Limited Screen Time（限制屏幕时间） What Is It?The new app “Limited Screen Time” designed by Thomas Black Company is coming out today. “Limited Screen Time” is a simple app that allows you to set limits on the time your children use an iPhone or iPad. Background Parents are worried about the length of time that today’s children spend on screen. And long screen time is one of the reasons why kids are near-sighted. “Limited Screen Time” is a simple way to help set and control limits to your children’s time with an iPhone or iPad. How Does It Work? Step One: use your finger across the clock to set the time Step Two: set the user by typing on the “Users” Step Three: press “Star” Step Four: pass your iPhone or iPad to your child and let them use the phone any way you choose (e.g.apps, movies , music) What Happens Next? After you set the time, the device (装置) will receive a set of messages warning your children that “Your screen time is up!”. Your children will be unable to continue using the phone until the password correctly entered . Graphs (曲线图) From the graphs you can see the weekly length of screen time. |
1. Who is the App “Limited Screen Time” designed for?
2. What is one of the reasons why kids are near-sighted?
3. How many steps are there to set “Limited Screen Time”?
4. Can children continue using the phone without password?
5. Where can they see the weekly length of screen time?
6. 书面表达
随着科技的发展和电子产品的普及，很多中学生长时间使用各类电子产品，这极其不利于学生的健康成长。为了学生们的身心健康, 你的学校计划举行“一周无屏幕时间”(A Week Without Screen Time)的活动。假如你是中学生李华，请根据要求写一篇短文。
作文要求：1. 不能照抄原文；不得在作文中出现学校的真实名称、老师和同学的真实姓名；
2. 语句连贯，词数80左右。作文的开头和结尾已经给出，不计入总词数。
| A Week Without Screen Time | ||
| 谈谈自己使用屏幕的情况。(时长和方式) | 分享减少使用屏幕的建议： 1. 专注学习 2. …… 3. …… | 呼吁同学们加入这个活动, 减少使用屏幕的时间。 |
Yours,
Li Hua
To have a deeper understanding of the biodiversity (生物多样性) of southwest China’s Yunnan Province, Wild China Film, an organization started a project to take pictures of giant trees in southwest China’s Yunnan. In fact, they started the project to photograph Chinese giant trees as early as February 2018.
Last September, the organization took a picture of a Taiwania flousiana (秃杉) in Baoshan City, Yunnan.
“4. It needs a large amount of water for giant trees to grow well,” according to a photographer. Southwest China is a place where some of the country's tallest trees can be found.
The Wild China Film photographers saw the giant Taiwania flousiana after they arrived at the Gaoligong Mountain National Nature Reserve on September 14 last year.
At first, a professional climber climbed the tree and made sure that their activities followed the requirements for ensuring the protection of the trees.
After the climber found a proper climbing path leading to the top of the tree, a photographer slowly started to climb the tree by following the same path. 5.最终，这个摄影师发现这棵树有72米高。 This is the tallest giant tree on Eurasia (欧亚大陆) that has been exactly measured (测量) and photographed by artificial climbing. The professional climber discovered more than 10 kinds of plants living on the tree trunk during the climb.
It took the photographers nearly 70 hours to finally take the first picture of the giant tree. “We have every reason to believe that in places where it rains more, there are more giant trees for us to discover,” said a photographer.
1. Where did Wild China Film start the project to photograph Chinese giant trees?2. What did the professional climber find during the climb?
3. How long did it take the photographers to take the first picture of the giant tree?
4. 将画线句子译成中文。
5. 将画线句子译成英文。
On May 18th, 2023, the China-Central Asia Summit (中国—中亚峰会) was held in Xi’an. President Xi Jinping made a speech on “the Belt and Road Initiative (倡议)”. It has been 10 years since President Xi announced the initiative.
The great initiative has offered the chances to do business between countries. It helps products from other countries enter Chinese market. At the same time, all kinds of products made in China are sold to other countries, too. It leads to a win-win situation. Besides international trade, China has built plenty of high-speed railways for neighboring countries. The China-Laos Railway (中老铁路) is a typical project of the Belt and Road Initiative. It is more convenient to send products to Laos and visit Laos for the Chinese.
The Belt and Road Initiative is based on the ancient Silk Road. However, it is very different. It focuses on the Asian, European and African countries, and is also open to all the other countries. It’s not only the name of trade roads but also a bridge of culture between China and many other countries. China also works more closely with the countries in languages, science and education. There is even a Silk Route Museum in Jiuquan, China. It has over 30,000 objects from all along the Silk Road.
1. China announced the Belt and Road Initiative in 2013.2. The initiative only helps products from other countries enter China’s market.
3. A lot of products are sent to Laos through the China-Laos Railway.
4. “The Belt and Road Initiative” is the same as the ancient Silk Road.
5. Silk Route Museum has over 30,000 objects from all over the world.
4 . Tree Festivals Around the World
Chinese people celebrate Tree Planting Day on March 12. The date was chosen to memorize a famous Chinese—Mr. Sun Yat-sen. Many other countries also celebrate trees with festivals and holidays. Though not all of them fall in spring, these events bring people closer to each other and to the wonders of nature.
| Peru (秘鲁) Yunza is a celebration of new life. Couples take turns dancing around a tree with gifts. After that, they cut it down. Then everyone rushes to get a present. This shows a new beginning. People then plant a young tree in the place of the old one. |
| Morocco (摩洛哥) Thousands of trees in a town produce many of Morocco’s almonds (杏仁). To celebrate this natural gift, this town holds the Almond Blossom Festival every year. The date depends on when the trees are in bloom (开花). People dance, sing and tell stories until late at night. |
| The United Kingdom Englishmen celebrate National Tree Week at the start of the tree-planting season in November. They also celebrate National Tree Dressing Day on the first weekend in December, aiming to lift people’s relations with nature. |
| The United States In the US, National Arbor Day is celebrated on the last Friday in April. It is in memory of the great tree planting event in Nebraska. In fact, each state celebrates its own Arbor Day depending on the best time to plant trees. |
1. In _______, the tree festival has something to do with a famous person.
| A．China | B．Morocco | C．the United Kingdom |
| A．dancing | B．telling ancient stories | C．planting a young tree |
| A．spring | B．summer | C．autumn |
| A．there are different Arbor Days |
| B．people celebrate the day for fun |
| C．the date depends on when the trees are in bloom |
| A．to show a new beginning of a year |
| B．to remember the gifts that trees provide for us |
| C．to bring people closer to each other and to nature |
5 . You couldn’t deeply experience Chengdu if you don’t prepare to do nothing. Sit on a bamboo chair, spread your feet out and let the afternoon slow away. Listen to hot water poured into tea cups. Taste melon seeds (瓜子) or boiled peanuts. And tea houses are the right places for you and should always be on your must-go list.
Sichuan is one of China’s major tea-producing regions. Chengdu was famous for its tea houses as early as the Tang dynasty. For centuries, tea houses were places for fun and tea. There, customers can enjoy storytelling, music, and especially Sichuan Opera. That is not a popular art these days, but Yuelai Teahouse beside Jinjiang Theater still arranges operas every Saturday afternoon.
You will find most of Chengdu’s traditional tea houses in parks. Heming Teahouse in Renmin Park attracts lunchtime office workers and afternoon visitors. When noise gets too much because of more visitors, move on to Shaocheng Teahouse in the same park. Visitors are older and quieter. They bring songbirds, hanging their cages in trees and have fun. However, new-style tea houses have been opened to attract the younger generation. They want to have a taste for traditional teas in a more modern style. The most famous one of them is Mi Xun Teahouse in Taikoo Li, which is right in the city’s most fashionable shopping area.
As in all tea houses, the tea comes in separate packets which can be kept warm. Maofeng green tea from Mount Emei, south of Chengdu, is the traditional favorite. Shake the leaves into your cup. Don’t let the water in your cup get too low, since any bad taste from the leaves is on the bottom. You can enjoy your tea all afternoon and order nothing else.
In Chengdu tea houses, people relax themselves by staying away from busy work and life. The capital of Sichuan is developing fast too, but has managed to keep its slower style that has been lost in many other Chinese cities.
1. The first paragraph leads to the topic by ________.| A．telling stories | B．creating a scene |
| C．giving reasons | D．asking questions |
| A．The main types of tea houses. | B．The address of tea houses. |
| C．Different visitors of tea houses. | D．Some activities in tea houses. |
| A．Because it may make the tea too hot. | B．Because it may make the leaves float. |
| C．Because it may make the tea not tasty. | D．Because it may make the tea too bitter. |
A． | B． | C． | D． |
6 . A company called OpenAI has recently announced a new version (版本) of its AI artist, DALL-E 2. Given just a short sentence describing a picture, the tool can create different pictures in many different styles.
The name “DALL-E” mixes the name of the robot in the movie WALL-E, and the name of the famous Spanish artist Salvador Dalí. He painted amazing but impossible pictures. Like Dalí, DALL-E 2 can create pictures that are unbelievable, for example, Teddy bears doing crazy experiments as scientists.
OpenAI has already changed the world once with its AI writing tool, GPT-3. GPT-3 was trained on a great deal of writing in many different styles. When it came out in 2020, it surprised people by quickly creating complete and well-written articles in different styles. It is so powerful that OpenAI has tried to be prudent when it comes to how it allows people to use the tool, to make sure that it isn’t used for harmful purposes.
DALL-E actually grew out of an effort to make full use of GPT-3 to pictures. OpenAI released the first version of DALL-E in 2021. DALL-E 2 is even more powerful. DALL-E 2 has been trained on huge numbers of pictures with matching descriptions, which means it “knows” a lot about how different things look, even when they’re shown in different styles, such as a photo, a painting or even a cartoon.
Does DALL-E 2 have anything new? The user can select an area of an image and ask DALL-E 2 to put something into the picture, or take it out. Some artists are worried that it will take their place if a computer system can create such high-quality pictures so conveniently. OpenAI says the tool will allow artists to be creative in new ways.
To make sure the tool is properly used, OpenAI already has strict rules about the types of pictures that can be created with DALL-E. One of those rules avoids DALL-E to create realistic pictures of actual people. By now, the company hasn’t released DALL-E 2. Instead, it is allowing a small number of people to work with the tool to learn more about what works well, and to discover possible problems.
1. Where does the name “DALL-E” come from?| A．From a film and a robot. | B．From a toy and a robot. |
| C．From an artist and a robot. | D．From a company and a movie. |
| A．careful | B．confident | C．patient | D．hard-working |
| A．It applies GPT-3 to pictures. |
| B．It writes in many different styles. |
| C．It can tell the different appearances of things. |
| D．It sets no rules about the types of pictures that can be created. |
| A．How DALL-E 2 Makes Use of GPT-3 | B．Why OpenAI Develops Its DALL-E2 |
| C．DALL-E 2 HelpsOffer Artists New Jobs | D．From Words, DALL-E 2 Creates Pictures |
7 . Let’s imagine this: Your parents are going out of town for a week. You’re left with 800 yuan. How will you spend it? It would be silly to spend the money at the mall, especially if you already have great clothes in your room, right? A better way to spend that money would be on key things such as food and transportation. You’d probably also want to put part of the money aside for something else.
Well, you just learned how to budget (预算). It’s all about deciding what matters the most to you and how much you want to spend on these things.
Working out your priorities (优先事项) is the most important part of budgeting. For example, if you plan on buying a new smartphone and a cool smartwatch, you should consider saving some money. The next time your friends invite you to go to KTV with them, you might as well decide to pass.
But having a budget doesn’t mean you can’t have fun; you just have to get creative. Instead of meeting your friends at the pizza shop and then going to the movies, you could invite them over to your house. You can buy some frozen pizzas at the supermarket and watch a movie online. It’s a lot cheaper but just as fun.
If you search for budgeting tips, you’ll find many. As a young person, you have plenty of chances to experiment (尝试) with different ways. Once you find a way that works for you, it’s easier to get excited about budgeting.
Keep in mind that even adults make mistakes at times. If you go over your budget, just try to learn from your mistakes.
1. Why does the writer suggest spending the money on food and transportation?| A．Because they cost less money. |
| B．Because they may avoid trouble. |
| C．Because they are more important in daily life. |
| A．Go to the party. | B．Refuse the invitation. | C．Make a plan. |
| A．By searching things online. |
| B．By doing something by ourselves. |
| C．By working out how much we want to spend. |
| A．It can be easier for adults. | B．It can be difficult but helpful. | C．It can stop people having fun. |
| A．Learning to Spend Money Wisely |
| B．The Importance of Saving Money |
| C．Tips on How to Make More Money |
8 . What’s the best book to read when you travel? Of course, the books that can bring you closer to the places you visit. By reading the books, those places will become more attractive when they are in front of you! Here are the books you can carry if you want to go to the following places.
Where’d You Go, Bernadette It is a novel written by Maria Semple. It is told in emails and stories. It talks about how Bee Branch tries to find her missing mother, Bernadette. The story happens in Seattle, Washington. Although it has some heart-breaking plots, in general it’s a funny story. This novel can be a good friend when you visit those famous places mentioned in the book. |
|
Midnight’s Children Midnight’s Children is a novel of 20th-century’s India. Salman Rushdie’s story begins at midnight, on the night of India’s independence (独立) . The 1, 001 children born at that hour are found to have magical powers. This novel is mixed with imagination and real events. By reading this book, you can also know more about the customs of India. |
|
A Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals Here comes this great celebration of the animal kingdom! It is written by Millie Marotta, a New York Times bestselling author. The book takes readers on a trip through freshwater, oceans, forests, mountains, deserts, grasslands and wetlands around the world while learning about rare and well-known animals and their living places. |
|
My Name is Red The book is written by the Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Orhan Pamuk. It has been translated into more than 50 languages and published around the world. It tells a story of a young man, who has been away from home for 12 years, coming back to his hometown in Istanbul. The book is full of detailed pictures which show the special tradition of local culture. It also encourages people to have a deeper thinking of life. |
|
1. Who might be most interested in reading the passage?
| A．Students interested in world history. |
| B．Authors in need of writing advice. |
| C．Booksellers looking for advertisements. |
| D．Travellers in need of guide. |
| A．Midnight’s Children | B．A Wild Child’s Guide to Endangered Animals |
| C．My Name is Red | D．Where’d You Go, Bernadette |
| A．Bee Branch went on a trip in Seattle with her mother. |
| B．The plots in Salman Rushdie’s story all come from real life. |
| C．Millie Marotta’s book shows beautiful scenes mainly from India. |
| D．My Name is Red is a popular book all over the world |
9 . Comfortable to wear in both hot and cold weather, silk is as popular today as it was first made.
The method to produce silk has changed very little since it first began 5,000 years ago. It starts with small silkworms (蚕) that eat a special kind of leaves. When they are fully grown, the silkworms create a cocoon—a protective coat made of silk. For production, workers first pick these cocoons and divide them according to their quality. They are then gently boiled in hot water in order to be softened and ready for use. At the same time, the worms inside are dead. The silk is later turned into thread (丝线). Silk thread is then coloured and finally made into cloth on the machine.
Although growing and wearing silk is very popular worldwide today, it was only produced in China at first. Actually, it was so valuable that at one time only the Chinese emperor and his family were allowed to wear it. The Chinese kept the method of silk making a secret and made strict laws against taking silkworms out of China. To smuggle them would be put to death. However, a princess in the fifth century and two monks in the sixth century managed to take some silkworm eggs out of China. And this started other countries’ silk making industry.
Before this, Europeans depended on businessmen bringing silk from East Asia. They travelled across Central Asia and the Middle East. In fact, so much silk was brought to Europe on this route that it became famous as the Silk Road. By the time of the Han Dynasty, silk had become popular in Europe.
Today, China produces around 80% of the silk worldwide. Although man-made materials are cheaper and easier to make, the silk is still hard to be replaced, and there is always a large market home and abroad.
1. Which shows the correct steps of silk making according to the passage?
| A．b-e-a-d-c | B．e-b-a-d-c | C．b-e-a-c-d | D．e-b-a-c-d |
| A．Businessmen brought silk through the Silk Road to Europe. |
| B．The emperor traded the skill for valuable objects. |
| C．Some silkworm eggs were taken out of China in secret. |
| D．The law allowed other countries to learn the skill. |
| A．Keep something a secret. | B．Take out of the country secretly. |
| C．Trade one thing for another. | D．Take something by accident |
| A．To show the development of Silk Road. |
| B．To introduce the history of silk. |
| C．To explain how to feed silkworms. |
| D．To show how popular silk is. |
10 . The phrase “southern spuds” becomes popular, thanks to Harbin, a city in Northeastern China that has taken the Internet by storm.
Over 3 million tourists poured into Harbin during the three-day New Year holiday. And many of them came from southern China where snow was nowhere to be found. Harbin locals gave these visitors a cute nickname “nanfang xiaotudou” or “southern spuds”. It is because southern people are usually shorter and they look like small potatoes when wearing thick jackets and hats. To Harbin people, this name is not to make fun of southerners, but to create a sense of warmth with humor.
Harbin tried everything to meet tourists’ needs, especially those from the south. Cooks carefully cut the local frozen pear into small pieces. Symphony (交响乐) concerts find their way into shopping malls. A drone (无人机) lifts a man-made moon for tourists to take photos. Harbin really went all out to make them happy.
However, even though they did all these to please the southern tourists, this nickname “southern spuds” sparked a debate (辩论) on the Internet. While Harbin locals use the name to show warmth and goodwill, some sightseers feel that calling them “small potatoes” is making fun of their height.
Even though people from the Northeast are sincere and warm, we have to admit (承认) that there is regional stereotype (地区刻板印象) in some parts of China. Nowadays, people travel all the time. Therefore, it’s important to make the world a more welcoming place. After all, everyone likes kindness and dislikes discrimination (歧视), whether it’s on purpose or not.
1. Why do Harbin people call southerners “southern spuds”?| A．Because southerners like to eat small potatoes. |
| B．Because southerners sell small potatoes in Harbin. |
| C．Because southerners look like spuds in thick jackets and hats. |
| D．Because Harbin locals want to make fun of southerners’ height. |
| A．Southern travelers were very happy with Harbin tourism. |
| B．Harbin tried their best to attract tourists and make them happy. |
| C．Harbin cooks made some nice food for southern tourists. |
| D．Food, shopping malls, and the man-made moon attracted many tourists. |
| A．Because they did not like to debate on the Internet. |
| B．Because they were not pleased with Harbin tourism. |
| C．Because they felt that Harbin locals thought they were short. |
| D．Because they believed that they did not look like small potatoes. |
| A．He think it’s funny. | B．He thinks it’s unfair. |
| C．He thinks it’s welcoming. | D．He doesn’t express his own opinion. |
