Perhaps you've heard the old saying "curiosity killed the cat." It's a phrase that's often used to warn people — especially children — not to ask too many questions. Yet it's widely agreed that curiosity actually makes learning more effective. In fact, research has shown that curiosity is just as important as intelligence in determining how well students do in school.

    Curiosity can also lead us to make unexpected discoveries, bring excitement into our lives, and open up new possibilities. In science, basic curiosity-driven research can have unexpected important benefits. For example, one day in 1831, Michael Faraday was playing around with a coil and a magnet when he suddenly saw how he could produce an electrical current. At first, it wasn't clear what use this would have, but it actually made electricity available for use in technology, and so changed the world.

    However, curiosity is currently under the biggest threat, coming from technology. On one level, this is because technology has become so advanced that many of us are unable to think too deeply about how exactly things work any more. While it may be possible for a curious teenager to take a toaster apart and get some sense of how it works, how much do you understand about what happens when you type a website address into a browser? Where does your grasp of technology end and the magic begin for you?

    In addition to this, there's the fact that we all now connect so deeply with technology, particularly with our phones. The more we stare at our screens, the less we talk to other people directly. All too often we accept the images of people that social media provides us with. Then we feel we know enough about a person not to need to engage further with them.

    That means we end up inside our own little bubbles, no longer coming across new ideas. Perhaps the real key to developing curiosity in the 21st century, then, is to rely less on the tech tools of our age.

When I was 9 years old, I used to cut grass for Mrs. Long. The elderly lady paid me very little, for she hadn't much money. But she did promise me. When Christmas comes, I shall have a present for you.‖ I spent much time wondering what it would be. The boys I played with had baseball gloves and bicycles and ice skates, and I was so eager to acquire any one of these that I convinced myself that Mrs. Long intended choosing from among them.

It would hardly be a baseball glove, I reasoned with myself. A woman like Mrs. Long wouldn't know much about baseball. Since she was old and weak, I also ruled out the bicycle, for how could she handle such a large item.

On my last Saturday at work, Mrs. Long said, '' At Christmas you come to the door and collect the present. '' These words clinched(确定)my guess. Since she was going to have the present in her house and handle it herself, unquestionably she was giving me a pair of ice skates.

I became so convinced of this that I could imagine myself upon the skates and the excitement they brought me. As the cold days of November arrived and ice began to form on the ponds, I began to try my luck on the ice. ''Get away from that ice!'' a man shouted.

''It's not strong enough yet.''

As Christmas approached it was with difficulty that I restrained (抑制) myself from reporting to Mrs. Long and demanding my present. On the 21st of December, icy weather froze all the ponds so that boys who already had ice skates were able to use them. My longing to possess mine became overpowering.

So the next day I could control myself no longer and presented myself at Mrs. Long's door. ''I've been waiting for you, '' she said with a smile.

Paragraph 1: She set me in a chair and handed a package to me. 

Paragraph 2: On Christmas morning, I could not wait to open the package.  

"Are you sure you want to come with me?" My fifteen-year-old daughter couldn't miss the doubt in my tone. Nikki used to think exercise was similar to slow death.

But that day was different. "Yeah," she said, "I haven't spent much time with you lately." She wore her sweatshirt, took an oversized water bottle and looked at me expectantly.

"Okay, let's go then." Doubtful or not, I was grateful my teenage daughter still wanted to hang out with me.

Suddenly, I had visions of Nikki becoming my new workout partner. And we would build a whole new relationship based on our common love of exercise.

The ten-minute drive to the gym went smoothly. After we entered the two-story building, we found two treadmills (跑步机), side by side. I placed my water bottle in the holder, hung a face towel over the handrail (扶手) and took off my sweatshirt. Nikki's water bottle was too large to fit into the holder, so she set it on the floor and climbed onto her treadmill.

Stepping over to her, I told her how to control the treadmill. "You might want to fasten the safety key to your shirt," I instructed her.

"Why?"

"It'll protect you if you fall."

She rolled her eyes. "That's not going to happen."

I knew from experience that it was useless to argue with her. And really, I'd never actually seen anyone fall from the treadmill, so I figured she had a point. I increased my speed; she increased hers. Several minutes later, I noticed her eyeing the water bottle she'd set on the floor.

"Don't reach for that bottle while you're moving. If you need a drink, stop the treadmill first," I warned.

With an eye roll and headshake, she ignored me. She managed to hold the water bottle, if not gracefully, at least successfully. Maybe I wasn't giving her enough credit. Then I heard a loud thump (碰撞声). It took me a moment to realize that the noise wasn't coming from behind me but beside me.

Paragraph 1:

Looking at my daughter. I was struck by the strange sight of her running on her knees.

Paragraph 2:

"Are you okay?" I took her free hand and asked. 

1）活动情况介绍；

2）个人感受。

注意：1）词数100左右；2）短文题目已为你写好。

My parents came to the US from India in the 1960s, along with other immigrants from India. Back then, there were few Indians anywhere around the US. My father came to Kansas, where he would get his Ph.D. Six months later, my mother came with the three of us kids — my sister, my brother, and me. We were just six, five and three years old then.

It was the very first winter when we were in Kansas. It was so cold, but we didn't have heavy coats or warm clothes. We didn't have a concept of how cold it really could be in the Midwest, and there was a new surprise every day. We didn't have a car or anything like that, and my dad didn't have a US driver's license. But anyway, my father was studying for his Ph.D. , and he would walk up and down a big hill to and from the campus on a regular basis.

Since I was three years old, I didn't go to school, but my sister and brother were in school. My father had to walk down the big hill to take them to school every day and then walk back up the hill to go to university. After about three weeks of living like this, a woman called Valerie, whose son John was in the same class as my brother, started noticing them. On a very cold snowy morning, when they went to school as usual, Valerie passed by. She pulled up and said, "I see you on the way every day. Don't you feel cold without coats?" My father responded, "We didn't expect the weather would be so cold in Kansas." Valerie said, "Maybe I can take your daughter and son to school. Would you like a ride?"

Paragraph 1:

Hearing that, my dad nodded with great joy.

Paragraph 2:

Later, Valerie and her family became so dear to my family.

When I was a boy, I always wore turtleneck shirts because I was so sensitive and shy. I worked hard to earn exceptional marks and always tried to behave well. I was younger than everyone else because my good marks had allowed me to skip second grade, but this added nothing to my already low self-confidence.

When I was 14, my parents divorced (离婚). I moved in with my dad in a new neighborhood, but he was always so busy and had little time for me. It seemed the only time he ever spoke to me was to be demanding or critical. I began to hate coming home from school every day. I sank further into my low self-esteem (自尊) and was overwhelmed with feeling unappreciated and alone.

One day, my aunt called. This seemed like a miracle to me. Aunt Ginette usually only called once a year, on my birthday. She said she had just seen some young teenagers participate in a public speaking contest, and she thought I should try it, too. She told me she firmly believed I could perform on stage like the other kids since she had seen me do skits (幽默小品) for the family at Christmas.

I was a little taken aback, Me? On stage? In a public speaking contest? To agree would be contrary to my entire shy personality. But Aunt Ginette was so confident and seemed really serious. Feeling her strong belief, I went against all odds and agreed to enter the contest. All that winter, twice a week after dinner, I took three different buses for the three-hour round-trip to practice in Ville d'Anjou, where the competition would take place. I was taken by an energy I had never felt before. The hours and the obstacles no longer mattered. Although my dad really did love me and wanted the best for me, he disapproved of this new dream, fearing it would take away from my homework time and impact my marks. But I remained a top performer in school and never missed a day.

注意：

1. 续写词数应为150左右；

2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。