2020上海徐汇区高三二模英语试题含答案

这是一份2020上海徐汇区高三二模英语试题含答案

2019学年第二学期徐汇区学习能力诊断卷高三英语　试卷（满分140分，考试时间120分钟） 　　　　　2020.5I. Listening Comprehension Section ADirections: In Section A, you will hear ten short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. The conversations and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a conversation and the question about it, read the four possible answers on your paper, and decide which one is the best answer to the question you have heard.1. A. To answer the door. B. To fix the doorbell. C. To get a job. D. To ask for instructions.2. A. At the airport. B. In a restaurant. C. In a booking office. D. At the hotel reception.3. A. She has lost a lot of weight.  B. She lost some money last year.C. She spent a lot on cosmetic surgery. D. She is having health problems.4. A. Taking photographs. B. Downloading images.C. Fixing cameras.  D. Painting pictures.5. A. The woman is going to hold a party tomorrow.B. The man asks the woman not to attend the party.C. The woman doesn’t know how to get to the party.D. The man offers to drive the woman to the party.6. A. Tokyo is a city with a short history. B. He can provide little useful information.C. He can show the woman around the city. D. He has lived in Tokyo for a long time.7. A. She will meet the man in his office. B. She has an appointment with the man.C. She had a traffic accident that morning. D. She can’t finish making the jam before 9. 8. A. Play some music. B. Remove the power plug.C. Repair the sound box. D. Start the car engine.9. A. She can’t stand the hot weather. B. The beach resort is a better choice.C. She enjoys visiting the art museums. D. The man should develop a taste for art.10. A. He is satisfied with his new job. B. He wants his workload to be shared.C. He doesn’t like his new office. D. He gets pressure from his new position.Section BDirections: In Section B, you will hear two short passages and one longer conversation, and you will be asked several questions on each of the passages and the conversation. The passages and the conversation will be read twice, but the questions will be spoken only once. When you hear a question, read the four possible answers on your paper and decide which one would be the best answer to the question you have heard.Questions 11 through 13 are based on the following passage.11. A. A promotion of outdoor clothes. B. An introduction of West Virginia.C. A weekend vacation to a famous resort. D. A free trip to an unknown destination.12. A. Regretful. B. Frustrating. C. Worthwhile. D. Comfortable.13. A. Mystery trips. B. Outdoor adventures. C. Social media. D. Travel destinations.Questions 14 through 16 are based on the following passage.14. A. Goods are scarce and hard to get for ordinary consumers.B. People aim for social distinction through what they own.C. Manufacturers make more money by mass production.D. Growth of consumerism is restricted by artificial products.15. A. To cut down on labour costs by reducing working hours. B. To make customers feel they own something rare.C. To increase their coffee price without losing customers.D. To focus more on quality and customer satisfaction.16. A. Consumer awareness. B. Social distinction. C. Artificial scarcity. D. Mass production.Questions 17 through 20 are based on the following conversation.17. A. In the gym. B. At a bookstore. C. At the library. D. In the classroom.18. A. Wait for a month. B. Keep the receipt.C. Mark on the book. D. Accept a discount.19. A. The man doesn’t need the book now. B. He’s afraid he might damage the book.C. The book costs too much for him. D. He prefers the edition with footnotes.20. A. Bargain with the woman. B. Go to another bookstore. C. Wrap his book. D. Surf the Internet.II. Grammar and VocabularySection ADirections: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.Discovering a Lost BrotherKieron Graham always knew he had an elder brother named Vincent. His adoption papers, (21) _______ (sign) when he was three months old, listed a brother named Vincent but no last name. Though Kieron spent years thinking about Vincent, he could never track him down. That changed in December 2017, when Kieron’s adoptive parents gave him an DNA test as a Christmas gift. When his results came back, he was surprised (22) _______ (find) he had a lot of DNA matches for relatives who had also taken the test. Most were distant connections, but one match was so strong that it (23) _______ (label) “close family.” His name was Vincent Ghant. Kieron looked for him on Facebook and soon made a possible connection. When they connected, it was (24) _______ _______ they had known each other their whole lives. As they talked, the brothers realized they lived about 20 minutes from each other. (25) _______(surprisingly), they attended the same university and majored and minored in the same subjects. Vincent was nine when Kieron was born and remembers caring for his baby brother. But times were tough, and Shawn, who worked 15-plus hours a day as a nurse, decided that (26) _______(place) Kieron for adoption would give him the best chance to succeed. “She was very emotional about that time, to the point (27) _______ it was hard for her to put into words anything about what happened,” Vincent says.Now the brothers had the chance to make up for lost time. They decided to meet at a local tea shop that week. One of Vincent’s concerns was that Kieron (28) _______ hate his birth family for placing him for adoption. He was relieved Kieron didn’t, and (29) _______ he’d grown up in a loving family. After that first meeting, the brothers played football together and celebrated Christmas with their families. “We’ll keep growing our relationship (30) _______ it’s time to leave this planet,” says Vincent. That shouldn’t be hard. As Kieron says, “We’ve got years and years to catch up on.”Section BDirections: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need. A. motive B. deliberately C. convinced D. injurious E. alertsF. desperately G. swept H. accounts I. unconscious J. preservingK. chargingWhy Humpback Whales (座头鲸) Protect Other Species from Killer WhalesRobert Pitman, a marine ecologist, describes an encounter he witnessed in Antarctica in 2009. A group of killer whales were attacking a Weddell seal. The seal swam 31 toward a pair of humpbacks that had inserted themselves into the action. One of the humpbacks rolled over on its back, and the seal was 32 onto its chest, between the whale’s massive flippers (鳍). “That incident 33 me,” he says. “Those humpbacks were doing something we couldn’t explain.” Pitman started asking other researchers and whale watchers to send him similar 34 . Soon he was reading through observations of 115 encounters between humpbacks and killer whales, recorded over 62 years. “There are some pretty astonishing videos of humpbacks 35 killer whales,” he says.In a 2016 article in Marine Mammal Science, a famous scientific journal, Pitman and his co-authors describe this behaviour and confirm that such acts of do-gooding are widespread. But knowing that something is happening and understanding why it’s happening are two different things. Pitman and his co-authors openly reflected on the meaning of these encounters. “Why,” they wrote, “would humpbacks 36 interfere with attacking killer whales, spending time and energy on a potentially 37 activity, especially when the killer whales… were attacking other species of prey?”Interestingly, humpbacks don’t just hit on killer-whale attacks. They race toward them like firefighters into burning buildings. And like those rescue workers, humpbacks don’t know who is in danger until they get there. That’s because the sound that 38 them to an attack isn’t the sad voice of the victim. It’s the excited calls of the killer whales. Pitman believes humpbacks have one simple instruction: “When you hear killer whales attacking, go break it up.”I wonder what humpback whales care deeply enough about to actively swim into battle with killer whales. When I ask Pitman, he tells me that, it still comes down to selfishly 39 their own kind. He believes that their occasional rescues of humpback calves (后代) create a strong enough 40 for them to rush in to help, even if it means they end up saving sunfish, sea lions, dolphins every now and then. III. Reading ComprehensionSection ADirections: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.The true purpose of a business, Peter Drucker said, is to create and keep customers. “Customer value” has several definitions. I use the 41 to mean the total lifetime value of a company’s customer base. Companies can increase this value by 42 more customers, earning more business from existing ones, keeping them longer, making their experience simpler through digital improvements and so on. 43 leaders have long understood the importance of concentrating on customer value rather than pursuing short-term profits or quarterly earnings, and they’ve become enduring customer loyalty leaders in the process. It’s worth noting that a number of loyalty-leading companies are able to 44 shareholder pressure, or avoid it altogether, because they are founder-led, customer-owned, or not publicly traded.Companies can 45 customer value in a variety of ways: To increase 46 , enterprise software companies sometimes charge corporate customers change fees that can raise the total cost of ownership to as much as three times the original price. To reduce operating costs, restaurant chains sometimes 47 frozen and precooked ingredients in place of fresh and made-to-order food. The resulting profits may look good on the income statement. Such strategies may even lead to short-term earnings growth. But they also 48 potential customers and encourage disloyalty.Given the importance of customer value, leaders should track it as much as they track other key assets (资产), such as buildings, machinery, and marketable securities. They also should reveal it in their quarterly and annual earnings releases so that investors can make 49 judgments about company performance and how it compares with that of industry peers. But most companies 50 believe that measuring customer value is too difficult or costly. They continue to rely on a centuries-old accounting tradition that emphasizes physical and financial assets, and neither income statements nor balance sheets offer much 51 into the value of a company’s customers.As investors wake up to the importance of customer value, however, many growth-stage companies now direct investors’ attention to 52 in growing the value of their customer base. Some public companies increasingly report various types of customer value metrics (指标). One of the UK’s top energy suppliers E.ON, 53 , reports year-over-year customer counts in its financial report. “As a customer-focused company,” E.ON noted, “we see customer value as crucial to our success.” This is a start, but because there are no customer-value reporting standards or requirements, investors still have a(n) 54 picture. The minority of companies that do provide customer value information decide for themselves what to disclose. 55 , firms may calculate customer metrics differently or change them to tell a desired story, or simply stop reporting them if they fail to go with the company’s preferred narrative. A. item B. version C. term D. definitionA. persuading B. consulting C. acquiring D. inspectingA. Considerate B. Visionary C. Determined D. PowerfulA. resist B. relieve C. intensify D. maintainA. raise B. adopt C. calculate D. destroyA. income B. experience C. productivity D. demandA. separate B. substitute C. forbid D. combineA. appeal to B. rely on C. put down D. scare off A. informed B. subjective C. definitive D. independentA. fully B. hardly C. readily D. wrongly A. suspicion B. extension C. literacy D. visibilityA. sacrifice B. success C. prejudice D. expenseA. as a result B. for example C. on the contrary D. in generalA. incomplete B. depressing C. convincing D. vividA. Instead B. Further C. Otherwise D. ThereforeSection BDirections: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read. (A)Aristotle thought the face was a window onto a person’s mind. Cicero agreed. Two thousand years passed, and facial expressions are still commonly thought to be a universally valid way to judge other people’s feelings, irrespective of age, sex and culture. A raised eyebrow suggests confusion. A smile indicates happiness. Or do they? An analysis of hundreds of research papers that examined the relationship between facial expressions and underlying emotions has uncovered a surprising conclusion: there is no good scientific evidence to suggest that there are such things as recognizable facial expressions for basic emotions which are universal across cultures. Just because a person is not smiling, the researchers found, does not mean that person is unhappy.This may raise questions about the efforts of information-technology companies to develop artificial-intelligence algorithms (算法) which can recognize facial expressions and work out a person’s underlying emotional state. Microsoft, for example, claims its “Emotion API” is able to detect what people are feeling by examining video footage of them. Another of the study’s authors, however, expressed scepticism. Aleix Martinez, a computer engineer at Ohio State University, said that companies attempting to obtain emotions from images of faces have failed to understand the importance of context.For a start, facial expression is but one of a number of non-verbal ways，such as body posture, that people use to communicate with each other. Machine recognition of emotion needs to take account of these as well. But context can reach further than that. Dr Martinez mentioned an experiment in which participants were shown a close-up picture of a man’s face, which was bright red with his mouth open in a scream. Based on this alone, most participants said the man was extremely angry. Then the whole picture was shown. It was a football player with his arms outstretched, celebrating a goal. His angry-looking face was, in fact, a show of pure joy.Given that people cannot guess each other’s emotional states most of the time, Dr Martinez sees no reason computers would be able to. “There are companies right now claiming to be able to do that and apply this to places I find really scary and dangerous, for example, in hiring people,” he says. “Some companies require you to present a video resume, which is analyzed by a machine-learning system. And depending on your facial expressions, they hire you or not, which I find really shocking.”56. We can learn from the second paragraph that __________.A. facial expressions are universal across culturesB. it is hard to recognize some facial expressions C. emotions and facial expressions may not be relatedD. common facial expressions convey similar meanings57. In the passage, the word “scepticism” (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to “__________”.A. similar interest B. fierce anger C. strong support D. great doubt58. The experiment mentioned by Dr Martinez may prove that ___________.A. facial expression is an important way to communicateB. machine recognition of emotion is not reliable at allC. facial expression is not the only way to detect feelings D. people may misread facial expressions for lack of context59. What does this passage mainly tell us?A. Facial expressions are among the most universal forms of body language. B. Computers can detect people’s mind by analyzing their facial expressions.C. Facial expressions may not be the reliable reflection of a person’s emotions.D. Companies can depend on machine recognition of emotion to hire people.(B)60. According to the passage, The Writer magazine __________.A. provides practical suggestions on a writing careerB. responds to all the query letters from the readersC. introduces successful writers and their works onlyD. prefers handwritten queries to electronic ones61. When sending a query letter, a contributor must ________.A. answer the three questions first B. attach a printed version of the storyC. subscribe to the magazine D. include a brief self-introduction62. What is this passage mainly about?A. Magazine recommendations. B. Submission guidelines.C. Published stories. D. Subscription information.(C)There has, in recent years, been an outpouring of information about the impact of buildings on the natural environment. Information which explains and promotes green and sustainable construction design, strives to convince others of its efficacy (功效) and warns of the dangers of ignoring the issue. Seldom do these documents offer any advice to practitioners, such as those designing mechanical and electrical systems for a building, on how to use this knowledge on a practical level. Although there are a good many advocates of “green” construction in the architectural industry, able to list enough reasons why buildings should be designed in a sustainable way, not to mention plenty of architectural firms with experience in green design, this is not enough to make green construction come into being. The driving force behind whether a building is constructed with minimal environmental impact lies with the owner of the building; that is, the person financing the project. If the owner considers green design unimportant, or of secondary importance, then more than likely, it will not be factored into the design.The commissioning (委任) process plays a key role in ensuring the owner gets the building he wants, in terms of design, costs and risk. At the predesign stage, the owner’s objectives and expectations are discussed and documented. This gives a design team a solid foundation on which they can build their ideas. Owners who skip the commissioning process, or fail to take “green” issues into account when doing so, often come a cropper once their building is up and running. Materials and equipment are installed as planned, and, at first glance, appear to fulfil their purpose adequately. However, in time, the owner realizes that operational and maintenance costs are higher than necessary, and that the occupants are dissatisfied with the results. These factors in turn lead to higher ownership costs as well as increased environmental impact.In some cases, an owner may be aware of the latest trends in sustainable building design. However, firms should not take it as read that the client already has an idea of how green he intends the structure to be. Indeed, this initial interaction between owner and firm is the ideal time for a designer to outline and promote the ways that green design can meet the client’s objectives, thus turning a project originally not destined for green design into a potential candidate.Typically, when considering whether or not to adopt a green approach, an owner will ask about additional costs or return for investment. In a typical project, landscape architects, mechanical and electrical engineers do not become involved until a much later stage. However, in green design, they must be involved from the outset, since green design demands interaction between these disciplines. This increased cooperation clearly requires additional cost. However, there may be financial advantage for the client in choosing a greener design. There are examples of green designs which have demonstrated lower costs for long-term operation, ownership and even construction. 63. What is the main reason for the lack of green buildings being designed according to the passage?A. Few firms have enough experience in designing and constructing green buildings.B. Construction companies are unaware of the benefits of sustainable designs.C. Firms do not get to decide whether a building is to be constructed sustainably.D. Firms tend to convince clients that other factors are more important than sustainability.64. The phrase “come a cropper” probably means ________.A. experience misfortune B. change one’s mindC. notice the benefits D. make a start65. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?A. Most clients have a clear idea of whether they want a green building at the beginning.B. Green buildings are most likely to cost more money than conventional buildings. C. The commissioning process offers a good opportunity to bring up the subject of green design.D. Firms should avoid working with clients who reject green designs in their buildings.66. The writer’s main purpose is to ________.A. explain the importance of communication when a building is commissionedB. emphasize the importance of green building design in protecting the environmentC. explain to building owners why ignoring green issues is costly and dangerousD. inform professionals how they can influence clients to choose greener designs Section CDirections: Read the following passage. Fill in each blank with a proper sentence given in the box. Each sentence can be used only once. Note that there are two more sentences than you need.The Podcast (播客) BoomDo you prefer to watch TV or listen to the radio? There was a time when some people thought moving pictures would spell the end of tuning in to the radio for entertainment and information. But radio survived and boomed. (67) ____________________Perhaps the growth in podcasting is not surprising—it offers a digital audio file that can be downloaded and stored for listening at any time. It can also be streamed from the internet and played on a computer or MP3 player. And it’s not just broadcasters, like the BBC, who are producing podcasts: now commercial broadcasters, individuals and companies with no connection to broadcasting are making them. In fact, anyone with something to say, and a few pounds to spend on the equipment, can get involved. The digital audio files are cheap to produce and, thanks to the internet, easy to distribute. (68) ____________________ Journalist Ben Hammersley told the BBC that “two changes transformed the market—one cultural and one technical.” A technical breakthrough came in 2012 when Apple produced the iPhone podcast app, which proved a popular library system for listeners. This was followed by a dramatic improvement in inexpensive recording production and editing equipment. Finally, the development of 4G mobile phone connections and widespread wi-fi meant listeners could browse, download or stream shows whenever they wanted.(69) ____________________ It was a piece of investigative journalism hosted by Sarah Koenig, telling a non-fiction story over multiple episodes (集). To date, the first and second seasons of the show have had more than 340 million downloads. Advertisers soon realized the money-making potential of this and other successful podcasts. And where the audience goes, the money follows. From 2017 to 2018 advertising spending on podcasts in the UK went from $10.6m(£8.5m) to $19.7m, an 85% increase, according to Ovum.(70) ____________________ In fact, as Ben Hammersley explains, podcasting has brought people into broadcasting who would normally never have seen the inside of a recording studio. “There are of course professional podcasters, but there are many more people who create quality content and do it for nothing,” he says. “And that is changing not just the way we listen to audio but the way the broadcasting industry works.”IV．Summary WritingDirections: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.Teaching Children about ForgivenessIf you’ve seen your children struggle to forgive someone for hurting them, you know that forgiveness is complicated. After all, forgiveness is complicated for adults, too. At times, we wonder why we’re trying to forgive someone anyway; later, we might think we’ve forgiven them, only to experience a sudden burst of anger. Indeed, it takes many years for us to grasp the meaning of forgiveness as we grow up.It’s understandable that children may feel hurt or angry when a friend does something less-than-kind to them. Maybe the friend said something unkind or broke something precious, embarrassed them, excluded them, or told their secrets. Children may be tempted to get even with a friend who’s done them wrong, by doing something worse or telling everyone how terrible the friend is, but trying to get revenge only escalates (升级) the conflict.Parents can play an important role in teaching children about forgiveness. Children watch how important adults in their lives respond when someone does something unkind. Do they complain to others or speak directly to the person involved? How long does it take them to get over being mad or hurt? How do they get over it? Parents can teach their children about the value of forgiveness by regularly practicing it in their own lives. Sometimes parents can talk with their children about forgiveness, based on where kids are in their cognitive (认知的) and emotional development. For example, children need to understand that no one is perfect, so generously forgiving a well-meaning friend is a caring thing to do. If parents can help children see things a little more from other people’s perspective, this will make forgiveness easier. These conversations can change the way children think about forgiveness and help them emotionally recover when they inevitably experience harm and unfair treatment from others in life.V. TranslationDirections: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets. 开车时遮挡车牌号是违法的。(It)在做出抉择之前，务必充分权衡这一决定将产生的后果。(weigh)参加艺术活动不仅可以缓解压力、培养创造力，还能延年益寿。(not only)在信息泛滥的互联网时代，我们要学会独立思考和自主判断, 而不是盲目从众。(rather than)VI. Guided WritingDirections: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese. 假设你叫王林，你的美国好友John来信说他最近每天晚上玩手机到深夜，导致白天没有精神且食欲不振。他对此很担心，但又管不住自己，因此写信向你求助。请你用英语给John写一封回信，谈谈你的想法并给他一些建议。2019学年第二学期徐汇区学习能力诊断卷高三英语　答案I. Listening Comprehension（每小题1分）1-10 BDAAD BBACD（每小题1.5分）11-13 DCA 14-16 BBC 17-20 BBDDII . Grammar and Vocabulary（每小题1分）21. signed 22. to find 23. was labeled/labelled 24. as if/though 25. More surprisingly 26. placing 27. where 28. might 29. that 30. until/till31-40 FGCHK BDEJAIII. Reading Comprehension（每小题1分）41-55 CCBAD ABDAD DBBAB（每小题2分）56-59 CDDC 60-62 ADB 63-66 CACD 67-70 CFADIV. Summary参考答案（仅供阅卷老师参考）Forgiveness is complicated and children’s understanding of forgiving develops as they grow older. Children may feel angry and want to revenge when they feel hurt or wronged. Parents need to be good role models themselves and have age-appropriate discussions with children to help them see things from other people’s perspective and better understand forgiveness. (54 words)评分标准: 1. 本题总分为10分, 其中内容5分, 语言5分。2. 评分时应注意的主要方面: 内容要点、信息呈现的连贯性和准确性。3. 词数超过60，酌情扣分。各档次给分要求: 内容部分A. 能准确、全面地概括文章主旨大意，并涵盖主要信息。 B. 能概括文章主旨大意，但遗漏部分主要信息。C. 未能准确概括文章主旨大意，遗漏较多主要信息或留有过多细节信息。D. 几乎不能概括文章的主旨大意，未涉及文中有意义的相关信息。语言部分A. 能用自己的语言连贯、正确地表述。B. 基本能用自己的语言正确地表述，但连贯性较差，有少量不影响表意的语言错误。C. 基本能用自己的语言表述，但连贯性较差，且严重语言错误较多。D. 几乎不能用自己的语言连贯、正确地表述。V. Translation （15分）It is illegal to cover your license plate (number) when (you are) driving.Be sure to weigh the consequences of your decision before you make it.Engaging in art activities not only helps relieve stress and cultivate creativity, but also extends our life spans / enables us to live longer.In the Internet age/era of unlimited information/ flooded with information, we should learn to think independently and make our own judgments rather than blindly follow the crowd.Writing：评分标准：1. 本题总分为25分，其中内容10分，语言10分，组织结构5分。2. 评分时应注意的主要方面：内容要点，应用词汇和语法结构的数量和正确性及上下文的连贯性。3. 评分时，先根据文章的内容和语言初步确定所属档次，然后对照相应的组织结构档次给予加分。其中，内容和语言两部分相加，得15分或以上者，可考虑加4-5分，15分以下者只能考虑加0，1，2，3分。4. 词数少于70，总分最多不超过10分。各档次给分要求内容部分A. 内容充实，主题突出，详略得当。B. 内容基本充实，尚能表达出作文要求。C. 漏掉或未能写清楚主要内容，有些内容与主题无关。D. 明显遗漏主要内容，严重离题。语言部分A. 具有很好的语言表达能力，语法结构正确或有些小错误，主要因为使用了较复杂结构或词汇所致。句子结构多样，词汇丰富。B. 语法结构和词汇方面有错误，但不影响理解。句子结构有一定的变化，词汇使用得当。C. 语法结构与词汇错误较多，影响了对内容的理解。句子结构单调，词汇较贫乏。D. 语法结构与词汇的错误很多，影响了对内容的理解。词不达意。组织结构部分A. 自然地使用了语句间的连接成分，全文流畅，结构紧凑。B. 能使用简单的语句间连接成分，全文内容连贯。C. 尚能使用语句间连接成分，语言连贯性较差。D. 缺乏语句间的连接成分，语言不连贯。 IMPROVE YOUR WRITING WRITING INSPIRATION GET PUBLISHED RESOURCESFounded in 1887, The Writer aims to expand and support the work of professional writers with a straightforward presentation of industry information, writing instruction and professional and personal motivation. If you’re passionate about books, authors, and writing, you’ll find everything you need within our pages 12 times a year. Our editors are interested in query letters (投稿信) on concrete topics written by emerging and experienced writers. We are looking for clear takeaway for our readers: What can they learn to improve their writing or advance their careers? What specific how-to tips and strategies will accomplish this?In addition to a fleshed-out outline of your story idea and an estimated word count, queries should include a brief description of your background. For personal essays, we prefer writers to attach or paste the finished piece in their query email. We do not accept material that has been previously published in any form in print or online.Queries should be sent by e-mail to tweditorial@madavor.com. All queries sent to any other address will be deleted. Unfortunately, we receive hundreds of letters every week and cannot respond to all of them. If you haven’t heard from us in two weeks, please feel free to move your submission (投稿) to another publication. If you’re unfamiliar with our magazine, we recommend reading a few issues, subscribing, or at least signing up for our newsletter to get a feel for the kind of work we publish.Article lengths vary widely from 300 to 3,000 words. We recommend writers ask themselves the following questions before querying. It isn’t necessary to include them in your query, but we find it’s a good way to help us understand how your piece best fits in our pages:How specifically will this story idea help our readers become more informed writers?Why is this particular idea timely or relevant?Why are you the perfect person to write this piece?We prefer electronic queries. Please do not mail queries.Payment varies.Thank you for considering a submission to The Writer magazine, the voice of imagination, creation, and publication since 1887.A. The cultural breakthrough came in 2014 with a very specific podcast—Serial.B. But if you are a celebrity, podcasts can provide a new branch of business.C. And now, despite the growth in smartphones offering high-definition pictures, the popularity of podcasts is booming.D. Now the boom in podcasting embraces a huge range of talent, from professional broadcasters to enthusiasts offering insights on anything and everything.E. Podcasts offer a chance to speak to a very precise selection of people.F. But where did this trend for making portable audio programmes begin?