浙江省宁波市余姚市2020-2021学年九年级上学期英语期末考试试卷

There was once a carpenter (木匠) living in a small village. He had no other skills, but he was good at1houses. His boss was very nice, so he worked for his boss one year after another.2ten years of working for the same company, he finally got tired of it and made a3He told the boss that he wanted to4the job and live a peaceful life with his family.

However, after hearing this, his boss asked him to5to build one final house before he left the team. The carpenter6agreed, although he didn't want to do this kind of work anymore. He built the house, but his7wasn't in it. In order to rush to finish the job, he used cheap8. As a result, it turned out to be the9house that he had ever built. When he finished, his boss came to see him last time. Seeing the house, he said nothing.

He paid the worker for building the house. He then10,"I wanted to do something special for you to say thanks for your ten years of hard work. You have built so many11houses for other people these years. But there is no one for12. So I'm giving you this house as a13."

What a shame! The carpenter was speechless. He had never14his boss would give him such a big gift. If he knew he was building his own house, he would have done it much more15. He regretted building his final house so poorly.

Word Bank:
urge v.敦促
whisper v.低语

A man was walking through an elephant camp and found that the elephants weren't being kept in cages or held by chains (铁链) . All that was holding them back from running away from the camp was a small piece of rope (绳索)- it was just tied to one of their legs.

As the man looked at the elephants, he couldn't understand it. Why didn't the elephants just use their strength to break the rope and run away from the camp? They could easily make it, but instead, they didn't try at all. Then, he asked a trainer nearby why it was so.

"When they were very young and much smaller, we used the same size of rope to tie them, and at that age, it was enough to hold them. As they grew up, they still believed that they couldn't break away.

They believed the rope could still hold them, so they never tried to break free," the trainer answered.

The man was in silence. These animals could have broken free whenever they wanted, but it was just because over time, they had the belief that it just wasn't possible.

How many of us go through life like the elephants- holding onto the belief that we cannot do something simply because we failed at it once or sometimes before?

Failure is part of learning. If we failed once or a few times, it doesn't mean we can never succeed. We should never give up trying when we experience failures in life.

My dear boys and girls, good morning. Today I'm going to talk to you about my tips about how to become stronger.

As you start a new term, you might feel a bit worried or nervous. These feelings aren't fun to have. But would your favorite superhero have these same feelings?

Behavioral scientists have been studying what they call the "Spider-Man Effect (效应)"in children. They've found that if kids pretend (假装) to be a strong figure一such as a superhero like Spider-Man-they won't feel nervous and will be able to focus on their work.

For example, if you feel nervous during an exam, try to imagine that you are Spider-Man. You may find that you can "remove" the stress from this situation and feel more confident. This can help you fight off bad feelings and focus on your task, just like a superhero would. Pretending to be powerful makes us feel powerful, and that will have an influence on how we act in real life.

____________________. Anyone you admire can encourage you to get through hard times, or remind you of how you should act in certain situations. Movie stars, famous painters, even our own parents- anyone can be our "Spider-Man"

For example, when it comes to how I communicate with others, I like to look toward Mister Rogers for inspiration. He was a TV host who was always kind and thoughtful when dealing with other people. I try to act the same way toward other people as much as I can.

Many of you have probably had this experience: You get on a train and are ready to take a nap or read a book, only to find that the passenger in front of you is watching a TV show without earphones. The child next to you won't stop crying. And the man behind you talks on her phone during the whole trip.

Wish the train could be less noisy? There might be a solution for you. The Beijing Shanghai high-speed railway, one of China's busiest high-speed rail lines, will have "quiet" carriages (车厢) starting from Dec 23, Xinhua reported.

In quiet carriages, videos will be muted (静音) and doors at the ends of the carriage will be kept closed to reduce noise from other carriages, CGTN noted. Train attendants (乘务员) will make sure that passengers remain quiet and follow the rules.

Passengers who are willing to follow the rules can choose the quiet carriages when booking their tickets, according to China Daily.

Some people have pointed out that this kind of quiet environment should be offered in all carriages. They say that having quiet carriages might give people the idea that they don't need to be quiet in non-quiet carriages.

While some Internet users are in favor of the new service, it has also led discussion about just how quiet travelers should be in quiet carriages. Many people have raised questions such as "What if l snore (打呼噜) ?"and "Can we talk to our travel partners if we need to?"