天行健，君子以自强不息。勇敢地面对和克服挫折，才会获得最终的成功。
初中三年，你一定遇到过很多困难，某英文报社以“自强”为话题展开征文活动，请你用英文写篇短文给报社投稿，谈谈你曾经遇到过的困难，你是如何坚强克服困难的，以及克服困难后你的感受。
提示词语： remember, write, read, proud
提示问题： ● What difficulty did you have?
● What did you do to overcome the difficulty?
● How did you feel?
Everybody meets difficulties in their life.
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从下面两个题目中任选一题，根据中文和英文提示，完成一篇不少于 50 词的文段写作。文中已给出内容不计入总词数。所给提示词语仅供选用。请不要写出你的校名和姓名。假如你是李华，你校将于周六上午十点使用视频会议举办一场介绍新冠病毒（COVID-19）的线上讲座。你打算邀请你校英国留学生 Tom 一起参加。请用英语给 Tom写一封邮件，邀请他参加线上讲座（online lecture），告诉他讲座的时间、内容，以及需要做什么准备。提示词语： 10 o’ clock, introduce, computer, notebook提示问题： ● What time will the online lecture start?● What is the lecture about?● What do you advise Tom to prepare?Dear Tom,I’m writing to you to invite you to attend an online lecture._____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I’m looking forward to your reply.Yours,Li Hua
What makes Australia different? First, if you are traveling from Southeast Asia, you will cover about 4,500 miles (7,240 km). If you are from the Americas or South Africa, you will cover about 9000 miles (14,500 km). If you come from Europe, you will have to travel about 10,500 miles (17,000 km). It is not just a quick crossing by boat, or a walk over a bridge. It is a long way to “Down Under”. So there are surely to be cultural as well as geographical differences.
And then there is the size of it. It’s a long way from one side to the other. Perth, the capital of Western Australia, is the most isolated (孤立的) city in the world. It is closer to Singapore than to Sydney, which is about 1, 900 miles (3,000 km) away.
Most countries have probably had population growth, with much the same racial mix, for hundreds of years. Apart, of course, from the Aborigines (土著), who have been there for over 50,000 years, Australians have not been there long. The first Europeans came and lived just over 200 years ago. Most other foreigners arrived less than 50 years ago. Australia’s population has doubled since 1957, transforming what was perhaps one of the most boring nations to one of the most exciting, with many interesting differences of culture and custom.
Australians are generally warm-hearted and open. Perhaps they have taken the best from other foreign cultures, mixing them with the best of Aboriginal and early foreign cultures. Australians are also humorous. You are expected to be the same. It is said in Australia that all visitors must be able to take a joke. Learn to laugh at yourself, your country, and so on. And if you really want to be a social hit, tell jokes about yourself, your country, and the way you speak. There is almost nothing that cannot be laughed at. The important things in life such as traditions (like public festivals) are taken very lightly. Sport, however, is taken very seriously!
Today, Australia has one of the world’s highest standards of living, fine food and wine, a great sporting tradition, a colorful and high culture, and an affection for visitors.
1.How far will visitors travel from Europe to Australia?
2.Which is closer to Perth, Singapore or Sydney?
3.When did the first Europeans come to Australia?
4.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
5.According to Paragraph 4, what are Australians like?
The Stressed-out Generation
Each generation has its own set of values and characters, but one thing common to all generations is that they are suffering (遭受) from stress. In a recent survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), all age groups now report higher levels of stress than in the past. However, survey results show that stress levels for Millennials (born roughly between 1981 and 2004) are clearly above average (均值). So, what’s worrying the Millennials?
Millennials are the first generation to grow up with computers in the home and the classroom. They are receiving information from everywhere all the time because of the rise of modern technology and social media. Over time, this information overload can become too much to handle and can result in continual stress, which in turn can cause serious physical and emotional problems. Another cause, according to writer Michael D. Hais, is that many Millennials have lived easy lives because of overprotective parents. These young adults are short of problem-solving skills and may have trouble dealing with fear of failure once they leave home.
However, the survey results may be a bit misleading as they don’t take into account public attitudes toward stress and mental illness. Ronald Kessler of Harvard Medical School, points out that changes in social attitudes have helped lessen the shame related to mental illness over the years. For example, the creation of health-related television programming and specialty magazines such as Psychology Today has drawn people’s attention to mental health problems. It’s possible that younger people now are more willing to admit (承认) to being stressed than in the past.
Despite the high levels of stress reported by Millennials in the APA survey, there is reason for happiness. Many happiness and well-being surveys show that happiness generally increases as people grow older. As Millennials get more life experience and develop better problem-solving skills over time, they should become better at dealing with stress.
Moreover, with deeper understanding of mental health issues today, the shame related to seeing a psychologist (心理医生) has lessened. This means that people are more likely to look
for professional help to lower their stress levels. There are now many kinds of stress management skills such as exercise and meditation (冥想). Millennials must develop these skills to deal with stress in order to be productive members of their community. Once they do, they will be able to look back with satisfaction on the world they helped create.
1.What does the survey by APA show? （ ）
A.Millennials are more stressed than most generations.
B.Millennials are worried about their own characters.
C.It’s normal for many Millennials to feel stressed.
D.Stress levels differ because of different values.
2.What is Paragraph 2 mainly about? （ ）
A.The problems caused by Millennials’ overprotective parents.
B.The results of receiving a great amount of information.
C.The ways Millennials deal with modern technology.
D.The causes of Millennials suffering more stress.
3.According to the passage, what are people like today compared to the past? （ ）
A.They are more likely to become psychologists.
B.They are more talented in using modern technology.
C.They are more willing to look for professional help with stress.
D.They are more independent and have good problem-solving skills.
4.What is the writer’s main purpose in writing this passage? （ ）
A.To draw parents’ attention to Millennials’ emotional problems.
B.To remind us of the importance of getting more life experience.
C.To offer some right ways of developing problem-solving skills.
D.To encourage Millennials to deal with stress in proper ways.
Have you ever had a problem you couldn’t solve? Maybe you went to a shop to look for a solution, but came home empty-handed. More and more, when this situation appears, people are creating their own devices (设备) as the solution. It’s all part of the Maker Movement, made up of thousands of resourceful people who make and fix things, rather than buy them in shops. Makers do all kinds of hands-on projects, from building pizza oven (烤箱) to designing their own drones. For makers, the do-it-yourself way is more affordable, green and satisfying.
Thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever to turn a thought into reality. Many makers use the same tools, just in different ways. For example, Arduino allows people to do anything from creating a talking clock to studying DNA, with very easy-to-use and free hardware (硬件) and software. Raspberry Pi is another popular maker tool. It is a low cost, bank-card sized computer drone that connects to computers or TVs, and uses a standard keyboard and mouse. It is a little device that enables people of all ages to explore computing. This minicomputer is as powerful as some full-sized computers. People are using Raspberry Pi for a wide variety of uses, from creating video games to powering robots.
Another key piece of technology for makers are 3D printers, which allow a normal person to create just about anything. You can even use a 3D printer to build your own 3D printer!
The availability of these technologies encourages people to be creative, but technology is only one part of the Maker Movement. Collaboration – whether online or in person – is just as important. This is clear from the growing popularity of Maker Faires, events where people come together to experiment in the areas of art, science, engineering and technology.
So, do you have what it takes to become a maker? You need to be creative and willing to play around with some new technologies. You should also want to share your ideas with others. Perhaps most importantly, you can’t be afraid of failure. Creators hardly ever get it right on the first try. Be brave, be creative, be co-operative and have fun!
1.What can we infer from Paragraph 2? （ ）
A.Raspberry Pi helps realise makers’ ideas more easily than before.
B.Full-sized computers are much more powerful than Arduino.
C.People can communicate with their clocks through Arduino.
D.Many free video games can be created with Raspberry Pi.
2.The word “collaboration” in Paragraph 4 probably means “______”. （ ）
A.creating solutions B.growing quickly
C.doing experiments D.working together
3.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage? （ ）
A.Various Tools-Using B.Creative Problem-Solving
C.Development of New Technology D.Inventions with High-tech Devices
The Day People Started Talking
My journey home from school is nothing special. I usually find a seat and start reading or texting my friends, making sure, like everyone else, not to look at other people. Then, twenty minutes later, I get off.
But last Tuesday was different. I was happily looking out of the window when the train suddenly stopped. This wasn’t usual. Then after about five minutes, I noticed people were starting to get a bit upset. Fifteen minutes later, people started getting more and more upset. Then the announcement (广播) came: “We are sorry to announce that this train is delayed. A train has broken down in front of us.”
There was a loud groan (叹息) throughout the carriage but soon something unexpected happened: all the complete strangers started talking to each other. At first, everyone just complained about the trains, but then people started talking about real things. I started chatting to a couple of young tourists sitting opposite me. Next, I really surprised myself by talking to a businesswoman. Business people are a lot cooler than I thought. Then I decided to get up and go for a walk down the train. I met a woman who had been a student at my school seven years before.
People offered each other food and drink. A young woman took her guitar and soon we were singing along. While we were singing, we heard there was a sick boy in another part of the train who needed help, and the woman from my school jumped into action. It turned out she was a nurse, and when she came back she was welcomed as a hero.
Then, after two and a half hours, we started moving again. Everyone cheered and some people, complete strangers three hours before, even hugged.
I took the train again on Wednesday but none of my new “friends” were there. Although people were polite, they weren’t nearly as friendly as the people the day before had been. I’ll never forget the day the train stopped and people started talking.
1.What happened after the announcement? （ ）
A.People got upset and started texting their friends.
B.The children started playing with their phones.
C.The workers started offering food and drink.
D.People started talking to each other.
2.The woman from the writer’s school jumped into action to ______. （ ）
A.play the guitar and sing
B.help a sick boy on the train
C.go for a walk down the train
D.get off and take another train
3.The writer will never forget last Tuesday because ______. （ ）
A.strangers on the train were friendly to each other
B.a nurse saved a boy’s life on the train just in time
C.he learned something new about business people
D.it was a good opportunity to make new friends
