浙江省新目标版初中英语九年级上学期期末模拟试卷（2）

    What makes people happier, money or having happy friends? Researchers from Harvard University have found the answer to this question in a study.

    The study found that people who have happy friends have a greater chance of being happy. And if the happy friends are closer to you, you will be happier. For example, a person's happiness rises by 20% if a happy friend lives within 1.5 kilometers. Having a happy neighbor makes the chance of being happy higher by 34%. The effects of friends' happiness last for up to a year.

    The researchers found that happiness is really contagious. Sadness also spreads among friends, but not as much as happiness. The study shows that having an extra (额外的) five thousand dollars increases a person's chances of becoming happier by about 2%. But the effect of a friend's happiness could in fact be greater than that.

    The study also shows that people are happier when having happy friends than having good colleagues (同事) .

    Joey Alexander was born in Bali, Indonesia on June 25, 2003. He is so talented in jazz that he is considered a jazz prodigy. However, he says he doesn't like being called a prodigy. He just prefers to be thought of as himself or as a jazz musician.

    Joey is from Indonesia but lives in New York now. He started playing the piano when he was 6 years old. He says his success isn't from tons of lessons; it's from feeling the music in his heart.

    When Joey was 6 years old, his parents brought home a mini keyboard (键盘式电子乐器). And to their surprise, Joey could play the melody (乐曲) of Well, You Needn't(a Jazz classic written by Thelonious Monk). His parents directly gave him piano lessons. In just a year or so, he could already lay difficult jazz pieces. For him, jazz is really great. It gives him freedom. That's why he prefers jazz to modern or classical music.

    In December, 2011, Joey was invited to play in front of the well-known jazz musician Herbie Hancock during his visit to Indonesia. Now at the age of 15, Joey has performed and collaborated (合作) with many top jazz musicians in Indonesia and also with some visiting jazz musicians from Europe. He has performed in many jazz festivals like Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival.

    Sometimes, you feel down or unhappy and it is hard to come back to your high spirits. So if you're having a bad day and need a boost, then help is just a click away.

    A website is trying to offer people positive(积极的) messages from strangers to cheer them up. It announces to be" the nicest place on the

Internet"，where happy people can present their positive thoughts and feelings to those who are in low spirits.

    The website lets people post videos of themselves blowing kisses and leaving positive and encouraging messages to lift visitors' spirits. The website was created by Jeff Lam and is considered to help many people out when they feel low. The well-known artist who lives in San Francisco said he came up with the idea when he and his friend I auren were having one of those bad days.

    "We tried to become cheerful, but none of the usual methods seemed to be working. Not music. Not food. What we hoped was something positive, honest and good. So with only a camera and work-free weekend, we created 'The Nicest Place On The Internet'，"he explained on his website.

    One user of the website, Joseph Meehan, 27, from Birmingham, said," It's a fun and exciting website. I visit it every once in a while when I'm missing my friends or family. I think it could really be a help to people who are feeling down or sad. It may even stop them from doing something stupid. You can also post your video to the website, and they add it to the series. It's very easy to share the love."

    Mr. Lam is now working on a new project that allows people to leave positive voicemails for strangers. The idea is that strangers send an audio

(音频的) diary by leaving a voicemail so that anyone can listen to it.

    Fifteen years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One day I went to pick up a passenger at 2:40 a. m. When I arrived there, I walked to the door and knocked. "Just a minute," answered a weak, elderly voice.

    After a while, the door opened. A small woman stood before me. She was more than eighty years old. By her side was a big bag.

    When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, "Could you drive through downtown?"

     "It's not the shortest way," I answered quickly.

     "Oh, I'm in no hurry," she said. "I'm on my way to a hospice (临终安养院) . I don't have any family left. The doctor says I don't have much time left."

    I quietly reached over and shut off the meter (计程表) .

    For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the place where she had gone dancing as a girl.

    Sometimes she'd ask me to slow down in front of a special building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.

    We drove in silence to the address she had given me.

    "How much do I owe you?" she asked.

    "Nothing," I said.

    "You have to make a living," she answered.

    "Oh, there are other passengers," I answered.

    Almost without thinking, I gave her a hug (拥抱) . She held me and said, "You gave an old woman a moment of joy."

    As a teenager, I volunteered at Loaves and Fishes, a program my mother started. We1meals to anyone who showed up, most of them were people in Minneapolis. When I spoke to them, they didn't look me in the eye, and they were rarely2. I wanted to shout, "Hey, we`re doing a (n)3thing here. You could at least thank us!"

    After I stopped volunteering at Loaves and Fishes, I took control of my own destiny (命运). Over the next ten years, I had a (n)4life: a college degree, teaching career, wonderful husband and then our first child, Derian.

    5soon, we were told that Derian had a serious illness and needed to be6hospital. I soon discovered I was not in control.

    Thirteen months after Derian was born, Connor, our second son, was born, thankfully with a healthy body. With two sons to7, I had to leave from teaching. Even though Robb, my husband,8his best, we were short of money soon. In the spring of 2015, we decided to ask9help.

    I had heard about a program that10money to mothers and children, and I put my pride aside and made an appointment (预约).

    On the morning of my appointment, I took my two sons to the program. When I was standing in the waiting area, suddenly, I realized life was full of the11. I felt sorry for looking down on the poor. Now it was my12to be poor. I wanted to leave with my children13. But looking into their bright eyes, I knew14I had to stay.

    For the first time in my life, I15why the people I once served at Loaves and Fishes were not thankful. Who wants to be poor? I'll never forget those lessons: we should respect and understand the poor instead of giving them money and food only.

—Of course.

—Because she hasn't finished her homework.

要求：100词左右; 电子邮件的格式、开头及结尾已给出，不计入总词数。

Dear Jenny,

    I'm so glad you're coming to China! Before you come you should know about table manners in our country. Here is some advice.

    I hope this is helpful. E-mail me if you have any other question.

Yours,

Wang Jie