My three-year-old son, Nathan, was digging the sand to build a castle. Although I warned him it'd be_______, he insisted on building it in the_________ of every single wave that would _________on the shore.
I sighed, figuring the only way to make him _______was to do as he liked and let him see what would happen. I only hoped he wouldn't be too _________ when that first wave destroyed his_________.
But when the water came and washed away his castle, he jumped up and down and clapped his hands. “That's_______! Let's do it again!” I didn't know how he could_______seeing his fruit of labor ruined.
“Is it really fun when the waves wash away the_______?”
“Yes,” he said.
Looking at him, I thought about my________at home. Nothing I did there ever seemed to________.I prepared dinners, which ten minutes after I placed them on the table were________consumed. I mopped floors only to see someone________them on their first trip in from the back yard. My life was just one never-ending to-do________.
Just like the sand castles Nathan built, all my________ were washed away by a giant wave called Family Life. Nothing I did lasted beyond the moment.
Because of this, I often struggled feeling________. I wondered if the things I did________. And if nothing I did mattered, that meant that I didn't matter.
But as I watched my child________in the sand happily, I realized that I'm building something________ , something that will last forever.
I’m__________a family.
1.A.taken apart B.washed away C.cleared up D.dug out
2.A.front B.charge C.form D.path
3.A.crash B.dance C.float D.appear
4.A.understand B.regret C.refuse D.struggle
5.A.angry B.frightened C.surprised D.upset
6.A.future B.creation C.world D.gift
7.A.difficult B.impossible C.simple D.great
8.A.imagine B.stand C.avoid D.risk
9.A.tools B.clothes C.shoes D.castles
10.A.pet B.item C.life D.plan
11.A.last B.happen C.help D.exist
12.A.completely B.suddenly C.finally D.personally
13.A.empty B.dirty C.narrow D.dry
14.A.experiment B.survey C.list D.puzzle
15.A.tears B.worries C.feelings D.efforts
16.A.confused B.fancy C.competitive D.unfair
17.A.counted B.appeared C.changed D.faded
18.A.lying B.digging C.rolling D.sleeping
19.A.actual B.slight C.important D.formal
20.A.protecting B.designing C.building D.creating
Giacomo Puccini was born in 1858 and was a son of a musical director. 1. He is remembered as a master of opera.
2. Many early forerunners of Impressionistic Music including Rimsky-Korsakov, Strauss, Schoenberg and Stravinsky, inspired him greatly.
Turandot, an opera based on an Italian drama by the same name, is by far considered to be one of Puccini’s most popular and most performed works.
It’s a pity that Puccini had no chance to watch his own great opera himself. 3.
In this opera you can hear a traditional Chinese folk song, which is titled Molihua or Jasmine Flower. 4. Among them the version sung in Jiangsu, a province in south China, is the most popular one. By admiring the jasmine flower, the song celebrates the sweetness and beauty of romantic love. 5. In 1804 the song was published in a book by British diplomat, making it the first Chinese folk song that gained popularity outside China.
A.Turandot is performed regularly all over the world
B.At the end of the 18th century. it was first translated into English
C.It’s believed that Puccini’s operas are strong in emotion and conflict.
D.The opera was first performed in 1926, two years after Puccini’s death.
E.During his music career, Puccini was also influenced by other musicians.
F.Though Puccini received training in various areas of music, his true love was in opera
G.There are many different versions of Molihua or Jasmine Flower in different parts of China.
Whether in the home or the workplace, social robots are going to become a lot more common in the next few years. Social robots are about to bring technology to the everyday world in a more humanized way, said Cynthia Breazeal, chief scientist at the robot company Jibo.
While household robots today do the normal housework, social robots will be much more like companions than tools. For example, these robots will be able to distinguish when someone is happy or sad. This allows them to respond more appropriately (适当地) to the user.
The Jibo robot, arranged to ship later this year, is designed to be a personalized assistant. You can talk to the robot, ask it questions, and make requests for it to perform different tasks. The robot doesn’t just deliver general answers to questions, it responds based on what it learns about each individual in the household. It can do things such as reminding an elderly family member to take medicine or taking family photos.
Social robots are not just finding their way into the home. They have potential applications in everything from education to health care and are already finding their way into some of these spaces.
Fellow Robots is one company bringing social robots to the market. The company’s “Oshbot” robot is built to assist customers in a store, which can help the customers find items and help guide them to the product’s location in the store. It can also speak different languages and make recommendations for different items based on what the customer is shopping for.
The more interaction the robot has with humans, the more it learns. But Oshbot, like other social robots, is not intended to replace workers, but to work alongside other employees. “We have technologies to train social robots to do things not for us, but with us,” said Breazeal.
1.How are social robots different from household robots?
A.They can control their emotions. B.They are more like humans.
C.They do the normal housework. D.They respond to users more slowly.
2.What can a Jibo robot do according to Paragraph 3?
A.Communicate with you and perform operations.
B.Answer your questions and make requests.
C.Take your family pictures and deliver milk.
D.Obey your orders and remind you to take pills.
3.What’s the passage mainly about?
A.A new design idea of household robots. B.Marketing strategies for social robots.
C.Information on household robots. D.An introduction to social robots.
Destine Whitaker was in fourth grade when she learned that millions of people around the world lack clean water.
“It was a problem that confused me for a long time,” said Whitaker, from the United States city of Philadelphia. “Water is a necessity.”
When she got to Carver High School of Engineering and Science, Whitaker carefully researched the problem and felt that she must do something about it.
Early in her senior year, Whitaker approached fellow members of the school’s National Honor Society with a proposal: They should raise money to buy water purification systems for people in need. Whitaker, the National Honor Society president, knew the systems would have to be easy to carry and able to operate without electricity. So she checked with a microbiologist to make sure the system she had her eye on would fit the bill.
Once her classmates agreed to back the proposal, Whitaker took it upon herself to raise money. She organized a game where students bought tickets to guess how many pieces of candy ajar contained.
In the end, they raised $800—a large amount for a school where 70 percent of the students’ families are not well-off.
Whitaker soon found that raising money was the easier part of the project. However, finding an organization that could deliver the water purification systems was the toughest one. She approached some organizations about their possible connections but no one could help.
Then Whitaker connected with Joseph Sackor, who runs the Liberia Medical Mission—an organization that provides medical care to Liberians who lack health services. Sackor accepted the school’s money and agreed to deliver the systems to people who needed them.
Whitaker dreams of someday starting her own nonprofit organization to bring clean water to more people in need.
“Some students in Liberia can’t even go to school because their parents cannot afford to buy them bottled water,” Sackor said. “This money is huge.”
1.What problem did Whitaker want to solve?
A.Poverty of human beings. B.Lack of clean drinking water.
C.Shortage of medical care. D.Unawareness of healthy lifestyles.
2.The underlined phrase “fit the bill” in Paragraph probably means “________”.
A.meet their needs B.be cheap enough
C.be difficult to operate D.need improvement
3.What did Whitaker think the most difficult part of her project was?
A.Making a suggestion for the project.
B.Raising money to buy the equipment.
C.Calling on her classmates to give support to it.
D.Finding an organization to deliver the equipment.
4.What does Whitaker want to do in the future?
A.Go to live and work in Liberia.
B.Study medicine to help those in need.
C.Set up a charity to help more people.
D.Provide bottled water to Liberian student.
Kings Camps
About Our Camps
Kings Camps is part of the Kings Active Foundation and is devoted to helping young people reach their potential (潜能). We provide sports camps and summer camps at over 40 places across the UK for children aged 4—17. We bring together the very best aspects of sports and holiday clubs to provide friendship, fun and exciting adventures for young people from the UK and around the world.
Why Choose Kings Camps
* Creative, inspiring camps: We have a strong belief that sport has an important role to play in a happy childhood and we’ll provide some places, new and creative ways to inspire. They are not for profit (利润).
* Learn important life skills: Kings Camps equip children with important life skills and understanding that being active is necessary to health and well-being.
* International students are welcome: We welcome children from outside of the UK who will make friends here by communicating with kids from different backgrounds, but we do request that they at least understand English to make sure of their safety and that of others, and of course their enjoyment.
Comments
Ryan has enjoyed every aspect. When we’ve asked about his day, he’ said it was “amazing and fantastic”. All the staff are extremely friendly, enthusiastic and have a true belief in what they are doing.
—Tnacy Lee
Fantastic friendly staff! It’ an action-packed week of multiple sports. My sweetheart made new friends, overcame swimming fears came away more confident tool I cannot recommend it enough!
—Kay Court
1.What does Kings Camps aim to do?
A.Combine sports and holiday clubs. B.Get kids to play outdoors.
C.Provide adventurous and challenging camps. D.Encourage kids to develop their potential.
2.What’s necessary for international students?
A.Awareness of safety. B.Love for outdoor sports.
C.Basic English ability. D.Good communicating skills.
3.Who probably made the comments?
A.Parents. B.Teachers.
C.Campers. D.Staff.
阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。
Bill was a 15-year-old young man. One weekend he went to the forest with his friends Russell and Jim to catch and collect rare butterflies.
Russell was the only one who had been to these woods. They had been there for 20 minutes and were deep into the forest. Russell and Jim stuck together, while Bill drifted to their left. He tried to stay within eyesight of them, but he was also watching for snakes.
As he went forward, suddenly a beautiful bird with a long tail flew by and caught his eyes. He followed behind to take some photos. But when he was done and glanced over for his friends, they were gone.
He shouted, but the thick woods only swallowed his cries. The last time he saw them, it looked like they were continuing in a straight line. So he turned to go back, but an hour later he was even more lost. He kept walking, though, figuring he would find a way out.
He walked, stopping to rest now and then, until it started to get dark. The woods became a horrible place where there were various sounds. The sounds reminded Bill of the horrible stories he had read. He felt scared but he didn't cry because he kept telling himself he was a brave man. Fortunately it did not got cold, which was good because he had nothing to warm himself up. Suddenly he heard the engine sound of a helicopter. But rescuers couldn't see him through the trees, and he wasn't going to run through the woods in the dark. He just prayed they would find him the next day. So tired was he that he lay down under a tree and fell asleep.
注意：
1.所续写短文的词数应为75左右；
2.至少使用3个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3.续写部分为一段，开头语已为你写好；
4.续写完成后，请用下划线明确标出你所使用的关键词语。
The singing of the birds woke Bill up in the morning. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
