湖南省衡阳市第八中学2025-2026学年高三上学期期中考试英语试题

How to use the newsletter

The stories covered in the newsletter range from breaking news to more evergreen content which you will be able to go back to according to your students' needs. The newsletter itself has several parts.

INTRO: A short paragraph describing what the news is about. You might need to read it out to students or it may also serve as a reference point to you, depending on the activities that go with the particular piece of news.

ACTIVITY: A task or tasks for students to work on in the classroom. Each newsletter contains a set of questions related to the news. You might ask students to discuss all of them or just some of them. If you teach lower-level students, use the easier questions or just ask students to say what they think about the news. Other activities might include completing headlines, commenting on pictures, reporting what students have heard about the news, etc.

Subscribe to the newsletter

If you are an Unlimited or a Premium user and you're subscribed to our newsletters, the News for Classroom Use newsletter will drop into your mailbox every Wednesday.

We brought Comet home that day. He soon fell ill and grew alarmingly weak — his ribs stuck out, his eyes swelled, and his fur dulled. He became so fragile that I feared touching him, though he clearly needed care.

Some years later, I went home one afternoon after having had an emotional breakdown. My whole life was upside down. I felt hollow, dead, an empty shell of a person. I had no idea what pieces were even worth picking up again.

I found Comet curled up in a corner that afternoon. He'd been asleep, but he lifted his head and looked at me when I came in. I reached a hand toward him. He nuzzled it, immediately burst into a deep, loud purr, and gave me a perfectly content cat grin. I moved my hand down to scratch his back and sides, and he stretched luxuriously, giving me looks of absolute adoration.

At that point, it hit me: this cat loved me. The cat I didn't want, the cat I couldn't bear to take care of when his life depended on it, loved me. And he would always love me. No matter what was going on in my life, Comet would still look up from a nap when I entered the room, would still love to be touched by me.

I believe love issteadfast. I believe that real love, whether it comes from your families, or a shelter cat, is offered determinedly and unconditionally. Love is what enables us to pick up the pieces of our broken lives and go on.

If you've experienced anything like the above anecdote, you're not alone. People responding "maybe" to invitations is a common yet annoying aspect of social life. What goes on in people's heads when they aren't sure whether to accept an invitation? Social invitations can be a delicate dance. People often misread what someone extending an invitation wants to hear and overestimate an inviter's likelihood of preferring a "maybe" over a "no." Moreover, they fail to realize how much more disrespected people feel when they receive a "maybe" in response to their invitation.

Naturally, we wanted to figure out why this awkward dynamic plays out. We found that it's largely due to something called "motivated reasoning." Motivated reasoning occurs when a person interprets information in a biased (有偏差的) way to suit their own wishes. In other words, invitees convince themselves that inviters want to hear "maybe" instead of "no" because a "maybe" is better for the invitees, allowing them to leave their options open. Besides, people tend to overestimate the negative consequences of saying "no" to invitations, thinking it will upset, anger and disappoint inviters.

However, there were certain situations that made people more comfortable saying "no" to an invitation. When recipients of an invitation put themselves in the shoes of the person extending the invitation, they are more likely to realize that they'd probably prefer a definite answer. When the participants get invited to do something they didn't want to do, they had no desire to keep their options open. The motivated reasoning then became irrelevant.

While navigating social situations can be tricky, being direct and definite is sometimes best. It might reduce your options. But it'll keep those who invite you from being left uncertain and maybe they'll still think of you when the next concert comes to town.

The study, conducted by Davis, Locker, and Williams, recruited 215 undergraduates, mostly women, who completed a battery of questionnaires measuring their attitudes toward celebrities, materialistic values, and narcissistic tendencies. Participants also answered newly created questions that assessed how similar they felt to their favorite celebrity in terms of personality, appearance, or lifestyle.

Celebrity worship was assessed with the Celebrity Attitude Scale (量表). Materialism was measured by examining how much value people place on owning things, how important possessions are to their identity, and whether they believe material goods make them happier. Narcissism was measured in two forms: grandiose narcissism (characterized by confidence, entitlement, and dominance) and vulnerable narcissism (marked by insecurity, sensitivity to criticism, and a preoccupation with self-image).

The results showed a consistent relationship between celebrity worship and materialism. People who scored higher on celebrity worship also tended to place greater importance on money, status, and possessions. When it came to narcissism, only the vulnerable type, people with higher levels of emotional insecurity and self-focus, were more likely to feel strongly connected to celebrities. Most importantly, perceived similarity — whether in appearance, behavior, or personality — stood out as one of the strongest predictors of celebrity worship.

The researchers concluded, "celebrity worship is a complex construct, but perceived similarity with a favorite celebrity and vulnerable narcissism may be fruitful avenues for future research." Still, an important question remains: do people idolize celebrities because they already feel similar to them, or do they start to see themselves as similar after forming an emotional attachment?

With electric vehicles (EVs) gaining significant popularity globally — accounting for 22% of new car sales in 2024 — many passengers report experiencing increased motion sickness compared to traditional vehicles. Social media platforms are filled with such personal experiences, particularly from those riding in passenger or back seats.

A primary reason for this phenomenon is the lack of familiarity with EV motion patterns. As William Emond, a PhD researcher in France specializing in motion sickness, explains, people's brains heavily depend on past experiences to predict and interpret motion. For instance, experienced drivers naturally expect acceleration after hearing engine revs in fuel-powered cars, but EVs operate without such familiar auditory signals.

Recent research indicates that specific seat vibrations and the complete absence of traditional engine noise in EVs contribute significantly to motion discomfort. Furthermore, the regenerative braking systems — innovative technology that transforms kinetic energy (动能) into battery power — cause an unusually gradual slowdown.

Beyond this, motion sickness fundamentally occurs when the brain receives contradictory sensory signals about body movement. The inner ear, visual cues, and physical sensations send mixed messages to the brain, creating what experts call a "neural mismatch". This mechanism explains why drivers themselves rarely experience carsickness — they control and predict the vehicle's movements.
 

A. Such long-term conflict can trigger motion sickness symptoms.

B. Another contributing factor is that EV-specific features add to the problem.

C. Some manufacturers are improving suspension systems to minimize vibrations.

D. Drivers usually don't experience carsickness due to their control over the vehicle.

E. This technology lengthens the stopping process and may worsen feelings of sickness.

F. Without previous EV experience, the brain has to struggle to estimate forces accurately.

G. In regard to this phenomenon, researchers have identified several scientific explanations.

Like many children, I found comfort in1 — the joy that comes from ordinary moments2 themselves. Repetition builds a pattern that quietly3 our comfort zones. Perhaps that's why, while others struggle to recall their earliest years, I remember mine so4 — because the foundation of my childhood was messed up by a dramatic shift.

My early years were5 between two completely different parts of the world: the familiar calm of the United States and the chaos of the Philippines. My San Francisco memories are6 joys: sidewalk pigeons, ice cream, and seafood dinners with my family. Energetic and loud, I got in trouble at school for talking too much but never7 that enthusiasm.

At six, I moved to the Philippines,8 by dusty roads, no hot water and frequent power cuts. I was9 and felt "different" from locals, but I gradually10: went to school, learned the language and tried cheap street food. A candlelit night during a power failure changed me — neighbors11; I made close friends and saw inconvenience become warm12.

After four years, we returned to California, where everything felt both13 and unreal — I carried "two childhoods" inside. Those years taught me abundance and shortage coexist, and14 "less" brings more. Now, I no longer fear change — all because that early15 led me to value connection over routine.

Yang Chen-Ning: A Physics Giant

Nobel laureate and towering figure in physics, Yang Chen-Ning, passed away in Beijing at the age of 103. Tsinghua University, his long-time academic home, announced the news, honoring him "immortal" in an official obituary (讣告).

Born in 1922, Yang's academic path was anything but (convention). His most celebrated achievement came in 1957 when he and Tsung-Dao Lee were awarded the Nobel Prize for their work on parity non-conservation, discovery overturned a fundamental concept in physics. Furthermore, the Yang-Mills theory, (develop) with Robert Mills, is now recognized as a cornerstone of the Standard Model.

Beyond his scientific contributions, Yang was a pivotal figure in (bridge) China and the global scientific community. After returning for landmark visit in 1971, he consistently urged that more overseas scholars (follow) his example, earning him (recognize) as a pioneer in facilitating academic exchanges.

In his later years, Yang devoted himself (whole) to education and research at Tsinghua. His passing marks the conclusion of a century-long life. The university has proposed (establish) a museum in his honor. Yang's story continues to inspire future generations of scientists worldwide.

1.介绍"特种兵式旅游"的优缺点；

2.阐述你的看法。

注意：1.写作词数应为 80 个左右。

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

During my final year of college, I shared a small dorm room with my classmate Kim. I was never a tidy person — my side of the room always looked like a disaster area, covered with books, shirts, and single socks. Kim, on the other hand, was extremely organized. She labeled each of her drawers and even color-coded her class schedule. She arranged her pens by color and folded her sweaters according to the season; everything had its own spot. Our contrasting habits often made us irritate (惹恼) each other.

One evening in the middle of October, things reached a breaking point. After evening self-study, I casually kicked off my basketball shoes. One of them accidentally slid under Kim's bed. When she found it, her face turned bright red with anger. She picked up the shoe and threw it violently toward my side. It hit my desk lamp, knocking it over. The lamp fell to the floor, and the light bulb broke into pieces all over the pile of T-shirts I had intended to fold. I jumped up, shouting at her for being so disrespectful. She shouted back, complaining about my constant mess. We both rushed toward the door, each determined to be the first to slam (砰地关上) it shut.

We might not have come back that night if the phone hadn't rung just then. I sat on my bed, still angry. Kim picked up the phone. From her brief, unsteady responses, I could tell something was wrong. After she hung up, she crawled (匍匐) into her bed, pulled the covers over herself, and began to cry. The room suddenly fell into a heavy silence, filled with a new kind of unease.

注意：

1.续写词数应为150左右；

2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

As Kim's quiet crying reached my ears, something inside me shifted.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I was so focused that I didn't notice Kim had been watching me cleaning.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________