相关试卷

内容包括：
1. 建议礼物：旗袍和中国结；
2. 说明选择礼物的原因；
3. 表达祝福。

参考词汇：旗袍cheongsam；中国结Chinese knot

要求：
1. 词数：80左右；
2. 可合理增加细节，以使行文连贯。

The summer solstice (夏至) has been widely recognized  a festival throughout the world.

The word solstice originates from the Latin sol and sistere, (mean) "sun-standing". As the days lengthen, the sun rises higher and higher until it seems (stand) still in the sky. It is one of the great turning (point) of the year, when the sun is at its (high) point in the sky during a year.

Today, the day is celebrated around the world. In England thousands gather to welcome the sunrise on the summer solstice. Throughout Europe groups light a fire and stay up all night to welcome the dawn. In Paris, the day (mark) with free concerts during the every year's Fete de la Musique. When it comes the U.S., the city of Santa Barbara in California holds the country's biggest celebration lasts a full three-day time. On the East Coast, New York City (traditional) welcomes the summer solstice with a music concert at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine.

In the southern part of China, Eating lychees (荔枝) druing the summer solstice is a long tradition because eating lychees will cause less "heat" to the body. There is a saying in Shangdong Province that (go), "Eating dumplings on the winter solstice day and eating noodles on the summer solstice day."

Bill used to be a sailor and oil field engineer. His hands were rough and had ugly 1  left by pulling on ropes as a sailor off the coast of Maine. Bill enjoyed watching baseball games and he found more time for it after he retired.

In Bill's eyes, baseball was a game 2 details, mental sharpness, and patience, and instructing young men needed the same abilities. There were boys in the neighborhood who played on the high school baseball team and he was their 3 visitor. Whether on summer evenings under the lights or in the mid-afternoon sun. Bill was always the one to 4 on time. In the beginning, he simply sat and 5 them. After a good play, Bill would give a thumbs-up sign. A(n) 6 would earn a smile that meant, "You'll get another chance!" He communicated with the boys in such silent language.

Gradually, the boys got used to Bill's 7 and became acquainted (相识的) with him. They were curious about his scarred (有疤痕的) hands and began to 8 his past. He talked about his 9 of floating on the sea and in search of new oil fields. They were long and 10 stories, all about friendship, helping each other, and remaining hopeful despite hardship, and also about how a boy 11 a man. If need be. Bill would take time to demonstrate some basic skills to some slow learners. Over and over again, Bill took the trouble to 12 each detail until the players were skillful.

Time flew. What Bill taught was deeply rooted in the boys, hearts and they could play wonderfully in the races. Bill thought he was too old and had nothing to teach them. It was time for him to 13 . However, the boys saw it 14 . They told Bill that he and his fighting spirit had long been part of their team. Nearly everyone on the team learned to expect a little more from themselves 15  Bill was there.

Brainstorming is a method for thinking of ideas and creating plans through open discussion, usually in a group setting.  It encourages people to consider all possibilities and become more creative. The process lets team members develop the best solution to a problem. Well, how can we brainstorm effectively?

Visualize your goal. Keep to the point during your brainstorming session by having a visual representation of your goal. Think about your ideal outcome or purpose.  Every time you see it, it can remind you of the original point of the conversation, allowing you and others to adjust your focus and remain productive.

 During a brainstorming session, focus on listing as many thoughts and ideas as you can. Instead of thinking of a few in-depth ideas, try to produce many simple ideas that you can work on later. Having a large number of ideas from a brainstorming session can provide you with a useful outline for future projects and allow you to recognize which ideas have the most potential.

Document the discussion. Because brainstorming involves quickly producing multiple ideas, documentation can help you reference them later and analyze the full scope of the discussion. How can you effectively document your brainstorming session? Use an audio (录音的) recorder to record words. Write down detailed notes. 

Schedule multiple brainstorming sessions. This gives you time between meetings to do additional research and planning, giving you ideas for future sessions and making them more productive. It also helps prevent creative burnout, allowing you to return to your ideas with a fresh view. You can do the activity every Friday, for example.

A. Share inspiration.

B. Promote a variety of ideas.

C. Brainstorming can be important.

D. Express your thoughts and ideas bravely.

E. Then write it down in an eye-catching spot.

F. So, if necessary, brainstorm on a regular basis.

G. You can even photograph certain information to better understand it.

Canaries (small yellow songbirds) are more sensitive to carbon monoxide (CO) than people are. Thus they were routinely taken into mines as men went about their work of mining for coal. CO could quickly poison many miners before they even knew what was happening. If a Canary stopped singing, this was an indicator of rising CO levels. Now ecologists think they've found a "canary" that could predict possible disaster for tropical (热带的) ecosystems — the cricket (a small brown jumping insect).

Crickets are tiny, present in large numbers and, most importantly, noisy. The chirps (唧唧叫声) of individual species are identifiably different. Researchers had previously wondered if ecosystems might be monitored by listening to how the sounds of their crickets change over time.

Amandine Gasc and her colleagues studied cricket populations on Grande Terre Island in New Caledonia, where multiple ecosystems often exist very near to each other. They collected crickets at 12 sampling sites. Four were healthy forest sites, four were shrubland (灌木地) areas, of the sort that is often created when people cut down forests, and four were shrubland areas that were turning into forests again. They listened for insects in square zones and ran ten 30-minute collection sessions (five in the day and five at night) at each site.

Dr. Gasc described how each ecosystem had, in effect, a distinct "cricket fingerprint". Species richness varied considerably among the different environments. Of the 20 cricket species found in the healthy forest, 12 were unique to that habitat alone, 2 of the 15 species found in transitioning forests were unique to this habitat and 3 of the 7 shrubland species were unique to shrubland.

Just by looking at the crickets found in a given location, the team found that it was possible to determine whether they were looking at shrubland, forest or shrubland that was changing into the forest. There was no need to examine the other surrounding plants or animals.

What's more, Dr. Gasc's team found each habitat contained cricket species that generated their identifiable chirps. This suggests that setting up audio recorders in forests that pick up cricket calls will be an easy, cheap and accurate way to detect the early stages of change in tropical ecosystems.

Most people often listen to music near bedtime to relax. But can that actually cause your sleep to suffer? When sleep researcher Michael Scullin realized that he was waking in the middle of the night with a song stuck in his head, he saw an opportunity. He decided to study a rarely-explored mechanism (机制): how music — and particularly songs stuck in one's head — might affect sleep patterns.

Scullin said, "Everyone knows that music listening feels good. Young adults routinely listen to music near bedtime. Thus, they are easy to experience ‘earworms' — involuntary musical imagery. It's a condition where a song or tune will replay over and over in our mind, and our brains continue to process music even when none is playing, including apparently while we are asleep."

Scullin's recent study included a survey and a laboratory experiment. The survey involved 209 participants who completed a series of surveys on sleep quality, music listening habits and earworm frequency. In the 50-participant experimental study, the research team played three popular and catchy songs before bedtime. They randomly assigned participants to listen to the original versions of those songs or the instrumental versions of the songs. And then they used polysomnography (PSG) — a comprehensive test of sleep — to record the participants' brain waves, heart rates, breathing and more while they were sleeping.

The study showed that people who experience earworms regularly at night are six times as likely to have poor sleep quality as people who rarely experience earworms. "Almost everyone thought music improves sleep but we have found that those who listen to more music sleep worse," Scullin said. "What's really surprising is that instrumental music leads to worse sleep quality, including greater difficulty falling asleep, more nighttime awakenings, and more time in light stages of sleep. And instrumental music leads to about twice as many earworms."

To get rid of an earworm, engaging in cognitive (认知的) activity — fully focusing on a task, helps to distract your brain from earworms if you don't want to totally quit your music hobbies (listening to less music before bed is still encouraged). A previous study found that participants who spent five minutes writing down upcoming tasks before bed slept better.

Angela Guzman was born in Bogota, Colombia. At the age of 8, she moved to a tiny island in South Florida. The contrast was pretty vast. She didn't speak any English, so she met with lots of challenges. At school, she would get stuck because she couldn't understand or be understood. She thought, "Well, everyone understands a picture! Why don't I start drawing to communicate?" That was what she did. She tried hard to create pictures to show her meanings exactly, and then she became known as the artist in the classroom, from third grade through her whole years of secondary schooling. Later she chose to study design in college.

When Angela began her work in a big company, she was tasked with designing emojis — the company's very first. At first, she intended to refuse the task because she had no idea what the word meant and what emojis would be used for. Her mentor said that the emoji was an icon (图标), an image, or a type of illustration, sharing joy, surprise, anger, fear, sorrow, love and so on.

Angela then began to study microexpressions of humans and simplify or exaggerate (夸大) them in an illustrative manner. For example, the eyebrows make a V in anger and an upside down V in surprise. When she designed object emojis, she often turned to real-life items. She went to the party supply store, buying party poppers (派对烟花) to watch how the colorful paper pieces came out, and how light reflected off them. They were hard to capture, but Angela tried to make it.

Later, the tiny icons Angela and her mentor created were born and soon used by millions of people. When people praised Angela for her emoji design, she replied, "Actually, it's an experience that teaches me a lot. One major thing is empathy (共鸣) for communities worldwide. I pay close attention to the symbolism of color and the cultural symbolism overall. I think the cultural questions are important. For example, how do we make sure that every culture, every accent, or every person that speaks to these devices feels included? That was something I struggled with early on. This kind of thinking allowed my mind to be inclusive and mindful of everyone who would use the product."

Four best thrift stores (旧货店) in New York

El Barrio Thrift Store

Address: 2123 2nd Ave, NY

Opening Hours: 10:30am-5:30pm, Mon.-Fri.; 12:30pm-5:30pm, Sat.; Closed, Sun.

If you're looking for furniture or items to decorate your home, this is absolutely the place for you. It's a great thrift shop to stop in while you're hunting for vintage (复古) treasures. You will always be surprised at some of the amazing things it offers, so make sure you stop by to have a look!

L Train Vintage

Address: Multiple Locations

Opening Hours: 12:00pm-7:00pm: every day

This is a cool family-owned vintage brand popular with vintage shoppers since its opening in 1999. You can always find well-priced outerwear and sweaters, so it's a good choice to visit the store when winter is approaching. You can usually find all sizes there, which makes it the perfect place for anyone to check out!

Cure Thrift Shop

Address: 91 3rd Ave, NY

Opening Hours: 11:00am-9:00pm, every day

This is one of those great thrift stores in New York for a good cause — profits benefit diabetes (糖尿病) research. It's a surprising place to shop for secondhand clothing, household items, and even furniture. Prices can be a bit higher than those in some other thrift stores, but there are lots of deals if you know what you're looking for!

Beacon's Closet

Address: Multiple Locations

Opening Hours: 11:00am-8:00pm, every day

Beacon's Closet is an amazing establishment with locations in Manhattan and Brooklyn, and is another one that supports charities and gives back. You can buy, sell, and even exchange cool vintage pieces. It has everything you can imagine, including some famous brand names, so you'll definitely find something that you fall in love with.

"I have to be home earlier than all my friends," my teenage son, Jordan, said. "I' m seventeen years old, and I still have a curfew(宵禁). Legally, I'm practically an adult."

"You're not an adult," I said. "You're still in high school." "None of my friends had a curfew. You don't trust me." "It's not about trust," I said. "It's about wanting what's best for you. I want to protect you." "Protect me from what? Having fun?"

I sighed. How could I make Jordan see that I only wanted the best for him? I decided to go for a walk. I opened the front door and nearly stepped on him: a small black cat with a white-tipped tail. "Hi, Meatball," I said, scooping him into my arms. "Are you ready to come back inside?"

Meatball usually seemed happy enough to come in the house, but after an hour or two, he sat by the door, meowing to go back outside. "Why won't he just stay in with us all the time?" Nathan asked. "Because he's used to living outside," I said.

Jordan's curfew had become an ongoing discussion that rarely ended well for either of us. I decided to ignore his comment. Thankfully, he didn't say anything else.

One night in January, temperatures were usually low. Meatball stood at the door, meowing to go outside. "It' s too cold out there, Bud," I said. "You'll freeze." He stared at me and meowed again. "Mom's not being mean to you," Nathan told the cat. "She's just trying to keep you from turning into a frozen Meatball." We both laughed at his joke.

The next morning, I couldn't find Meatball. Jordan said, "I let him out last night." It took me several minutes to find him curled in a tiny ball beneath my husband's car. I picked him up, unsure if he was alive or dead. While I called the vet, Jordan warmed towels in the dryer and wrapped them around Meatball.

"I'm sorry, Buddy," I heard him say over and over again. "Mom was right. Even though you didn't want to, I should have made you stay inside where it was safe."

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 I drove to the vet's office, Jordan sat in the back, holding Meatball inside his coat for warmth. 

On the drive home, Jordan surprisingly apologized to me. 

The custom of lighting up flower lamps during the Lantern Festival has a history of over 2,000 years in China. Various kinds of flower lamps with diverse styles are popular in different parts across the country. According to some Chinese folk customs,  the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, (witness) by a full moon hanging high above the sky, people will light up various lanterns at night to celebrate. It is the time for the whole family  (enjoy) the bright moon, fire firecrackers, guess lantern riddles, eat the rice glue balls and celebrate the holiday (joyful). As a form of art, the Chinese flower lamp combines  variety of skills, procedures, decoration methods and raw materials. Typical flower lamp includes the dragon lamp, the palace lamp and the dragon- phoenix lamp, etc.

Today,  (economy) development and social progress provide the (motivate) for upgrading designs and creative styles of lamps. Whether paper lamps, electric lamps  LED lamps, flower lamps have seen the changes of time.  has never changed, however, is craftsmanship. Flower lamp is more than a handicraft; It's also an inheritance. Watching flower lamps has become a culture, which  (pass) down from generation to generation.

I was waiting in a checkout line. A woman and two boys were ahead of me. At the cash desk, a white-haired man had begun to1 his goods. Then came the question. Sometimes it's a customer with multiple coupons (优惠券), or someone who forgot to2 a piece of fruit. Fair enough. One waited.

But today, it was something else. The man didn't have3 money. So he began the process of choosing which4 to keep and which to hand back. He paused over each one before keeping or5 it. We waited. Longer lines surged ahead.

6 , his7 came to an end. The man turned back to us as he left,8 and apologetic. We waved off his chagrin (懊恼). It could happen to anyone.

But I had no idea just how9 the family of three ahead of me were until their turn came. The woman asked the cashier to add all the10 goods to her bill as quickly as possible. Then the two boys11 through the exit with the small bag of groceries. When they returned, it was clear that their mission had been12 .

Then I13 all it took to witness this flash of14 was waiting a little longer in a checkout line. I could have caught the bus. But I felt so15 on my feet that I walked home instead.

People love to sing! Whether you sing in the shower or with a chorus, raising your voice in song comes with some very surprising benefits. From improving your mood to making you healthier, there is scientific evidence that singing is good for your body and your mind. 

It helps relieve stress.

Singing can help relieve stress by reducing cortisol(皮质醇), a hormone that is known as the "stress hormone".  Too much cortisol is very bad for your health. A study measured the amount of cortisol in the participants before and after singing. The researchers found that cortisol levels were lower after singing.

People who sing use deep breathing and control the use of the muscles in their breathing systems. While singing cannot treat lung diseases, anything that helps to strengthen the throat muscles could help people breathe easier.

It helps you have a sound sleep.

If your sleep is interrupted by snoring(打鼾), try singing.  A 2008 UK study about the effect of singing on snoring compared singers with non-singers. The researchers found that far fewer singers snored, and they recommend singing as a potential treatment for snoring.

It may improve memory.

 A study found that besides remembering the lyrics(歌词), singing brought back other memories too. The researchers found that singing songs that were learned in childhood actually caused a return of very specific memories and that gave the participants a feeling of hope and positivity.

As many as 300 million full-time jobs throughout the world could be automated in some way by the newest wave of artificial intelligence that has made platforms like ChatGPT, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

In a report Sunday, they predicted that 18% of work globally could be computerized, with the effects caused more deeply in advanced economies than emerging markets. That's partly because white-collar workers are seen to be more at risk than manual laborers. Administrative workers and lawyers are expected to be most affected, the economists said, compared to the "little effect" seen on physically demanding or outdoor occupations, such as construction and repair work.

In the United States and Europe, about two-thirds of current jobs "are exposed to some degree of AI automation", and up to a quarter of all work could be done by AI completely, the bank estimates.

Further use of such AI will likely contribute to job losses, the Goldman Sachs economists wrote. But they noted that technological innovation that initially displaces workers has historically also created employment growth in the long run.

While workplaces may shift, widespread adoption of Al could ultimately increase labor productivity — and boost global GDP by 7% annually over a 10-year period, according to Goldman Sachs economists.

"Although the impact of AI on the labor market is likely to be significant, most jobs and industries are only partially exposed to automation and are thus more likely to be complemented rather than replaced by AI," the economists added. "Most workers are employed in occupations that are partially exposed to AI automation and, following AI adoption, will likely apply at least some of their freed-up capacity toward productive activities that increase output."

Of US workers expected to be affected, for instance, 25% to 50% of their workload "can be replaced," the researchers added. "The combination of significant labor cost savings, new job creation, and a productivity boost for non-displaced workers raises the possibility of a labor productivity boom like those that followed the emergence of earlier general-purpose technologies like the electric motor and personal computer."

On Wednesday, a search team called Endurance 22 announced that it had located the wreck (沉船) Endurance. The Endurance was found 1. 87 miles below the ocean's surface, about four miles south of its last known location near Antarctica. The ship sank after it got trapped in the ice in the Weddell Sea in 1915.

The discovered ship is still in excellent shape. The name can be clearly read on the back of the ship. Its wheel looks ready to be turned. Even though the ship is made of wood and is over 100 years old, it has survived with little damage. Scientists say that the small organisms (微生物) that normally break down wooden objects underwater don't live in cold water around Antarctica.

The Endurance 22 is led by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust. The team ran the project from an ice-breaking ship which was able to handle the difficult conditions of the Weddell Sea. To locate the Endurance, the team used two underwater robots called Sabertooths, which were especially useful, since they could travel under the ice and go where the ship could not. The robots were looking for anything sticking up above the seafloor. For the last two weeks, the Sabertooths robots have been scanning the seafloor in a 150-square mile area around the Endurance's last known location. Last Saturday, the ship was found. After the ship was located, the Sabertooths used high-quality cameras and scanners to record the Endurance in detail.

The Endurance is expected to remain untouched. Antarctica's waters are protected by an international agreement which means the ship can't be disturbed. The Endurance 22 team plans to create a digital 3D model of the wreck site, using a careful scan they made. This will allow scientists to study the ship in detail without disturbing it.

Over the years, when a book has spoken to me with particular power, I have put pen to paper and send word off to the author, communicating what their work meant to me.

It all started in my 18th year, when I was entertaining my own imagination of success as a writer. I was full of high expectations, believing that becoming an author was simply a matter of putting my thoughts onto paper, sending the works to a publisher and waiting for fame to come. Then came the great disappointment. I wrote to famous children's author Lloyd Alexander, describing my fruitless yearlong effort at publication and asking him for direction. To my joy, he answered: "Advice is always very easy to give — but very hard to make it specific and meaningful, since we all have to work in our own ways. When you mention that you've been writing for a year without being published, I hasten to tell you that I wrote seven times that long without being published! So, perhaps one piece of advice is: Patience."

I was encouraged by the idea that a well-regarded writer would take the time to offer a bit of advice to an overconfident teen. But Mr. Alexander was not a singular case. But when I did get one, the content was often filled with consideration and even, at times, affection.

I think of the American poet William Stafford, who replied to me from Lake Oswego, Oregon. We actually had an ongoing correspondence (通信) for a while. I wrote to him asking if he would be so kind as to autograph one of his books for me. His reply brought an immediate smile to my face: "I am eagerly ready to autograph and return a book — it makes me feel like an author."

Check out these places and have the vacation of a lifetime in Greece!

Lovely Ithaca

Located on the Ionian Sea, Ithaca is a combination of the greenest landscapes in Greece, the most wonderful swimming waters and a lively local atmosphere. When going around the narrow island, you will be attracted by the hilltop village Stavros and the beautiful fishing village Frikes. For motorists, Kaminia beach, hidden in a peaceful cove, is the perfect destination for a day of relaxation.

Breathtaking Meteora

Although when you go to Greece, you often go to the beaches and islands, one of the must-visit destinations in Greece is definitely the breathtakingly beautiful Meteora, located on the mainland next to the village of Kalabaka. It is a natural attraction and the second most important monastic area in Greece, which is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Meteora's landscape is made special by the rocks shaped like columns (柱状物) over time, on which the Monasteries (修道院) of the area were built around the 14th and 16th centuries.

Ios — the favorite destination of the future

Ios may be left out of many people's plans as it is known as a party island, but in fact the party season only lasts from about half of June to mid-August. In the off-season, the island is very quiet compared to popular destinations such as Santorini. Of course, Ios is an absolute destination for party-goers even in midsummer. Ios is dotted with a number of small churches. What makes Ios interesting is its setting for an ideal holiday without crowds and noise. Here is a guaranteed hit of the future, waiting to be discovered!