浙江省杭州市2019届中考英语模拟试卷（四）

    Not only kids of Tiger Moms go to Harvard.

    Dawn Loggins of Lawndale, N.C. is on her way to Harvard, one of the eight world-famous universities in the eastern US. Nobody encouraged her to study or paid for her special classes. This girl created her own future.

    The teen was abandoned by her family last summer, when her parents and two sisters moved to Tennessee. She found herself homeless and had to spend the night on friend's sofas.

    The school bus driver learned about Dawn's situation and invited Dawn to move in with her family. Soon, Dawn had a job at Burns High School. She worked from 6 a.m. to 7:40 a.m. before the first school bell rang. she swept floors and picked up trash again in the afternoons, before diving(跳水)into her studies in the evenings.

    Dawn's hard work paid off, she finished school with a 3.9 GPA and scored 2,110 on the SAT.

    "There were times when I felt like it would be easiest if I gave up," the 18-year-old said." But it was never in me to give up, because I realized that I was never going to be successful unless I got an education."

    Even before Dawn's family left her, she led a difficult life. Her family was poor and cups of noodles were often the only food. Dawn "studied by candlelight" because her parents couldn't afford to pay the electricity bill(电费).

    Dawn has now reconnected with her family. They are proud of her accomplishments(成就) and are attending her high school graduation.

    The idea that red means stop and green means has influenced our lives in more ways than just traffic signals(信号). We have been taught from a young age that the color red means danger and green means it's okay to move forward. But why were those colors chosen for traffic lights in the first place? For something we have to look at every day, why couldn't they have been prettier colors?

    Well, it's import to know that before traffic lights for cars, there were traffic signals for trains. At first, railway companies used red to mean stop, white to mean go, and green to mean warn. As you could imagine, trains ran into a few problems with white meaning go. For example, one train mistook a bright star for a white light and something unexpected happened. Because of that, railway companies finally moved green meaning go and used yellow to mean warn. And it's been that way ever since.

    Red has always been a color that mean danger, long before cars were even around. This most likely started because it's the color with the longest wavelength(波长) so it can be seen somewhere farther than other colors.

    But, believe it or not, yellow was once used to mean stop. Back in the 1900s, some stop signs were yellow because it was too hard to see a red sign in a poorly lit area. Finally, highly reflective materials(高反射材料) were developed and red stop signs were born. Since yellow can be seen well at all times of the day, school zones, some traffic signs, and school buses continue to be printed yellow.

    So next time you are impatiently waiting at a traffic light, don't get so mad at them, they've certainly come a long way.

Using iPads to Make Learning Fun

    Paper, pencil, whiteboard, textbook are the tools you need if you want to go to school. But recently, you can add another one to the list: an iPad.

    Because the popular Apple tablet is not only useful for searching the Internet and watching videos, but it is also being used to make learning fun.

    Scientists now know that we learn better when we are enjoying ourselves, so recently software developers have made iPad applications(应用程序) that look like video games, but have strong educational content. One of the best examples of this new form of teaching application is Futaba, game in which up to four children try to recognize a spinning旋转的）object, and then identify what it is. The game can be used to teach English, math, foreign languages, or just about anything, and students love it. Teachers can even make their own questions. The important thing is that children enjoy the game, and don't even realize how much they are learning!

    So the next time you have to choose between making your child study or letting them play game, just remember——they could do both at the same time!

Starting high school is a great experience for any teenager. Whether you are coming from a middle school(grades six through eight) or a junior high school(grades seven through nine), there are many things about high that are different from your old school environment.

    You will face being in a new school, making new friends in an unfamiliar class and getting to know new teachers. These new teachers will usually have higher academic(学术的) level than your middle and junior-high schoolteachers.

    In return, they expect you to work hard and develop your skills, On top of all this, peer pressure(同伴压力) to drink and smoke often increases in high school.

Although there is a lot of pressure, it is nothing you cannot deal with. If you are feeling pressure to do something that you feel is wrong, talk to a friend, parent or counselor to find a solution(解决).

     If you are not succeeding academically, find someone to help you. If you feel lonely, try to join a school club or group to make new friends.

    With time, you will come to be thankful for everything about your experience. On the point of starting you high school, are you ready?

   Granny Sarya lived outside Moscow. Her only son 1 to Afghanistan(阿富汗) and was killed in action there.Soon after that, her husband lost his job. The old man was always 2 food and clothes.And on a winter night he went out alone when Sarya was asleep. The next morning he was 3 dead in a cold lake. And his worn-out coat was 4 in a tree not far away. Sarya was so 5 that she nearly took her own life.

    Things got worse and worse after that. She always lived in hunger and cold. She had hoped that the government(政府) could help her but she 6 .

    It was a cold windy night. The old woman couldn't 7 asleep at all. She had to get up. She decided to write a letter to God(神), asking for 8 . She wished God to give her 100 rubles (卢布), so she could buy some food for herself. When she 9 writing it, she found she had no 10 . She had to put the 11 at a crossing. 12 the next morning a policeman found the letter. He read it to his comrades.They were all so 13 that they gathered some rubles and sent them to the poor old woman.

    At first Granny Sarya was happy. But after she 14 the money, she became 15 and said, "I'm told that all things that are touched by the policeman will be only a half left!"

    Nine-year-old Jimmy was given a task in school to write a story on "My family's ancestors(祖先)". The purpose was for the kids to  (understand) their family history.

    In search of some  (answer) for his task. Jimmy interviewed his grandmother who of course  (know) nothing about the reason why Jimmy asked such questions.

    When she was asked, "Granny, where did I come from?" his grandma was quite(nervous). Why didn't he ask his parents? She had to be quite careful when talking  a kid about such a subject. She wanted to buy some time,  she replied," Well, sweetie , the stork(鹳鸟) brought you." She said no( much), hoping that the subject would be dropped until Jimmy's parents came back.

    "So, where did Mom come from?"

    "The stork brought her also."

    "Well, then where did you come from?"

    "The stork brought (I) too, sweetie"

    "All right, thanks, Granny."

    Jimmy's grandmother did not think anything more about his . Three days later, when she was tidying up and  (look) at Jimmy's desk, she read the first sentence of his paper," For three generations(辈)there have been no natural births in our family".

请以"My Free Time"为题，写一篇80-100词左右的短文，描述一下自己的课余生活。

要求：1)意思连贯，语言通畅，字迹工整。

2)文中不能出现真实的姓名和校名。

参考词汇：Take exercise    keep healthy   do some reading    have a good time

My Free Time