备战2019年中考英语专题复习——阅读理解（真题）

    Shyness can be an unhappy feeling. But the good news is, you're not alone. Scientists say that more than 40 percent of teenagers and adults consider themselves shy. Shyness is feeling a little nervous or as if you want to hide when you're around other people or in a new situation.

    ______ Scientists say such things as genetics（遗传基因）， life experiences， and environment can influence whether a person is shy. For example, in some families, everybody seems to be shy.

    What happens if you are shy? Well, being shy may cause you to avoid or miss opportunities you would enjoy.

    How do people overcome (克服)shyness? This is what Gilbert tells us. "When I started off trying to get over being shy, I decided to do little steps at a time, including practicing smiling and saying hi to people. And it worked for me. "

    But shyness is not the kind of thing that most people can get over overnight. Overcoming shyness take time and needs practice.

    Here are some tips given by scientists.

    Think of what to talk about before you leave home. Prepare things to talk about before you're in a social situation. For example, if you know your classmates are interested in an upcoming event, learn about it so you can join in the conversations.

    Let people know you're shy. If you're shy, just show it. Instead of letting people guess, tell them the truth. Explain that you are shy and feel nervous but enjoy talking to people.

    Make things easy for the other person. Remember, you're not the only shy person around. Do what you think might help others feel good-for example, say hello or smile.

    Pick one social skill to practice at a time. Start simply. For example, smile or be the first person to say hi. Choose skills you feel comfortable enough with to practice for a day, a week, a month, or even a year.

    I have read plenty of articles about self-improvement these past few months, and most of them tell you that you need to wake up and keep positive(积极的). When you wake up, you need to think that something great is going to happen today, and that you are going to have a great day. This kind of positive attitude(态度) is supposed to change your whole day.

    So this morning I woke up and decided to give it a whirl. The sun was shining brightly through my bedroom window, and it immediately gave me this warm feeling inside. I thought to myself, "Today is going to be a great day. One of the best days ever!" I got out of bed, took my morning shower and began to get dressed. I put on a pair of dress pants I have not warned in a while, followed by my dress shirt and that is when it began. I reached into my left pocket and pulled out what felt like some paper.

    You know that feeling of finding a $20 hill in your pants and it feels like free money? Because you forgot all about it and thought you never did?

    I pulled out a $100 bill and a $50 bill in the same pocket. It seemed like the best thing that had happened to me these days. Yes, $150 starts off my day! I'm sure if someone could have seen the smile on my face, they would have understood, I shouted in joy, with my poor dog looking at me like I was crazy!

    Start your morning off thinking you are going to have the best day ever and you just might! I really want to know what will happen next.

    Most people use their mouths to talk, but do you know some people use their hands to speak? Some people who cannot bear use their hands to communicate messages to others. This is called sign language. These people make shapes with their fingers, movements with their hands, as well as different faces in order to talk to other people.

    One way people speak with their hands is by making shapes for letters with their fingers. For example, if you make an "OK" sign with your thumb and finger, that is the shape for the letter "f" in American sign language. Each letter has a hand shape. This way people can spell words using their hands. For example, if you want to spell "fun", you need to make three shapes. First you make the shape for the letter "f", then the shape for the letter "u", and then the shape for the letter "n".

    ___________. If you move your hand from your nose to your chin(下巴), you can say“mother” in American sign language. Of course, you have to use the correct hand shape, too. That shape is like holding your hand open with all five fingers showing. If you move your hand from the top of your head to your chin, you can say "father＂， Again, you have to use the same hand shape that you used for "mother".

    Finally, people can change their faces to communicate in a sign language. For example, if you want to ask a question, you need to make your eyebrows (眉毛) go up. You also need to move your head forward a little.

    If you want to say "I do not know", you need to make your eyes smaller and make your eyebrows go down.

    When our son Bradley was ten, the new bicycle he had received earlier that year was stolen. Owning a bicycle was a big deal to our children when they were little. They spent hours and hours, day after day, on their bicycles, riding up and down the footpath, and at the front of the house. We also rode together as a family a lot. Bicycling was a great way to get the kids out of the house and into the fresh air without spending any money.

    Bradley had discovered that his bicycle had been stolen from our backyard in Campbelltown, South Australia, when he and his sister went outside for a morning ride. He couldn't believe that someone would do this.

    He got a large piece of cardboard, painted a sign begging for the bicycle to be returned, and tied the sign to the letterbox. The following morning, when I went out to collect the mail, I found a white envelope with the magical words, "Buy yourself a new bicycle". There was a $100 banknote inside.

    We were very touched that someone had the heart to do this, We've never been able to thank the person but we suspect(猜想) that it may have been one of our wonderful neighbors. Bradley painted a big"______!"on the sign and we left it outside for a couple of weeks afterwards, hoping the kind stranger would drive down our street.

    A delighted Bradley was able to buy a new bicycle. As the years went on, the bicycles became bigger and more expensive but remained just as important for those family bicycle rides. Now Bradley is 25. Sometimes I miss the days when receiving a bicycle was the best thing in the world to them.

    All these years later we are still thankful for the stranger's kindness. We were a young family with three little children and it meant a lot to us. We still talk about it and, even now, wonder who the kind stranger was.

    Who wants to eat food that is thrown away as waste? Believe it or not, that's exactly what world leaders did at a lunch held by the United Nations in 2015.

    During the meal, the world leaders enjoyed dishes like salads and burgers made with thrown-away vegetables and fruits. Chef Dan Barber, who helped create the meal, hoped that the experience would make the leaders pay more attention to the issue of food waste.

    It is a huge problem. One out of nine people on Earth does not get enough food. Yet every year over one third of the food produced worldwide goes to waste!

    Why is so much food wasted? Firstly, food is often thrown away before it reaches customers because too much of it is produced, or because it is not kept properly in farms. Secondly, shops and supermarkets usually throw away unsold food. Finally, customers often buy more food than they need, so a lot of uneaten food is wasted.

    How can you waste less food? When eating out, you may ask for less food and take home what is left. Visit fast food restaurant less often, since they usually more wasteful. Encourage your favorite restaurants to give unsold food to food banks.

    You can also waste less food at home. Use smaller rice bowls so that you serve less rice.

    Encourage family members to use unfinished rice to make rice puddings. Tell family members to make a shopping list and buy only what is on the list when shopping for food.

    Food waste is a growing problem and we, either farmers or food sellers or customers, must take this problem more seriously and do what we can to help.

    Workers wear them. Swimmers wear them. Scientists wear them. Woodcutters wear them. People who play sports wear them. Goggles protect the eyes. They keep out water and chemicals. They keep out bits of wood or stone. They might look funny, but goggles do serious work!

    Why do people need to wear goggles? They need to keep the can hurt our eyes. Have you ever gotten a piece of sand or dirt or other small particle in your eye? What happens? It hurts. Your eye begins to fill with tears. Those tears are your body's way of getting the sand or dirt out of your eye. Sometimes this works. Your eye feels much better.

    But what happens if your tears don't work? What happens if the piece of sand has gotten stuck in your eye? Eyes are delicate. They can be scratched or cut easier than skin(皮肤). If the particle is not washed out by tears, you might have to go to the doctor. You could even have problems seeing out of that eye.

    Instead of waiting to see if tears will help, some people use goggles. This can prevent things from getting in their eyes at all. If they use goggles. Their eyes are protected from the things that can cause problems, Goggles are a better way to protect eyes. They are made of plastic or glass, and they are tied around your eye area. Some of them hook behind your ears like glasses. Other goggles have a strap (带子) that goes around your head. Both kinds stay right where you put them until you take them off. That way, you can use both hands to work or play sports, and you don t have to worry about something getting in your eyes.

    Your eyes are safe, and you can get busy working or playing!

    ① My little sister is spoilt(宠坏的). She has Dad wrapped around her finger. If I had done or said some of the things that she does when I was her age, I would have been in big trouble. Not her- she's Daddy's girl. She's three.

    ②An example: Dad asked her to get his glasses from the kitchen. My sister said, “You've got legs. You get them.” When he asked again, she said, "Benny's got legs. He can get them. "Mum and Dad thought she was funny. I just thought she was rude.

    ③One night she woke Dad and said she dreamed that "Benny was fighting a witch (巫婆)."Mum and Dad let her sleep in their bed the rest of the night. I never slept in their bed- not that I would have wanted to. She is so spoilt.

    ④One time at the beach after she'd been playing in the surf with Mum, my sister shouted that an "octopus's tentacles" had bitten (咬) her. Dad laughed his head off. It wasn't that funny. She was certainly imagining. I knew that's what she thought as I'd done a project on animals for school.

    ⑤She likes to do homework when I do mine. She sits next to me and pretends to write pages of homework. It's just letters such as the letters in her name that she repeats for row after row. Mum says she's just trying to be like me but it drives me crazy when I'm trying to fix my attention on my work.

    ⑥She took her favorite book, Animalia, to Kindy(幼儿园) this morning. When dad and I collected her from Kindy this afternoon, a boy had taken her book out of her locker and was being really careless with the pages. I could tell she didn't like him having her book. I took the book off the boy and told him to treat books nicely. My sister looked very happy.

    ⑦Later my Dad told me that my sister admires me. I guess that's pretty cool.

    As long as everyone contributes a little, the world will become a much better place.

    Most people are kind-hearted and want to lend a helping hand. Now let's share some memorable moments.

Linda: Once, when I was on my way back to my hometown, I lost my purse without even knowing it. I was told over the train's loudspeaker that my purse was at the railway station's lost and found office. But the train had already started. Seeing my helplessness, a kind hostess offered to lend me some money. I went back to the railway station and got my purse. I am still thankful to the railway staff and the person who found my purse.

Scott: When I was a little boy, there was a time when I went to fish with my elder sister. All of a sudden, I slipped into the river. The next thing I remember is my father holding me in the hospital. Today I still don't know who got me out of that river. I have been trying to help other people whenever I can all these years.

Tina: One of my neighbors is an old man who cannot speak. He makes money by recycling waste. Our other neighbors don't like his behavior. But in my opinion, it's his way to support his family. Once, after cleaning my house, I placed some cardboard boxes in his garden and left my rubbish beside my door. However, when I was about to go out, I found nothing outside my door but a note: "I have thrown away your rubbish. You are a nice girl. Thanks a lot!"

    I graduated from college recently and moved to Washington by myself. While I was in college, it was really easy to meet new people. But "out in the real world", I was finding it really hard. I live in a big city, and it seems like everyone around me is busy or already has all the friends they want. I was feeling so discouraged(沮丧的）and I didn't know what to do, so I called my sister for some advice.

    My sister is five years older than I am, so she's been through all this already. She's been helping me with my problems all my life. When I explained my problem, she understood completely. She said, "Why don't you try meeting people online?"

    "Online? Are you kidding?" I asked. "A friend of mine chatted with a guy online, and when she finally met him face to face, he was nothing like what he said."

    My sister laughed. "You don't have to look for dates online," she said. "But you can find other people like you—people who have just moved to town and want to make some new friends. When I first moved to New York after college, I found a book club and a football team online. I met a lot of people that way."

    "But you don't even like football!" I said.

    "I know," she replied. "But that didn't matter. I still had a lot of fun. You played volleyball in college. Why don't you look for a volleyball team to join? Or an art class?"

    "Yeah! I saw a website about volunteering the other day." I said. "I could volunteer for an organization here in Washington. I bet I could meet a lot of really nice people that way."

    "Good idea!" my sister answered excitedly. "Hey, you might even meet the perfect guy."

    "OK, now you're starting to sound like Mom," I said. "Thanks a lot for the advice. I'm going online right now. I'll let you know what happens. Will you be home tonight?"

    "No, but I'll be here all day tomorrow, so give me a call," my sister replied. "Good luck!"