相关试卷

注意：1. 词数100左右；2. 开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

提示词：第19届杭州亚运会the 19th Asian Games Hangzhou

组委会the organizing committee

Dear Jim,

Yours,

Li Hua

For most 12-year-olds, any free time after school is spent hanging out with friends, competing in sports, or playing video games. But Alejandro Buxton has another dream: making all-natural candles that he sells online and at a local mall. 

The idea was inspired by his mother, who had to give up many of the scented candles she'd filled their home with after realizing the chemicals within them were worsening her allergies (过敏), causing her frequent headaches.

So, in 2019, at just 9 years old, the boy started experimenting with making his own, mixing ingredients like soy and coconut waxes with essential oils. He called his first work "Jurassic Orange," for its color and pleasant smell. Though his mother was a big fan, and the scent didn't cause her head to ache, Buxton wanted to improve upon his work.

Within the next few months, he'd developed a line of six uniquely scented candles. By the following year, during the worldwide lockdowns, he'd created his own online shop.

Soon after, Alejandro began selling his products on his own website, "Smell of Love Candles," where shoppers can find offerings with creative names like "Sage the Day!" and "Alexa, clean the house. " He also lists other products such as room sprays for sale.

According to the site, his younger sister Valentina serves as assistant of operations while his mother takes the role of assistant to the CEO. 

Now, he is operating his business in a local mall as well. This past September, he opened a stand in D. C. 's Tysons Corner shopping center—making him the youngest leaseholder (承租人) at the mall.

Besides inspiring fellow kids with his entrepreneurial spirit and talent, Alejandro is also a positive role model for giving back and making a difference: He donates a part of his profits to a local charity. 

With the experience and knowledge he's gaining from running this business at such a young age, Alejandro hopes to one day go on to create an engineering business.

In the 17th century when a British businessman heard that there were one hundred million people in China, he was determined to go there and sell spoons. He thought even if he could earn one penny for one spoon, he would still make a lot of money. 

Then, why do the Chinese people use chopsticks? Some people did research on the origin of China's chopsticks. One theory is that chopsticks were very convenient for Chinese to use because China was an agricultural society, relying mainly on vegetables for food. When we steamed or boiled food, it was difficult for us to use spoons to dip vegetables in the soup. Westerners, on the other hand, travelled with their animals from place to place and lived on meat. For them, knives and forks were more practical.

Chopsticks reflect gentleness and kindness, the main moral teaching of Confucianism. First, don't use it to hit the side of your bowl or plate to make noises, because Chinese people think only beggars would do this to beg for meals. It means you lay the blame on others. Also, don't stick your chopsticks upright in the rice bowl. That usually appears at the funerals and is believed to be impolite to the host and the seniors who are at the table.

Today, chopsticks have become a typical part of Chinese culture, symbolising the power of unity. However, ten pairs of chopsticks represent strength, which means they won't break off in any cases. We Chinese people draw on this spirit, which always inspires and encourages us to work hand in hand for a better future.
A．As a result, spoons were designed and preferred by Westerners.
B．But to his surprise, the Chinese people use chopsticks, not spoons.
C．Therefore, Chinese people cleverly invented chopsticks to pick food.
D．Besides, never point at people with your chopsticks while using them.
E．Indeed, one chopstick is useless and so delicate that it can be broken readily.
F．So these virtues have gradually become the rules people follow in their daily life.
G．There are some rules about using chopsticks that you should pay great attention to.

Will chatbots that can generate fascinating articles destroy education as we know it?

New York City's Department of Education recently banned (禁止) the use of ChatGPT. "While the tool may be able to provide quick and easy answers to questions," says the official statement, "it does not build critical-thinking skills, which are necessary for academic and lifelong success. "

Banning such use of technology from the classroom is a nearsighted response. Instead, we must find a way forward in which such technologies combine well with, rather than replace, student thinking. 

Banning ChatGPT is impossible in practice. Students will find ways around the ban, which will cause a further defensive response from teachers and administrators, and so on. It's hard to believe that a close race between those digital natives and their educators will end in a decisive victory for the latter. In fact, chatbots may well speed up a trend (趋向) toward valuing critical thinking. In a world where computers can fluently answer any question, students need to get much better at deciding what questions to ask and how to fact-check the answers the program generates.

So how do we encourage young people to use their minds when real thinking is so hard to tell apart from its simulacrum (假象)? Teachers, of course, will still want to watch students taking old-fashioned, in-person, no-chatbot-allowed exams to check that they do not cheat. 

But we must also figure out how to do something new: how to use tools like GPT to inspire deeper thinking. GPT often generates text that is fluent and "reasonable"—but wrong. So using it requires the same mental heavy lifting that writing does: forming an opinion, creating an outline, picking which points to explain and which to drop, and looking for supporting facts. GPT can help with those tasks, but it can't put them all together. Writing a good essay still requires lots of human thought and work. Indeed, writing is thinking, and good writing is good thinking.

One approach is to focus on the process as much as the result. For instance, teachers might require four drafts of an essay. After all, as John McPhee, the famous writer, said, "the central nature of the process is revision. " Each draft gets feedback from the teacher, from peers or even from a chatbot. Then the students produce the next draft, and so on.

Will AI one day outperform human beings in thinking? Maybe, but for now, we must think for ourselves. Like any tool, GPT is an enemy of thinking only if we fail to find ways to make it our partner. 

Hibernation is not just sleep. While we sleep, our brains fire up and become highly active; in hibernation, on the contrary, brain activity completely slows down. The body temperature of hibernating animals also drops, in some cases close to the freezing point. Cells (细胞) stop dividing and heart rate decreases to two beats per minute. Yet, once it's time to wake up, hibernating animals come back to life without any significant side effects like freezing, muscle loss, or loss of bone density during the long winter months. The same, however, can't be said about people who wake up from long-term medical comas (昏迷), or even those who have to stay in bed for long periods of time. Such people, just like astronauts in microgravity, would suffer from a wide range of side effects that come from not actively using their bodies.

Scientists are therefore looking into hibernation research with the aim of developing ways to cause hibernation in future space astronauts. Recently, Kelly Drew, a professor of chemistry and biochemistry, has been rewarded for his research. 

The idea is that rather than having astronauts sit for months in a tiny Mars-bound capsule, consuming food, water and air, and gradually wasting away from not doing much in microgravity, a part of the crew members could be placed into hibernation. The hibernating astronauts wouldn't need any food or water and could manage with much less air—yet they would wake up with their bones and muscles in a much better condition than those of their awake counterparts.

"This research could be used to help future missions, from the extreme of medically caused hibernation for long term space missions, protecting astronauts from cabin fever, radiation, and much more," he said. "It could also prove effective in preventing muscle and bone loss in zero gravity. "

The state of hibernation could also help in the medical setting to help protect patients suffering from life-threatening conditions such as heart attacks and strokes. 

"This could mean that patients who have suffered from a stroke or heart attack could be placed in medically caused hibernation until they can be transported to a hospital to receive care, which could significantly improve medical outcomes," the scientist said.

Family days out can be expensive but it's possible to stick to a budget during the summer holidays by taking advantage of the following activities.

Outdoor activities

At Brimham Rocks, there is a one-hour rock explorer activity on 14 July. The activity is free, although car-parking charges apply for non-National Trust members. 

While getting out into nature has lots of benefits, sometimes you need an extra activity to keep things interesting. For example, the Woodland Trust is hosting a tree planting event at Yonder Oak Wood, near Exmouth in Devon. There are morning and afternoon sessions on 18 and 19 July. It is free to attend but online booking ahead of time is essential. 

Rainham Marshes, the RSPB nature reserve in Purfleet, Essex, is running an arts programme for children aged three to ten on 14 July. You can sign up online and tickets cost £3. It is also hosting pond-dipping activities on 15 July (up to £5.50). 

Arts, crafts and museums

For Londoners or those visiting the capital during the holiday, the Southbank Centre is hosting the Imagine Children's Festival (until 18 July), where many events are free, including hip-hop dance workshops, and live music shows. The Tate Modern is hosting Threads, a free family event running from 11-19 July where you work together to create your own artwork using colorful threads and textiles.

The Royal Air Force Museum London (free entry) in Hendon has a range of free activities on offer over the same dates, including a robot-coding workshop, a radar maths challenge and tote bag making. And the Victoria and Albert Museum in South Kensington is running free Chinese themed events including a drop-in workshop for families where you make a traditional Chinese kite (15-17 July). 

The Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese holiday (celebrate) by many people today. It (fall) on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. There are many activities and customs, such as (race) dragon boats. It is also an occasion for families to gather and for people to pay respect to the famous poet, Qu Yuan. 

In 1941, Dr Lin became the first Chinese woman ever to be appointed director of the OB-GYN department of the PUMC Hospital, but just a few months later, the department (close) because of the war. (think) of all the people still in need of help, Dr Lin opened a private clinic. She charged very low fees to treat patients and often reduced costs for poor patients. At times she was even seen (ride) a donkey to faraway villages to provide medical care. 

In 2009, Whitacre received a video of a girl was singing one of his works. Inspired, he asked his fans (make) videos, which he then joined together into one performance. His first virtual choir had 185 singers 12 different countries. It has received millions of views on the Internet. Since then, the virtual choir (become) a worldwide phenomenon. 

Gus White was driving home from work when he spotted a pair of dogs in the flash of his headlights. It was snowing so hard. What were they doing out here, when it was too 1 for dogs to go outside? Gus parked his truck and approached the animals. He 2 his hands to them, which made no effort to escape. He placed the dogs on the passenger seat and they were snuggled (依偎) together there. Gus took a picture of the pair and 3 it to his wife, Katie White. 

Then he called the 4 from the dogs' ID tags. A man answered. "I gave those dogs away," the man said. "Well, do you want them back?" "No. " The man hung up. These dogs were 5 in this world. Gus looked over at them, their large eyes begging. He called Katie. "Bring them home", she said. The Whites prepared a bed for the dogs, also setting out food and water.

As a boy, Gus had dreamed of owning dogs but 6 this pair was out of the question—the Whites already had a family dog. The next day, they took the dogs to a 7 to drop them off—on one condition. "I'm not signing the dogs over to you if you're going to 8 them," Katie said. The shelter workers promised her they'd keep the couple together. In the days following, Katie phoned the shelter 9 to check up on Pepper and Cooper. Soon, the dogs were adopted, as a pair, to a loving family.

It's a simple story but it speaks to the best of our 10 .

注意：（1）词数不少于100； （2）可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。

参考词汇：象牙ivory

Dear Chris,

Tina Leverton was 62 when she bought her first pair of ballet shoes. She said putting her feet into the soft leather was very emotional. She said: "I've waited a long time for it. "

A few days later, Leverton took her first ballet class after seeing an advertisement in a newspaper. It showed older women dancing in a class near Leverton's house. "As I came in the door, I found a big smile on my face. From the minute I started, I felt like coming home. "

Leverton had longed to dance as a child. Sadly, her parents couldn't afford ballet classes, for they were first-generation Indian immigrants, struggling to make a living in the UK. Her father was a train driver on the underground in London and her mother held two cleaning jobs. Nonetheless, she harboured her dream of being a ballerina(芭蕾舞女演员). 

At her present age, a grand p lie-lowering(俯卧撑) to the floor with bent knees-seemed to be out of the question. It took her three months to master the move: leaping and landing on one foot. "I love the struggle and the challenge of learning something new. People in their 60s have a lot of self-limiting beliefs: ‘I can't do it,' ‘I'm not good enough. ' And maybe they're not good enough. But it doesn't matter," she said.

Ballet has been transformative. At a medical appointment a few months after Leverton's first class, a nurse measured her at 163cm, half an inch taller than she had thought. She attributes(归因) the difference to improved posture. Her muscle tone has improved and her lower back pain has stopped. Dancing has also brought new friends. She met a group of older, more independent women and worked together towards a team award with the Royal Academy of Dance. And then, of course, there is the joyful feeling. "Ballet is all the therapy(治疗) I'll ever need," said Leverton.

Do what you love, and you'll never work another day in your life. We've heard that opinion countless times. But does it even ring true? In fact, I think it's perfectly normal to love your job and simultaneously(同时发生的) recognize the fact that it's hard work. That's right! Sometimes you may feel stressed, overwhelmed or even tired out. It doesn't mean that you're in the wrong line of work. 

Think back to when you were a little kid. Do you remember what your answer was when people leaned forward and inquired about what you wanted to be when you grew up? Well, I always told people I wanted to be a bird. Having passions and interests is encouraged. But finding what you love is only half the equation. You need to be able to make a living doing it. Real-life pressures require us to pursue avenues that are able to provide us with a decent and comfortable standard of living. 

Work and play are two vastly different things. Work requires effort in order to pay the bills and put food on the table, whereas play is all about fun and enjoyment. If you're lucky, you'll be able to incorporate some of that joy and passion into your daily routine. But that definitely doesn't mean that your entire career will be a walk in the park. Adding in that pressure and the expectation of payment is exactly what separates your job from everything else. Unlike fun, work isn't always something that you want to do—it's something that you need to do. And, chances are, when what you love turns into your job, you might not love it as much anymore.

Pretty much every position comes along with at least a few demanding tasks or responsibilities that will simply never be enjoyable. Maybe you hate the quarterly board meeting. Perhaps you simply can't stand filling out your monthly expense report. Whatever it is, there's undoubtedly a certain aspect of your daily routine that makes you say, "Ugh. "

But remember that loving your job is a wonderful thing. Loving your livelihood requires a great deal of effort. It's pretty much human nature to enjoy the things we're good at. And in order to be good at your position, you need to put in some elbow grease. Oftentimes, it's not just the work that we love. It's the reward and satisfaction we get after doing it well: And we all know that getting things done well involves exerting ourselves. It's an ever-ending cycle. 

ChatGPT is an artificial-intelligence chatbot developed by San Francisco-based AI research company Open AI. Released in November 2022, it can have conversations on topics from history to philosophy, generate lyrics in the style of Taylor Swif. or Billy Joel, and suggest edits for computer programming code. 

ChatGPT is trained on a vast compilation of articles, websites and social-media posts collected from the Internet as well as real-time conversations—primarily in English—with humans hired by Open AI. It learns to mimic(模仿) the grammar and structure of the writing and reflects frequently-used phrases. 

The chatbot isn't always accurate: its sources aren't fact-checked and it relies on human feedback to improve its accuracy. 

Open AI developed ChatGPT as part of a strategy to build AI software that will help the company turn a profit. In January, Microsoft unveiled a fresh multibillion-dollar investment in Open AI and said it planned to add ChatGPT into its Bing search app and other products. Competitors Google and Baidu are pushing to launch similar tools. 

ChatGPT is free. Open AI released the chatbot as a research preview and users can try it through a particular website. In February, Open AI also launched a high-level version for $20 a month, starting in the US, that will give subscribers priority access. 

Media companies including Buzz Feed and the publisher of Sports Illustrated have announced plans to generate content such as quizzes and articles with Chat GPT. Some schools have blocked access to the service on their networks to reduce cheating, while others are actively encouraging students to use the tools ethically(道德上). 

AI chat bots and other generative AI programs are mirrors to the data they consume. They repeat and remix what they are fed to both great effect and great failure. Transformer-based AI program failures are particularly difficult to predict and control because the programs rely on such vast quantities of data that it is almost impossible for the developers to grasp what that data contains. 

ChatGPT, for example, will sometimes answer questions correctly on topics where it gained high-quality sources and frequently talked with its human trainers. It will respond nonsense to topics that contain a lot of misinformation on the Internet such as conspiracy theories. 

Some artists have also said that AI image generators copy their artwork and threaten their livelihoods, while software engineers have said that code generators rip large amounts of their code.