阅读理解

Here are the best art contests to enter in 2023. 

Artists Magazine Annual Art Competition

This contest seeks to encourage future artists. Kids under 16 are encouraged to submit two-dimensional artwork including paintings, drawings, computer-produced artwork, photographs, and more to their representatives for consideration, wherever they are. Entries are accepted online each spring. The fees are $20 for each entry. 

The winners will have their artwork publicly displayed at the Capitol for a year, and will also be honored with an awards show in DC. 

Doodle for Google Art Contest

This annual contest gives exposure and support to people around the globe who use technology to create artwork. Aside from the prizes, this contest also involves exhibitions and events to raise awareness. The entry fees are $50 for up to five images and $5 for each additional image. The deadline for entries and fees is in mid-March. 

The Chelsea Fine Arts Competition

For 30 years, this annual art contest has awarded worldwide visual artists. This contest is open to visual artists from around the world at any stage of their careers who are at least 18 years of age. The entry period is from March 3rd until June 3rd. 

There's a fee for entering:$40 for two pieces of artwork. There's an early bird period with a reduced fee for entries, which means the earlier you sign up, the lower the fee.

The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards

The art contest is open to students who are at least 13 years old from September to December. No fee is charged for this contest. Winners are selected in the visual and literary arts on the basis of originality and technical skill and will receive prizes that include publication, exhibition and educational scholarships worth up to $10, 000.

1. （1） What do the first two contests have in common?

   A . They are held once a year. B . Entries are submitted online. C . They are intended for teenagers. D . Entries are produced only by technology.
3. （2） Which can be the best time to sign up for The Chelsea Fine Arts Competition?

   A . February 3rd. B . March 6th. C . June 1st. D . July 3rd.
5. （3） What makes The Scholastic Art and Writing Awards special?

   A . Only teenagers can enter for it. B . It focuses on visual arts. C . There is no charge for entries. D . Winners will display their works.

 阅读理解

I love flowers and hence have taken to growing them. But, short of time to do research and experiment in growing flowers, I am no gardener at all. I really don't care whether or not my flowers will put forth plump and nice-looking blossom (花朵). I'll be delighted as long as they can blossom. In summer, flowers and plants growing in luxuriance in my small courtyard will leave little open space as a playground for the little cats, so they have to sport about in our rooms instead.

I grow many flowers but none of them are rare ones. It is difficult to grow a rare flower species. 

And I feel bad to see a good flower dying of illness. But Beijing's climate is more or less unfit for the growing of flowers. Freezing in winter, windy in spring, and either too dry or too often visited by rainstorms in summer. While autumn is the best of all, it is often troubled by a sudden frost. In a climate like this, it is far beyond my capacity to grow precious flowers of southern breed. Therefore, I only grow flowers and plants that are hardy and enjoy a high survival rate.

Although such flowers are able to weather through by themselves, I, however, never ignore them or abandon them to their own fate, for otherwise most of them will probably end up dead. I have to care for them every day as if they were my close friends. Thus, in the course of time, I've somehow mastered flower cultivation.

It gives me much pleasure to know the right way of handling them. How interesting it is to be able to keep my flowers and plants alive and watch them thrive and bloom year in year out! It is no exaggeration to say that there is much knowledge involved in this! And the more knowledge one acquires, the better it is of course.

1. （1） What can we learn about the author from Paragraph 1?

   A . The author is an expert in gardening. B . The author often experiments with flowers. C . The author thinks the growth of flowers is important. D . The author's yard is covered with flowers in summer.
3. （2） What's the actual reason why the author doesn't grow precious flowers?

   A . The author's ability is not good enough. B . The climate in Beijing is not suitable. C . They can not survive in the north. D . They are too valuable.
5. （3） What makes the author happy from planting?

   A . Increased knowledge. B . Manual labour. C . Brilliant colours. D . Close friendship.
7. （4） Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

   A . Rare Flowers in Beijing B . About Loving Flowers C . On Growing Flowers D . Learning to Plant Flowers

 阅读理解

As the politicians made clear at last month's COP26 (United Nations Climate Change

Conference), in Glasgow, now is the time to act on climate change. We need to cut carbon emissions, and knowing this, it is easy to be bleak: Can we really remake society to be much greener than it is now?

Strangely, I'm feeling optimistic. Especially compared to if you'd asked me a few years ago. And that's mostly because of one factor: Batteries. It isn't obvious but over the last decade or so, just as we've watched our computers get faster and screens get thinner, batteries have dramatically improved too.

According to the European Patent Office, the number of battery patents filed grew by an average of 14 per cent every year between 2005 and 2018, which means battery innovation is exploding. Energy storage is getting better, as more companies are discovering new chemistry and process to make them work more efficiently. 

And the results of their work are astonishing. According to Bloomberg, energy density—the amount of power that can be stored in the same sized battery—has tripled in the last decade. And the cost of batteries has dramatically fallen too. 

Today, battery power per kilowatt hour costs around only 10 per cent of what it did a decade ago. And the expectation is that the costs will continue to fall, both as battery chemistry improves and because manufacturing on a massive scale makes the production of individual batteries cheaper. 

Given how much technology has improved batteries over the last decade, I can't help but be strangely optimistic about the future. Batteries may not be as flashy as phones, rockets or other new technologies. But when it comes to technology to fight climate change, they're definitely leading the charge.

1. （1） Which is closest in meaning to "bleak "in Paragraph 1?

   A . Positive. B . Negative. C . Neutral. D . Indifferent.
3. （2） Why are costs of batteries expected to continue to decline?

   A . Because the storage of a battery has increased greatly. B . Because our computer technology is developing very fast. C . Because the chemical properties of the battery are improved. D . Because battery chemistry and production are advancing.
5. （3） How does the author mainly state the improvement of batteries?

   A . By quotation. B . By experiment. C . By comparison. D . By classification.
7. （4） What is the text mainly about?

   A . How battery technology can fight climate change. B . How we can make the society greener than now. C . What makes the battery industry develop quickly. D . Why batteries are becoming cheaper and more efficient.

 阅读理解

Human beings have a contradictory relationship with the sun. People love sunshine; however, if you stay out too long or haven't taken enough precautions (预防措施), your skin will let you know the angry sunburn. First the heat, then the pain, then the remorse. Were people always this obsessed with sunscreens? The answer is "no".

With only their feet to carry them, our distant ancestors didn't move around much during their lives. Their skin adapted to subtle, seasonal changes in sunlight and UV conditions by producing more eumelanin (真黑素) and becoming darker in the summer and then losing some pigment (色素) in the fall and winter when the sun wasn't so strong. This is not to say that the skin would have been undamaged by today's standards. We can infer from the effects of sun exposure on modern people that the damage was similar.

As time goes by, people's way of living changes as well. About 10, 000 years ago, human beings made their living by gathering foods, hunting and fishing. By around 6, 000 BC, many people were spending more time in walled settlements, and more time indoors. By at least 3, 000 BC, a whole industry of sun protection grew up to create equipment of all sorts — hats, tents and clothing — that would protect people from the discomfort and unavoidable darkening of the skin related to lengthy sun exposure. In some places, people even developed protective pastes — early versions of modern sunscreens — to protect their exposed skin.

As people have moved around more and faster over longer distances in recent centuries, and spend more time indoors, their skin hasn't caught up with their locations and lifestyles. Your levels of eumelanin probably aren't perfectly adapted to the sun conditions where you live, so they aren't able to protect you the same way they might have protected your ancient ancestors.

People may love the sun, but we're not our ancestors. Humanity's relationship with the sun has changed, and this means changing your behavior to save your skin.

1. （1） What is the relationship between human beings and the sun?

   A . It's harmonious. B . It's irrelative. C . It's complex. D . It's conflicting.
3. （2） What can be inferred from the second paragraph?

   A . Ancestors' skin had more eumelanin. B . Dark skin can protect against sunburn. C . The loss of pigment also means skin damage. D . Moving around is beneficial to increasing eumelanin.
5. （3） What factors contribute to the decline of people's adaptability to the sun?

   A . The level of eumelanin and temperature. B . Changes of the lifestyle and location. C . UV conditions and the amount of sunlight. D . Protection equipment and longer sun exposure.
7. （4） What will most probably be talked about next?

   A . Some tips for protecting the skin. B . Examples of how sunlight affects the skin. C . Risks of lasting exposure to the sun. D . Benefits of adapting to the environment.

 根据短文内容, 从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

Group discussions are a way of expressing your thoughts and opinions with other people. It is an opportunity to learn more about other people and develop your own personality. You become better at group discussions because it will help you throughout your whole life.  then this blog is the right place for you. Here, we will share some things you can do to excel at group discussions.

Learn about the subject

 You cannot just walk into a group discussion without having any idea what it is about. So, make sure that you do your research before stepping into the discussion.

Be confident when you speak

The best way to make your discussion go well is by being confident. When someone else is speaking, make sure that you consider their opinion and not simply wait for your turn to speak. people are more interested in listening to you, and they'll respect you more as a person.

One of the most important aspects of group discussions is to be a good listener. Active listening is one of the most important skills in life, which is why you need to practice using it. 

Use group discussion to express yourself

Group discussions are a way of expressing yourself. It is not just about talking; it is more about putting your thoughts in front of other people. , but people prefer to bear your opinions in order to open their minds.

A. Been an active listener

B. Choose your words wisely

C. When there is a conflict in opinion

D. When you are confident while speaking

E. Speaking your heart out can be hard at times

F. If you are also struggling with such kinds of discussions

G. It is very important that you first collect information about the topic

 阅读下面短文, 从短文后各题所给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D)中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

The intelligence of dolphins is widely accepted. However, this story about a particularly 1  dolphin called Kelly at an ocean park in Mississippi is incredible.

The dolphins there are trained to keep their pools 2  . They collect litter that falls into the water and give it to the trainer and receive a fish as a reward for every piece of 3 . 

But when people dropped paper into the water, Kelly would hide the paper under a rock at the bottom of the pool, tear off a small piece and bring it to the trainer to 4  it for a fish. Then she would go back down, bring another piece of paper and get another fish. She 5  that a big piece of paper gets the same 6  as a small piece. So she 7  only small pieces to keep the extra food coming. 8  , Kelly took this task one step further.

She did not 9  there . One day a seagull flew into her poor. She 10  it and gave it to the trainers and got lots of fish. This gave Kelly a new 11  . The next time she was fed, 12  eating the last fish, she took it to the bottom of the pool and hid it under the rock. When no trainers were 13 , she brought the fish to the surface and used it to lure (引诱) 14 , which she would catch to get even more fish. 

From the 15  above, it seems that dolphins do deserve their reputation for being highly intelligent.

 阅读下面短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Baoning sweet steamed bun is a (tradition) staple food of Langzhong ancient city (formerly known as Baoning) in Nanchong, southwest China's Sichuan Province. With history of more than 200 years, the special bun is without doubt a proof of the (creative) and skill of Chinese cuisine.

For hundreds of years, the bun (produce) under 21 complete procedures, and finished with a red stamp proving the authenticity. As white as snow with a pleasant and sweet flavor, the specialty is (true) incredible—it's soft and non-sticky when (eat) hot and turns crispy and refreshing when it cools. The buns can also be shaped into various forms and shapes (give) all kinds of visually impressive appearances.

After being passed down for generations, Baoning sweet steamed buns have become a representative food of Langzhong is loved by locals and tourists from around the country. In 2006, it was recognized one of the first group of "China Time-honored Brands". And in 2013, the technique for (make) Baoning sweet steamed buns was listed as an intangible cultural heritage of Nanchong city.

假定你是李华，你校将举办主题为"保护地球"（Earth First）的摄影展。请给你校交换生Jim写邮件，邀请他来看展。内容包括：
1. 展览的时间和地点；
2. 展览的目的及内容。

注意：
1. 词数80左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear Jim

How's everything?

……

Yours

Li Hua

 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Mary sat down heavily on the sofa, feeling a bit down. Father's Day was drawing near, yet she didn't have a gift for her dad. "How can I possibly get a gift if I don't have any money?" she wondered.

Noticing the newspaper on the couch, Mary reached for it. A big advertisement on the front page caught her attention. The local store was hosting a contest. "Share with us why your dad is special and win a $100 gift card for him," the advertisement said "This is fantastic!" Mary thought with excitement. She hurried to her room with the newspaper in hand. She picked up a pencil and a piece of paper, sat down, and began writing.

"My dad is really amazing. He works tirelessly to support our family and never complains. He always has time to listen to me and gives the best advice. He teaches me valuable life lessons and supports my dreams. Whenever I feel down, he lifts my spirits with his humor and love. And although he is tough on the outside, he has a heart of gold."

Mary felt satisfied with her heartfelt words. She carefully copied them, caught an envelope and a stamp from her bedside, and rushed to the mailbox with her entry. "Dad will be overjoyed with a gift card," she thought optimistically.

Days turned into weeks as Mary eagerly checked the mailbox each day, hoping for news about the contest. However, as Father's Day was just around the corner, she still hadn't received any response.

"What should I do now?" she wondered, feeling disappointed. She had no gift and no money and time was running out. But Mary was determined to show her love and appreciation. She had to come up with a plan. Mary closed her eyes and took a deep breath, searching for a solution.

注意：1. 续写词数共150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好
3. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Paragraph 1:

All of a sudden, she knew what to do. 

 

Paragraph 2:

On the morning of Father's Day, Mary gave the letter to her father