浙江省杭州市保俶塔教育集团2023学年九年级上学期期中质量检...

I jumped up high in the air and landed in the sandpit. "

3. 55 meters!" the referee (裁判) announced. The result was my best by then, but I was not 1 with it.

I have been competing in the long jump since primary school, so for me, I was likely to succeed. But this time, 2  seemed far from me. After trying several times, I lost heart and wanted to 3 . 

As I reached the last round of the jump, my worry and self-doubt (自我怀疑) built up inside. It seemed that all my 4 had been meaningless. I stood at the starting line, my mind totally blank (空白的) and my hands 5 . After hearing my classmates' cheers around me, I started running. I tried using my arms and shoulders to run faster, but my body started to show signs of 6 .

As the highlight of this term, this long-awaited sports event become my Waterloo. 7 failure was the last thing I wanted. 8 my best friends came to comfort me, I couldn't even say a word.

They told me I had done a good job and that they were 9 me. These words were like warm 10 , blowing away the dark clouds in my heart. 11 this experience, I come to realize that failure is the most common thing in life. We meet different kinds of failures everywhere. Failure makes us better understand 12 and our disadvantages. And it can make us get stronger and stronger. That's because it not only allows us to get 13 from it, but also makes us improve ourselves. What's more, failure offers us a chance to 14 our bad feelings with friends, which can help to develop our friendships. This is what I've learned in the long jump. If I meet any difficulty in my life later on, I will 15 think of this experience. With my head held high, I think I will face the problems ahead more bravely.

"Hi! How are you?" The woman smiled as she took the seat next to me on the airplane. She had to lower herself slowly, trying hard to push her fat body into the seat, filling all available space.

I didn't reply and moved a little towards the window. She repeated her greeting in a friendly voice. 

"Hi, " I replied.

"My name is Laura. I'm from Britain. How about you?" she talked excitedly.

"Malaysia. " I said coldly.

Laura started a conversation with me, taking no notice of my unfriendly reactions (反应). Her voice was warm and caring. She was thoughtful. When we were served drinks and meals, she made sure that I had room to move in my seat. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable with my elephant size!" she said with great sincerity.

To my surprise, the face that I had disliked hours before slowly showed a nice smile——lively and calm at the same time. I couldn't help but let down my guard. 

Laura was interesting. During our conversation, Laura managed to make every person on the plane who served us walk away laughing at her jokes. 

I asked Laura, "Have you ever thought about losing some weight? You aren't worried about the diseases that come with being overweight?"

"Not at all, because I eat healthily and walk regularly, " she said. "This may not be scientific, but I believe in my heart that the people who get diseases are the ones who worry all the time. I'm this size because I was born to be big! There is more to life than worrying about weight all day long. "

She drank her wine. "Besides, God gives me so much happiness that I need a bigger body to hold all of it! If I lose weight,  ▲ . "

Surprised by her unusual reasoning, I smiled. I suddenly realized that Laura was the most beautiful woman I had ever met in my life. 

When she was 14 years old, Remya Jose's life was turned upside down by a family crisis (危机).

Remya, who lived in a small village in India, learned that her mother was ill and her father would have to spend his time caring for her. As a result, she and her twin sister had to do most of the housework—including washing clothes. To make things even more difficult, the Jose family couldn't afford an electric washing machine. Instead, the two girls would have to do the washing all by hand in the local river, and then carefully carry everything back to their home—a task that took several hours.

Being a good student interested in engineering, Remya wanted to make a washing machine which could be used without electricity. She started studying electric washers to learn how they worked. Remya then designed (设计) a machine that used bicycle pedals (踏板) and chain. To find those items, she and her father went to a local auto shop. Workers there not only gave her the parts, they helped her make the machine!

Here's how the machine works: Remya used a cylinder (圆筒) to hold the clothes and put it in a cube (立方体). Next, she connected the bicycle pedals and the chain to the cylinder. As Remya pushed the pedals with her legs, the cylinder cleaned the clothes just like a regular washing machine.

Remya's invention worked! She had created her own human-powered washing machine—and now a task that used to take several hours took only 30 minutes. Remya's washing machine was chosen from among 25, 000 entries as India's best innovation! She was given India's National Award and honored by the nation's former president.

The story of this young woman's creative invention was known around the world.

"Remya Jose made a difference, " said Jeanine Thomas of The Borden Project, "Her invention saves time and money for the world's poor. Her story shows that with creativity, one individual can improve the lives of many. "

As the weather gets warmer, there are few things that are better to do than travel. But traveling might not be that fun for everyone, especially for those who have motion sickness (晕动症). 

Motion sickness is also called travel sickness. It is a common experience for many people. Depending on how you travel, it can be called carsickness or seasickness. People with motion sickness feel very uncomfortable while they are in motion. They feel sick and dizzy, like the room around them won't stop spinning (快速旋转).

It is generally believed that motion sickness happens when your senses become confused (混乱的) with each other, Scientific American reported. 

We use different parts of our body to sense movement. Our eyes tell us if we are moving. The inner ears contain a special liquid (液体) that helps us sense our direction and balance. Our muscles react to movement. 

When you move around, these body parts work well together. But when you are in a car or an airplane, they get confused. Your inner ear signals that you're moving, but your eyes say you're sitting still because you can't see that you're moving. This mismatch (不匹配) gives us motion sickness.

But some people are less sensitive to motion sickness. This may be because they have certain genes (基因) that prevent mismatching senses, Bethann Hromatka, a genetics expert from the US, told the Atlantic. 

Although there are many ways to deal with motion sickness, scientists believe that the key is to simply try to become used to it. For example, some astronauts do special exercises that give them gentle motion sickness. After a week or two, the astronauts become used to it and don't feel uncomfortable anymore, Sam Puma, a NASA flight doctor, told the BBC.

The Magic Lick(舔)

For most people, ice-cream is all about tastes. for Spanish physicist(物理学家) Manuel Linares, it's the color that counts.

Manuel found a new way to make ice-cream even (good). He invented a magic ice-cream that changes colors when you lick it! This (surprise) ice-cream now only has one flavor. It (start) out to be blue, then changes to pink and in the end becomes purple as it's licked.

"My ingredients are all (nature), " said Manuel. "Do you know my ice-cream can change colors? Because Mouth acid(酸性物质) and temperature have something to do with color change. "

The inventor teaches high school physics and math. He is also  ice-cream lover. His products (become) very popular so far, so he has got lots of calls and e-mails  many ice-cream companies in Singapore, Germany, America and Russia. They all plan (sell) his color-changing ice-cream. 

The future is looking bright for both Manuel and his ice-cream.