt the excitement running inside my body because of their wonderful performance even on the cold night.

A: I envy you. How I hope I have been there with you!

B: Don't worry. Next year, we'll invite you.

A: OK, next year there is no entrance examination to any school for me. I'll go with you.

B: OK. Hope we will enjoy more next year.

This year some students at White Cloud Primary School became the world's first kids to be "taught' by an electronic teacher. This electronic teacher is a computer-created head that appears, when needed, on computer or phone screens. His name is Bill.

Bill teaches a special program about environmental-friendly power by the sun and wind. This program, started in 2005, used to be taught by human teachers.

Just like human teachers, Bill is able to respond (回应) to the students' questions and opinions. Thanks to computer cameras, he is also able to see and react (反应) to students' actions. For example, if a student smiles at Bill, he smiles back. This two-way exchange helps get the students' attention. More importantly, it allows the program developers to improve Bill's behavior and knowledge base (库)when needed.

The program has been a great according to Smart Machines spokesman Robert Frost. "What is interesting to me is the children's reaction to Bill. He really draws attention." Frost thinks kids don't find the experience of being taught by smart machines as strange as older people because they up in a time of computers and smartphones.

It is doubtful that human educators their jobs in the future, because even the smartest computer programs can't guess and react to all the situations. Bill's future might be as a "personal tutor (导师)", kids with one-on-one help for different subjects and topics.

People have been fighting against COVID-19 for over two years. Since it broke out, many people have been living in fear. However, some people turn pale at the mention of "people from epidemic (有疫情的) areas", and some even make verbal attacks (言语攻击) on them.

Ding Baixing, a doctor at Huashan Hospital in Shanghai, has seen this himself. He treated a suspected (疑似的) patient Chen who traveled from Wuhan where people were fighting against COVID-19 hard. He worried that they would be afraid of him.

Zhao, a 20-year-old girl from Chengdu, was infected (感染) with COVID-19 in December, 2020. Someone exposed (曝光) her personal information online. Many people made verbal attacks on her, which hurt her a lot.

However, the real enemy is the virus not the patients. "The virus doesn't respect (尊重) nationality. Anybody can be infected," said Lee Hsien Loong, Singaporean Prime Minister.

It is not the patients' fault that they have been infected. There is no reason to blame (责备) them. "Protecting them is just as important as protecting ourselves," Ding said.

Hugging is an extremely positive form of communication. It expresses the values of love, agreement, thanks and forgiveness（宽恕）. Research shows that hugs have more positive effects on children and adults than just some encouraging words and a smiling face. Giving our child a hug in different situations can make a world of difference in our young learner's lives.

 On the first day of school, giving a hug coupled with a few calming breaths just might help your little learner overcome "The First Day Fears". By the way, giving hugs for the first full week wouldn't hurt either. Hugs are both inexpensive and very healthy.

It's the day of the class play and your kid is not so confident about saying a few words as a wild turkey in front of an audience. Giving a hug coupled with a few encouraging words just might help them feel more confident.

Usually, bedtime is the scariest time of the day for most kids, who feel very stressed and may stay up. Giving a tight (紧紧的) hug coupled with reading their favorite stories or singing their favorite songs may help them have a good sleep.

Besides, according to Intelligence Quotient Development in Children on eHow. com. "A caring and inspiring environment is always helpful in developing a child's language skills. Make sure your child gets plenty of hugs and kisses and hears positive and encouraging words from you."

Sometimes we get caught up in teaching, parenting, providing, and protecting our children that we forget to hug them. If there's one thing your child or student may need from you to help adapt their behavior or improve their IQ, it may just be something as simple as a hug.

A positive hug could change the course of the day for you both when you least expect it. So, remember to hug your children often and put emotion behind it and really mean it!

要点：

1）初三生活的变化，至少谈论4点。（学科变化，日常锻炼变化，休息时间变化……）What did it use to be like? Now?

2）向你的好友寻求一些建议。

要求：

1）文章结构完整，句式多样；

2）词数：120词左右。

3）不得出现真实的人名、地名。