1 . Travis Gienger set a record for growing the world’s heaviest pumpkin, which weighed about 1,247 kilograms, in 2023. The middle-aged man was named the winner on Monday of the 50th Safeway World Championship Pumpkin Weigh-Off in Half Moon Bay, California. He won the same con test in 2022, whose pumpkin weighed 1,161 kilograms. The past world record for the heaviest pumpkin was set by a grower in Italy who produced a 1,226-kilogram pumpkin in 2021. “I was not expecting that,” Gienger said. He added that it felt good to win the world record.
Gienger is a teacher at Anoka Technical College in Anoka, Minnesota. He teaches agriculture and growing methods. And he has been producing pumpkins for nearly 30 years like his elders, especially his father, who used to raise pumpkins in the home property, which got him interested in planting. Gienger later devoted himself to working the land to plant.
Gienger first competed in Half Moon Bay’s yearly con test in 2020. He won three of the city’s last four pumpkin contests. “I put in the work so that I can put a smile on people’s faces, and it’s just so nice coming out here to see everyone in this town,” Gienger said.
Gienger, who grew the pumpkins on the farm, had given his plants more care. This included watering them up to 12 times a day and feeding or fertilizing them, a little more than usual. Those contributed to his greater success in 2023.
The pumpkin champion won a $30,000 prize for growing the biggest pumpkin and setting a world record. Gienger’s pumpkin would be shown along with the second-place winners at the city’s upcoming Pumpkin Festival. At the event, visitors would be able to look at the pumpkin prize and take pictures with the growers.
In the United States, pumpkins are popular throughout the autumn. During the US holiday Halloween, on October 31, many people turn them into “jack-o’-lanterns”. A jack-o’-lantern is a pumpkin that has been carved, usually to show a frightening or funny face.
1. How did Gienger feel about his winning the world record?| A．Surprised. | B．Suspicious. | C．Expected. | D．Embarrassed. |
| A．His family tradition. | B．His love for his farm. |
| C．His promise to his father. | D．His desire for winning a prize. |
| A．How many awards Gienger got in 2023. |
| B．How long Gienger worked a day in 2023. |
| C．Why Gienger grew pumpkins on the farm. |
| D．Why Gienger’s pumpkin was heavier than before. |
| A．It would be given to a visitor. |
| B．It would be made into a lantern. |
| C．It would be on show at a festival. |
| D．It would be used to decorate pictures. |
| A．History. | B．Nationalities. | C．National heroes. |
3 . In astronomy, star classification is governed by the Morgan-Keenen system, which categorizes stars based on their composition and surface temperature. The origins of this system can be traced back to the work of Annie Jump Cannon, a late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century astronomer who spent over forty years classifying stars based on their unique spectra (光谱) of transmitted light.
Beginning early in her life, Cannon demonstrated an exceptional talent for the physical sciences. As a child, she developed an interest in astronomy and transformed her study into a temporary observatory. Later, as a student at Wellesley College, Cannon earned a degree in physics and became an expert in spectroscopy, the process by which light is separated into its component wavelengths. During this period, she also took up photography and traveled extensively in order to experiment with the newly invented black-box camera.
Cannon’s background in physics, astronomy, and photography provided her with a unique skillset that would serve her well for the rest of her career. After working as a research assistant for a number of astronomers at Wellesley and Radcliffe Colleges, Cannon was hired by Professor Edward Charles Pickering, the director of the Harvard College Observatory. Under Pickering, she classified over 300,000 stars — more than any other human in history — using only a telescope, a spectrometer, and a camera. Using this knowledge, she developed her own classification system that relied on the surface temperature of the stars, which could be accurately estimated using the spectra of light transmitted from stars. It was said that Cannon could classify three stars a minute and, using a magnifying glass, could classify stars down to the 9th magnitude — sixteen times fainter than what can be seen by human eyes.
Today, Cannon’s unique classification system is used by countless astronomy enthusiasts around the world. Harlow Shapley, the astronomer who succeeded Pickering, once referred to Cannon’s contribution to astronomy as “a structure that probably will never be duplicated (复制) in kind or extent by a single individual.”
1. What do we know about Cannon according to the passage?| A．She invented black-box camera. | B．She built a star-watching spot at home. |
| C．She majored in photography in college. | D．She spent forty years in studying light transmission. |
| A．The camera could receive the spectra of light. |
| B．A star’s light could tell its external temperature. |
| C．The light of stars could be classified into nine types. |
| D．Approximately 300,000 stars possessed the same spectra. |
| A．Ambitious and generous. | B．Persistent and brave. |
| C．Work-addicted and honest. | D．All-around and creative. |
| A．A Woman Classifying the Stars | B．A Pupil Outdoing Her Master |
| C．Science Knows No Gender | D．Astronomy Taps Potential |
4 . In the late 1930s, people could donate blood, but very few hospitals could store it for later use. Whole blood breaks down quickly, and there were no methods at the time for safely preserving it. As a result, hospitals often did not have the appropriate blood type when patients needed it. Charles Drew, a Black surgeon and researcher, helped solve this monumental problem for medicine, earning him the title “Father of the Blood Bank.”
In 1938, while obtaining his doctorate in medicine, Drew became a fellow at Columbia University’s Presbyterian Hospital in New York. He studied the storage and distribution of blood, including the separation of its components, and applied his findings to an experimental blood bank at the hospital.
As Drew was finishing his degree at Columbia, World War II was erupting in Europe. Great Britain was asking the United States for desperately needed plasma (血浆) to help victims. Given his expertise, Drew was selected to be the medical director for the Blood for Britain campaign. Using Presbyterian Hospital’s blood bank as a model, Drew established uniform procedures and standards for collecting blood and processing blood plasma from nine New York hospitals. The five-month campaign collected donations from 15,000 Americans and was considered a success. His discoveries and his leadership saved countless lives.
With the increasing likelihood that the nation would be drawn into war, the United States wanted to capitalize on what Drew had learned from the campaign. He was appointed as the assistant director of a three-month pilot program to mass-produce dried plasma in New York, which became the model for the first Red Cross blood bank. His innovations for this program included mobile blood donation stations, later called bloodmobiles.
1. What problem did hospitals face in the late 1930s regarding blood donations?| A．The shortage of blood donors. | B．The inability to preserve blood. |
| C．The challenge of blood infection. | D．The failure to identify blood types. |
| A．He gathered different standards for the blood collection. |
| B．He worked on the bloodmobiles for easy access to donors. |
| C．He helped send life-saving drugs overseas to aid in the war. |
| D．He organized the collection and processing of blood plasma. |
| A．Groundbreaking. | B．Unpredictable. | C．Economical. | D．Controversial. |
| A．The life of Dr. Charles Drew. | B．The inventor of the Blood Bank. |
| C．A Savior of Lives during Wartime. | D．A Pioneer in Blood Transportation. |
5 . The Maryland Center for History and Culture (MCHC) is currently hosting “The Jim Henson Exhibition: Imagination Unlimited”. The exhibition spotlights Henson’s unique contributions to children’s education, including his creation of the Muppets (布偶).
Born in 1936 in Mississippi, Henson grew up in Maryland. His creative talents were evident when he was a student at high school. He loved cartooning and creating sets for school theater productions. While a freshman at university, Henson made puppets for a local TV station. The station’s producers were so impressed that they asked him to produce his own puppet show. Called Sam and Friends, the program started in 1955. Viewers loved Henson’s playful characters, including an early version of Kermit the Frog.
While at university, Henson majored in home economics. At the time, it was the only major that offered classes in sewing and textiles (纺织品). Henson not only honed his creative skills at university, but he was also good at marketing and business. “He was an entrepreneur who happened to get into puppetry,” said Deborah Wood, MCHC’s learning manager.
In 1959, Henson married Jane Nebel, whom he had met at university. The couple established Muppets Inc. which later became the Jim Henson Company. It was there that Focus Bert, Ernie, Miss Piggy, and other Muppets were created for Sesame Street, a popular children’s television program. Generations of children around the world have grown up watching and laming from the Muppets.
Henson, who died in 1990, created not just the Muppets, but also films, TV commercials, variety shows, and more. The exhibition shows every aspect of his career. This includes some lesser-known works, including The Cube, a short experimental film that was nominated(提名) for an Academy Award.
Visitors also get a chance to appreciate Henson’s creative process and inventiveness through hands-on displays. They can even make their own Muppets. “For me, I think the really powerful message of this exhibition is the fact that it covers Henson’s whole life and his whole career,” said Chloe Green, public programs manager at the MCHC.
1. What’s paragraph 2 mainly about?| A．An interesting exhibition about Henson. | B．Viewers’ attitude to Henson’s works. |
| C．Henson’s exceptional talents in creation. | D．Characters in Henson’s famous works. |
| A．Improved. | B．Changed. | C．Found. | D．Shared. |
| A．A less well-known experimental film made by Henson is on exhibition. |
| B．The aim of the exhibition is to commemorate an educator. |
| C．The exhibits are composed of every aspect of Henson’s life. |
| D．Opinions vary on this exhibition. |
| A．Creative and courageous. | B．Talented and productive. |
| C．Humorous and passionate. | D．Courageous and intelligent. |
1. When did Albert Bierstadt move to America?
| A．In 1830. | B．In 1831. | C．In 1832. |
| A．He focused on improving his drawing skills. |
| B．He held exhibitions in different countries. |
| C．He started to work as an art teacher. |
| A．To visit his sick family member. |
| B．To get inspiration for his paintings. |
| C．To engage in environmental protection. |
1. How did August Getty feel at New York Fashion Week?
| A．Nervous. | B．Strange. | C．Pleased. |
| A．He made clothes for spoons and forks. |
| B．He sewed clothes for his sister. |
| C．He wore his parents’ clothes. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Casual. | C．Unfavorable. |
1.表达哀思；
2.对娃哈哈集团的希望和建议。
condolences—慰问；吊唁
Dear Ms. Zong,
I’m Li Hua from Hangzhou Foreign Language High School.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. What was George R. R. Martin like when he was young?
| A．He was popular with his classmates. |
| B．He didn't have many friends. |
| C．He loved to play sports. |
| A．Turtles. | B．Dragons. | C．Spiders. |
| A．A famous actor. | B．A comic book writer. | C．A sci-fi movie director. |
Xiaomi’s founder and CEO, Lei Jun, marked the 130th anniversary of his alma mater (母校), Wuhan University, with an enormous donation of 1.3 billion yuan ($182.59 million). The contribution, the largest single donation ever received in the history of Chinese
In recognition of his
Lei’s story of
