北京市顺义区2021届高三英语第二次统练试卷

Earth Day Birthday

April's parents are environmentalists. And because April happened to be born on Earth Day, all her birthday1had an Earth Day theme.

On her eighth birthday, there was a "Throw-Out Blowout". She and her friends had a garage sale and2the money to charity. When she turned nine, it was a "Tree Spree"—they planted trees.

"This year I want a3birthday party," April told her friend Bailey as they walked home from school. Then after dinner, April told her parents she would like to4her own party this year. They suggested a "Print Sprint" and collecting newspapers to recycle. But April insisted on going to Maze Craze (疯狂迷宫)instead. Her parents agreed finally.

April couldn't5for her birthday! She and her friends would have great fun. No shovels（铁锹）. No collecting recyclables. They wouldn't have to think one bit about the6.

On that day, April and her friends gathered in the parking lot outside Maze Craze. They7plastic bottles, snack boxes and waste paper everywhere on the ground. "Even though I want a non-Earth Day birthday, I couldn't have8knowing this mess out here." April frowned (皱眉).

Her parents fetched some trash bags from their car. The kids started to work. Before long, they had collected three bags with bottles, cans, and paper to9. April looked at the bags and smiled. It felt good to do something for the earth. And with everyone giving a10, it didn't take long.

"Happy Earth Day, everyone," said April. "Now I'm ready for Maze Graze."

"Happy birthday. April!" shouted her friends.

When I was young, I often saw my grandmother dancing in the garden.she was old, her movements were still very beautiful. I fell in love with dancing at that moment. I started learning hip-hop. At first, I watched and followed the(dancer) on TV. Then I joined a dance club and made a career of dancing. From then on, dancing has become the most(wonder) thing in my life.

Emperor penguins (企鹅) are(large) penguins on Earth. Each adult is over a meter tall and weighs up to 40 kilos. Every year in May, mother penguins lay eggs on the coast. Then they will go back to the ocean(find) food while the father penguins stay and look after the eggs for the next two months. During this time, eating any food, a father penguin can lose half of his body weight. By August, the mothers return just in time to see their babies come out of eggs.

Human history begins with stories. Some stories are so important that they(pass) down for countless generations. And storytelling is a useful tool, gives a lesson much more powerfully than other ways. For example, once I had to tell actors to be on time for a performance. Instead of(repeat) the time over and over again, I told them a true story. "The year before, one of the actors was late. We replaced him so he didn't get a chance to perform." Then, no one(be) late again.

Target Car Seat Trade-in Event

Frequently Asked Questions:

·What is the car seat trade-in program?

Guests who trade in their old car seats will receive a 20 percent off coupon toward a new car seat.

·What type of car seat qualifies for a trade-in?

Target will accept and recycle all types of car seats, including: baby car seats, car seat bases, as well as car seats that are damaged. Guests will receive a 20 percent off coupon for trading in any one of these items.

·Where do I bring my old car seat to trade in?

Car seats can be traded in at any of the Target stores. Target will have drop-off boxes for guests' unwanted car seats located near Guest Services.

·How do I redeem(兑现) the coupon offer?

Coupons can be applied to both in-store and online purchases and are valid(有效的) until May 31.

·What does Target do with the car seats that are traded in?

Materials from the old car seats will be recycled by Target's partner, Waste Management, to create new products such as plastic plates, plastic buckets and construction materials such as steel beams and carpet padding.

·Is this the first time Target has had car seat trade-in program?

Target introduced its first car seat trade-in program in April 2016. Since the program launched, more than 789, 000 car seats, or 11. 98 million pounds of car seats, have been recycled.

I was standing in the checkout line behind a woman who looked to be in her 60s. When it was her turn to pay, the cashier greeted her by name and asked her how she was doing.

The woman looked down, shook her head and said: "Not so good. My husband just lost his job. The truth is, I don't know how I'm going to get through these days." Then she gave the cashier food stamps (食品券).

My heart ached. I wanted to help but didn't know how. Should I offer to pay for her groceries, or ask for her husband's resume (简历)?

Walking into the parking lot, I spotted the woman returning her shopping cart. I remembered something in my purse that I thought could help her. It wasn't a handful of cash or an offer of a job for her husband, but maybe it would make her life better.

"Excuse me," I said, my voice trembling a bit. "I couldn't help overhearing what you said to the cashier. It sounds like you're going through a really hard time right now. I'm so sorry. I'd like to give you something."

I handed her the small card from my purse. When the woman read the two words "You Matter" on the card, she began to cry. And through her tears, she said: "You have no idea how much this means to me."

I was a little startled by her reply. Having never done anything like this before, I didn't know what kind of reaction I might receive. All I could think to say was: "Would it be OK to give you a hug?"

A few days earlier, one of my workmates gave a similar card to me as encouragement for a project I was working on. When I read the card, I felt a warm glow spread inside of me. Deeply touched, I ordered my own box of "You Matter" cards and started sharing them.

Have you ever heard of invisible ink? You may have seen it in movies. When light is shone on the paper which invisible ink is written on, you can read it!

As magical as this seems, the change in color is due to science. The ink is absorbing higher energy light and giving lower energy light. This reaction is an example of fluorescence (荧光) .

Light is a very broad term that describes a range of electromagnetic rays, including gamma rays, infrared light (红外光) and ultraviolet light. One part of the electromagnetic visible light is the colors that we can see with the human eye. These rays travel in curvy lines and each type of the ray is characterized by a different wave pattern. For example, Gamma rays have a shorter wavelength than infrared light. Shorter wavelength is connected with higher energy, so gamma rays also have more energy than infrared light.

Corals (珊瑚) are animals that live underwater. And the corals in the Red Sea exhibit fluorescence. Why is this happening? Scientists have shown that fluorescent objects absorb higher energy light and release lower energy light. Since the corals of the Red Sea are deep in the water where there is very little visible light, scientists theorize that these corals absorb ultraviolet light and produce visible light. They have special photo proteins, which enable them to change invisible light to visible light.

Fluorescence is not just used to create pretty colors. Corals have developed photo proteins for a biological reason. The visible light is used by algae (海藻) , which are eaten by the coral, to make food through photosynthesis (光合作用). The visual character of these photo proteins could also be used for biomedical research. They can highlight cells and cell structures under a microscope.

Isn't it amazing that a simple organism that we don't think very much of is not only grand but could also have so many potential uses in medical research!

In the 1990s, a psychologist named Martin Seligman led the positive psychology movement, which placed the study of human happiness squarely at the center of psychology research and theory.

Since then, thousands of studies and hundreds of books have been published with the goal of increasing well-being and helping people lead more satisfying lives. But for over 40 years, self-reported measures of happiness have stayed stagnant (停滞的). Such efforts to improve happiness have been an ineffective attempt to swim against the tide, as we may actually be programmed to be dissatisfied most of the time. Why aren't we happier?

Part of the problem is that happiness isn't just one thing. Jennifer Hecht, a philosopher who studies the history of happiness, proposes that we all experience different types of happiness, which are not necessarily complementary Some types of happiness may even conflict with one another. In other words, having too much of one type of happiness may weaken our ability to have enough of the others. For example, a satisfying life is built on a successful career and a good marriage. It takes a lot of work and often requires cutting back on many of life's pleasures. That means we can't spend one pleasant lazy day after another in the company of good friends.

This difficult situation becomes more confused by the way our brains process the experience of happiness. A lot of evidence shows that most of the people possess something called the optimistic bias. They tend to think that their future will be better than the present.

Cognitive psychologists have also identified something called the Pollyanna Principle. It means that people process, rehearse and remember pleasant information more than unpleasant information. Why the good old days seem so good is because we focus on the pleasant stuff and tend to forget the unpleasantness. And if our past is great and our future can be even better, then we can work our way out of the unpleasant present.

Dissatisfaction with the present and dreams of the future are what keep us motivated. In fact, endless happiness would completely destroy our will. Among our earliest ancestors, those who were perfectly content may have been left in the dust.

Recognizing that happiness exists may help us appreciate it more when it arrives. Furthermore, understanding that it's impossible to have happiness in all aspects of life can help us enjoy the happiness that has touched us. Recognizing that no one "has it all" can cut down on the one thing that psychologists know prevents happiness: envy.

I have met many westerners who do not feel anything to put their feet on the table while sitting on the chair.They don't feel like it is a strange or rude thing to do it. And I-know that they don't mean to be ill-behaved. However, in the eyes of a Myanmarese, it is really a very rude thing.

For Myanmarese, the head is the most sacred (神圣的) part of the human body while the feet are the most inferior part.They touch ground, dirt, mud and garbage. Just think of all the dirty things lying on the ground. So the Myanmarese regard feet as the most dirty and smelly part of one's body.

When you put that dirty part of your body onto other people's clean table, it is like an insult (侮辱) to that person if that person is a Myanmarese. There is nothing more insulting to a Myanmarese than to point your feet towards him.

So, if you want to win the heart of your Myanmarese friends, next time when you drop in on him or he visits you, try not to put your feet on the living room table or point your feet towards him. Indeed, your feet should never be pointing to the direction of a person or a sacred place.

Possibly, your Myanmarese friend will not say anything even if you do it. But it does not mean that he is OK with your behavior or approves of your behavior.Even if that person is your employee or your house maid, you should never do it to him or her.

A. This seems a normal habit to them.

B. In his heart he will consider you as a rude person.

C. Whatever you do, don't touch the head of a Myanmarese.

D. This is the rule that you must strictly follow in Myanmar.

E. Being the lowest part, they are also considered the dirtiest part.

F. For Myunurese，the dirty part should only be in the lowest place.

G. Myannmarese people do not express themselves as directly as Westerners.

When I was at school, our teacher used to tell the class: "You are what you eat." Actually, he was trying to show us the importance of eating the right food to stay healthy. And there are clear proofs that you become what you eat.

Japanese people are considered to be the healthiest in the world because of the food they eat. Most of them eat rice and fish and vegetables every day. They drink green tea or water when they're thirsty, and snack on dried fish, fruit or ginkgo nuts. This tradition diet helps them live a longer and healthier life.

Food has great effect on our physical and emotional health. Have you ever heard any of the following advice?

·Lettuce(生菜)or milk can make you sleepy.

·To stop feeling sleepy, you should eat dried fish.

·To keep your teeth clean, you should eat apples often.

·Garlic helps you not to catch cold.

But some advice may be contradictory to each other. While some people say "eating chocolate makes you fat and gives you spots", some others say “chocolate contains the essential minerals like iron and magnesium(镁)." In this case, what you need to do is to figure out what type of chocolate and how much of it to eat.

Some restaurants have already had their menus list the nutritional content and the benefits of their dishes and drinks. Let's take the restaurant "Winners" as an example. Its dishes are specifically designed to help people win sports competitions. There is a typical Night before dish, a vegetable lasagne(宽面条)with rich tomato sauce full of vitamin and soft, easy-to-digest vegetables, which is lopped with a little fresh cheese—just enough to help you get a good night's sleep. Or you can choose the Go-faster salad, which is a large bowl of mixed raw vegetables in a light salad dressing. The vegetables are carefully chosen to include plenty of natural vitamins and minerals. It gives you energy without making you gain weight.

The concept of eating food only because it's tasty is going out of fashion. And food producers are changing. Cola companies are making sugar-free and caffeine-free drinks. Food companies are making cookies with dried fruit because it is healthier. So in the future you might be able to eat your way to your idea of perfection.

参考词汇：压力pressure；缓解、释放relieve

注意：1）词数100左右；

2）可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。