Every year—for more than 15 years running—Amazon editors come together and read hundreds of books. From there, they make a list of favorites, cutting it down from 60 to 40 and then finally to 20, during a heated debate in Seattle. It's a long process where emotions run high. Below are 4 of the top 20 picks of 2023, along with quotes（引述）from the editors.
Hello Beautiful
by Ann Napolitano
"Ann Napolitano creates a touching story that centers on the Padavano sisters, who are close to each other—until they aren't. Hello Beautiful offers big emotions, and that's exactly what makes it so powerful and so page-turning, which is why we named it the Best Book of 2023 So Far."—Al Woodworth
Weyward
by Emilia Hart
"Though divided by centuries, three women, who share a unique connection to the natural world and to one another, tell their attractive stories of ill treatment, danger, and adaptability in a beautifully written novel that is an impressive read."—Seira Wilson
Poverty, by America
by Matthew Desmond
"In 200 powerful and critical pages, Matthew Desmond lays out a clear explanation of inequality that will make you rage（发怒）, give in, and feel shame. This book may not be the easiest read, but it's one of the most important ones."—Lindsay Powers
King: A Life
by Jonathan Eig
"Eig's best description of Martin Luther King Jr. is an amazing achievement of writing and research, telling the hardships and heroics of a man who changed the world. This is biography at its absolute finest."—Al Woodworth
At Manzo Elementary School in Tucson, Arizona, raising fish at school was one small answer to a big problem: many people in the neighborhood did not have enough food to eat.
The students could eat breakfast and lunch at school, but their families didn't always have enough money to provide dinner. Buying fresh foods, such as vegetables and meat, was difficult. Then the teachers had an idea: could the students raise food at school for the neighborhood?
The project wouldn't be easy to carry out. Tucson is in a desert, so water is a precious resource. Soil in the desert doesn't always have the nutrients plants need to grow, so the students would need to add a natural fertilizer（肥料）.
Counselor（顾问）Moses Thompson read about aquaponics, a way of growing fish and plants together for food. Hundreds of years ago, the Aztecs built "floating farms" called chinampas on the lakes outside what is now Mexico City. Inspired by that, Moses helped the school set up a system in which fish waste fertilizes plants, and the plants' roots clean the water in the fish tank.
Fish aren't the only animals that help students feed their neighbors. Chickens lay eggs. Visiting pollinators help turn flowers into beans, tomatoes and so on. "Bees and butterflies come," says Santiago, aged 10.
When the students have raised enough food, it's time for Market Day. Vegetables are available for donation to people in the neighborhood. Students sell eggs and tilapia（罗非鱼）to raise money for seeds, fish food and chicken food.
"People don't have a lot of money, so it's a nice dream we have to give them food," says Emmanuel, aged
11. "It's an opportunity to be healthy and eat better."
"We can plant good food and have fun while we're doing something important," says Blanka, aged 10. "I'm so happy to be at this school."
Coffee plants grow wild in Ethiopia, Africa and were probably used by local people for thousands of years, but it wasn't until the 1400s that people found they could roast（烘烤）its seeds. Then it really took off. By the 1500s, the drink had spread across the Arab world. Within another 150 years, it took Europe by storm.
"It actually had a major influence on the rise of business," says historian Pendergrast. Coffeehouses became a spot not just to enjoy a cup but to exchange ideas. Literature, newspapers and even some great musical works were also produced in coffeehouses.
It is often said that after the Boston Tea Party of 1773, when American police raided（突击搜查）British tea ships and threw boxes of tea into the harbor, Americans universally changed over to drinking coffee. In a letter John Adams, the Founding Father, declared his love of tea but said he would have to learn to accept coffee instead, because drinking tea meant not supporting America.
For all the upsides coffee has brought the modern world, it also resulted in downsides, too. Europeans carried coffee with them as they occupied various parts of the world, and this frequently meant they enslaved（奴役）people in order to grow it.
"Ironically（讽刺地）, to seek equality, people came together to plan the French Revolution（革命）in coffeehouses," Pendergrast says. "But they were there drinking coffee grown by African slaves."
Today, coffee has become a powerful drink. Many people drink it for breakfast to start their day and to relax at the end of it. It not only helps keep us awake and active, it also has helped shape our history and continues to shape our culture. As Pendergrast puts it, coffee "had a very good impact in many ways on our civilization, even though it was, for a long time, grown by slaves."
Nowadays most kids live on their digital devices. Some data show that the social media could play a role in their mental health—something that has been on the decrease among teens and tweens. But how big a role it plays also appears to depend on how kids choose to use it.
In recent years, the internet has done some great things. It's brought people closer together. It's helped people form big communities in the world. And it can be an important place for people to find support and connection.
But some adolescents（青少年）can be exposed to something harmful. For example, one 2022 survey found that nearly half of all teens have been cyberbullied（网络欺凌）online. The same survey found that nearly two in every three adolescents experienced hate-based content on social media.
Social media is also a space where people are repeatedly comparing themselves to others. Am I pretty enough? Strong enough? One study of kids 13 to 17 years old found that almost half reported that time spent on social media made them feel worse about their bodies. Only about one in every seven said viewing social media made them feel better.
"It's hard to study the influence of social media on mental health," Whitlock, a research psychologist studying internet use by adolescents, explains, "because everyone uses it." There's no large group of others to which researchers can compare them. Still, one study of nearly 6,600 U.S. teens linked use of social media to depression, anxiety and a poor body image.
There's still not enough evidence to say social media is safe for kids, but there was plenty of evidence to warn kids that they should take care when using it. The takeaway, Whitlock says, is that social media use needs to be intentional（有意的）. By that, she means "used for some purposeful goal", not just to pass the time.
Sports are a great way to have fun while staying fit and enjoying time with friends.
The good news is, you can do a few things to feel less stress with sports. Here are 4 great ways to get started.
●Change your mindset（思维方式）. Think positively and develop positive self-talk. To help keep negative thoughts away, you can say things like, "I learn from my mistakes," and "I'm in control of my feelings." . Close your eyes and imagine making a shot, or scoring a goal. Think about your strongest skill rather than the one you worry about the most.
● If you feel stressed before a game, there are a lot of things you can do to feel calmer. The easiest is to take a deep breath through your nose and hold it for about 5 seconds, then let it out slowly through your mouth. Repeat 5 times.
●Take care of yourself. To keep stress levels down during the sports season—and when you aren't playing—take good care of yourself. Eat well and get enough sleep, especially before games. Try to stick to a routine（常规）, but do something fun and relaxing once in a while. .
●Talk with a trusted adult. If your days seem filled with homework, after-school activities, and other sports, talk with your parents or your coach about your schedule. Think about cutting back on practice time or doing just one sport or activity per season.
A. Do relaxation exercises.
B. Your mind is more powerful than you realize.
C. You can also try to "see" yourself succeeding.
D. Go for a walk, ride a bike, see a movie, or hang out with friends.
E. They are also a good way to forget about our troubles for a while.
F. Sometimes sports are no longer fun because you have too much going on.
G. But it's hard to keep calm when they seem to think winning is everything.
One Sunday morning, Peter and Michael 1 on their walk up the mountainside near the village where they lived. Near the top, they climbed onto a rock to 2 the view of the valley far below them.
That was when disaster 3 . Peter fell and broke his leg. 4 to move, he was forced to wait where he was, wrapped in Michael's jacket, while Michael began the long walk down the mountainside to fetch 5 .
Three hours later, Michael 6 on the mountainside from the window of the helicopter. He felt increasingly helpless, as it looked totally 7 from the air. What's worse, the sky was darkening fast and thick 8 was starting to form. Eventually Michael and all the mountain rescue workers in the helicopter had to go back and continue the search for Peter 9 .
By seven o' clock that evening, they 10 a mountain rescue team of fifteen men. As it was getting late, Michael felt 11 and scared for his friend's safety. Slowly they climbed up the mountain, 12 the numerous paths for Peter. 13 Michael started to wonder whether they would ever find Peter at all.
Suddenly Michael heard a voice come, "We've got him. We're taking him down." Later in the warm hospital room, "I'm 14 ," said Michael to his friend, 15 him on the shoulder, "I didn't realize it would take so long."
The （compete）among Chinese AI chatbots（聊天机器人）is heating up. Moonshot AI's Kimi has just overtaken（超过）Alibaba's Tongyi Qianwen. Meanwhile, this new chatbot is also narrowing the gap with Baidu's Ernie Bot, is the largest chatbot in the Chinese AI market.
In March, Kimi had 126 million visitors to its website and app. That's four times more than the month before. The sudden rise in visitors even caused the chatbot （crash）for at least two days. Kimi is known for dealing specific tasks and is especially good at analyzing long text. This makes it stand out from Baidu's and Alibaba's products as both are （main）used for general purposes. "But Kimi isn't going to overtake Ernie Bot anytime soon. " said Li Bangzhu, the founder of AIcpb. com. "Because latter has a huge user base. And it's still growing."
Why did Kimi get so many visitors in March? There was a good reason; the company （announce）a new technology on March 18. Kimi was the first to make a technological breakthrough, （process）up to two million Chinese characters in a single prompt（提示词）. That's ten times as many as it could do before.
Since ChatGPT took off in 2022, Chinese companies have been working hard to develop （they）own AI products. By the end of last year, there were over 200 large language models in China. Up to now, more than 20 of them （put）into use. Kim's big breakthrough shows that Chinese companies have great potential in the field of AI.
On a Saturday with nothing particular to do, I took my daughter, Alice, for a walk and found myself wandering into a charity store where I had worked before. In a charity store, donated items were all sold at a lower price so that those in need could afford things they might need, so we couldn't help but join the bustling（熙攘的）crowd of customers.
Alice closely examined each toy, while I searched through a pile of picture frames priced at one or two pounds. Suddenly, Alice grabbed a little furry hedgehog（刺猬）toy and ran towards me, saying, "Mom! I want to buy this! " When she held up the little hedgehog to show me, it seemed strangely familiar. I carefully examined the little hedgehog from top to bottom and all around, and then I held it up in front of Alice, asking her, "Don't you recognize this little hedgehog?"
Alice tilted（歪）her head looking puzzled and suddenly exclaimed, "Oh, I recognize it! This was my old little hedgehog!"
Exactly, half a month ago, Alice packed up her unwanted old toys and donated them to this charity store, and among the toys was this little hedgehog. Reaching out quickly, Alice grabbed the little hedgehog and said, "I like this little hedgehog. Let's buy it!" Are you kidding me? Half a month ago, it was you who personally sorted and said that you didn't want those toys anymore. That's when I brought that pile of toys to the charity store. And now, half a month later, you want me to buy the hedgehog back.
I refused this request without hesitation. After all, since we've already donated it, it doesn't make sense to buy it back. Alice, looking at me in disagreement, also didn't want to give in and said, "Why won't you buy it for me? Aren't we buying things from here to help people?"
"Yes, but when we donate things to the charity store, we're also helping people."
"But if you don't buy it, how will it make money? If you don't buy it, it can't help people, right?"
1）根据文本内容从方框中选择恰当的词并用其正确形式填入文本图示中,每词限用一次,有两词为多余选项。（每小题1分,共10分）
2）第二节根据文本内容回答下列问题。（共10分）
How would Alice probably feel when her request was refused?（请用完整的句子作答, 答案至少包括3个形容词, 3分）
What would probably happen after the argument? Why?
What did the author probably want to tell us through this story?
内容包括:
1. 作品主要信息介绍;
2. 作品解读。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为100 左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
参考词汇 rhinoceros 独角犀牛 giraffe 长颈鹿
Distinguished judges,
Thank you.
