上海市普陀区2022-2023学年九年级上学期学科期中考试英语

— It's about twenty minutes' walk.

The circus is a great form of family entertainment. There are lots of artists and even  animals. But should animals be in circuses? What about other forms of entertainment such as horse racing?

Animals have traditionally  in circuses. In ancient Rome, there were animal races and fights that involved(包括) hundreds of horses, lions and even elephants. But some feel that this should be stopped now. Animal rights organizations are strongly  the use of animals in circuses. They argue that animals do not naturally ride bicycles, stand on their heads, balance on balls, or jump through rings of fire. And when they do, it's after months of  with whips(鞭子) and sticks.

We all know Archimedes was a clever scientist. Using a good method, he showed King Hiero that his crown was not made  of gold. However, do you know Archimedes was also an inventor? In 215 B.C., the Roman army invaded (入侵) Archimedes' home city of Syracuse. He "fought against" the  by inventing a number of "war machines."

One of the machines was the stone thrower. The machine could throw large stones over a great  from the city wall at Roman ships. The Romans were  at the invention. They even stole a stone thrower and then made one for their own use.

You'd better to see him off at the airport.

will your sister hold her birthday party?

Most people were the importance of wearing masks.

Linda got up early she could catch the train.

The school rules and traffic rules must by us.

Mr. Smith asked John he to go abroad to further his study.

Alex ran out of the house with a football. Usually he would practice his skills till sunset all by himself. But today was different. Today Alex met Leo.

Alex's mom said that a couple and their son from Columbia were moving in next door. It had been a week. But Alex hadn't seen the boy yet.

Alex crossed the yard and knocked confidently at the door and almost immediately Leo appeared. "Hi, my name is Alex," Alex said, holding out his hand.
Leo smiled shyly and shook Alex's hand. "Leo...my name is Leo," said the dark-haired boy quietly.

"I haven't seen you around school yet, have you started? Do you play any sports? How do you like the neighborhood? ..." Alex kept asking questions at the wide-eyed Leo.

Shaking his head, Leo looked rather uncomfortable and uneasy. "Oh," thought Alex, "he doesn't understand me." Alex presented his football to Leo and said, "Do you want to play?" He wished Leo would understand his action, if not his words. The smile on Leo's face was the answer.

"Great!" responded Alex. Next moment they were passing the ball back and forth. Leo played well and they just hit it off so great. Hours sped by, and Alex's mom called out that dinner was ready. Alex stopped playing and pantomimed putting a fork to his mouth and eating. "It's time for dinner," he said regretfully.

Leo grinned and repeated, "It's time for dinner."

"Exactly," said Alex, "Can we play again tomorrow after school?" Alex asked, not sure if Leo would understand. Yet he could tell Leo didn't get him.

Suddenly Alex got a great idea. He pulled the confused boy toward his house. There he started searching his bookshelf. Moments later, he found an orange book—a Spanish dictionary! He fingered the pages to look up the words for tomorrow, after and school.

Then Alex looked directly at Leo, held up the football, and said mañana, despué de, and la escuela, not sure if what he said really translated into what he wanted. His face brightened as Leo smiled and eagerly nodded his head.
"Mañana!" Alex repeated.
"Mañana!" agreed Leo.

Have you ever heard of Expressive Writing?

Writing about a terrible or difficult situation is called "expressive writing." People who do this, record their deepest thoughts and feelings. Doctor Pan, leader of this study of expressive writing as a highly effective way to deal with painful experiences, says these people often show 1 mental and physical condition (状况) afterwards.

Expressive writing is effective because it allows you to make sense out of an upsetting and even heart-breaking experience. As you write, you are 2 what is happening around, and accepting that something is bothering you is an important first step. Next, translating that experience into language forces you to organize your thoughts and gives you a sense of control.

Thinking or talking about an event seems 3. However, the more you think or talk about it, the more likely you will find yourself in a mess. As a result, you get completely lost in your own emotions and finally lose self-control. Writing works differently as it makes you slow down. The act of labeling a feeling - of putting words to an emotion - can ease the neural (神经系统的) activities in the brain.

What if you don't consider yourself "a writer"? Don't worry about spelling or grammar. Take it easy when you choose the words or expressions. 4 dig into your inner self. The goal of the exercise is to find meaning in an upsetting event.

Many people have tried this method. After his father was rushed to the hospital because of a severe heart attack, 43-­year-­old Alex began to panic. So he did the one thing that would calm himself: he wrote. He thinks of it as a captain's life buoy (救生衣). "My expressive writing gave me the 5 I need to face my fear and move on," Alex says.

There are a few who are against this approach. According to them, expressive writing isn't a magical solution. People shouldn't fully trust the effect of expressive writing. Neither should they think of using it to 6 other treatments. People who are faced with a serious mental disaster may not find it useful to do on their own, without medicine.

For Helen, the single mom of four-year-old Luna, money was always tight. As Christmas drew nearer, she kept thinking about how she would not make her daughter d. Finally, Helen had thought of having Luna send a letter to Santa Claus (圣诞老人) by balloon, saying Santa would catch the balloon during his flight through the air on his sled (雪橇).

Helen helped Luna write down all the things she dreamed—candies, a Spider-Man ball, a doll, etc., and then put the p into a red balloon. It was a cold morning. As they released the wishes to the sky, Luna whispered, "Dear Santa, please do find and take my balloon with you soon, will you?" The thing was, Helen herself hadn't expected anyone to find the balloon.

After a simple Christmas, the calendar turned to another year. One day in January, a friend called Helen e, "Log onto (登录) Facebook! Guess what? A man called Alvin found Luna's balloon! He wants to send Luna gifts!"

In surprise, Helen logged onto Facebook and then she saw Alvin had posted (发布) the pictures of Luna's red balloon and note, asking about Luna. Thousands of people from all over the country reposted them. Some commented in Alvin's page, "Back then we were just like Luna. We had also hoped in our childhood that magic Santa would show up in front of us and realize our dream after hearing our pray. Why don't we just act as Santa o this time and bring magic to little Luna? Alvin, please count us in!" Helen went over all the posts in tears. Loneliness and helplessness had tailed her all the way, but they were g for the first time. A stream of warmth flowed inside her.

Helen contacted Alvin who had gone all the way to find her family for the past one month and told Luna, "Santa d your balloon by accident. But how lucky you are! One of his elves (精灵) found it and will help realize your dream!"

Who could have ever imagined that a balloon would bring the s this close? In April, Alvin headed to Helen. That morning, just as chilly as the day Luna released her balloon, in front of Helen's house, Alvin and his wife got out of the car with a box full of gifts in their hands. Luna ran out to meet them happily. "Is this what you wanted for Christmas, Luna?" Helen asked. "Absolutely!" Luna exclaimed.

Teenage Female Pilot Set Flying Record

Recently the 19-year-old teenager Zara set the world record as the youngest woman to fly alone around the world. Zara took the Guinness World Record (吉尼斯世界纪录) from the 30-year-old American flyer Shaesta Waiz since 2017. The youngest male to fly alone is Travis Ludlow, who set that record at the age of 18.

Zara started her trip around the world on August 18, 2021. It covered over 51,000 kilometers, including 52 countries and five continents. The flight was supposed to take three months. But she got stuck either in bad weather or because of visa delays, which made her finish her journey with two more months than she had planned.

Of all things, Zara thought that physical tiredness and loneliness were the toughest part. They were definitely big challenges on such long-distance flights. The teenager said the last part of her trip, from Germany, had been extremely difficult. She had to deal with the endless rain and snow. But she was happy to be accompanied by the local Air Force team before landing. "The people were warm-hearted, everywhere," she recalled.

Zara's plane had been modified carefully for the journey. It normally has two seats, but an extra fuel container then took up one of them. That made Zara more confident when flying on her own.

Zara has long cherished a love for the sky and has been traveling in small planes with her pilot parents since she was six. Zara dreams of being an astronaut. She believes her trip will inspire girls and young women to get into aviation (航空) and encourage them to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM.

On her website, Zara wrote, "With my flight, I want to show young women that they can be__________ as well because __________________________________."

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