山东省济宁市梁山县2021-2022学年九年级上学期英语期中...

A poor traveler arrived in a small village. He had no food or money and had not eaten anything in days. The one thing he did have was a cooking pot.

He built a small cooking fire, placed his pot on it, and poured in some water. When a few villagers asked what he was doing, he replied that he was making stone soup, which was an ancient tasty recipe(食 谱). He then dropped in a smooth, round stone into the pot.

As the soup warmed, the traveler told the villagers stories of his travels and the exciting things he'd seen. He tasted his soup and said it was coming along nicely,

but a bit of salt would bring out the flavor(风味). One curious villager went into her home and returned with some salt for the soup.

A few more villagers walking by stopped to see what was going on when they heard the traveler speaking. The traveler told more stories and said that a couple of carrots or onions would be a nice addition to the already delicious soup. So, another villager said he could give a few carrots. Finally, the soup was ready and everyone the tasty meal prepared for them from just a pot.

We've all met passages or books that we just can't get into or we don't understand. There are lots of reasons: sometimes the book is boring or difficult; sometimes we find the writer is bad at explaining things. It happens. Try taking the following steps.

Find your perfect reading place where you can be comfortable to read. Find out what conditions you need to be able to study and read most effectively. It may be easier for you to read at a desk in a quiet library, or in one of those relaxing chairs at coffee shops.

__________________. Look up the words you don't understand. Also, write I down literary references (文学参考) that you don't know. Look them up. Remember to avoid using your mobile phone for this task in order that it won't take your attention away from the book.

If you own the book you are reading, you can underline the important parts. If you don't own the book, take notes in your notebook carefully. Using flags or page markers can also help you find those parts that are important to understand the book more easily.

Don't stop reading for too long. It's probable that you give up finishing a book when the book seems too difficult. If it lasts for too long, you may forget what you've read. As a result, the book will be more difficult for you. So it's best to try to keep reading at your usual pace( 速度).

Get help! If you're still having a difficult time with the book, consider talking with your teacher about your problem. Ask him or her questions about the book.

It's not easy to be an astronaut's son. Everyone expects you to be special or perfect. I often wonder how my father ever had a son like me. I mean he's so special and so good at everything he does. Even in middle school he was the monitor and captain of the football team.

Well, to be honest, I often dream about being some kind of hero or doing something special-like saving a child from a burning building or discovering a new star. I was daydreaming at school one day when my teacher said there would be a Father's Day writing competition for the whole school. I hope we have a winner right here in my class.

When I got home, I started to think about what to write. My father is an astronaut. No, I wouldn't start like that. That was the way others saw him. How did I see my father?

I saw him sitting with me in the dark when I had a terrible dream. I remembered how he hugged me for hours when my dog Spotty was killed by a car. Yes, these were the things I was going to write. To me, he wasn't just a world - famous astronaut. He was my dad.

My parents and I went to school on Thursday night. There were so many people in the big hall! My dad looked at me, and I shrugged (耸肩).

The third prize was announced and it was not me. I was relieved (松口气) and disappointed at the same time. The second prize was announced. It was me.

I went up to the stage and read what I had written, "My father's son". When I finished, the people stood up and cheered. I saw my father blowing his nose. Tears were running down my father's face. Dad cleared his throat and put his hand on my shoulder." Son, this is the proudest moment of my life!"

It was the proudest moment of my life, too. Maybe I'll never be a great hero or win a Nobel Prize, but it was enough just to be my father's son.

Hello Kitty is a fictional character made in 1974. Hello Kitty, also known 1. her full name Kitty White, is a young girl with a red bow 2. no mouth. Lovely, don't you think so? According to her backstory, she is a 3^rd-grade student who 3. (live) outside of London. She lives with her parents and her twin sister Mimi who is her 4. (good) friend. They 5. (bear) on November 1st. She likes baking cookies and 6. (make) new friends. As she always says, "You can never 7. (have) too many friends!"

Now Hello Kitty (become) a popular trademark. She 9. (love) by children and adults all over the world, particularly (尤其是) in Japan where you can't walk down the street without 10. (see) a kid wearing Hello Kitty socks, a girl with a Hello Kitty hair clip or a fashionable mom with a Hello Kitty tote bag.

A 15-year -old student who invented a flashlight getting power from the holder's body heat is going home today from California with a big prize and a chance to do research.

Ann was the only Canadian the four winners at Google's international science competition. The four winners were chosen from 15 final competitors from eight countries. The, competition attracted thousands of students in 120 countries.

Thousands of young from around the world took part in the competition. Winning the science and technology competition was a "surprise". Ann said, "I think it will have a great influence on my future.

Ann thanked her family for her interest in science and said that her first toy was a box of transistors (晶体管). Ann's prize $ 25,000 and a "once- a- lifetime experience" from Google for her Hollow Flashlight, which has no moving parts or batteries (电池).

The idea for the came from seeing unwanted batteries and her friend's experience. When Ann visited a friend in the Philippines, she saw the

friend couldn't study ，when it became dark because there was no electricity or light. She saw the need for a flashlight that has no batteries- Hollow Flashlight.

In her project, Ann wrote, "I made two flashlights that do not use any batteries or harmful materials. They do not create any noise and will always work. The flashlight needs at least a 5"C temperature difference between the holder's body and the environment around to produce light."

A video of Ann explaining how she invented the flashlight has been more than 1. 4 million times on the Internet.

Though Ann was successful, she has not made a decision about her career path. Ann hopes that she can find a way to join her love of film and science together.

As traditional Chinese art, paper cutting has a long history. The first and earliest paper cutting was found in China 1,500 years ago. But this traditional art is at risk of disappearing now. Luckily, Voyo Woo, a Chinese immigrant (移民) in America, is trying to bring this art back to life.

One Saturday in 2014，Ms. Woo held a paper cutting show at a shopping center near Washington. She got much fun and peace doing it. She hoped more people would enjoy it.

Ms. Woo began to study the art of paper cutting as a 14-year-old girl in her hometown in China. She said all the students at school had to learn paper cutting. But she had a deep love for paper cutting. So her teacher spent more time teaching her after class. Woo went to America after she finished college in 2008. Soon after that, she took part in an activity to promote (宣传) Chinese paper cutting. And then she was invited to show the art in many important activities. "It is important to promote this art to Americans or anyone who is interested in it. Maybe it will make this art more popular," Woo said.

要求:

1）语言表达要准确，语意要通顺、连贯;

2）词数:100左右(短文开头已给出，不计人总词数)

My life has changed a lot in the last over two years. I used to