浙江省余姚市2020年初中英语学业水平模拟考试试卷

    George's mother was very poor. Instead of having bright fires in winter, she had1to burn but dry sticks. One fine day in July, she sent George to the forest to collect2.

    It was a sunny day, and George worked very3; so that by the time the sun was high, he felt4, and wished for a cool place where he might5and eat his dinner.

    While he hunted about the bank, he saw some fine, wild strawberries6the grass.

    "How good these will be with my7and butter!" thought George; and lining his little cap with leaves, he set to work to gather (收集) all he could8.

    George thought of all this, and just as he was9the first strawberry to his mouth, he said to10,"How much mother would like these" and he11, and put the strawberry back.

    "Shall I save them for her, I will eat half, and take the other half to her," said he; and he divided them into12groups. But each group looked so small, that he put them together again.

    "I will only taste one," thought he; but, as he again lifted it to his mouth, he saw that he had taken the finest, and he put it back. I will13them all for her," said he, and he covered them up14till he should go home.

    15the sun was beginning to sink, George set out for home. How happy he felt, then, that he had all his strawberries for his sick mother. The16he came to his home, the less he wished to taste them.

    Just as he had thrown down his wood, he17his mother's voice calling him from the next room. "Is that you, George? I am glad you have come, for I am18and want to drink some tea."

    George ran in to her, and joyfully19his wild strawberries. "And you saved them for your sick mother, did you?" said she, laying her20fondly on his head, while the tears stood in her eyes.

No matter how difficult life maybe.

    There's always a reason to smile and be happy.

I may struggle to get through
the challenges of today.  But I know,
as long as I keep going,
I will be OK.

    Some of the biggest trees started off as the smallest seeds,
so never give up on your _______________________.

Life may fly by in the blink of an eye,
but the memories I have made will last forever.

    Kelly could hardly believe that she had been so stupid! At lunchtime in a busy sandwich bar, she had hung her bag on the back of her chair. Seconds later, the bag had gone, and her mobile phone, her money, her bank cards and her keys had gone with it. Luckily, she was with her friend, Anna. Using Anna's phone, Kelly was able to call the bank and the phone company at once. The thief would not be able to use her cards or her phone, at least!

    Back at the office, Kelly began to feel better. At least six people asked if they could lend her some money. At teatime, three colleagues competed to pay for her tea.

    One more difficulty lay ahead. Kelly's bicycle was locked. Unless she could unlock it, she would not be able to get home that night. She asked Tom, the Building Manager, if he could help. Tom appeared with his assistant, Ben, and a big bag of tools. They tried every tool in the bag, but they couldn't cut or break the lock. There was only one solution.

    Kelly rang the fire station and explained the situation. Four minutes later, an enormous red fire-engine pulled up outside the building, with some handsome young firemen on board. 'We always travel like this,' one of them joked, as the others unloaded the cutting equipment and freed Kelly's bicycle.

    As she cycled home, Kelly thought, "For every one thief in London, there are thousands of ordinary, kind people!"

    If you are in Shanghai and want to throw away a cup of milk tea, be careful. You need to follow these steps: first, pour out any leftover into a wet waste bin; second, put the paper wrapper into a recyclable waste bin; third, throw the single-use cup and straw (吸管) into a dry waste bin.

    Sound complex (复杂的)? You'll have to get used to it. From July 1 on, people in Shanghai are required to sort (将...分类) their garbage according to strict rules. Many other cities in China are planning to create similar garbage-sorting rules.

    Why should we sort our garbage? The answer lies in the increasing amount of waste we are producing. Chinese cities produce over 200 million tons of waste each year, according to China Economic Net. Most of this waste is buried (填埋) in landfills (垃圾填埋场), which may pollute water and soil. Moreover, we are running out of space for new landfills.

    In fact, more than half of our waste can be recycled. Recyclable garbage can be made into new materials, while wet garbage can be used to make gas, heat and fertilizer. But in order to recycle efficiently, we need to sort our garbage.

    Can't garbage- processing companies do the sorting job for us? They can. But that requires a lot of work and costs lots of money. Things will become much easier if each of us can sort our own garbage. Besides, the troublesome task of sorting might encourage people to produce less waste. Do you still want to buy that milk tea?

    Comfort Zone is a state of mind where there is the least stress (压力). However, stepping into the learning zone can help to bring out the best in us. Here are the reasons.

    ▲Challenging yourself can help you do at your best.

    Stepping outside one's comfort zone is important to personal development. How can we expect to make ourselves better if we only stick to habit and routine (日常)? We should try something we might not succeed at.

    ▲Taking risks is what helps us grow.

    As children, we're natural risk takers. But as we get older and learn to fear failure (失败), we start trying fewer new things. We pay a heavy price for our fear of failure. There is no learning without some difficulty.

    ▲Facing new challenges can help us age better.

Our comfort zones seem to become smaller as we get older一but if we can keep expanding them, we'll open ourselves up to a greater world as we age. As we step into the learning zone, we will get more comfortable with the skills gradually and we'll start to move into the comfort zone. A study found that learning new life skills can help our brain stay sharp (敏锐的) as we get older.

    However, don't push yourself too far. Have you heard of "Yerkes-Dodson Law"? It means performance increases as stress grows, but only up to a point. If the level of stress becomes too high, performance will go down. When stress becomes too great for us to deal with, we enter the danger zone.

    Gloria is a famous hostess of a TV station. When she was 15, she happened to walk into a bookstore in her hometown and began looking at the books on the shelves. The man behind the counter, John Smith, asked if she'd like a job. She needed to start saving for college, so she said "yes".

    Gloria worked after school and during summer vacations, and the job helped pay for her first year of college. During college she would do many other jobs: she served coffee in the student union, was a hotel cleaner and even made maps for the Forest Service. But selling books was one of the most satisfying jobs.

    One day a woman came into the bookstore and asked Gloria for books on cancer. The woman seemed anxious. Gloria showed her practically everything they had and found other books they could order. The woman left the store less worried, and Gloria has always remembered the pride she felt in having helped her customer.

    Years later, as a television hostess, Gloria heard about a child who was borm with problems with his fingers and hand. His family could not afford an operation, and the boy lived in shame, hiding his hand in his pocket all the time.

    Gloria persuaded(说服) her boss to agree to let her do the story. After the story was broadcast, some doctors called, offering to perform the operation for free.

    Gloria visited the boy in the hospital after the operation. The first thing he did was to hold up his repaired hand and say, "Thank you". What a sweet sense of satisfaction Gloria felt!

    At Smith's bookstore, Gloria always realized she was working for the customers, not the store. Today it's the same. The TV station pays her, but she feels that she should work for the people who watch the programs, helping them understand the world better.

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