1 . Mathea Allansmith isn’t your typical grandmother. She’s the oldest woman in the world to have completed a marathon. She was 92 years 194 days old when she crossed the finish line at the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, setting the record for the oldest female to complete a marathon.

Mathea, now 94, of Koloa, Hawaii, USA, stays in shape all year round by running seven days a week, no matter what the weather is. Come rain or shine, she covers 36 miles every week, even when she’s on holiday. The retired doctor didn’t take up running until she was 46 years old —after a friend suggested running two miles per day.

“The Honolulu Marathon is my favorite marathon mainly because it doesn’t close the gate at a certain time, which allows even the slowest runner to finish the race,” she said. “It’s one of the best races. Fantastic registration (注册), set-up and management make it a joy to run the race.”

Mathea, who doesn’t allow her age to slow her down, thinks she is the happiest person when she’s on the road. She enjoys running for miles and waving and saying hello to the people she passes. To stay in shape, Mathea keeps a steady training routine (惯例) . “I train all year round but increase the mileage 18 weeks before a marathon,” she said.

Mathea said it was her career as a doctor that allowed her to understand how her body and mind respond to diet and exercise. “I see the direct relation between moving and health,” she said. “It is important to reduce stress rather than ignoring it without a plan on how to do so. Of course, exercise of any kind is a natural stress reducer.”

Mathea thought getting through the finish line and winning a Guinness World Record title was the excitement of her life. “My family completely surprised me after the 2022 Honolulu Marathon, in which I achieved the world record, by wearing matching T-shirts stating my achievements,” she said.

1. What do we know about Mathea from the first two paragraphs?

A．She used to be in poor health．

B．She is the oldest to win a marathon．

C．She runs daily regardless of the weather．

D．She was encouraged by her patient to run．

2. Why is Mathea keen on the Honolulu Marathon?

A．It gives winners the best awards．

B．It provides runners with quality service．．

C．It has no time limit for runners to finish．

D．It allows runners to set a world record easily．

3. What led to Mathea’s understanding of the connection between moving and health?

A．Her professional experience．	B．Her training courses．
C．Her views on stress in life．	D．Her hobby from young．

4. What message does Mathea’s story deliver?

A．Practice makes perfect．

B．Interest is the best teacher．

C．Age is no barrier to success．

D．Ups and downs make one strong．

3 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

When Beethoven was only four, his father decided to make him a musician. Beethoven was made to practice     1     (play) different musical instruments hour after hour. Whenever he did not put his heart into his practice, his father would be strict     2     him.

    3     (fortune), the boy loved music very much and learnt so fast that he was able to go around and give     4     (concert) when he was only 11. When he was 17, he received high praise from Mozart,     5     great Austrian composer. A few years later, Beethoven went to Vienna     6     ( study) under Haydn, another great Austrian composer. Then he     7     (write) a great deal of music, even at his most difficult time. But after one illness, he suddenly found     8     (him) deaf at the age of 31.

However, this didn’t stop Beethoven. During his life, he composed about 30 pieces of music. It is     9     (amaze) that he wrote some of his best pieces after he became deaf, many of     10     are well known and loved all over the world.

4 . You probably know who Marie Curie was, but you may not have heard of Rachel Carson. Of the outstanding ladies listed below, who do you think was the most important woman of the past 100 years?

Jane Addams (1860-1935)

Anyone who has ever been helped by a social worker has Jane Addams to thank. Addams helped the poor and worked for peace. She encouraged a sense of community (社区) by creating shelters and promoting education and services for people in need In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

Rachel Carson (1907-1964)

If it weren’t for Rachel Carson, the environmental movement might not exist today. Her popular 1962 book Silent Spring raised awareness of the dangers of pollution and the harmful effects of chemicals on humans and on the world’s lakes and oceans.

Sandra Day O’Connor (1930-present)

When Sandra Day O’Connor finished third in her class at Stanford Law School, in 1952, she could not find work at a law firm because she was a woman. She became an Arizona state senator (参议员) and, in 1981, the first woman to join the U. S. Supreme Court. O’Connor gave the deciding vote in many important cases during her 24 years on the top court.

Rosa Parks (1913-2005)

On December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, Rasa Parks would not give up her seat on a bus to a passenger. Her simple act landed Parks in prison. But it also set off the Montgomery bus boycott. It lasted for more than a year, and kicked off the civil-rights movement. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” said Parks.

1. What is Jane Addams noted for in history?

A．Her social work.	B．Her lack of proper training in law.
C．Her efforts to win a prize.	D．Her community background.

2. What is the reason for O’Connor’s being rejected拒绝by the law firm?

A．Her lack of proper training in law.	B．Her little work experience in court.
C．The discrimination against women	D．The poor financial conditions.

3. Who made a great contribution to the civil-rights movement in the US?

A．Jane Addams.	B．Rachel Carson.
C．Sandra Day O’Connor.	D．Ross Parks.

4. What can we infer about the women mentioned in the text?

A．They are highly educated.	B．They are truly creative.
C．They are pioneers.	D．They are peace-lovers.

5 . 阅读下面短文,在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Antarctica, the southernmost part of Earth, is covered with snow and ice all year round.     1     it has amazing views, many people are still frightened by this icy desert.

But 34-year-old US explorer Colin O’ Brady is different. Three    2     (month) ago he became the first person     3    (cross) Antarctica alone. During the 932-mile journey, O’ Brady spent 54 days in extreme conditions. He had to push     4     (he) to the limit. He carried everything he’d need on a sled. But even with enough food, O’ Brady began to become     5     (thin) and weaker after six weeks. “I     6     (lose) a ton of weight so far. My legs feel more like the size of my arms at this point,” he wrote on US social media Instagram.

Adding to the pressure, O’ Brady was racing against Louis from the UK. The two men set off together, with Brady     7     (take) an early lead. But on Christmas Day, O’ Brady resolved to make a final effort without stopping for a rest.     8    (lucky) for him he made it, getting to the finish line earlier than Louis.

O’ Brady thinks that he has the spirit     9     exploration in his blood: He is    10    athlete, who loves to move. He also believes we can all have this strength and achieve much.

6 .

                                     The Father of China’s Aerospace

Perhaps no other scientist has had a     1    (great) impact on China’s aerospace science than Qian Xuesen. He was a well-respected man,     2     served his homeland with effort, achievement and devotion. Born in Hangzhou in 1911, Qian attended schools in Beijing and Shanghai. In 1935, he went to the US     3     further study and then worked there. After overcoming some difficulties, he     4    (return) to China in 1955, and was put in charge of developing China’s rocket science as well as the space and missile programme.     5    (face) with challenges, Qian didn’t feel discouraged. When     6    (ask) “Can we Chinese possibly make missiles?”, his reply was “Why not?” Under     7    (he) leadership, China developed its own missiles, rockets, and man-made satellites     8    (success). Qian was knowledgeable. However,     9     made him an outstanding and creative scientist was probably his interest in other things like music and drawing, which gave him     10    (inspire) in scientific research. The whole country was saddened by Qian’s death in 2009.

9 . Jack London, one of America's famous writers, was born in California in 1876. During his life, London worked at many jobs. His broad life experiences would become the background for his writing.

London loved to read. As a teenager, he spent many hours educating himself at the Oakland, California, public library. He studied in the University of California at Berkeley, but he stayed for only six months. He thought Berkeley was "not lively enough" and wanted to do something more exciting.

London wrote stories about working people and the hard times they had making a living. He worked as a sailor, farmer, factory employee, railroad worker, and gold prospector, to name just a few of his many jobs.

London grew up near the waterfront in Oakland. He loved the water. When he was fifteen years old, he bought a small sailboat. Later he sailed to Japan. Like many people of the time, London caught the Klondike Gold Rush. In 1897, he headed for Alaska. He didn't find gold, but he discovered something even more valuable. He discovered that people enjoyed listening to the stories he made up with his imagination. London made the miners laugh with story after story. Later, using his experiences during the Gold Rush, he created many more colorful stories.

London decided to live a full, exciting life. He once said, "I would rather be a superb meteor(流星) than a sleepy and permanent(永恒的) planet.”Each day, he pushed himself. Once London decided that he was going to be a writer, nothing could stop him. His goal was to write at least one thousand words every day. He refused to stop even when he was sick. In eighteen years, the writer published fifty-one books and hundreds of articles. He was the best-selling and highest-paid author of his day. Many people also considered him to be the best writer. White Fang and The Call of the Wild are his most famous stories and are about surviving in the Alaskan wilderness. Readers can enjoy Jack London's energy and his talent for telling wonderful stories each time they open one of his novels.

1. Why was Jack London able to write on many topics?

A．He pushed himself to reach goals.

B．He had a great number of experiences and jobs.

C．He was drawn to the Klondike Gold Rush.

D．He was the best-selling and highest-paid author.

2. What prevented Jack London from finishing college?

A．That he sailed to Japan.

B．That he traveled to Alaska in 1897.

C．That he spent much of his time writing.

D．That he was not interested in college life enough.

3. The underlined sentence in the last paragraph shows that Jack London ________.

A．was expert at the stars	B．aimed high and wanted to succeed
C．was interested in life	D．faced a choice between life and death

4. What is the author's purpose in writing the passage?

A．To tell London was the "best writer".

B．To describe life during the Klondike Gold Rush.

C．To provide information on Jack's life.

D．To introduce books written by Jack London.

10 . When it comes to the most famous 20th century painters of the United States, Grandma Moses should be mentioned, although she did not start painting until she was in her late seventies. As she once said to herself:"I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me." No one could have had a more active old age.

She was born on a farm in New York State, one of five boys and five girls. At 12 she left home and was in domestic service until at 27 she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her employers. They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York State, at Eagle Bridge. She had ten children, of whom five survived; her husband died in 1927.

Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery(刺绣) pictures as a hobby, but only changed to oils in old age because her hands became too stiff(僵硬的) to sew and she still wanted to keep busy and pass the time. Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a market and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought all that she painted. Three of the pictures were exhibited(展览) in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York. Between the 1930's and her death, she produced some 2,000 pictures:careful and lively portrayals of the country life she had known for so long, with a wonderful sense of color and form. "I think really hard till I think of something really pretty, and then I paint it" she said.

1. What does Para 2 mainly talk about?

A．Moses and her children	B．Moses and her childhood
C．An introduction to Moses’ life	D．An introduction to Moses’ marriage

2. What did Grandma Moses spent most of her life doing?

A．embroidering

B．painting

C．nursing

D．farming

3. The underlined word “portrayals” in last paragraph means________.

A．performances

B．descriptions

C．achievements

D．stages

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage？

A．Grandma Moses and Her Pictures.

B．Grandma Moses and Her Family.

C．Grandma Moses and Her Exhibition.

D．Grandma Moses:The Best Painter of 20th century