In the years since that painful season, I have come to look back upon New Year’s Eve as an ending and a beginning. New Year’s Eve brings a halt to the endless commitments that fill our daily lives and a chance to reflect.

New Year’s Eve is full of possibility and anticipation. What will be the surprising experiences and delightful successes in the coming year? But also, what disappointments are waiting for us in the next twelve months?

In many ways, New Year’s Eve and the days that surround it are a line between past and future. That line is made up of a series of moments of transition(過渡) that take us out of the old and into the new. Transition can be challenging for many of us. It’s about letting go of the familiar and diving headlong (迅猛地) into the unfamiliar.

Just as, back then, I had to face letting go of the life I had led with my beloved husband and stepping into a new world as a widowed mom. I find that each year I have to step out of the version of me that suited the year that is ending and ease into the version of me who will rise to the goals I am holding for myself for the year ahead.

Last year at this time, I sat in a chair in southern France and drank in the stillness(沉靜) and beauty of the countryside around me. The three children and I had brought into this world talked and laughed around the table beside me as we enjoyed a lunch of bread and cheese.

I was filled with a sense of joy and I had a glowing(熱情洋溢的) heart that was full of hope. It was another ending and another beginning. May we all transition into the best of what lies ahead. May we all find happiness this holiday season.

【1】What does the underlined word “halt” in Paragraph 2 mean most probably?

A.Stop.B.Beginning.C.Meaning.D.Tradition.

【2】What’s the main cause of the author’s unhappiness on New Year’s Eve a decade before?

A.The pressure she faced in her work.B.The health problem her husband faced.

C.The information received from her family.D.The relationship between her and her husband.

【3】What’s the author’s attitude towards the thing people should do at New Year?

A.Set challenging goals for the next year.B.Break with daily routines and form a new habit.

C.Spend more time with family members.D.Think about the past and get ready for the future.

【4】What’s the main purpose of writing the passage?

A.To memorialize her husband.B.To show how she got through a hard time.

C.To share her view of New Year’s Eve.D.To remind us that uncertainty is part of life.

【1】What probably is the man?

A.A doctor.

B.A lawyer.

C.An architect.

【2】How will the man get to the bus station tomorrow morning?

A.He will walk there.

B.He will go there in his car.

C.His wife will take him there.

【3】When will the man take the return bus tomorrow?

A.At 6:30 p.m.

B.At 8:00 p.m.

C.At 9:30 p.m.

【1】Who is making the announcement?

A.The student government.B.The school newspaper.C.The football team.

【2】How many new teams are added this year?

A.Four.B.Three.C.Two.

【3】What do the music club members do?

A.They organize trips.B.They attend concerts.C.They have dancing nights.

【4】Why should a student join a campus group?

A.To have friends.B.To make good grades.C.To keep up with world news.

【1】What does the woman say about the sports centre?

A.It was small.

B.It was noisy.

C.It was expensive.

【2】Why didn’t the woman stay in the café?

A.It was not clean.

B.The service was bad.

C.She had an appointment.

【3】What does the man suggest doing right now?

A.Playing tennis.

B.Going to a club.

C.Swimming in the river.

【1】What are the speakers mainly talking about?

A.The first day at a new job.

B.A usual day at work.

C.A new boss.

【2】What does the woman think of her boss?

A.Indifferent.

B.Supportive.

C.Inexperienced.

【3】What do we know about the woman?

A.She has a good overtime pay.

B.She often works late at night.

C.She had a hard time at work today.

【1】What might the woman’s job be?

A.She’s a diver.B.She’s a lifeguard.C.She’s a swimming instructor.

【2】Who called the ambulance?

A.The woman.B.One of the students.C.The man’s colleague.

【3】When did the ambulance arrive?

A.Immediately.B.Ten minutes later.C.Twenty minutes later.

【4】How did the girl react when she awoke?

A.She didn’t know what happened.B.She went back in the pool. C.She cried.

【1】What is wrong with the man?

A.He feels tired and sad.

B.He eats less every day.

C.He keeps awake at night.

【2】What do we know about the man?

A.He is a student.

B.He is a foreigner.

C.He is seriously ill.

【3】Why does the woman know so much about cultural shock?

A.She is an expert.

B.She has heard about it.

C.She has the similar experience.

1. 表示歉意；

2. 解釋原因；

3. 接站安排。

注意：

1. 詞數(shù)80詞左右；

2. 可適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫。

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【1】How do the speakers know each other?

A.They are family members.B.They go to the same school.C.They teach at the same school.

【2】How has the man tried to reach his brother?

A.He sent him a text.B.He went to his house.C.He left him a voicemail.

Some of you may play Ant Forest, 【1】 game on Alipay. Users collect “energy” to make their “trees” grow. When the “energy” 【2】 (reach) a certain level, some 【3】(organize) and companies will plant a real tree in a desert area of China. And now it seems that the nation’s efforts to make a greener world have paid 【4】.

According to a study 【5】 (publish) in the journal Nature Sustainability, China and India are 【6】 (main) responsible for making the Earth greener over the past two decades. The study has found that since 2000 the Earth’s green leaf area has increased by 5 percent, or over 5 million square kilometers, 【7】 is an area equal to the total area of the Amazon rainforest. China and India account for one 【8】 (three) of the increased greening, but contain only 9 percent of the planet’s land area covered in vegetation (植被). China was the major contributor, adding 25 percent 【9】 this increase, while India added 6.8 percent. There is no denying that China is one of the most successful countries in【10】(green) the desert.