浙江省杭州市余杭区2023-2024学年九年级下学期3月月考...

Opening the time capsule （胶囊）

Schools often ask children to write their plans for the future so they can place the letters inside a capsule along with other things of importance. In 10 or 20 years the capsule will be opened to see how the plans went. Read the plans of a few students. 

"Hurry up, Kyle, " Dad called. "We need to leave for the swim-team tryouts!"

Kyle sat sadly on his bed. He liked swimming, but he was afraid he wouldn't be fast enough to impress the coach. And he didn't want to embarrass himself.

"I changed my mind, " he shouted back. "I've decided not to go. "

Now Kyle heard his father's footsteps on the staircase （楼梯）. Dad walked into Kyle's room. "Why not?" he asked. "I thought you enjoyed swimming. "

"I do, but. . . "

". . . but you're afraid you won't make the team, right?"

Kyle looked up. How had Dad guessed?

"Listen, " Dad said. "You're probably afraid, but why not at least have the coach time （计时） you? There's nothing to lose by trying, even if you don't make the team. And who knows? You might even surprise yourself. "

Kyle considered that for a short time. "Okay, I guess I'll go, " he finally said.

Half an hour later, Kyle was anxiously waiting with everyone else who wanted to try out. He hated the idea of disappointing his father, so when the coach called his name, he forced himself to the edge （边缘） of the swimming pool. The coach blew his whistle （哨子） and Kyle jumped in, swimming through the water as quickly as he could. When he reached the other side of the pool, he held his head up and took the steel part at the pool's edge, shaking his wet hair out of his eyes. He climbed out of the water and returned to where the coach was standing.

"How did I do?" he asked in a low voice.

The coach looked at his stopwatch and then smiled at Kyle. "You had a wonderful time! In fact, you got one of the fastest times I've seen today. You'll do a fantastic job on the swim team. "

Everywhere you look you'll find surveys and questionnaires （问卷） in magazines, newspaper articles, best-selling books, TV shows. . . all giving one clear message: women and men are different.

Clearly, we can't get along because we communicate too differently. We don't understand each other. Women think one thing, but men think another. A woman is willing to work together, but a man is competitive. Women are good communicators, and can relate to people well, while men are more driven by results. A woman can do several things at once, but a man prefers to do one task at a time. If you believe everything you read, women even have a stronger sense of smell and of touch. The list of differences goes on and on.

However, Dr. Janet S. Hyde claims （声称） that the differences between men and women are overstated. She reviewed 46 studies of gender （性别） differences, going back 20 years, and found that there are far more similarities than differences between men and women. In fact, Dr. Hyde's results show that there are very few differences in the way we think, act and communicate. What's more, she warns that claims of gender differences actually have a negative effect on women, both in the workplace and in their relationships with their husbands or boyfriends.

Girls also suffer the results of these claims. For example, girls studying in school are not always encouraged to think that they can succeed in math the same way that many boys are. This is because people often believe media claims that girls aren't as good at math as boys. Perhaps it's time to celebrate what brings us together, rather than focus on what divides us.

People try to make predictions about the future. But what surprises does technology have in store for us? The answer is nanotechnology （纳米技术）. 

Nanotechnology is the science of building tiny machines, so small that they areinvisible. To give you an idea of the size of these machines, the difference between a nanometer and a meter two units of length, is the same as the difference between a rock and the planet Earth! Most scientists agree that nanotechnology will change our lives in the future—but how? At the moment it's difficult to predict whether this new technology will be like a wonderful dream, or a terrifying nightmare （噩梦）.

In the 1966 the film Fantastic Voyage, an inventor develops an amazing new way to treat diseases. He narrows a group of scientists and their machines and injects （注射） them all into a patient. They then travel around the patient's body, visiting the different parts of the body and repairing them. Of course, this is just a film—but the reality of nanotechnology is not very different. Scientists are already making nanobots, tiny robots that are very small. In the future, doctors might be able to inject these into a patient, and the nanobots will travel around the body and repair the diseased parts.

Some people are worried that nanotechnology could be difficult to control. Nanobots might come into the environment and damage people, plants and animals. Others have even more serious worries. Eric Drexler is a futurist, a scientist who makes predictions about the future. In his bookEngines of Creation he predicted the invention of nanobots. He also described a special kind of nanobot that can make a copy of itself using the materials around it—and this is where the nightmare begins. In Michael Crichton's book Prey, nanobots reproduce themselves so quickly that they use all the materials around them and then look for more and more, and more, eventually "eating" the world. Some people are worried that this might really happen. The most serious predictions (that very few scientists believe) say that nanobots could destroy the whole planet in about three hours!

After-school Clubs

It's time to go home, right? Wrong! Come and join one of our fantastic clubs. You can act, sing, cook, do sport—lots of things! You can't say no!

Science is cool! We do experiments and learn about our amazing world. We're in the Science Labs on Mondays from 3:15 pm to 4:45 pm. See you there!

Can you design a webpage, write an article or take photos? Then join our team at the Westfield e-magazine. We meet on Thursdays and Fridays at 3:15 pm. And our new magazine goes online on Monday mornings!

"I want to play chess but I can't understand the rules. " No worries. We can teach you! You can play for fun or enter our chess competition. Tuesdays 3:15 pm—4:45 pm!

On Wednesday afternoons, we make fantastic works of art! You can draw, paint, take photos or make masks and sculptures. We're in the Art Studio from 3:15 pm—5 pm!

Do you like football, tennis, basketball or gymnastics? Well, join us at the Sports Hall on Wednesdays from 3 pm to 4:30 pm. You can keep fit and have a great time!
 

It's 7 a. m. and most teenagers are still in bed. But not Rene Gangarosa. She's already1 and she's had her breakfast. She's2 with her lacrosse （长曲棍球） team, and she's just3 a goal!

16-year-old Rene lives for4 : when she was three years old, she started judo （柔道）. Then, when she was five, she competed in tennis matches. She5 lots of tennis competitions. But Rene's favorite sport isn't lacrosse, Judo or tennis. It's a sport that she plays with the boys. Rene loves ice hockey （曲棍球）!

Rene is really interested in ice hockey—she6 her local team and her favorite player is Jaromir Jagr. However, ice hockey is a7 game for a girl. The boys are8 than Rene. When Rene joined the team, they were9 —they didn't want to lose matches. But Rene has worked hard and today she's one of their best10 !

Rene can compete in so many sports because her11 help her. Her parents take her to lacrosse practice before school and to hockey practice after school. She's so busy that she hasn't got much time for12 ! Rene does most of it at break times in school.

It's 10 p. m. now, and Rene has just13 an ice hockey match. She's very tired! Has she ever wanted to stop14 ? No, she hasn't! This is the price of15 and she wants to be the best!

About half of 16- and 17-year-olds in the UK have got jobs, and three quarters of this age group also go to school. They do part-time jobs before or after school and at weekends. The  (common) jobs are babysitting (very popular with girls) and paper rounds (popular with boys). Cleaning and working in a shop  (be) also popular jobs. 

In the UK, school students (allow) to work less than two hours on a school day, or less than twelve hours in total during school week. Students are not allowed (work) before 7 a. m. or after 7 p. m. (but babysitters can work later). They must have at least two (week) holiday from school each year when they don't work all.

Teenagers do part-time jobs they want to earn some money. However, they don't (usual) earn very much. In the UK, there is a minimum （最低） wage for adults: £5.52 an hour. For 16- and 17-year-olds, it is £3. 40 an hour. For (child) under 16, there is no minimum wage, so many teenagers work for £2 or £3 an hour.

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most celebrated traditional festival in China. Preparations for Chinese New Year begin well ahead of time. Families clean their homes to away bad luck and make way for good luck. People new clothes, share festive meals, and exchange Hongbao containing money for good luck. The highlight of the celebrations is the dinner on New Year's Eve, where family members to enjoy a big dinner. As midnight comes, fireworks light up the sky, and the atmosphere is with excitement. Chinese New Year is not only a time-honored tradition but also a reflection of the rich cultural heritage （遗产）, which it a truly special and pleasant time for people across the country.

Hi Adam, 

Best regards, 

Li Ping