浙江省宁波市2021年英语初中学业水平模拟考试

As a little boy, there was nothing I liked better than Sunday afternoons at my grandfather's farm in western Pennsylvania. Surrounded (包围) by miles of winding stonewalls, the house and farm provided 1hours of fun for a city kid like me.

I can still remember one afternoon when I was eight years old. For a long time after my first visit to the farm, I'd wanted more than 2to be allowed to climb the stonewalls. My parents would 3agree. The walls were old. Some stones were missing, and others were falling into pieces. Still, my wish to climb across those walls grew4strong that finally, one spring afternoon, I summoned(鼓起) all my 5and entered the living room, 6the adults had got together after Sunday dinner.

"I, uh, I want to climb the stonewalls, " I said hesitantly(犹豫地). Everyone 7. "Can I climb the stonewalls? Immediately the women shouted, "No, you mustn't. 8you'll hurt yourself!" The reply was just as I 9. But before I could leave the room, I was stopped by my grandfather's loud voice. "Now10just a minute. Let the boy climb the stonewalls. He has to 11 to do things for himself. "

"Go, " he said to me, "and come and see me when you get 12. " For the next two hours I climbed those old walls and had the time of my life. Later I met with my grandfather to tell him about my13. I'll never forget what he said. "Fred, " he said, smiling14, "you made this day special just by being yourself. Always remember, there's only one person in this whole world like15, and I like you as you are. "

Many years have passed, but I still remember what my grandfather said at that moment.

Zhang Dingyu, the director of Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, led over 600 doctors and nurses to fight against COVID-19.

As Zhang worked in the battle to fight against the disease, his strange way of walking shocked his colleagues. He finally admitted that he had fallen ill with ALS (渐冻症) since October 2018 after constant inquiries. ALS is a disease that gradually blocks the connection between brain and body. People with ALS become partially paralyzed (瘫痪的) leading to respiratory (呼吸系统的) failure. While working with handicapped (瘸的) legs, his wife was confirmed to get infected with SARS-CoV-2 after working in another hospital. The bad news brought him to his knees, and he cried for the first time after the outbreak of COVID-19. Zhang could only spare time to visit his wife until three days after she got admitted to the hospital. Even then he could only stay for 30 minutes. Fortunately, the good news came that his wife had recovered ten days after treatment.

Zhang, 57, had offered medical services along with Chinese medical teams to Algeria and Pakistan. Three days after the earthquake hit Sichuan Province in 2008, Zhang entered the city with his medical team members to offer help.

"Life is always short. I need to do more to finish the things that I might leave behind. Then I would leave without too many regrets, " Zhang said. "We are at the center of a storm, so we need to give all we have to protect our city, and our Wuhan people, " Zhang said.

At East China University of Science and Technology, students will get a coupon（优惠券）if they eat up their food. Students can collect coupons and exchange them for small gifts, such as books, magazines, mobile phone covers and hand warmers.

"It's been such a surprise, " said Liang Zhaoyun, 19, a student at the university in Shanghai. "It has given us one more motivation to finish our food. "

The measure (措施) is part of a national "eat-up" campaign (行动) which is organized by students to deal with food waste on campuses (校园).

Why only on campuses, you might ask? Because according to a report by Xinhua News Agency, students waste twice as much food as the national average (平均).

The campaign on campus food waste is receiving attention across the country.

"The aim of the campaign is not only to encourage students to finish their food. We hope it can also encourage students to choose a more environment-friendly and healthy lifestyle, " said Tao Siliang, secretary of the Youth League Committee at Shanghai University.

But some school food is poorly prepared, so students do not like to finish it all. Some schools have taken notice of this and they are taking measures to improve it.

"I'm glad that we've reduced food waste since the 'eat-up' campaign began. But if we call on students to waste less food, we should also improve the service and food standard on campuses. " said Tao.

As soon as you walk into the kitchen, the smell hits you. Phew! You should have taken out the garbage yesterday. You bring the trash outside, but when you return to the kitchen, it still smells awful. What should you do to get rid of the stink?

Many people in this situation will reach for an air freshener. Air fresheners are an easy and quick way to make the room smell better. There are many different types of air fresheners, including sprays, candles, and cleaners. No matter what form it takes, an air freshener fights bad smells in one of three basic ways.

The first way is by masking, or hiding, the unpleasant smell. Sprays and candles work in this way. These air fresheners cover up the bad smell by overpowering it with a stronger smell. This does not get rid of the bad smell. Instead, it covers it up with something else. Sometimes this makes the room smell better. Sometimes, it makes the room smell like a combination of perfume and garbage. Masking fresheners are a good choice if you do not mind strong scents.

Some air fresheners, like some cleaning products, work by changing your body instead of the air around it. When you use these types of products, special chemicals actually stop the scent receptors in your brain from noticing the bad smells. These types of air fresheners work well, but they may be dangerous for people with conditions such as asthma(哮喘) or allergies.

A third kind of air freshener fights against the bad smells in the air itself. These air fresheners use charcoal(碳) or chemicals called oxidizing agents to "clean" the air. Some bad smells are caused by organic matter, which are basically materials that are alive, used to be alive, or came from living things. These include rotten food, mold, and pet smells. The charcoal or chemicals remove these things from the air. Instead of simply covering up the bad smell, these air fresheners work to eliminate it altogether.

If you are worried about using chemicals or heavy fragrance in your house, you may not want to use an air freshener at all. In this case, your best choice may simply be to open up the windows or turn on a fan — and, of course, to remember to take out the garbage more often!

There are many things that are out of control in a world. Working on self-disciple (自律) not only gives you more self-control, but also improves your confidence. Here are some ideas.

. If your goal is to become more self-disciplined, you have to do something    every day to achieve that goal. Goals may seem difficult at first, but practicing all the time can help you get there finally.

. Once you have schedule and your action plan in place, the next step is to carry them out. Sticking to your plan needs discipline. The longer you stick to your plan, the more disciplined you'll be.

. Actively deciding and coming up with plans help you reach your goals and become more disciplined. For example, wanting to live a healthier life is a good goal to have. However, you also have to decide how you are going to do?

. Friends or family members whom you admire for their self-discipline can be your role models. Ask them how they set out to achieve their goals.

. Well-balanced meals have some relationship with mental health as well as physical health. If you're not sure what a healthy meal look like, do some research on it.