My childhood was a painted picture of sunny sky and rolling green fields stretching to the horizon. It tasted of sharp berries and smelt of sour grapes. My family lived in a cabin (小木屋) in the countryside but I lived in my mother’s arms. They were so delicate but strong, her red hair falling around me like a curtain separating me from the world.
Childhood was simple. The borders of my village were the furthest my troubles went and monsters only lived in the pages of books. Every day was a waking dream of running races and muddy knees. My village was archaic, dying cabins housing dying farmers with dying traditions. There weren’t many children but me and the other boys; boys of butchers and sellers formed our own group.
They called us wild. I suppose we were. Trees and mountains formed our playgrounds and fights broke out as easily as sudden laughter. Free from the restrictions of society, we would run into the woods, deeper and deeper until we found a lake which, with a wild yell, we would jump into all at once.
My most vivid memories from boyhood center around that lake. Water shone brightly and the sounds of our screams broke into the outcry from birds. The shock of cold water against sweating skin would wake every nerve in my body and my bare feet would hit the sinking muddy bottom. As we submerged (淹没), time would stop, movements slowing as bubbles rose around us.
I was drowning. I was living. I was living. I was drowning.
For timelessness or a second (both felt the same), we would stop, curl up (蜷缩起来), and then be forced back out into breathing air.
We should have known that it wouldn’t last forever. Yet, even under the best circumstances, there’s something so tragic about growing up: to have your perspective (看法) on the people and life around you change; to always struggle to reach a mirror only to find yourself tall enough to see your reflection one day. And find, a different person staring back out at you.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “archaic” mean in paragraph 2?| A．Borderless. | B．Valueless. | C．Old-fashioned. | D．Poor. |
| A．They played in the woods crazily. |
| B．They tricked others purposefully. |
| C．They frequently broke social rules. |
| D．They firmly refused school education. |
| A．By sharing feelings. |
| B．By expressing ideas. |
| C．By making comparisons. |
| D．By describing characters. |
| A．Loneliness and challenges make a man grow up. |
| B．The regret of growth is that you have never tried. |
| C．Growth is often accompanied by sad goodbyes to the past. |
| D．Growth begins when we begin to accept our own weakness. |
Why You Should Stop Complaining
When living out our daily lives, it’s often easy to blame the world for our problems.
The world owes you nothing.
The world really does have nothing to do with you or anyone else. The planet will continue to exist without you on it.
If you look back at your own life, you’ll begin to realize that everything you have ever done was all a result of the decisions you’ve made sure there may have been people around you who have convinced you to do something. But it all ultimately depends on your decisions.
You can’t be a leader if you behave like a victim.
It’s really easy to put blame on things that are external to you.
| A．What are you worrying about? |
| B．So who’s really to blame? |
| C．You are in charge of your own life. |
| D．You are helped by people around you. |
| E．We were nurtured and looked after as kids. |
| F．It’s true that there are things in the world we can’t control. |
| G．As it avoids personal responsibility and allows you to refuse the possibility that you may have things that can be changed. |
I am Fionn Ferreira, an Irish teenager. Thank you judges for this honor and giving this award in my hand. I am very delighted to have won $50,000 for my project. My project came about as I was constantly hearing about plastic pollution on the news. And I also see the real effects on our beaches every day. I discovered, to my shock, that at present no filtration(过滤)for microplastics takes place in any European wastewater treatment centers, so I set up my project and started looking for a solution.
Seeing that there was none, I decided to study further, finally finding a way to use the fberofluid(铁磁流体), a liquid which sticks to the plastic allowing it to be removed using magnets(磁体).After over 1,000 tests I have proved that my method would remove 87% or higher of microplastics.
I grew up in West Cork, Ireland. My hometown is surrounded by untouched nature. This has been my first inspiration about how nature works. I soon discovered that science really was in everything. The fact that I lived in such a remote place meant that I had to build my own equipment and lab to do tests and experiments.
Inspired by scientists such as Ben Feringa and his work with organic chemistry and nanotechnology(纳米技术), I would like to study chemistry or chemical engineering when finishing my last year of secondary school. Both of these subjects will be suited to me as I really enjoy problem-solving and experiments.
One of the most valuable rewards from the science fair for me is the opportunity to present my work to a group of professional judges. Winning the prize is a great honor to me as this is a recognition of my project and ideas.
Also, the prize will give my project more attention. There is nothing I would like to see more than my project to be used in removing microplastics in our oceans worldwide.
【小题1】Why did Fionn set up the project?| A．To win the prize. | B．To clean the air. |
| C．To remove microplastics. | D．To build a wastewater center. |
| A．The sandy beaches. | B．The nature of his hometown. |
| C．The new technology. | D．The results of his experiments. |
| A．Honest. | B．Determined. | C．Fearless. | D．Humorous. |
| A．a news report | B．a science survey |
| C．a thanks-giving letter | D．an awarding speech |
Happiness begins from appreciation
If you are feeling that life just cannot be any worse for you, it can be challenging to think positive. When stressed, depressed, upset or otherwise in a negative state of mind because you are aware that misfortune keeps occurring, it is important to shift those negative thoughts to something positive.
It is often very hard to think positive when so many things are negative, but be sure that someone, somewhere is worse off than you.
● Begin and end each day with a “Thank you for this wonderful, glorious day!”
● When you see the rise of gas prices, say “I am so glad to have a vehicle in which to get around.”
● When your boss is too hard on you, say “I am grateful for my job as I know that many don’t have one.”
● If you are having health problems, be grateful for what does work: “I really do appreciate it that my eyes see, my ears hear, my mouth tastes, my legs walk, my arms lift and my mind thinks and everything else works.”
● Write down what you’re grateful for each day. In moments when you’re feeling really down, read loud what you wrote previously.
The key is to move yourself into a positive thought and keep it there long enough to make it a moment of appreciation.
| A．This will certainly help uplift your spirits. |
| B．If not, you will only attract more misfortune. |
| C．It is of great importance to learn to be grateful. |
| D．The more you appreciate, the happier you’ll be. |
| E．If you have made some achievements in your career. |
| F．Here are a few common examples for you to practice. |
| G．You can choose to think differently by beginning with the smallest of steps. |
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