3 . 阅读短文，从方框中选出正确的词并用其适当形式填空，使短文通顺、意思完整。每空限填一词，每词限用一次。

begin when last common change life hot create happen twenty-one

In China, the traditional Chinese lunar calendar (阴历) divides a year into 24 solar terms (节气), and they were     1     by people thousands of years ago to guide agricultural production (农业生产). But the solar term culture is still useful today in guiding people’s     2    .

Spring Equinox (春分) is the fourth solar term of the year. Days     3     to be longer than nights after this day. As for activities, flying kites is a     4     activity during this time. People often write good words on their kites. They all hope that their wishes will come true    5     the kites are flown high in the sky.

Great Heat (大暑) is the 12th solar term of the year. During this time, most parts of China enter the     6     season of the year and the sunshine, high temperatures, and heavy rainfalls are good for the plants. But many natural disasters (灾害) also     7    .

Frost’s Descent (霜降) is the 18th solar term of the year, the last solar term of autumn, during this time, the weather becomes much colder than before and the temperature     8     greatly from day to night. The chrysanthemums (菊花) are in bloom (盛开).

Major Snow (大雪) is the     9     of the solar terms, and the third one of winter, making the arrival of mid-winter. The temperature drops day by day, as the year is coming to an end. The snow in North China may     10     a whole day, and heavy snow brings us a fantastic ice world of pure white.

4 . Have you ever seen a bee fly busily? Do you think the bee is just flying around? In fact, the bee is hard at work.

Bees spend lots of time looking for food. But not all the bees in the hive (蜂巢) have this work. Bees can be divided into three kinds—a queen bee, drones (雄蜂), and worker bees. The queen bee is very important. She is the mother of all the bees that live in the hive. Worker bees do all the other work in the hive. Besides looking for food, they make and clean the hive. They also look after the queen and protect her.

Bees make dance-like movements inside the hive to send messages about food. They use different movements to give different information. They tell where food can be found and how far away it is from the hive. Bees can even share how much food there is and how good it is. And surprisingly, a new study has found that a group of bees could generate an amazing total of electricity by beating their wings more than 200 times per second. And the amount (量) of electricity could reach 100 to 1, 000 V (伏). That’s eight times greater than the electricity a storm cloud can produce.

Scientists found that the thicker a cloud of bees is, the more electricity it generates. Based on these findings, the team recorded that bees—which group together to form a huge, thick cloud of bees—could have an influence similar to that of a storm. Further research is needed to find out how electricity influences the bees and their environment.

1. What do worker bees need to do?
a. Make the hive. b. Look for food.
c. Take care of the queen. d. Protect drones.

A．a, b, d

B．a, b, c

C．b. c, d

D．a, c, d

2. How do bees communicate with one another?

A．By making noise.	B．By spreading smells.
C．By producing electricity.	D．By using different movements.

3. What does the underlined word “generate” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Cost.

B．Spread.

C．Change

D．Produce.

4. Which one shows the relationship between the thickness of a cloud of bees(x) and the amount of electricity(y)?

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. Which can be the best title for the passage?

A．The Ways of Flying	B．The History of Bees
C．The Secrets of Bees	D．The Beauty of Nature

5 . ① Nature is amazing! Take a close look at the world of insects, and you’ll discover many unbelievable things. For example, butterflies have beautiful, colorful wings and strong, fantastic flying skills. On summer days, you always see them flying freely over the plants or in the fields.

② But do you know how butterflies become the flying insects? It’s one of the amazing wonders of nature. In the beginning, female butterflies lay some small and colorful eggs on the leaves of the plants.

③ It’s hard to believe that the eggs will become something completely different in a few days. They become walking insects. These insects are called caterpillars (毛虫). They now have legs, eyes and large bodies. A new life has begun. The caterpillars can eat, walk and see. But they are still not butterflies.

④ Soon, after growing big, the caterpillars make covers to themselves. They cover themselves in the nice protective blanket and go to sleep. We call them chrysalises (蛹).

⑤ After a period of time, the blankets break and the wet, weak butterflies appear. They each now have six legs, a mouth, eyes and two pairs of wings. Shortly, the wings fill with blood, and the beautiful, colorful butterflies spread their wings and fly away.

⑥ After a few weeks, those adult butterflies lay eggs, and the cycle begins all over again. This is just one example of the wonders of nature. Take a look around the natural world, and you will discover many other amazing things.

1. Which of the following is a caterpillar?

A．	B．
C．	D．

2. Which of the following can describe “the cycle”?
① a chrysalis ② a caterpillar ③ an egg ④ a butterfly

A．	B．
C．	D．

3. What’s the structure of this passage?
（①=Paragraph 1②=Paragraph 2,…）

A．①/②③④⑤/⑥	B．①②③/④⑤/⑥
C．①②/③④/⑤⑥	D．①②/③④⑤/⑥

4. Which of the following about a butterfly is TRUE?

A．It has no legs or eyes.	B．It is good at walking.
C．It likes living around the plants.	D．It likes cold season.

5. What does this passage mainly talk about?

A．Nature is quite amazing.	B．The life of a butterfly is amazing.
C．A butterfly has a short life.	D．A butterfly is a beautiful insect.

6 . What will you do when you feel down? Hug a tree? Recently, many Chinese young people have turned to trees to help with their stress. Although it sounds strange, in fact, there’s a science behind the act of tree-hugging.

A famous scientist named Edward Wilson from US ever said that humans are born to love being around other living things. Humans’ love for nature is “in our DNA”. This idea helps to explain why people prefer natural, green views to city views. It’s also one of the reasons why people love cute pets.

Some studies have looked into why hugging trees can help with our health. A study in 2021 reported that the activity can increase oxytocin (催产素). Oxytocin has a big influence on people’s feelings. The higher the level of it is, the calmer and happier you may be. Hugging trees for only 21 seconds can lead to an increase in oxytocin.

Another thing called cortisol (皮质醇) is a marker of stress. The brain produces more cortisol when the person is anxious, angry, or very sad. Hugging trees helps cut cortisol production, which makes us feel better.

Although the activity is helpful to us, it’s important to keep in mind that we shouldn’t hurt nature while doing it. Trees often hold many things that are good for the environment. Many small creatures live on the tree, and they are so small that they hardly can be seen. You may want to be gentle when hugging trees—just like how you hug a friend!

1. What does the underlined word “it” refer to in Paragraph 3?

A．Activity.	B．Feeling.
C．Oxytocin.	D．Study.

2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Hugging trees can lead to reducing oxytocin.

B．They might feel angry and sad when people have a lower oxytocin.

C．We feel much happier with a higher level of cortisol.

D．Humans hate being around other living things.

3. The last sentence is written to ________.

A．regard trees as your friends and take them home

B．find out the small creatures living on the tree

C．make friends with the creatures living on the tree

D．tell people not to hurt nature

4. What is the right structure of the text?

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. What is the best title for the passage?

A．A Special Way to Reduce Stress

B．A Right Way to Keep Fit

C．Environmental Protection

D．To Be Friends with Nature

7 . 阅读短文，从下面所给的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，使短文通顺、连贯。选项中有一项为多余选项。

There are many deserts on the earth. And the following are some facts you may find interesting.

What are deserts like?

Deserts can be hot and dry places. Rain may not fall there for months or years. Some deserts are sandy and stony. Deserts can also be very windy places. The wind can change the shape of the deserts.     1    

Temperatures in the desert can be quite different. During the daytime, the temperature may reach 40°C even in the shade (阴凉处).     2     In winter there may even be a frost in the early morning.

Living in the desert

The camel is sometimes called “the ship of the desert”. It stores food in its hump (驼峰) and can go for days without water. It has large feet which help it not to fall into the sand.     3    

An oasis is an area of the desert where water may be found. The water may be in pools or under the ground. People and animals visit an oasis for water and food. Plants grow at an oasis.     4    

The Arabian Desert

The Arabian Desert lies between the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf. In some parts of the desert, it is too hot for people to live. Oil was discovered under parts of the desert and in the Arabian Gulf.     5     Much of the money has been spent building fine cities with lovely parks and lakes, and people live a comfortable life there.

A．It moves sand around from place to place.

B．It has made some countries in the area very rich.

C．Its long eyelashes (睫毛) keep out the sand during sandstorms.

D．At night, deserts can become very cold.

E．The desert is quite dangerous.

F．Some farmers are able to grow crops (庄稼) here.

8 . As we all know, tomatoes are red, the sky is blue, and bananas are yellow. Well, not exactly-color does not really exist (存在). What exists is light. Light is real, but color is not. It is our brain that creates color.

We’re told to trust our eyes, but our eyes have little to do with vision (视觉). We see much more with our brains. You sometimes see different colors because your brain thinks they have a different meaning. The brain does this by looking at what’s around the object. Here is an example. If you see a person wearing a white shirt against different backgrounds, your brain might express the same white color differently. Suppose this person stands in front of a bright yellow background, your brain might think the white shirt is more like gray. If the person moves to a dark blue background, the same white shirt might appear closer to a brighter color.

Color is created according to our past experiences, and sometimes there are optical illusions (视错觉). That is because your brain includes the recent history of what you saw, at least for a brief time. But if you watch the thing for a longer time, your brain may forget the recent history and see the real color.

This raises the question: Do you see what I see? The answer, in short, is no.

Our past and present experiences are different. None of us even sees the world as it really is, but as a meaning that comes from our own experiences. It’s clear that seeing is not always believing.

1. What is real according to the writer in Paragraph 1?

A．Color.

B．Meaning.

C．Light.

D．Mind.

2. How does the writer support his idea in Paragraph 2?

A．By showing a problem.	B．By making a comparison.
C．By giving an example.	D．By making the text longer.

3. What does Paragraph 3 mainly tell us?

A．White is the lightest color.

B．Color comes from our past experiences.

C．Color is changing all the time.

D．Color is influenced by the background of an object.

4. Which word is close to the underlined word “brief”?

A．Short.

B．Quick.

C．Simple.

D．Hard.

5. What can we learn from the passage?

A．You see what I see.	B．Color is   a recent history.
C．Color always stays the same.	D．Seeing is not always believing.

9 . ①That future is almost here. “I think it’s going to happen in ten years… and hopefully much, much faster,” said Sebastian Thrun in 2021. At that time, his young company Kitty Hawk Corporation was working on developing a flying car known as eVTOL, or Electronic Vertical Take-Off and Landing vehicle (车辆).

②Flying to work or school sounds unbelievable. Not only is it fun to fly, but “there would never be traffic again, because the sky is very, very large,” says Thrun. He also thinks eVTOLs could be greener than common cars. “We go much faster, we go in a straight line, we fly on less energy,” he says.

③So far, though, flying cars haven’t taken off as a product. Will their day come? There are still many problems to solve. Their high price means most people won’t be able to afford one. So, some companies are developing them as air taxis that people could pay to ride. The main problem with flying cars is safety. Accidents in the air are dangerous to both the passengers and anyone on the ground beneath. To make eVTOLs safer, many developers are aiming to make them self-flying—no human pilot required.

④Another problem is space. Most aircraft need long runways to take off and land. Lifting straight up and down like a helicopter solves this problem. But eVTOLs still need special spaces, called vertiports, for take-off and landing. Finding places to put these could be tricky, especially in crowded cities. But maybe some could go on top of buildings.

⑤What do you think? Would you enjoy riding to school or to visit a friend in a self-flying taxi? Are flying cars a good idea, or should we find other ways to get around in the near future?

1. How does the writer lead into the topic?

A．By asking questions.	B．By giving examples.
C．By showing opinions.	D．By sharing experiences.

2. Which of the following are the challenges for the development of flying cars?
①high price                  ②take-off and landing space
③air traffic jam             ④safety

A．①②③

B．②③④

C．①②④

D．①③④

3. Why are some companies developing flying cars as air taxis?

A．To solve safety problems.	B．To make them cheaper.
C．To provide rides for people.	D．To compete with common cars.

4. What is the possible structure of the passage?
（①=Paragraph 1          ②=Paragraph 2, ...）

A．

B．

C．

D．

5. What is probably the best title of the passage?

A．Is a Flying Car Your Dream Car?

B．Will Future Flying Cars Need Drivers?

C．The Exciting World of Electric Taxis

D．The History of Air Travel Technologies

10 . You have just finished eating an apple while on a camp. There aren’t any rubbish bins around; what do you do with the apple core (核)? If you answered “throw it in the grass” because you thought fruit would not have a bad influence on nature, you are wrong.

According to the scientists, decomposition (分解) of fruit litter takes much longer time than you imagine. Some of these “natural” food can take years to decompose depending on the environment they are in!

When animals start to get their food from people, they may stop looking for their own food in nature. This is very dangerous because animals need different foods to stay healthy. Food waste also draws animals to go to areas where there are a lot of people. And when food is thrown out of a car window, animals may develop the habit of searching roadsides for food, which increases the chances of their being hit by a car.

In fact, apples, bananas and oranges are not from wild forests. If they are eaten by wild animals, they will probably cause the animals to get sick. Seeds (种子) of these fruit or vegetables that end up on the ground could grow into an exotic plant there. It’s not good to the local environment. And then, of course, nobody wants to see somebody else’s fruit litter, which has already gone bad, while enjoying the beautiful outdoors. So, no litter is safe litter, not even an apple core.

1. How does the writer start the text?

A．By collecting readers’ answers.	B．By describing a situation in life.
C．By encouraging people to protect nature.	D．By explaining how to deal with fruit litter.

2. What influence would throwing food waste have on animals?

A．It provides different foods for them.

B．It prevents them from dying of hunger.

C．It makes them depend on humans too much.

D．It makes them develop the ability to live in nature.

3. The underlined word “exotic” in Paragraph 4 means “________”.

A．foreign

B．beautiful

C．bad

D．strong

4. What’s the purpose of the passage?

A．To advise us not to eat while camping.

B．To ask us to protect the wild animals.

C．To explain how food waste is decomposed.

D．To call on people not to litter food waste.

5. This passage is mainly about ________.

A．HEALTH

B．ENVIRONMENT

C．SPORTS

D．PEOPLE