专题02 阅读理解之记叙文-2023年高考英语二模试题分项汇编（全国通用）

专题01 阅读理解之应用文 （一）（2023届辽宁省普通高中高三第二次模拟考试英语试题） Smiles Are Always Preferable over Pity An artist from Washington is bringing smiles to babies and their parents, one helmet at a time. Flat head syndrome is a common condition in infants and affects about half of babies in their first year of life. Fortunately, it doesn’t cause significant medical consequence and is treatable with a specialized helmet that an infant will wear for weeks or months. But these helmets usually come in a dull white. More than a decade ago, artist Paula Strawn was approached by a friend whose granddaughter was prescribed one of the helmets and asked if she could make it a bit more fun. “I had never seen a baby with a helmet before and they quickly explained what it was for,” Strawn says. “I was a little frightened as I hadn’t painted on anything like this before. But it went and they were very happy.” Strawn was living in Southern California at the time. After painting the helmet for her friend, she quickly began to get inquiries from other parents who wanted to stylize the helmets for their babies. Soon, requests snowballed in from across the state, then from around the country. “Within the year it was my main painting work for folks all over Southern California and within a couple of years I started hearing from folks around the states,” she recalls. “The last few years it’s been my full-time business. I get helmets from all over the country.” Strawn, who now lives in Washington, says she has painted more than 3,200 helmets in the 15 years since she painted her first one. She frequently posts her paintings to her Instagram page, which features helmets designed with bright flowers, cartoon characters, sports team logos and other colorful pictures. “It’s a fun, friendly and personal design that brings smiles to baby and a chance for parents to have a conversation about the helmet instead of pity,” Strawn says. “Smiles are always preferable over pity!” 1．Who will be interested in this text? A