Before she was crowned (加冕) Miss Amazing National in Chicago? US, Vanessa Cleary had never thought of herself as a beauty pageant (選美) competitor.

Yet the way in which Vanessa told the story of her birth mother’s struggle to help her with her disabilities and the positive impact the adoption had on her life helped her win over the judges last month. After the pageant, in which she took top honors in the junior teen division, the 15-year-old girl said she’s looking forward to telling her friends about her experience so they can join in as well. “I want everyone to have the experience I had,” Vanessa said. “It was really fun and I really enjoyed it.”

Miss Amazing is a pageant for girls with learning disabilities. In the ten years since it began, 1700 girls with disabilities have benefited from it. The pageant is designed to help the girls who participate to build sisterhoods, develop life skills, and so on.

The main event of the pageant is the stage performance, in which participants get to showcase a talent of their choice. When Vanessa’s mother first heard about Miss Amazing, she thought the pageant would be a great opportunity for Vanessa to showcase her skill for public speaking. Vanessa wants to be a teacher to teach other students who have disabilities like her.

Vanessa’s hearing is impaired, and she has a disability that makes reading difficult for her. Despite these, she is very active and loves public speaking. For Vanessa, it wasn’t about winning the pageant. It was about the opportunity for her to participate and feel supported.

【1】Who is Vanessa Cleary? (no more than 15 words)

【2】What’s the aim of the pageant? (no more than 20 words)

【3】What’s the meaning of the underlined word “impaired”? (no more than 3 words)

【4】What is Vanessa’s talent show in the pageant? (no more than 5 words)

【5】What do you think is the most important for Vanessa’s winning this year’s Miss Amazing pageant? (no more than 10 words)

One of the most efficient ways to promote peace and jump-start flagging economies is to empower girls and invest in their education. Today, girls’ lack of access to basic education is compounded when it comes to the use of digital technology, leaving them far behind boys. And because the world is ever more digital, those who lack basic Internet skills will find it increasingly more difficult to participate in the formal economy, to obtain a quality education, to access health care, information and psychosocial support, to have their voices heard.

Since 2013 the global gender gap in male and female access to the Internet has actually increased from 11 to 12 percent. Worse yet, women and girls living in the poorest countries are 31 percent less likely than men and boys to have access to the Internet. In developing countries, some 200 million fewer women than men own a mobile phone, the most common means of Internet access there. This digital divide is increasing, and should it continue at the present pace, it is projected that over 75 percent of women and girls will lack internet access and digital skills.

There are many causes for the digital gender gap. They include girls’ exclusion from basic education writ large, from specific technology education and design, high costs of both devices and Internet access, scarcity of content relevant for women and girls, and socio-cultural biases and discrimination, such as barriers to women speaking freely and privately both online and offline. Indeed, one of the most insidious reasons why girls may be discouraged from learning how to access and use digital technology is also a groundless one: that girls are simply not good at using technology.

The United Nations has affirmed that human rights online are human rights offline. These stereotypes reinforce harmful norms that keep women and girls from enjoying their human rights.

According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development, an independent, non-profit and non-governmental research organization, the gender digital divide is a major roadblock to women’s economic empowerment and participation in the economy. Without a major increase of policy effort and investment, most of the benefits of technological change will be enjoyed only by men, worsening gender inequality.

In the words of USAID Senior Gender Coordinator Michelle Bekkering, a girl’s future should be defined not by her sex, but by her commitment to hard work and ability to access the resources she needs to succeed.

【1】I found him sitting in his chair, completely a ____ in a magazine.

【2】Shanghai is the biggest c ____ city and economic center in China.

【3】The manager gave this task to Jim, as he is quite t ____ and you can rely on him to get it done on time.

【4】This is my favorite magazine and I have been s ____ to it for years.

【5】Most of his colleagues have a low opinion of him, for his actions aren’t always c ____ with his words.

-No. I’ve learnt that it’s best to until it blows over.

A.call it a dayB.pull their legsC.sit on the fenceD.wash my hands off

A.reluctantlyB.desperatelyC.essentiallyD.fundamentally

This is a third grade classroom at Taylor Elementary school in Arlington, Virginia. The students of eight or nine years old are busy writing, making pictures and talking with their teacher. And today, each student is working on writing a story.

Creating a book begins with the children finding the ideas that interest them. Then they write the first version (版本). After that, they edit their work, which means to make corrections and changes. In the process? students learn to think like real writers.

Holly Karapetkova writes children’s books and teaches literature at Marymount University in Arlington. She says she is happy that her 8-year-old son K. J. and his classmates are writing books at school. She thinks creating books sends them back to books. It encourages them to read more, both the books they are creating and other books.

Creating books is one of her favorite activities at home with K. J. and his 3-year-old sister, Kalina. “We have made books about animals? about weather, a lot of books about letters and numbers to reinforce skills. One of our favorite kinds of books to make is an alphabet book, just with a simple letter, then pictures, either pictures that we print out from our real photos or pictures that the children draw to match those letters.” She says the way to keep children interested in creating books is to give them freedom of choice.

K. J. has written more than 12 books on different subjects. His mother hopes the skills he and Kalina are developing-writing, reading, thinking, imagining-will help them succeed in the 21st century job market.

【1】What’s the first step to write a book for the children?

A.Writing the first description.B.Deciding on an interesting subject.

C.Changing some details in the book.D.Correcting the mistakes in the story.

【2】What’s Holly Karapetkova’s attitude to the book-writing method?

A.Disapproving.B.Approving.

C.Doubtful.D.Curious.

【3】The underlined word “reinforce” in Paragraph 5 means “________”

A.examineB.create

C.experienceD.strengthen

【4】In the opinion of Holly Karapetkova, writing books can help children ________.

A.find a good job in the futureB.gather experience in social life

C.form the skills of writing storiesD.make money for college education

【5】What does the text mainly talk about?

A.Some child writers.B.Several interesting books.

C.A teaching method.D.Debates about education.

—Oh, it ________ my younger sister. She was in my room at that moment.

A.must have beenB.should have been

C.could have beenD.may have been

A.Accustomed as are most of usB.Accustomed as most of us are

C.So accustomed are most of usD.So accustomed most of us are

A.sitting; fixingB.to sit; fixed

C.seating; fixingD.seated; fixed

1. 活動目的；

2. 活動介紹；

3. 征求其建議。

注意：1. 詞數(shù)100左右；

2. 可以適當(dāng)增加細(xì)節(jié)，以使行文連貫。

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