湖北省武汉市武昌区2023-2024学年上学期期末考试九年级英语试题

— ____. I will take yours instead. 

— ____. When I don't need to rush, I'd like to see it by bike.

— ____, but these days I'm too busy with the English contest.

—My pleasure. Friends can always count on each other. 

—Lamb. It is excellent for providing my body with energy and protection ____ the cold. 

—I can't agree more. Sincerity is the base of friendship.

—Don't worry. This lesson is just right for a ____ beginner. Just be confident.

—Yeah, that's true. The proper direction is like a light in the dark.

—We all have a high opinion of him. He is sure to win the hearts of most classmates. 

—Thailand ____ the list, followed by Paris and then London. 

—Wait. There are still a few minutes left. Your answers ____ be right, but it's better to check to make sure.

—Yes. Our city life is becoming smarter and easier. 

—It's about the magical plants. Scientists have found out that plants feel the pain when they are touched or hurt and ____ a terrible smell.

"Are you okay?" My brother Matthew asked from the driver's seat. At that moment, we hung upside down, trapped by our seat belts and1 in sand. Off-roading (越野驾驶) on 85, 000 acres of dunes (沙丘) in California had become our 2 and we enjoyed ourselves every time. But this time, I felt the blood 3 to my head, my heart beating like a loud bass (低音吉他). It reminded me of the four bass-loving brothers who lived across from us. As a little girl, I often wondered if Matthew and I would ever have their 4 .

When Matthew found out he was to have a baby brother, he was very 5 . But to everyone's surprise, "It's a girl!" His disappointment was clear.

As soon as I could walk, my big brother was 6 to me, my idol. However, to him, I was an annoyance (令人厌烦的人), 7 he found pleasure in tormenting (折磨) me. Yet, I put up with it. Waiting for moments when he'd 8 from his loneliness.

The sibling (兄弟姐妹) relationship often lasts the longest in our lives. After learning that I missed him, Matthew unexpectedly invited me to 9  him at university. 

In his room, he handed me a drink. We didn't need many words: as siblings, we had a/an 10 way of chatting.

Years later, when I was left out from the family Thanksgiving, he refused to 11  without me. Instead, we had dinner just the two of us. 

My big brother, once a tormentor, had become my 12 and friend. After our off-roading accident, I saw him13 —easily hurt and unprotected.

"Are you okay? Are you bleeding?" I checked him. The man I'd seen as14 was now human, fragile (脆弱的).

As we got ourselves 15  upright, I realized it was time for me to be his protector. I looked at my big brother, and we both smiled. Without him, my life would be unimaginably different. It was my turn to protect him. Thankfully, our shared bond had grown even deeper. 

Hands and feet can easily get cold in winter. Thick gloves might be a good choice, yet sometimes wearing them is inconvenient, especially when people want to do something with their hands. However, this was not a problem for ancient Chinese people, who had a fine tool to keep their hands warm —hand warmers.

About the origin (起源), there is no exact written record, but  ★ . One folk story is about Emperor Yang from the Sui Dynasty visiting Jiangsu in the winter. Due to the bitter cold, craftsmen (工匠) were required to make a small warmer for the emperor to hold in hand. Thus the hand warmer was created. Later in the Song Dynasty, the tool was in widespread use. Skills for producing the tool were widely employed in the Ming and Qing dynasties. And many books recorded people using hand warmers. The Dream of the Red Chamber, the classic novel by Cao Xueqin from the Qing Dynasty, described a servant sending a hand warmer to Lin Daiyu in one chapter. 

Made of different materials, ancient hand warmers had lots of fine designs, such as pumpkins, flowers and turtle shells. The designs preferred animals or symbols with good meanings. Inside a hand warmer, there were burning charcoal (木炭) or simple coals. Some coals were blended with broken pieces and pressed into flower shapes, giving off a pleasant smell when burnt. 

This useful and fine tool is a symbol of craftsmanship of ancient China. 

"Is there anything you want from Grandma's apartment?" My uncle, texting me, last week.

His mum had passed away the week before, aged 96. He'd begun the painful yet necessary task of dividing her things: keep, sell, donate.

I answered without thinking. "Yes, I would like her aloe (芦荟) in the orange pot, please. "

Sometime around 1975, Grandma received this plant from a local cook as a gift. It could, I suppose, just be anything like a calendar, or a pen, or a box of biscuits. But it just happened to be a plant, which Grandma, who always had green fingers, appreciated and placed in her doorway. 

Five years later, my mum married the cook's son. And had me.

When my father's mother died in 1993, Grandma told me how this plant was different from the other ones she had in her home. It helped to keep a good relationship between the two sides of the family.

In recent years, whenever we visited Grandma's apartment, I would show it to my children. "Look at this, it was a gift your great-grandma bought for your other great-grandma! Before they became relatives!"

Many times, Grandma gave me cuttings of this plant, in the hope that I might grow another. Yet, every time, I failed to take care of my offshoots (分支). Aloe is hardy (适应力强). However, if you over-water or under-water it, it dies. It doesn't mix well with dogs or under-heated flooring. In short, with my skills, I'm better off with a plastic one from a supermarket.

But that didn't use to matter, because I could ask Grandma for another cutting and try again Now I can't. So straight after I asked my uncle for this plant, I came up with the idea: the plant will go and live with Ann, my wife's mother, who can grow plants well and keep hold of Grandma's aloe—at least until I can be trusted to look after its offshoots. Then maybe one day I can confidently place the mother plant in my own home. At the same time, Ann will spread cuttings among her family members, as Grandma used to do.

As we know, Yunnan is a kingdom of wild fungi (真菌) that can be eaten. But do you know that fungi play an important role in environment? And they are a source (来源) of food and medicine. But w  do we know little about them? 

About two million kinds of fungi-more than 90% of all-have yet to be (describe) by science, according to Rebecca Morelle, a science reporter for the BBC. In the UK alone, there are thought to be around 25, 000 kinds of fungi -five or six (time) more than plants. Scientists are trying to find out more about this largely unknown world, but it is challenging. Dr Martyn Ainsworth, a senior researcher from Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, says, "We can grow a c number in the lab, but there are a lot of fungi we cannot grow in the lab. This has (hold) back our research. "

The fact that we know so little about fungi l many of us to misunderstand them. A lot of people are a of fungi. But only a very small percent of fungi in the world can c disease. Most are harmless, called by some "the hidden helpers of our environment". Some fungi provide food and shelter (庇护处) wildlife, help plants take in water and nutrients (营养) and recycle (回收利用) waste and dead matter. O fungi grow on the roots of trees and plants, forming a huge underground network that helps trees to grow. Fungi are really the behind-the-scenes team that are doing all the work.

So, next time you add mushrooms to your dinner, take a painkiller for a headache, or go for a walk through the woods, remember to thank the living things that make it all possible- fungi. 

内容提示：1. What was your difficulty? 2. How did you get over the difficulty?3. What have you learned from it? 

注意：文中不得透露个人真实信息；词数60-80；标题和开头己给出，不计入总词数。

How to get over difficulty

No one can lead a life without difficulty.