Only 12% of a poll’s (民意调查) 1,000 respondents answered that improper grammar in a text message would bother them “A lot”, while 24% thought “Somewhat”, 29%responded “Not very much”, 30%believed “Not at all”, and 5% answered “Not sure”. These findings were fairly consistent across age, income and region. Obviously, there was a difference between men’s and women’s grammar preferences: Women were 6% more likely to respond that improper text grammar bothers them “A lot”. The language used in an email was only a slightly different story.

A similar study conducted earlier this year showed that caring about grammatical errors was independent of age or education level. The study found that introverts (性格内向的人) were more likely to view a peer who misspelled something as a bad roommate.

However, while respondents were accepting of improper grammar, most of them reported using proper grammar themselves when texting and emailing. 48%answered“I may use improper grammar” when asked about their texting habits, while 52% said they used proper grammar when sending emails. So, it was not that everyone who made an effort to use correct grammar wouldn’t forgive those who were more creative in their textual communication.

This is great news, as no negative links have been made between using improper grammar when texting and literacy scores. In fact, the link between “improper” language use and language learning is proven to be positive. Keep that in mind next time you find yourself shaking your head at a text message with improper grammar. Using improper grammar when sending text messages or emails does not mean a lack of writing skills. However, young learners are supposed to separate schoolwork from media communication. After all, it is one thing to write schoolwork, but it is another to communicate on social media platforms.

8. What was the finding of the poll about improper grammar in media communication?

A．6% didn’t know about it.	B．24% considered it unacceptable.
C．Most people didn’t mind it much.	D．Less than 10% were totally against it.

9. What are women more likely to do than men according to the poll?

A．Use emails rather than text messages.	B．Make more grammar mistakes.
C．Be more likely to comment on improper grammar.	D．Be more concerned about improper grammar.

10. Which of the following is most related to minding incorrect grammar?

A．Age.

B．Personality.

C．Region.

D．Education level.

11. What’s the author’s attitude towards improper grammar in media communication?

A．Optimistic.

B．Critical

C．Negative.

D．Unconcerned.

When faced with heat or light, humans can react rapidly and automatically. Think about how your hand withdraws from a hot surface, or how your leg bounces up when tapped on the knee. These are unconscious (无意识的) responses. But conscious responses, such as catching a ball, must be trained by repeated stimulation.

Researchers at three universities in South Korea have developed an artificial system capable of imitating the conscious response to external stimuli. It consists of a photodiode (光电二极管) which transforms the light into an electrical signal, a transistor acting as a mechanical synapse (突触), an artificial neural circuit which acts as the brain of the system, and a robotic hand. When the photodiode detects the light, it sends an electrical signal through the transistor to indicate that the light is on. That signal is carried to the artificial neural circuit. There, the message is received, and that circuit then learns how to respond to the signal, sending a command to the robotic hand it controls.

When the light is turned on, the whole process starts with the photodiode, and a ball drops from the hand. The idea is for the device to learn how to cup the hand quickly enough to catch the ball. In the early stages of the experiment, the brain of the system was slow to translate the light signal into a decision about whether to cup the hand. Before “learning” how to react, the system took 2. 56 seconds to do this. After it had been exposed repeatedly to the light signal and allowed time to process what to do, this decreased to 0. 23 seconds. The researchers say the artificial nervous system is imitating something like a conscious biological response.

The system isn’t the first to try to imitate the biological response of humans to external stimuli. This type of research is intended to help some patients regain control of organs and limbs they can’t control as quickly as before.

12. Why does the author mention humans’ responses to heat and light?

A．To explain humans’ survival skills.

B．To compare two kinds of responses.

C．To lead to the following artificial system.

D．To show how human nervous system works.

13. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A．The characteristics of the artificial system.

B．The way in which the artificial system works.

C．The structure of the artificial nervous system.

D．The process of developing the artificial system.

14. What shows that the artificial nervous system has the ability to imitate?

A．It can tell exactly when the light is on.

B．It can interpret the light signal accurately.

C．It can be more sensitive to the light over time.

D．It can cup the hand more and more quickly.

15. What can we know about the artificial nervous system?

A．It plays an important role in training robots.

B．It has been used to control organs and limbs.

C．It can sense the light and learn to catch like humans.

D．It’s smart enough to respond biologically to stimuli.

Having a hobby has a lot of advantages, from lower levels of stress to an increased sense of purpose. But what if you don’t actually have a hobby you love? You’re not alone. Many people are trying to find meaningful hobbies.     16    

Change what you already enjoy into a hobby.

Even if you don’t have a hobby, there’s one activity that you enjoy.     17     Things like “eating” could easily be turned into hobbies such as “taking cooking classes”. You can look at the ways you already enjoy spending your time and work out how they can become hobbies.

Think about your childhood interests.

    18     Did you spend hours drawing pictures at home? If so, you can take an art class. Or maybe you spent the whole year looking forward to the sports meet at school.     19     When you were a kid, you probably had many interests, so revisiting them can be a great way to start a hobby.

Start trying things.

If you really want to find a hobby you love, you need to accept that not everything you try is going to become a hobby. Think of anything you might find interesting and take a class.     20     If not, cross it off the list and move on to the next interesting thing. It might take some time to find a hobby that you love, but the key is not to give up.

A．If you like it, keep doing it.

B．In this case, you can join a football team.

C．When you were a kid, what did you like to do?

D．Chances are there’s a way to change it into a hobby.

E．Join organisations or groups where you can try things out.

F．Here are a few strategies you can use to find a hobby you truly love.

G．Searching on the Internet is a great way to explore different hobbies.

阅读下面材料, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Perseverance Rover on Mars continues to perform amazing feats of science. Most recently, an instrument on the Perseverance     36     (turn) carbon dioxide into oxygen, a process that could one day help astronauts breathe on the red planet.

96%of the Martian atmosphere is carbon dioxide, which doesn’t do much for humans who need oxygen     37     (breathe). Scientists say it is a critical first step in     38     (change) carbon dioxide into oxygen on Mars. The experimental instrument aboard Perseverance     39     (know)as MOXIE.

“MOXIE has more work to do. It is helping us move toward our goal of one day seeing humans on Mars, ”scientists say. “Oxygen serves a much     40     (great) purpose than just being the air we breathe. The rocket propellant (推进剂) depends     41     (heavy) on oxygen,     42     future explorers will depend on producing propellants on Mars to make the trip home. Whether for rockets     43     astronauts, oxygen is the key. ”

MOXIE works     44     separating oxygen atoms from carbon dioxide molecules, which are made up of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms. A waste product, carbon monoxide, is emitted into the Martian atmosphere. Much larger and better     45     (version) of MOXIE could be used to turn huge quantities of carbon dioxide into oxygen.

47. 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

I loved reading books very much as a child, but my single mother was struggling financially, so I often went to the library to read for free. My favorite books were science fiction (科幻小说). Once, I spent a whole afternoon reading science fiction in the library.

While I was enjoying reading, an illness nearly knocked me down. My illness was very strange, and no one really knew what it was. I always woke up with a rush of urine (尿). And then I found out that the disease had impacted my entire life. I remember when I was in the sixth grade, I had to go to the bathroom in the middle of a class. Realizing I had to go to the front of the class and write my name on the blackboard in order to go to the bathroom, I put up with it. By the end of class, the urine had soaked into (渗透) my jeans and my chair. Since then I had no deskmate. And my shame spread from class to the whole school.

After that, I became more isolated (孤立的) and silent, but I got a ride to the library once a week and checked out all the science fiction novels I could carry. Thanks to them, I got through the days when I was sick and couldn’t go to school.

When I was fifteen, the high school asked my mother to take me out of school. My mother and I were both relieved. I had managed to get excellent grades despite missing 85% of my classes, but the school couldn’t put up with my absence of school most of the time. My mother could see how sick I was, and knew how much I actually wanted to be there. But the school officials had started to get involved.

Worse still, my mother died suddenly not long after I dropped out of school, leaving me an orphan (孤儿) at 17.

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。

Just when I couldn’t live anymore, a science-fiction magazine saved me.

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My background made my science-fiction works more creative.

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