1 . My dad loved everything about Northern Soul music. He _________ in England in the 1960s when the music was popular. He had a _________ childhood there. I believe this music _________ him through hard times in his life.

At the age of 57, he was diagnosed (诊断) with cancer. When he was _________ from the cancer, he also turned to his music. The music made him _________ and he wanted to dance. One of the songs I knew he _________ was “Because Of You” by Jackie Wilson. He _________ told me why he liked it, but after listening to the _________ of the song, I believed it was for my mother, who _________ him. But my mom insisted they saved each other.

The song ________   me of the time when my dad and I were sitting in his living room after he was diagnosed with cancer and he told me this was his favorite song. I __________ it down in my note section of my phone because I knew it was __________ to remember it. We ended up __________ it at his memorial service. It also reminds me of how my mom and dad __________. My dad was only 23 and was trying to find his way in __________. My mom was 22 and was also trying to find her way. They helped each other over 40 years.

1.

A．got up

B．grew up

C．hurried up

D．stayed up

2.

A．different

B．great

C．common

D．poor

3.

A．helped

B．touched

C．treated

D．prevented

4.

A．learning

B．escaping

C．suffering

D．recovering

5.

A．upset

B．happy

C．puzzled

D．surprised

6.

A．desired

B．taught

C．preferred

D．recorded

7.

A．ever

B．still

C．just

D．never

8.

A．words

B．audiences

C．needs

D．singers

9.

A．left

B．lost

C．believed

D．saved

10.

A．tells

B．warns

C．reminds

D．informs

11.

A．handed

B．broke

C．turned

D．wrote

12.

A．important

B．natural

C．possible

D．simple

13.

A．creating

B．forgetting

C．playing

D．introducing

14.

A．met

B．quarreled

C．united

D．argued

15.

A．advance

B．life

C．person

D．hospital

2 . A new study estimates more than 1 billion people worldwide are currently living with obesity. People with obesity are considered medically overweight. The study, published in the medical publication The Lancet, said that one in eight people are obese. Researchers said around 43 percent of adults were overweight in 2022. Obesity among adults has more than doubled since 1990. Among young people aged 5 to 19, the obesity rate increased by four times during the same period.

“A staggering number of people are living with obesity, and severe obesity is strongly linked to a long list of health problems and an early death.” declared the lead writer of the study, Majid Ezzati, a professor at Imperial College London.

The WHO noted that at the World Health Assembly in 2022, member states agreed to an agency plan to fight obesity. So far, 31 governments “are now leading the way” to reduce obesity by carrying out goals of the plan.

These include government measures to enact new rules on “harmful” marketing of unhealthy food and drinks to children. In addition, governments are aiming to improve school and nutrition policies. They are also seeking price reductions for healthy foods, to increase public awareness about healthy diets and exercise and to strengthen requirements for physical activity in schools.

Imperial College’s Ezzati said that obesity rates are not rising in many wealthier nations. But they are quickly increasing in other countries. He noted that some countries have many underweight people, meaning the nations are facing what he called a “double burden” of nutrition problems.

Branca is head of nutrition at the WHO. He told reporters, “In the past, we have been thinking of obesity as a problem of the rich, but obesity is a problem of the world. Although new obesity drugs — such as Ozempic and Wegovy — could be helpful tools in reducing obesity, they noted that the cost and availability of the drugs might increase inequality.”

1. What does the underlined word “staggering” mean?

A．Satisfying.

B．Amazing.

C．Astonishing.

D．Puzzling.

2. What is included in the plan led by 31 governments?

A．Setting laws to ban the sale of unhealthy food.

B．Increasing the cost for people to consume healthy food.

C．Attaching importance to physical activities.

D．Offering lower-priced obesity drugs to people.

3. What does the author mean by mentioning “double burden”?

A．Some countries are suffering both poverty and obesity.

B．Some countries are suffering both poor nutrition and obesity.

C．Obesity is common in both poor and wealthy countries.

D．Obesity is a heavy burden for some countries.

4. What is Branca’s attitude to obesity problem?

A．Negative.

B．Indifferent.

C．Ambiguous.

D．Optimistic.

3 . David Brunelli has eaten up a huge burger. He starts eating handfuls of French fries. If he eats them fast enough, he could win. The crowd shouts with excitement. Suddenly, a stream of food pours out of Brunell' s mouth. Puking (呕吐) during an eating competition means you lose. So Brunelli catches the food in his hands and pushes it back into his mouth. Welcome to the world of competitive eating.

Thousands of eating competitions take place around the world each year. To win, people like Brunelli eat huge amounts of food as quickly as possible.They eat everything from mountains of hot dogs to hundreds of chicken legs.

Some people say it is time for eating competitions to stop. One reason is that the competitions can lead to serious health problems. These include weight gain, heart disease, and stomach problems. In 2004, a woman died from choking (窒息) during a competition. Eating competitions can make overeating look attractive. This sets a bad example for fans. Also, millions of people in the world go hungry every day. That makes it seem wasteful to eat amounts of food just for fun.

Still, many people love competitive eating. They say it is a fun tradition that goes back many years. Fans point out that the group Major League Eating (MLE) runs professional eating competitions. At these competitions, injuries are uncommon. MLE always has doctors on hand.

Eating competitions allow people like Brunelli to get famous and win money. And the competitions are popular. Each July 4, more than a million people watch Nathan s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest on TV. This year, will you be one of them?

1. Why does the author write the first paragraph?

A．To bring up the topic.	B．To introduce Brunelli.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To show some delicious food.

2. What can we learn about eating competitions from the text?

A．They have a short history.	B．They enjoy great popularity.
C．They are attractive to the poor	D．They introduce lots of new food.

3. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The fun of watching eating competitions.

B．The health problems caused by overeating.

C．The difficulties in winning an eating competition.

D．The reasons why eating competitions should be stopped.

4. What can we learn about MLE?

A．It trains many doctors.	B．Its prizes are unusual.
C．Its competitions are relatively safe.	D．It is an organizer of traditional competitions.

4 . Bailey Martin was like many of her sixth-grade classmates at age 12. She played sports and loved to read. But one night, Martin was in bed and covered up her left eye. She realized something wasn’t right. “I noticed I couldn’t really see anything,” she said. She went to the hospital. A doctor in Chicago discovered that it was acute macular neuroretinopathy (急性黄斑神经视网膜病变), a rare disease without a known cure. She was declared blind.

At first, she had to learn Braille (盲文) to read. But what of sports? She didn’t want to lose that part of her life. “I just really didn t want to give up, and I didn’t want to give up who I was as a person,” Martin said. So, that summer, she competed at the Iowa State Fair, showing her horse. When she returned to school at South Hamilton, she joined the cross-country team. “And once I started playing a few different sports again, it not only helped me grow my confidence back, but it also made me realize just how much I love sports and how much sports can really help with finding yourself,” Martin said. She was determined to keep going.

“She chose to run without a guide. It wasn’t easy, but she made it work, running on the team through ninth grade. She made it through the season,” her mother Sara Martin said. “She hit lots of trees. It didn’t t stop her. She wasn’t afraid of getting hurt.” Her parents warned her it could happen, even if she had her sight. “ We’ d rather have you hurt trying something than be too scared to try,” Sara told her daughter.

So, Martin kept going. Now, the 18-year- old senior at South Hamilton High School plans to compete in the Paralympics (残奥会).

Martin is driven to keep going and keep competing. The fact that she’ s overcome as much as she has even surprises and encourages herself.

1. What happened to Martin when she was 12?

A．She quit school because of her disability.

B．She took up running with a coach.

C．She caught a deadly disease.

D．She went blind unexpectedly.

2. How did sport influence Martin?

A．It helped to lift her spirits.

B．It led to-her physical healing.

C．It improved her academic performance.

D．It helped her regain her sense of belonging.

3. What do we know about Martin’ s mother?

A．She gave Martin lots of support.

B．She was good at protecting Martin.

C．She was always very strict with Martin.

D．She was hardly attentive to Martin’ S needs.

4. How might people most probably find Martin’ s story?

A．Uninteresting.

B．Unbearable.

C．Inspiring.

D．Amusing.

5 . For decades sleep scientists have thought over the link between dreaming and creative inspiration. They have long thought the insight came from the stage of rapid eye movement sleep, which is rich with dreams and begins around 90 minutes after one falling asleep. But new evidence puts the spotlight on a much earlier phase — the period that separates sleep and wakefulness. In a study by MIT, researchers show that people who take brief naps (小睡) that bring about the beginning of sleep score higher on several measures of creativity than those who undertake the tasks after staying awake.

The findings suggest researchers could even exercise some measure of control over the dreaming process by directing people's dreams toward a specific topic. The more frequently people dreamed about that, the more creative they were on tasks related to it. “We can come to the conclusion that dreaming about a topic enhances your subsequent creativity on it,” says Robert Stickgold, a member of the study team.

The experiment took advantage of a glovelike sleep detector, which charts sleep by monitoring one's muscle tone, skin conductance and heart rate through contacts on the wrist and hand. It communicates with an app that issues voice prompts (提示) for dreams and records dream reports.

More than one famous thinker has capitalized on the phase called non-rapid eye movement sleep stage 1,or N1, illustrating the point about generating creative insights. The painter Salvador Dalí would deliberately nap, holding a set of keys above a metal plate, when thinking over an idea for a painting. As he nodded off, he'd drop the keys, which would hit the plate and wake him up, and he'd hold onto the image from his dream. Thomas Alva Edison is said to have used a similar technique with metal balls to gain insights.

“It's exciting because,   in principle, people could use the technology themselves to develop creativity,” says Jonathan Schooler, a professor of psychological and brain sciences at the University of California. There seems to be no shortage of folks coming to try it. “So many different kinds of people have visited, knocking on the lab door and asking to have dreams,” co-lead investigator Haar Horowitz says.

1. Which phase boosts creative ideas according to the study?

A．The initial sleep stage.	B．The middle of the sleep cycle.
C．The wakefulness after sleep.	D．The rapid eye movement sleep stage.

2. What do the findings mentioned in paragraph 2 show?

A．Physical changes reflect the sleep phase.	B．Dream contents re late to real life.
C．Creativity levels vary with the nap length.	D．The theme of the dream can be guided.

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

A．Encourages.

B．Improves.

C．Tracks.

D．Influences.

4. Why are Salvador Dalí and Thomas Alva Edison mentioned?

A．To prove the effect of dreams.	B．To provide support for the findings.
C．To interpret the benefits of N1.	D．To give examples of fueling creativity.

6 . “The Worthington Christian defeated the Westerville North by 2—1 in an Ohio boys’ soccer game on Saturday.” That’s according to a story that appeared last month in The Columbus Dispatch. That lead was written not by a sportswriter, but by an artificial intelligence (AI) tool.

Many news organizations are now examining how AI might be used in their work. But if they begin their “experimenting” with high school sports because they are less momentous than war, peace, climate change and politics, they may miss something crucial. Nothing may be more important to the students who play high school sports, and to their families, neighborhoods, and sometimes, the whole town. That next game is what the students train for, work toward, and dream about. Someday, almost all student athletes will go on to have jobs in front of screens, in office parks, at schools, in hospitals or on construction sites. They may suffer blows and setbacks. But the high school games they played and watched, as well as their hopes and cheers, will stay vivid in their memories.

I have a small idea. If newspapers will no longer send staff reporters to cover high school games, why not hire high school student journalists? News organizations can pay students an hourly wage to cover high school games. The young reporters might learn how to be fair to all sides, write vividly, and attract readers. That’s what some celebrities in sports did, and do.

And think of the great writers who were inspired by sports: Hemingway on fishing, Bernard Malamud and Marianne Moore on baseball, Chen Zhongshi on football, and CLR James on cricket, who said, “There can be raw pain and bleeding where so many thousands see the inevitable (不可避免的) ups and downs of only a game.” A good high school writer, unlike a robot, could tell readers not just the score, but the stories of the game.

1. Why is the lead mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To introduce an original idea.	B．To show AI’s wide application.
C．To bring in the opinion about AI.	D．To stress AI’s importance to news.

2. What does the author think of high school games?

A．Hopeful.

B．Eye-catching.

C．Competitive.

D．Far-reaching.

3. What is good sports news like according to the author?

A．Rich in contents.	B．Fair in comments.
C．Centered on results.	D．Targeted on readers.

4. Which can be a suitable title for the text?

A．News Organizations Are Abusing AI	B．High Schoolers Can Do What AI Can’t
C．Great Writers Are Crazy About Sports	D．AI Ruins High School Students’ Memory

7 . “All my children show concern for people,” says Mary Killough, director of the Illinois Department on Aging. Once when they _______ someone with a serious disability in the shopping mall, they asked me, “Mommy, is that person OK? What happened? ”They even told me they were _______to help him if necessary.

Knowing that children constantly (不断地) learn everything from their parents, Killough always _______ positivity and kindness at home. She tries to make lessons in compassion (同情) heartfelt and _______.She often tells her boys, “we all need _______at some point in our lives, and there are times when you need to lend a hand. The _______ have become part of their life.”

One evening at the gas station, Killough and the boys saw an older woman who was _______ as she tried to find out where she was and drive home. It was starting to get dark, and they tried to give her _______, but she couldn’t understand. The Killoughs led her all the way to her _______. “Although it took an hour or more, no one ________. There’s nothing we’re doing that’ s more ________ than helping each other,” she told them.

DiAnne Crown, now an author on Illinois Times, also ________ compassion at home as a young child. Her parents would take her to ________ events at KumlerFood Pantry where local hungry families can receive food. There was ________ money on the counter for a family in need. “My son and I have ________ the same kindness toward families in need many times since,” DiAnne says.

1.

A．guided

B．noticed

C．welcomed

D．mistook

2.

A．disappointed

B．ashamed

C．curious

D．ready

3.

A．models

B．confirms

C．finds

D．repays

4.

A．heart-breaking

B．low-achieving

C．ongoing

D．boring

5.

A．help

B．respect

C．patience

D．praise

6.

A．difficulties

B．experiments

C．lessons

D．games

7.

A．moved

B．relaxed

C．amazed

D．confused

8.

A．choices

B．directions

C．presents

D．purposes

9.

A．home

B．office

C．station

D．hotel

10.

A．responded

B．explained

C．joked

D．complained

11.

A．practical

B．attractive

C．important

D．normal

12.

A．explored

B．learned

C．avoided

D．showed

13.

A．donation

B．sports

C．news

D．literature

14.

A．unfortunately

B．gradually

C．secretly

D．regularly

15.

A．understood

B．repeated

C．experienced

D．accepted

8 . Antarctica Polar Circle — Discovery and Learning Voyage

Dates	4 Mar — 9 Mar 2023
Duration	5 nights

This Polar Circle and Antarctic Peninsula cruise (航行) passes through waters travelled by humpback whales. Stopping in various spots around the region, the journey offers the chance to hike and dive in the iceberg-heavy waters.

Day 1: End of the world, start of a journey

Ushuaia, Argentina is located on the far southern tip of South America. Starting in the afternoon, you set out from this small beautiful town on Tierra del Fuego and sail the mountainous Beagle Channel for the rest of the evening.

Days 2-3: Path of the polar explorers

Over the next two days on the Drake Passage, you enjoy some of the same experiences encountered (遇到) by the great polar explorers who first charted these regions: cool salt winds, rolling seas, maybe even a fin whale spouting (喷出) high into the air. After passing the Antarctic Convergence — Antarctica’s natural boundary, formed when north-flowing cold waters meet with warmer sub-Antarctic seas — you are in the circum-Antarctic upwelling zone (环南极上升流区).

Days 4-5: Familiar seas, familiar friends

Your return journey is far from lonely. While crossing the Drake, you’re again greeted by lots of seabirds remembered from the passage south. But they seem a little more familiar to you now, and you to them.

Day 6: There and back again

Every adventure, no matter how impressive, must eventually come to an end. It’s now time to get off the ship in Ushuaia, but with memories that will accompany you wherever your next adventure lies.

1. On which day can you enjoy the same experiences as the great polar explorers?

A．4 Mar.

B．5 Mar.

C．8 Mar.

D．9 Mar.

2. What can visitors do when passing the Drake?

A．Go hiking.

B．See seabirds.

C．Tour Ushuaia.

D．Sail the Beagle Channel.

3. In which part of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Wildlife.

B．Education.

C．Science.

D．Travel.

9 . It was a sunny weekend. I had planned to go mountain climbing in the suburbs with Daniel. However, a sudden heavy rain that morning disrupted my plan. Looking out of the window, I couldn’t help feeling a little ________ as the rain poured down.

However, Daniel ________ , “Since we can’t go mountain climbing, why don’t we go to an old ________ in the city? I heard there are many interesting shops and delicious food there.” I thought it was a good idea and _________. We braved the heavy rain and arrived at the old neighborhood. Although the sky was still ________ , the old buildings and unique atmosphere of the neighborhood attracted us.

We walked through the narrow streets and admired the ________ shops on both sides. A retro-style coffee shop caught our attention and we decided to go in and rest. In the coffee shop, we tasted the delicious coffee and talked about our daily lives. ________ , a strange figure walked into the coffee shop. He looked ________ and lost. His eyes fell on us casually and seemed to be looking for something. Out of ________ , we took the ________ to talk to him. It turned out that he was a photographer and he had just lost an important memory card which contained his works of many years. He had been searching for it in the neighborhood for a long time, but still couldn’t find it.

After hearing ________ his troubles, we decided to help him search for it. We searched around the neighborhood and asked many people, but couldn’t find the memory card. Just when we were about to give up, a little kid ________ to us with a memory card and said he had found it by the roadside. We excitedly took the memory card and after checking it was ________ , we gave it back to the photographer. The photographer looked at us gratefully with tears in his eyes. He said, “Thank you very much. This memory card means a lot to me.” We felt happy that we could help him and it added more meaning ________ this unexpected trip.

This experience made me realize that life always has unexpected surprises and twists. Sometimes, ________ your plan is not a bad thing and it may bring you a more wonderful experience.

1.

A．disabled

B．disappointed

C．disgraceful

D．disturbed

2.

A．suggested

B．claimed

C．answered

D．demanded

3.

A．museum

B．community

C．street

D．neighborhood

4.

A．admired

B．agreed

C．jumped

D．permitted

5.

A．sunny

B．chilly

C．gloomy

D．clear

6.

A．ancient

B．crowded

C．spacious

D．various

7.

A．Gradually

B．Slowly

C．Suddenly

D．Quickly

8.

A．tired

B．angry

C．energetic

D．relieved

9.

A．question

B．curiosity

C．control

D．danger

10.

A．action

B．measures

C．responsibility

D．initiative

11.

A．about

B．from

C．out

D．into

12.

A．listened

B．talked

C．came

D．pointed

13.

A．complete

B．correct

C．full

D．useful

14.

A．with

B．up

C．in

D．to

15.

A．changing

B．scheduling

C．making

D．following

10 . Djukic is a biology and chemistry student at John Carroll University. She never thought that one day she would be in a classroom where an English teacher asked her to play a board game in order to learn about climate change.

Debra Rosenthal is the professor of the class. At first, Djukic said she was uncertain about Rosenthal’s board game idea. “I was just like: ‘this is interesting, but how much are we actually going to take away from it?”

Rosenthal thought her students would gain a greater understanding about how their own ideas and experiences affect climate change. Students do not compete against each other. They work together to choose the best plan of action. The game is different from board games such as Monopoly, where the goal is to win. Rosenthal said she hoped the games would give students a chance to talk about climate change in a new way.

“By playing the games, it’s a way to be social, to engage in conversation. There has to be a lot of energy around the table. It’s very collaborative. And in the game that I chose to play, they really were able to work together and try to come up with a solution so that the planet was not destroyed.”

During the class, she said, students laughed, disagreed and had to call for votes as a way to decide how to move forward in the game. Djukic said it was a “way to have fun...while also learning about such a serious subject.”

The games are global, Djukic said. That is because she and her classmates said they were able to see how one player’s decision about agriculture affected another player on the other side of the world.

She said the games showed her that “in the game of climate change and the climate crisis, no individual wins.” “It’s either we all suffer from this, or we all somehow collaborate to work our way out of this and turn the clock back on climate change.”

1. What is the purpose of Rosenthal’s class arrangement?

A．To inspire the competition among students.

B．To entertain the students with the board game.

C．To stress the damage caused by climate change.

D．To encourage student’s viewpoints about climate change.

2. Which best describes the board game according to paragraph 4?

A．Cooperative

B．Competitive

C．Creative

D．Exclusive

3. What can be inferred from the last two paragraphs?

A．Agriculture is of vital importance to the world.

B．The world is a community of shared future.

C．Man with strong will can conquer nature.

D．Climate change is a tough problem to solve.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Climate change calls for teamwork.

B．Climate change leads to global impact.

C．A board game helps students understand climate issues.

D．A good teacher gives students lifelong benefits.