浙江省A9协作体2022-2023学年高二上学期期中联考英语试题

The Most Beautiful Seas in the World

Considering the most beautiful seas, it's worth paying attention to the southern water bodies, although, without doubt, each sea is attractive and charming in its own way.

The most beautiful sea in the world-Coral Sea

If we consider the beauty of the seas, and not their coasts, then the first place should be given to the Coral Sea. The Coral Sea is a dangerous place for sailors, and at the same time one of the most beautiful places for diving, and all this is due to the unique coral reefs that are at its bottom.

The second place-Red Sea

The Red Sea is a truly magnificent place. It has rich fish stocks, a huge number of amazing creatures live in it, and the underwater world is exceptionally rich. Many corals live only here, and divers are stricily forbidden to break them.

The third place-Caribbean

This is the warmest exotic（异域风情的）place where not only the sca but also the plants on its coast please the eye. It's located between North and South America, and on its shore there are a number of small countries. Many tourists come here, because rest here is inexpensive, and you can experience different cultural traditions.

The fourth place -Bali Sea

The Bali Sea is located in the Pacific Ocean. This is another paradise（天堂）for relaxation, receiving many tourists every season. The sea has a warm climate, creating ideal conditions for relaxing on the islands of Java, Sulawesi, Sumbawa, Madura.

Born in a musical family in 1925 in New Orleans, Renald Richard spent his childhood filled with music. At the age of 13, he went to see a band perform at a church where he fell in love with trumpet. So he started lessons on it, and later played it in the high school band. After high school, he was sent into military service and played his trumpet in the United States Navy Band. After ending up studying music at Xavier University of Louisiana, he played clubs on the famous Bourbon Street and also toured with many bands.

In 1954, Richard was approached by Jeff Brown, the manager of musician Ray Charles. He invited Richard to join Ray Charles' new band. "To be selected by Ray Charles was an honor to me. Ray Charles was exacting. " said Richard, "He was a perfectionist and was rather demanding about his music. "

Renald Richard toured all over the South and West with Ray Charles. Sitting in the back seat of the car on the way to a concert, Richard wrote the song "I Got a Woman" for Charles, which became Ray Charles' first number one radio hit. In 1954, Renald Richard left Ray Charles' band. However, he stayed friendly with Ray Charles over the years. He became the high school's band director in his hometown until 1962. Four years later, he moved again to New York City. Over the years, Richard has written many other songs that have been recorded by artists including Joe Turner, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley to name a few. Living now in Southern Florida, Richard is still active at the age of 92. As you can see, Renald Richard's musical days are by no means near an end.

That is today's Celebrity Introduction. Any comments? Please write to us in the Comments Section on this page.

Jessica Brookhart has always loved tiny houses and tree house. When some land went up for sale in Gold Hill, Colorado, she bought it. Why? Because it came with a tree house. Brookhart, 41, spent $80, 000 to live out her dream.

She isn't alone. Tree houses are on the rise all over the U. S. More people are building them, more people are buying them, and more people are renting them. A house in a tree is a fun way to escape being trapped in your home. But you don't have to stay with strangers. And you don't have to travel farther than your own backyard.

The tree house that Brookhart bought can fit two adults and two children. There is no bathroom or running water. There is a portable toilet on the ground. From the windows, you can see the mountains. "It is a magical place, "Brookhart said. She admits that she made an emotional buy. But it offered a special place to spend time with her husband and their two young sons. She sometimes rents the tree house out online. Lots of people want to use it. "I have to block off a bunch of weekends so we can spend time there too, "she said.

Many of the new tree houses aren't made of rough boards and nails. Some are very stylish. Business is great for Aaron Smith, who runs a tree house architecture company. He started it in 2015, and now employs a second designer and eight builders. His tree houses have ranged from a basic backyard structure costing around ＄10, 000 to a livable tree house with indoor plumbing（管路系统）for half a million． He has customers all over the country.

The Mohicans Treehouse Resort in Glenmont, Ohio, rents out luxurious tree houses. But for many people, simple tree houses are good enough. Jim Brook, 71, built his grandsons a small platform tree house a few years ago. "I love to introduce them to nature and encourage them to play outdoors, " Brook said.

It's uncertain when many offices may reopen, but it's clear the virtual work revolution that began with the pandemic isn't going away.

Alexia Cambon, research director at Gartner, says finding the right combination of in-person and virtual work will take creativity and experimentation. Managing director Deborah Lovich stresses that companies should consider that flexibility is not only about location, but also about the hours employees work.

Alexia also points out the importance of finding solutions for a whole team. "What COVID-19 taught us is that flex work cannot be for an individual. It has to be for the team, " she says. "When the whole team is together online versus a whole team together in person, it works. "

Progressive organizations are also reconsidering their workplace culture. "They're thinking about changing culture and leadership to be much more trust-based, impact-based, instead of input-based, like, I see you, so I think you're productive, ' compared to, 'Wow, I see what you've accomplished, and I know you've been productive, ""Lovich says.

Lovich sees remote work as a "win-win" for cmployees who get more flexibility and employers who can hire people from anywhere in the country or even the world. She views it as creating equality in terms of allowing small towns to attract talent and offering more opportunity for women to climb the corporate ladder without having to relocate their families, something that she says often takes a back seat in a dual-career houschold.

Companics that require a return to a fully on-site model could lose one in three employees. Lovich agrees that employers need to be careful. "It's an employee's market right now. The world is short of workers, and because of that we should really think about what we need and feel confident and courageous to speak up. And a lot of companies are getting that, and so it's a real opportunity to either shape the place you work to be the place it needs to be or go someplace else that does, "Lovich says. "For decades, we've been contorting（扭曲）our lives to fit around work, and COVID-19 forced work to fit around lives．"

Why Do Dogs Roll In The Grass?

If your dog is anything like mine, she loves rolling around in a patch of grass any chance she gets. And it always cracks me up to watch my dog, Nala, have the time of her life. Is she cooling off? Is she just super happy? What could it be? Here are some of the most common explanations behind this behavior.

It's important to remember how incredibly powerful your dog's nose is. They are picking up on hundreds of subtle scents that we can't even comprehend! Sometimes they want to enjoy a scent（气味） they've found in the grass and will roll around in it to do just that.

She's cooling off. It might even be a little wet from a sprinkler-the perfect place for your dog to cool off in.

She's covering up her own scent. There's another smelly reason why your pup may be rolling around in that patch of grass. Some experts hold the view that dogs may roll in grass to cover their own scent.

She's scratching an itch. It's good to rule out any allergies and make sure your dog isn't rolling a ton to scratch a constantly itchy（发痒的） back or side, but otherwise, it's probably normal that she's having a good time.

I'm not sure about you, but now I'm even thinking about joining mine next time.

A. She's having fun.

B. She's enjoying a smell.

C. But I've always wondered why she actually does it.

D. If it's a particularly hot day, that grass may look extra appealing to your dog.

E. It is not uncommon to see dogs rolling in the grass around particular times of year.

F. In other words, they want to smell like the environment so they don't scare off prey （猎物）.

G. If you notice your dog rolling around in the grass, it's probably just her having the best time ever.

It was a cold, rainy day, and I had no desire to drive up the winding mountain road to my daughter Carolyn's house. But she1that I come to see something at the top of the mountain.

So here I was, 2 making the two-hour journey through thick fog. Nothing could be worth this, I thought as I3 along the dangerous highway.

Turning down a narrow track, we4and got out. We walked along a path that was thick with old pine needles. Huge black-green evergreens （常青树）5over us. Gradually, the peace and silence of the place began to6 my mind.

Then we turned a corner and stopped at the top of the mountain - and I was entirely held in7There across fields and valleys were rivers of fully-opened yellow flowers from the light one to the most brilliant. It looked as though the sun had tipped over and8 the mountainside in gold.

9 occurred to my mind. Who created such beauty? How? When? As we approached the house that stood in the center of the property, we saw a10 that read:"Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking. "The first answer was:"One Woman-Two Hands, Two Feet, and Very Little Brain. "The second was:"11at a Time. "The third:"Started in 1958. "

As we drove home, I was so moved by what we had seen that I could12 speak. "She changed the world, "I finally said, "one small plant at a time. She started almost 40 years ago, probably just the13 of an idea, but she kept at it. "

The wonder of it would not let me go. "Imagine, " I said, "if I'd had a dream and14it, just a little bit every day, what might I have accomplished?" Carolyn looked at me sideways, smiling. "Start tomorrow, "she said. "15yet, start today. "

A little girl's day turned into an unforgettable one after she found a sweet note from a stranger in a supermarket. The girl(wander) through the supermarket with her dad when she came across what she thought was a "lost" object. But it soon became clear that it was a gift intended the person who found it, reports Liverpool Echo. Hidden among the(shelf) was what appeared to be small, hand-knitted item, with a note (attach) to it. It read: "I am not lost. I am waiting for you. "

The girl's dad wrote aboutunexpected find on a community Facebook page,  he called the stranger the(good) kind of human being. (post) a photo of the knitted present, he wrote:"My daughter found this in a supermarket today. The best trait of a person is that of a person who can(selfless) make another smile. "

Since it was posted, the picture (share) hundreds of times, receiving comments from numerous locals who said they had also spotted gifts like this around town.

注意：1）词数80左右（开头和结尾已给出，不计入词数）；2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Martin,

Yours,

Li Hua

I grew up in a small town where the primary school was a ten-minute walk from my house. When the noon bell rang, I would race breathlessly home. My mother would be standing at the top of the stairs, smiling down at me.

One lunchtime when I was in the third grade will stay with me always. I had becn picked to be the princess in the school play, and for weeks my mother had rehearsed（排练）my lines so hard with me. But no matter how easily I acted at home, as soon as I stepped onstage, cvery word disappeared from my head. Finally, my teacher took me aside. She explained that she had written a narrator's（旁白的）part to the play, and asked me to change roles. Her words, kindly expressed, still hurt, especially when I saw my part go to another girl.

I didn't tell my mother what had happened when I went home for lunch that day. But she sensed my pain. Instead of suggesting we practice my lines, she asked if I wanted to walk in the yard.

It was a lovely spring day and the rose vine（藤蔓）was turning green. Under the huge trees, we could see yellow dandelions（蒲公英）in the grass in bunch, as if a painter had touched our landscape with gold. I watched my mother casually bend down by one dandelion. "I think I'm going to dig up all these weeds, "she said, pulling it up by its roots. "From now on, we'll have only roses in this garden. "

"But I like dandelions, " I protested. "All flowers are beautiful-even dandelions. "

My mother looked at me seriously. "Yes, every flower gives pleasure in its own way, doesn't it?" She asked thoughtfully. I nodded, pleased that I had won her over. "And that is true of people too, " she added. "Not everyone can be a princess, but there is no shame in that. " Relieved that she had guessed my pain, I started to cry asI told her what had happened. She listened and smiled.

注意：1）所续写短文的词数应为150左右；

2）续写部分分为两段, 每段的开头语已为你写好, 不计入总词数。

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After the play, I took home the flower.