浙江省宁波市余姚市2021-2022学年八年级下学期英语阳明杯学科竞赛（二试）

Everyone had a dream, and so does Johnny Crow for the US. Johnny fell in love1the guitar at a young age. He dreams of being a(n)2in the future so he often takes guitar lessons at a music center. His 49-year-old father was a huge supporter of Johnny's music dream. However, he3in April this year. This4Johnny very sad.

The first birthday after5a loved one is always hard. Johnny was 16 two months after his father's death. On6birthday, Johnny's sister picked up her brother from school7drove him to the music center. There Johnny got a birthday8from his father. Johnny was very9when reading the card. Moreover,10made him burst into tears was the birthday present——an expensive electric guitar. Johnny's loving father knew he had11wanted the guitar, so he bought it in advance for him and asked the teachers at the center to12it secret.

Johnny's sister knew the secret one month13than Johnny. "When one teacher showed me my dad's present to Johnny, I couldn't believe it. But I had to keep it secret14his birthday," she said. And she filmed Johnny opening the guitar box and put the video on the Internet. Over 12 million people watched it. She told Johnny that their father said he would be15for his music one day.

Now Johnny is famous, not only for his music, but also for his present from his father.

You might travel to the countryside or other countries in the past. But have you ever traveled in space?

On July 20^th, 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos went on a 10-minute trip to space rising more than 104 kilometers into the sky. He didn't go alone. He had three other people with him. The first passenger is his younger brother Mark. They come from the same family. The second passenger is an 82-year-old woman called Wally Funk. She becomes the oldest person to go into space. She was one of 13 female pilots who went through the same tests as NASA's Mercury 7 astronauts in the 1960s. But she never went to space because only men were allowed at that time. Finally, a teenager called Oliver Daemen also joins the trip. He becomes the youngest person to go into space.

Over the past six years, Jeff Bezos' company, Blue Origin, had carried out 15 successful tests without people, and engineers decided that the New Shepard was finally ready to carry passengers. The company also carefully selected the passengers. Although they didn't need to do much training before the trip, they still had to meet the following requirements.

Rachel squinted (迷眼看) at the board, but she couldn't see clearly from the back of the room. "Rachel, is something wrong?" Mrs. Grimes asked.

"No, Mrs. Grimes."

Rachel sat closer to Jenny, trying to copy the problems from her paper.

"Rachel, would you please come to my desk?" Mrs. Grimes said.

Rachel was a little afraid. She stood slowly and walked up to Mrs. Grimes's desk at the front of the room. "I wasn't trying to cheat," she said quietly.

"Then what's wrong?" Mrs. Grimes asked.

Rachel lowered her head and said, "I just can't see the board."

"Oh, that is a problem. It sounds like you're near-sighted. Do you have glasses?"

Rachel kept silent. Her parents had taken her for glasses two weeks ago, but she didn't want to wear them in class where everyone would see.

Mrs. Grimes was a little sad and said, "You don't want your friends to know you need glasses. Is that right?"

Rachel nodded.

"Well, there is another way. I could move your seat to the front of the room."

"But then I wouldn't be by Jenny and Amanda," Rachel said.

"_______▲______, Rachel. Either you wear your glasses or I move your seat. The choice is up to you." Rachel turned to look at Jenny and Amanda. They were such good friends.

"I think I'm going to keep my seat in the back," Rachel said.

Mrs. Grimes nodded. "Okay, but if I don't see you wearing your glasses when you're copying problems from the board, I'll have to move your seat."

"I understand." Rachel walked back to her seat.

"Are you in trouble?" Amanda asked.

 "I'm not in trouble. I just have to wear my glasses if I'm going to sit back here with you."

"Then put them on," Jenny said.

Rachel smiled, "I will."

Several hundred people climb Mount Everest, the world's highest peak(峰)，every year. A climb takes around two months, and climbers leave a lot of rubbish. ① In fact, litter has now become one of the major problems on Mount Everest.

②   Climbers need a lot of supplies to get to the top of the world's highest mountain. They need climbing supplies, such as hiking boots, crampons , face masks, and trekking poles. They need medicines, as well as water bottles and sleeping bags. In addition, they need food, most of which is prepackaged in plastic, as well as oxygen tanks for use when scaling(测量)the summit. Many climbers discard unwanted items in order to avoid carrying them back down. Empty food wrappers and used oxygen tanks also litter the slopes.

③   Some say there are 50 tons of rubbish on the mountain. The government of Nepal has been worried about rubbish. It affects the mountain as well as the area around the mountain. Local people have noticed an increase in pollution, especially in the drinking water.

④   In 2017, climbers and Sherpas(夏尔巴人), local guides, were given bags and asked to collect rubbish, leaving the bags to be collected by helicopter. The Chinese government instituted a cleanup on its side of the mountain that resulted in four tons of rubbish being removed in five days. Sherpas are paid for each bag of rubbish they carry off the mountain; climbers must return with at least 17 pounds of rubbish.