（浙江）初中英语2022-2023八年级下学期期末专项复习：阅读理解（1）

17-year-old Brennan Agranoff, a colorblind boy, started his custom（定做的）sock business in middle school, with a little money he got from his parents. Up till now, he has sold over $1 million worth of socks online in the last four years.

Brennan thought of the idea for his custom sock company at just 13 years old. He was playing in a high-school basketball game in his hometown, and noticed that many kids of his age were wearing the same white Nike sport socks. The boy told himself if these white simple socks were so popular with kids, then some cool custom designs（设计）would surely be more popular.

But the boy didn't tell his parents about the business idea immediately. He spent six months researching things, like printing machines and technology and writing out a business plan. When he had everything planned out, he asked his parents for some money. "They thought the idea was a little out there," Brennan recently told CNN Money, but he kept pushing, and finally got a $3, 000 from his parents to start his company. Then he began to work on his own designs. Though he was colorblind, it didn't stop him and he has created over 200 kinds of designs now.

Business was slow the first year, but then Brennan started pushing his own brand（商标）HoopSwagg socks on the Internet. Orders soon started coming in in large numbers, and HoopSwagg became a popular brand among custom sock lovers. Right now, people can find his designs on HoopSwagg website, Amazon and eBay.

Four years after starting his business, Brennan has achieved great success while balancing（平衡）school, housework and his social life. And he says he loved every minute of it.

What is the difference between a fear and a phobia? You might have a fear of dogs if a dog has bitten（咬）you. However, if you avoid（避免） walking down streets where you think there might be a dog, you may have a phobia, which is a strong unnatural fear. If the fear has started to change a person's life, he or she probably has a phobia. Different researches say that between 10 and 80 percent of us have at least one phobia.

You can probably guess what some of the most "popular" phobias are. Flying may be the safest way to travel, but many people are scared of doing it. Fear of heights is also very common. For example, Spider-Man actor Tobey Maquire can't stand high places However, Tobey is not afraid of spiders that most people are afraid of. Rupert Grint, who plays in the Harry Potter movies, is in fear of spiders. "In one scene of the movie, we come into the large spider's hole, and there we meet a spider that is the size of an elephant and really scary because he has these hairs. I'm really scared of spiders. " He said.

     . For example, cats are very cute for most of us, but not for such great people in history as Alexander the Great and Napolean Bonaparte. Actor Nicole Kidman says, "I'm not scared of snakes or spiders, but I'm scared of butterflies. Sometimes when I came home from school, the biggest butterfly you had ever seen would be just sitting on our front gate. I would climb over the wall, move slowly to the side of the house, or do anything to avoid having to go through the front gate. ＂ Clowns （小丑）are not so funny for actor Johnny Depp, whose childhood memory of the ＂painted faces and fake smiles" still makes him scared. Some other weird（怪诞的）phobias, including chewing gum, old doors or windows and footsteps, also fear some famous persons, such as Orah Winfred, Billy Bob and Sigmund Fred.

My mother is a teacher, and I grow up with the challenges a teacher faces. I often asked her, "Why do you teach? What keeps you teaching?" The answer was always the same: "My dear daughter, there is always that one child, that one moment that is worth(值得) it. "

Now, I am a teacher, too. But different from my mother, I teach students challenging activities outdoors. And when my mother asked me the similar questions, my answer was: "It's that one child, that one special moment."

One of those moments happened recently. I was working with a group of girls in a four-week program. Everything went on well through the" Team" events and we were moving on to a "High" one called the Wire Walk(走钢丝).

In the Wire Walk, each girl had to climb up the pegs in a tree to a wire, 8 meters high, and then walk across it. Of course, everything was safe for sure.

When I asked who would try first, a few girls raised their hands, and they finished the Wire Walk with little difficulty.

But when it was Susie's turn, it seemed that she didn't really want to. I asked Susie if she was ready. She answered softly, "I guess."

Now, Susie was at the foot of the tree. She started to make the long reach for the first peg. The other girls cheered for her. Then I found Susie was becoming nervous with every step. I realized she would not go much further. I talked quietly to Susie, trying to relax her.

Susie was halfway up. Then she stopped and held the tree tight (紧紧地), looking very afraid. Her eyes were closed. With her face against the tree, she cried, "I can't."

The other girls watched her in silence.

"I will still be your friend whatever. Susie!" Mary broke the silence.

To my surprise, Susie lifted her head and looked up to the wire. Then she turned to look do want Mary and smiled. Mary smiled back.

Finally, Susie made it all the way across that wire. When she returned to the ground, the first hug she looked for was from Mary. We all cheered.

Moments like this keep me doing what l do. The young hearts continue to fill me with courage.

"We are running out of space and the only places to go to are other worlds... Spreading out maybe the only thing that can save us from ourselves. I believe that humans need to leave Earth. "These are the words of the famous scientist Stephen Hawking, spoken at a science festival in 2017.

   ▲    Many experts also think that the only way for humans to go far into the future is to take control of other planets. Mars(火星) is one of the most attractive places humans have thought about. NASA, the United Arab Emirates, the private company SpaceX, and the organization Mars One all have plans to send humans there. "Either we spread out to other planets, or we risk dying out, "SpaceX founder Elon Musk said.

But not everyone agrees that moving to Mars or other planets is such a great plan. The most common argument against spreading is that it's just too expensive or dangerous. It will take a lot of money and other effort just to get people there, let alone set up a place for them to live. It's not even clear if humans could survive(生存) on Mars.

Maybe all the time and money people would pour into a Mars program would be better spent on more urgent ones here on Earth, like dealing with environmental protection. Some experts argue that dealing with a problem while staying here on Earth would be much easier and less expensive than surviving on a new planet.

What's more, moving to a new planet could harm or destroy(破坏) anything that already lives there. Mars seems deserted, but it could possibly have microbial life. Human visitors may destroy this life or change or damage the environment on Mars forever. Some feel it's too much of a risk to leave Earth.

You should always support (支持) your kids and their natural talents. And if you do this, great things will happen.

That's what 9-year-old Joe Whale's parents thought when they encouraged their son to keep drawing, even though he got into trouble for doodling during class. They sent Joe to an after-school art class and his artistic abilities were quickly noticed by those around him.

Now, Joe is known as The Doodle Boy and has his own website, as well as social media pages showing off his fantastic art. We spoke to Joe's dad Greg about his son's artistic talents. According to Greg, his son has always loved drawing and was a talented artist in primary school at age 4.

Also, Greg had some advice for parents who want their kids to develop their talents: "I would advise parents to encourage their children to always follow their passion (酷爱) and dreams. "He said, "When their kids get into trouble for something at school, some parents tend to shut that behavior down. However, others know what to do with a talent that needs creative space to grow, so they give them what they need. "

Joe's teacher realized his talent and posted his work on Instagram. His drawings caught the eye of the" Number 4" Restaurant in Shrewsbury, which asked him to come over and decorate (装饰)their walls with his doodles. Now, his dad drives him there so he can draw his heart eat. Who knew that drawing in an after-class program would lead Joe to get his first job at only 9 years old "They wanted to get Joe into their restaurant to complete an art piece in their main dining area so we have been going there after school for a couple of hours a night and he gets a chance to put his creativity on their wall," Greg said.

According to the website, Self-Sufficient Kids, it's unbelievably important to support whatever talents and dreams your children might have; even if what they're good at doesn't match your imagination of their future.

A cross-country mountain marathon in northwest China's Gansu Province on May 22nd has turned into a public safety accident. According to the local government, 21 runner died from hypothermia(体温过低症) after being hit by extreme weather.

Hypothermia is one of the biggest challenges of outdoor activities. It means cooling, or even freezing of the body.

The cooling could be fast enough to kill a person. Outside air temperature doesn't have to be very low. In fact, hypothermia can happen when the temperature is 50℉(华氏), and it often does.

For the body to run well, its temperature must stay about 98.6℉. People produce(生产) more heat than they need. In hypothermia, however, the body loses more heat than it produces. This condition often happens when a person gets wet.

One of the most terrible accidents that can happen to a fisherman is to fall into the sea and become wet.

Wind also makes heat loss faster. The wind cools the water. At 50℉, water is terribly cold. If a person's clothes are wet, heat moves rapidly from the body to the water.

Whenever you're outside, keep dry. Wear rain clothes. While you're moving—hiking or skiing, for example—your body makes a lot more heat than it does when you're resting. However, you may find that once you stop hiking, your production(产量) of body heat may drop suddenly by as much as 50 percent. You may start to shiver and become unable to control the shivering. You may turn into hypothermia: your speech will slow, you won't remember well, and you will find you cannot hold things. You may become too tired, but you must not sleep—or you might die.

In one country, a poor man told the king, "My daughter can make straw (稻草) into gold." The king called the girl to the palace (宫殿) and kept her in a tower, saying, "Make all this straw into gold or I'll keep you in the tower forever."

The girl started to cry. She couldn't make straw into gold. Suddenly, an ugly imp (小精灵) appeared. "I can help you to turn straw into gold," he said. "Give me all your money and I'll do it for you." The girl gave him all her money and the imp changed the straw into gold.

The next day, the girl thought，"I'm going to be free now," but the same thing happened. This time, the imp helped her and took the girl's ring. On the third night, the girl had nothing to offer him. Finally, thinking she was never going to be free, the girl agreed to give him her first child. The next day, the king was happy with the gold. He married the girl and made her queen.

Some time later, the queen had a baby. The imp appeared, and the queen didn't want to offer him her child but all of her treasure.

However, the imp said, "I will give you a chance. If you can guess my name in three days, you can keep your child."

The queen sent people out to collect everybody's names. She guessed hundreds of names but failed. Finally, one man found the imp's house. lie listened to the imp singing his name ...

When the imp came back to the palace, the queen asked, 4<Is your name Frederick? Benedict?…Archibald?" Then she had one more guess, "Is your name RumpelstiUskin?"

The angry imp ran away ... and they never heard from him or saw him again.

Ways to Reduce (减少) Food Waste Food bank

Many countries have food banks. People and food stores can give extra (额外的）food to them and they can give the food to those in need. Shanghai Oasis opened China first food bank in 2015. In five years, it saved 7 million tons of food and helped 760,000 people, Xinhua reported.

Buy ugly food

Many fruits and vegetables go to waste because they look ugly. For example, about 25 to 30 percent of carrots don't make it to the store because of their looks, the UN said So try to buy ugly food next time, as it is just as good as "normal" food.

Order dishes with the "N-l" formula (公式).

Many Chinese restaurants are telling people to order dishes by using the "N-l" formula. "N" stands for the number of people in your group. So if you're in a group of six people, you should order five dishes.

A new study has found that elephant seals have to work very hard to stay fat. It's the most complete study of the feeding behavior*of northern elephant seals.

Scientists paid special attention to the female* elephant seals during difficult two-month trips, in the northeastern Pacific Ocan. Researchers studied 48female elephant seals from Afo Nuevo State Park in California as they traveled large ocean distances. Their trip was around 6, 000 kilometers.

Scientists based their findings on data collected in 2011 and 2018. They used three small devices*.

One device, attached*under the jaw, counted the number of times the seals fed and measured their depth. A second satellite-linked device，attached to the head，followed the seals' ocean movements. The third device was a "smart" video camera and another depth sensor. It was also attached to the head.

The seals were found to spend about 20 hours every day - and sometimes a full 24 hours – in continuous deep-diving to feed on fish. They fed 1, 000 to 2, 000 times daily to stay fat, necessary for warmth in the cold waters. They eat huge amounts of small fish, but it is difficult for them to catch enough small fish to meet the energy needs of their large bodies. 

Taiki Adachi of the University of St Andrews in Scotland led the study, said about the female elephant seals:

"They keep diving, for long periods of time, with only a few minutes breathing at the surface. "Adachi noted that the seals do not come back to land for their two-month trip. "According to our record of foraging, their time for sleeping is less than 20 percent of the day, "he added. 

Northern elephant seals give birth in California and Baja California, usually on offshore islands, from December to March. During their mating season, they do not eat. During this period they lose about a third of their body weight.

Red noses are usually for clowns. But in the UK, there is a Red Nose Day(RND). It's the day when people across the land get together to raise money for the poor in the UK and Africa. It is a huge charity event in the UK. Every two years in spring, huge slogans for RND can be seen all around. On that day, many English people put on a red nose, make a fool of themselves and do 'silly' things to make themselves and others laugh. Examples of 'silly' things you can do are:

Invite friends round to your house to watch funny films. They have to pay to watch the films —those with the most comfortable chairs pay more — and for food and drinks.

Hold a talent show at school and ask your friends and teachers to sing, dance or tell jokes. Sell tickets for the show to the rest of the school.

Have a 'red nose party' at your house. All your friends come dressed in red - of course with a red nose - and you serve red foods and drinks. If they don't wear red, they have to pay a fine, which goes to help the people in need."

Get the students at your school to make funny sculptures, using all kinds of art materials. Sell tickets to your Red Nose Day exhibition.

People can buy a red nose at supermarkets，and part of the money goes to Comic Relief, an organization that helps people in need. The organization has helped people for more than 20 years now. And how much money have they collected? More than f600 million! The idea of Red Nose Day has travelled to other countries too. In New Zealand, for example, people have made big red noses which they put on the fronts of cars and even buildings!