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Carrie Broecker learned about this2, while helping to care for an elderly woman's dog. Broecker and the woman, Alice, had met five years earlier when Alice developed a serious lung disease. She3reached out to Broecker for helping take care of her dog, Savannah, while she was4.When Alice was later moved to the nursing home, Broecker would bring the dog to visit. During Alice's final days, her biggest5was what would happen to her dog after she died. "I told her I would make sure that Savannah would find a good home." Broecker said, "Alice was so6that I could make that7."

After that, Broecker came up with an idea that she could take in dogs from senior citizens who were8.In 2009, Peace of Mind Dog Rescue was born. Many times, family members contact the organization and9their aging family member's dog.10, a senior doesn't need to give up their dog. They just need some11.Volunteers in the organization can go to the senior's house to walk their dog.

"We can maintain that human-animal tie and make this person's life better and brighter through our12." Broecker said. The organization also helps13dogs find stable homes where they can get more attention they need. "We don't want the elderly to be14, whether they are human beings or animals. We really want to care for all of15."

A. I realized then that my greatest joy in life was to share a connection and bring joy to others' lives. I knew I would seek more ways to do that.

B. When the day of the event finally came, I observed in awe as my shy students each beautifully expressed their genuine love for their mothers.

C. As Mother's Day approached that year, my plan for the day was to give each of my students the opportunity to standup in front of the class and express his or her feelings towards his or her mother.

D. When I began to teach English at a high school, I found that many of my students were hard-working on their own, but shy and not active in communicating with each other, even with their parents. Later I decided to help them.

E.I watched many of the mothers hold back tears as they were overcome with emotion and love for their children. Frankly, I could not hold back my own tears. I was so proud of my students. At the end of the event, most parents expressed their thanks to me, which inspired me to continue holding the event every year.

Too much sitting will cause postural (姿势的) problems, including knee pain and lower back pain. Studies have found a connection between long-time sitting and different forms of bone and muscle pain as well as neck pain.

You can ease this problem to some extent by making some movements. However, being very active doesn't entirely protect you from sitting too long. You could run for an hour every morning and meet the government guidelines for physical activity, but then sit down for the rest of the day — which would mean sitting too long, in terms of risk.

There's also the cardio-metabolic (心血管代谢) problem caused by long sitting. It's not completely understood why sitting seems to be related to a range of health conditions, but the most reasonable explanation is that it puts your body at rest. When you do it for long enough, your metabolism slows. You are actually switching off some of your body's largest muscles, with results that range from increased waist size to risks of illnesses.

So, what should you be doing? I'm proving your posture can be effective. At work, keeping your screen at eye level and your feet flat on the floor is a good start. The easiest way to make a significant difference, though, is to get up every 15, 30 or 60. Best of all, of course, is standing for a while once you are up. Ask yourself: Is there something you're doing that doesn't require you to sit down? Could you read your emails standing up? Could you go for a walk while you think?

Were you standing comfortably while you read this? Maybe you should have been.

Electric SUVs are still greener than the petrol (汽油) ones, but their size and weight removes some of the climate gains. Their larger batteries require more raw minerals (矿物), like cobalt and lithium, putting extra pressure on global supplies. "New policies to encourage people to choose smaller electric vehicles (EV) may be needed, such as increasing taxes for Electric SUVs. We could reduce hundreds of millions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO₂) overtime." says Christian Brand at the University of Oxford.

Air pollution is another worry. In poorer countries like India, electric vehicles will lead to significant improvements in urban air quality. But in richer countries, where petrol cars tend to be cleaner, the situation isn't so clear. "The benefit of moving to an electric vehicle, from a certain point of view, is actually pretty small," says Frank Kelly at Imperial College London. And since electric vehicles still produce pollution from their tires, brakes and road wear, air pollution won't fully go away. "We're still going to have a pretty big problem in our cities," says Kelly.

As such, governments must do more to reduce car dependency, particularly in urban areas. Clean public transport is the solution to our air pollution problem in urban areas. We should be reducing the number of all private vehicles as much as possible, not celebrating the increased figures.

The Wind Phone

Every morning Mario visited his neighbor, Mr. Harper. Together they sat at the edge of his garden on the hill, looking down at the port. They made a game of spotting Mario's dad as he unloaded the morning catch, and Mr. Harper's daughter, Fiona, as she cleaned the fish one after another. "I see them!" Mario would say. Mr. Harper would laugh. "You win again, Mario." It was their favorite game.

Mario's dad loved the ocean. He'd say, "Listen, Mario, the ocean's saying good morning." The lapping waves would whisper: O-mor-ning. O-mor-ning. Mario always returned the greeting, "Good morning, ocean." But on the day the big wave came, the ocean didn't whisper. It roared (咆哮). A big, watery hand swept into the port, grabbing everything — and everyone — in its grasp. Everyone lost someone that day. It took Mario's dad, Fiona, and it even took Mario's voice. Silence hung over the village like a dark, heavy cloud.

Spring came. Here and there stood peach-trees that broke into delicate flowers of pink. One day: Tap-tap-tap. Bang-bang-bang. Mario watched from his window. Mr. Harper was building something in his garden. But what? It was a phone booth (电话亭), painted white and with many panes (窗格) of glass. Mr. Harper went inside and his voice floated out. "Fiona? It's your father. I miss you." Mario was confused. Fiona had been grabbed by the ocean, just like Mario's dad. When Mr. Harper left, Mario crept inside. An old-fashioned phone sat on a table. No plugs, no wires. It was a phone connected to nowhere.

Mr. Harper visited his phone booth every day. Soon other villagers did too. They lifted the receiver to their ears and their voices floated on the wind. "Hello, cousin. Today I fixed the boat. I'll fish again soon." "Sister, how're you? I rode your bike today. It fits me now."

For the first time since the big wave came, Mario wanted to use his voice. He went down to the port and screamed at the ocean. "Bring our people back!" Still, the waves lapped gently. O-mor-ning. O-mor-ning. Mario sighed and looked up.

注意：

(1)续写词数应为150左右；

(2)请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。

Mr. Harper's phone booth sat high on the hill like a lighthouse.

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As Mario stepped out, he spotted Mr. Harper down at the port.

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1.你们的做法；

2.你的感想。

注意：

1.写作词数应为80左右；

2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。

Dear Alice,

Guess what? We surprised our English teacher last week!

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Yours,

Li Hua

Picture yourself as the hero in a Chinese martial-arts (武术) novel. There are two paths to improve your powers. Do you choose zhengxiu, the orthodox (正统的) one that (typical) demands decades of practice in a cave? do you risk xiexiu, the unorthodox way? Traditional values warn against those who cheat (establish) systems. But xiexiu has acquired a life among certain youngsters. It now represents a (depart) from the proper way: more efficient, more creative or simply less bound by convention. In recent months, videos with the term (draw) billions of views on social media. Some are just rebranded life tricks, such as learning English through fan fiction. Others turn into the absurd (荒谬的): reading advanced mathematics a sleep aid.

Many young adults see xiexiu as a middle path between "996" office culture and "lying flat". An unstable economy, rising housing costs and shaky job (prospect) have already made the path through adulthood more uncertain. So why not turn to xiexiu?

Last month, Guangming Daily declared the trend cheerful way for the young to deal with uncertainty and gain initiative. It stopped short of calling it a fight against authority, instead (describe) it as "a way to seek improvement". "Xiexiu isn't really about teaching you cooking methods — it's teaching you to rethink," reads one clear-eyed comment.

One day, in class, I started writing a4 on my notebook. Outside, Mount Tindastóll's snowy heights were lit in pink from the late sunrise. I became so5 pressing its beauty into paper that I did not6 my teacher, Geirlaugur, until he cleared his throat and asked, "Poetry?" "Sorry," I said.

Geirlaugur called me to his desk the next day. I was expecting7, but instead he handed me a collection of Icelandic nature poems. "Keep going, and your work will be8 one day. Onwards." he told me.

From that day on, my relationship with Iceland9. I threw myself into reading Icelandic novels, found friendship and10, and realized that Icelanders11 writers. One friend told me12 that Iceland is a nation of writers: one in 10 would publish a book.

I would not have become a13 were it not for Iceland. She14 my confidence in the worthiness of writing. Her mountains remain my15. And if I feel the old doubt, I remember Geirlaugur's voice. "Onwards."

A large place, a beautiful place, and an inexhaustible place. And so I decided on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a treasure house within walking distance of my apartment — seven minutes, I timed it.

But here's the thing: I've lived within walking distance of the Met for years. The museum had always been there, waiting, but I'd mostly ignored it.

For me, the Met was an untapped possibility that I was eager to explore, and I wondered if other people felt the same way. I asked on social media. I'd assumed that my desire to visit the same place every day was fairly unusual, so I was surprised by how enthusiastically people embraced this idea. I heard from many people who already made daily visits, or who liked the idea of making daily visits, to places such as: the beach, public library, hiking trails, and even a castle!

When I started this experiment of making a daily visit, I had no idea what to expect. Spoiler alert (剧透): I love this visit. I may visit the Met every day for the rest of my life. I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotations by Alberto Giacometti:

Everything gains in grandeur (宏伟) every day, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful.

A. It's a highlight of my daily schedule.

B. I was astonished by the flood of answers I received.

C. Visiting the same place every day was not easy for me.

D. The closer I come, the grander it is, the more remote it is.

E. The fact that I could visit was no guarantee that I would visit.

F. People who try new things and go to new places tend to be happier.

G. For this challenge, I needed a place I could easily visit, day after day.

The study was led by Maria Loconsole, a comparative psychologist at the University of Padua. She and her colleagues placed chicks in front of two panels: one featured a flowerlike shape with gently rounded curves; the other had a spiky shape like a cartoon explosion. They then played recordings of humans saying either "bouba" or "kiki" and observed the birds' behavior. When the chicks heard "bouba," 80 percent of them approached the round shape first and spent an average of more than three minutes exploring it compared with an average of just under one minute spent exploring the spiky shape. When the chicks heard "kiki," the opposite occurred.

One long-standing theory that these associations are inspired by the shape your mouth makes when you say each word can now be ruled out, since the chicks showed the effect despite being unable to speak. Instead the "bouba-kiki" effect may originate from the physical properties of objects themselves. When round objects hit the ground or roll, they typically produce more continuous, low-frequency sounds than spiky ones. A built-in grasp of those dynamics, linking sight and sound, could help newborn animals quickly make sense of their environment, possibly to locate food or avoid predators (食肉动物).

The "bouba-kiki" effect may have played a role in the emergence of language. But for chickens, this same tendency seems to serve a more evolutionary purpose. "Even if language is unique to humans," Loconsole says, "that doesn't mean that it comes from an ability that is unique to humans."

Cities across the U.S. are struggling with two problems: too much empty office space and not enough housing. Nationally, office vacancy rates reached roughly 20% in 2024, after years of employees working from home. At the same time, the national housing shortage is in the millions. Cities like D.C., are now betting that by turning empty offices into homes, one crisis can help solve the other.

A project in D.C., which broke ground last month, is the largest such conversion (转化) in the city to date. The overall structure of the buildings will remain the same, but with major additions: a lighter-colored exterior will replace the gray concrete from the 1960s, and old inefficient windows will be replaced by larger ones that let in more light per unit. Plans include luxuries such as a pool and a dog park, with projected rent around $4,000 per month. Yet 60 units will be set aside as affordable housing. "We would love to do more," says Matt Pestronk, the president of a development company, "but unfortunately, almost all capital seeks a return. This was as much as we could afford to do."

"The scale of the shortage far outpaces what conversions can provide." says Tracy Loh, a fellow at the Brookings Institution who studies adaptive reuse of old buildings. But she argues that these projects still matter, "It does kill two birds with one stone, in terms of providing some housing supply." And it tends to create housing in central, transit-accessible areas that are in high demand.

The decline of manufacturing (制造业) in the late 20th century offers a glimpse of what comes next. When shifts happen in the economy and society, the built environment must change to match contemporary demand. Just as empty factory floors became trendy apartments, today's empty office spaces are turning into stylish kitchens and bedrooms.

Certainly, you have to put in a bit of effort. Ever since I became an energy exporter, I have been patrolling (巡逻) the house, trying to maximize our production. Of course, I get some complaints from my wife, Jocasta, along the lines of "I was using that light to read a book" or "Why didn't you save my work before turning off my computer," but I think she is grateful for my assistance.

The only problem? Just last night, I turned off everything, but we were still consuming 0.05 of a kilowatt. I checked the fridge. It was not humming (哼鸣). All the overhead lights were out. Nothing was on standby. Yet there it was. I hardly slept, my mind trying to work through every corner of the house.

Back at office, I find it hard to tear my eyes away from the app. Right now, it's midday. Jocasta is at home. I glance at the app. Oh no! Clouds overhead! Disaster! We're now producing nothing. Nothing at all. And consumption is suddenly through the roof. We're using up grid power. What's Jocasta up to? Running a factory?

The next day, at work, around midday, I check the app just to calculate how much I've earned. What? Disaster! Clouds overhead again and yet power still being used. Jocasta is out of the house. Why, oh why, has Jocasta left the TV remote in reach of the dog? I must have a word with him. You see, sometimes it's hard to be ahead of your time.

● What should I know?

● Settings for Assignment details

At twenty-four, I moved to America, a massive 11,000 kilometers away from my homeland. The initial excitement of a new start soon faded, replaced by the harsh reality of fitting into an unfamiliar environment. Since I worked from home, my world was reduced to the four walls of my small apartment and a glowing laptop screen. I spent my days in video meetings where people spoke a language that was still a bit too fast for me to fully grasp. When the screens went dark, the silence of the rooms seemed to echo my own growing sense of displacement. I was physically in a new country, but mentally, I was still searching for a place to land.

Desperate to break this suffocating (令人窒息的) isolation, I signed up as a volunteer at a local animal shelter. My supervisor, a kind woman named Sarah, introduced me to the residents. In the farthest corner of the cat section, she stopped before a small cage. "This is Luna," she whispered. "She was found abandoned in a rainy alley. She's terrified of everything."

Luna was a small, grey-and-white cat with large, lonely green eyes. Whenever I approached, she would cower (畏缩) in the corner, her tiny body shaking at the slightest sound. Sarah told me that my only task was to help Luna feel safe again. For the first two weeks, I sat outside her cage for hours every day. I brought my laptop and worked there, or I would speak to her softly about the home I missed, describing the busy streets and the scent of my mother's cooking. I wanted to comfort her, but the invisible wall between us remained.

One stormy afternoon, a sudden crash of thunder shook the shelter's roof. The lights flickered, and the animals began to cry out in fear. I looked at Luna, who trembled more than ever, her breath coming in quick, tiny gasps (喘气) as she tried to hide behind a small wooden box in her cage.

注意：

(1)续写词数应为150个左右；

(2)请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

I opened the cage door and sat quietly beside her.

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Luna's progress soon began to change me as well.

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A Latin translation of The Tao Te Ching, (forget) in the British Library for more than 300 years, has recently been rediscovered and published through the efforts of Misha Tadd, a scholar at Nankai University.

Tadd says, "Compared with The Analects of Confucius, which (root) in the traditions and rules of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), The Tao Te Ching does not involve specific names, places, social systems." This quality allows it to go beyond cultural boundaries and speak directly to universal human concerns.

Tadd's connection with The Tao Te Ching began at the age of 14, when he came an English edition in a small-town library in the United States. That chance encounter sparked one-of-a-kind interest in Chinese culture.

Years later, while (study) a Latin translation of The Republic by Plato, Tadd wondered if The Tao Te Ching could also be translated into Latin. His search eventually led him to the British Library, he discovered a Latin manuscript of the text, translated by early missionaries. He discovered parts of the manuscript were faded and (complete), and it was not until 2022 that he obtained a full digital scan of the work. He spent a long time transcribing, comparing, and annotating the text word by word. "It requires enduring (patient)," Tadd says.

The thought system of The Tao Te Ching is grounded in China, but its interpretation and influence are now (true) global.

At checkout, his card4. He wasn't even surprised; he just quietly asked the cashier to remove items until the total5 worked. The woman behind us in line, who didn't look6 at all, suddenly7 and said, "Ring it all up on mine."

My dad refused. But the woman8. He refused harder, his face turning slightly red. She looked him9 in the eye and said, "Sir, someone did this for my family when I was 7 years old. I remember how10 it made my dad feel to be unable to provide. But I also remember how we ate that week. Let me pay it forward. You can pay me back by doing the same for someone else when you are11"

She paid $83 for his groceries and12 to give her name. She just remarked that his turn would come and left. My dad cried in the car. Faced with numerous hardships, he never13 in his life, yet that stranger's silent understanding finally broke through his defenses.

I'm going to remember this. Next time I see someone14 change at checkout, I'm going to be that15 for them. Kindness, I realized, is a chain that should never stop moving.

Cultivate a growth mindset

A growth mindset is the belief that your abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work. Instead of seeing challenges as unbeatable barriers, you should view them as chances to improve.. By focusing on learning and perseverance, individuals can significantly enhance their Adversity Quotient. This shift in thinking allows people to see themselves as active participants in their growth rather than passive victims.

Having a strong support network is crucial in times of adversity. Surrounding yourself with positive individuals can provide encouragement and guidance. Sharing experiences and looking for support from others who have faced similar challenges can help in building resilience and enhancing your adaptability. Knowing you are not alone often provides the extra strength needed to keep moving forward.

Learn from every setback

Every failure presents an opportunity for learning and growth.  Reflecting on past experiences and identifying areas for improvement can contribute to the development of your resilience. This habit prevents individuals from being frozen by the fear of making mistakes again.

 With the right mindset, strong external support, and a habit of reflecting on setbacks, anyone can navigate life's storms and emerge stronger than before. Resilience, after all, is not about never falling, but about how quickly you get back up.

A. Lean on a reliable community

B. Expand your social connection

C. Focusing on the negative side of a crisis is a natural tendency.

D. This internal perspective acts as a guide through hardship.
E. High AQ individuals actively draw lessons from their failures.

F. It serves as a practical tool to evaluate one's future potential.

G. Embracing these shifts in attitude will lead to lasting growth.

The study conducted by a research team found that people around the world could identify lullabies (摇篮曲), dance songs, and comforting songs — regardless of the songs' cultural origin — after hearing just a 14-second clip (片段). The finding suggests that not only is music deeply rooted in human nature, but that some types of songs break cultural boundaries.

The findings are based on a wide-reaching experiment in which 750 online participants in 60 countries listened to brief clips of songs collected from nearly 90 small societies around the world, including hunter-gatherers and some special farmers. Participants then answered six questions, rating each clip according to whether they believed the song was used for dancing, calming a baby, treating illness, or expressing love. Two additional uses — mourning (哀悼) the dead and telling a story — were included as controls.

The data showed that despite participants' unfamiliarity with the cultures, the random sampling of each song, and the short duration of the samples, people were able to reliably infer the songs' functions, and that their ratings were consistent across the world.

The findings ran counter to expert expectations. The team had also asked professionals, including performers, composers, psychologists, and scientists about whether they believed people would be able to identify the song types. Their answer was no. And not only that, but they predicted that people's responses will be inconsistent with one another. "That's not what we found," the researchers said.

The researchers also wanted to know whether listeners were recognizing certain non-musical characteristics of the songs. To test that, the team conducted a second study. This time, they asked listeners about a number of contextual and musical features, ranging from the gender of the singers to the rhythm of the song.

When data from the two studies were combined, the results showed that songs of the same function shared similar characteristics — lullabies, for example, tended to be slower and simpler than dance music — suggesting that something about musical characteristics crosses cultural boundaries.

Previous research has already shown that higher levels of education are connected to higher earnings, but the exact relationship between high school grades and income wasn't well understood. French notes that while good grades are important for getting into college, this study is the first to show their impact on how much money people make later in life.

The study used information from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, looking at the records, demographics (人口特征) , and backgrounds of over 10, 000 people. Their educational background and income were checked when the participants were between 24 and 34 years old, which was about ten years after they finished high school.

The study looked at data for men and women separately and found that women generally have higher high school GPAs, but men earn more money each year. However, no matter the gender, a higher GPA makes it twice as likely for someone to finish college.

It's also interesting to note that without considering GPA and other performance measures, students from disadvantaged backgrounds seem to have lower levels of education compared to their peers (同龄人) . However, when these factors are included, these groups of students achieve higher levels of education if they have similar high school GPAs to their peers. This could be because students with good grades, regardless of their initial socioeconomic status, are more motivated to go to college.

By understanding the importance of high school performance, teachers and counselors (辅导员) can help students see how it affects both their short-term goals like getting into college and their long-term goals like how much they'll earn as adults. The findings of the research are important for policymakers and educators who want to help students succeed.

It's me, Faisal Abdullah Malik, your son from Pakistan, who crossed the border for a heart transplant. You saved my life a decade ago by making a decision that only a mother as extraordinary as you could make.

On 26 December 2014, both our lives changed forever. Karthick, your beloved son, was brought to Tirupur Government Hospital, near Coimbatore, in southern India, after a tragic road accident. He was later transferred to G. Kuppusamy Naidu Memorial (GKNM) Hospital. When the doctors declared him brain dead, you had to face the unthinkable, holding his hand, saying your silent goodbyes.

In the depths of that unimaginable grief, Mom, you made a choice that speaks of boundless courage and selflessness. You not only gave me Karthick's heart but also donated five other organs, giving the gift of life to six strangers. You made this difficult decision without ever questioning the race, religion, or nationality. Your decision was solely about saving lives.

Today, as a father of two growing children, I can truly understand the magnitude of your sacrifice. I can only imagine the storm of emotions you must have battled. Did you question if it was the right decision? Did you fear it was too much to bear? And yet, in the darkest hour of your life, you chose life for others. You chose hope. I know Karthick must be so proud of you, as am I, Mom. I am alive today because of your strength.

Tearing apart the political divide, I have longed to meet you, Mom. I have travelled to Chennai several times since receiving Karthick's heart, always hoping to somehow find a way to Coimbatore. But my medical visa restricts me from travelling outside Chennai. You might be wondering why I don't even call you? Names of donors and recipients are kept confidential, and I feel helpless.

Allah tells us in The Qur'an, "Whoever saves a life, it is as if they saved all of humanity." Mom, you embody it. I love you, Mom, forever and always.

Yours always,

Faisal