1 . It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful: blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.
My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him. I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.
On the road to the harbor, we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps (脊背) in the distance.
On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it—there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.
The little baby whale—actually as big as our boat—was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools (漩涡) and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side,” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe, and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.
In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.
1. The author says “I’m so glad I did.” in Para.2 because __________.| A．he witnessed the whole process of fishing | B．he enjoyed the beauty of the calm sea |
| C．he experienced the rescue of the whales | D．he spent the weekend with his family |
| A．the shape of the harbour | B．the arms of the bay |
| C．the still water in the channel | D．the long coastline |
| A．she had stayed in the polluted water for too long |
| B．the whirlpools she had made were not big enough |
| C．she had no other whales around to turn to for help |
| D．the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction |
| A．Saving lives brings people a sense of happiness. |
| B．Fishing provides excitement for children. |
| C．It’s necessary to live in harmony with animals. |
| D．It’s vital to protect the environment. |
2 . You may have been told before not to be afraid of anything. Fear is often associated with weakness. Fear is something to be avoided. But that’s not true, according to Time For Kids magazine. Fear can be good for us. Fear tells us about danger. Without fear, we wouldn’t know to run away from a tiger or step back from a cliff (悬崖).
In a study published in the Justice Quarterly journal in August, researchers from Michigan State University said that a healthy fear of crime keeps teenagers away from potentially dangerous people, places, and activities. Fear makes us jump, scream and sweat. But interestingly, sometimes we make ourselves feel fear on purpose. Think about scary books and movies, and also the long lines for a scary roller coaster ride (过山车).
Margee Kerr, a US sociologist, explained why to Time For Kids. Fear fills our brain with healthy chemicals, especially endorphins and dopamine, and these things create feelings of happiness and excite us, according to Kerr. In addition, when you’re scared, your body produces a chemical which helps people bond with each other.
“Watch people walking out of a haunted house (鬼屋), and you’ll see lots of smiles and high fives (击掌),” Kerr told Time For Kids. That also explains why schools and companies organize challenging trips and physical activities to build up team spirit. People experience and deal with fear in different ways. If you happen to be a “coward” who gets scared easily, don’t worry. There is some evidence that being scared can help a person manage stressful situations.
Kerr said that things like giving a report in front of your class or performing in a school play help build a sort of endurance (忍耐力) to fear that makes us more confident. “You become more comfortable with the physical experience of fear, and so you’re better able to work through it during tense situations,” said Kerr.
So learn to love your fear. It only grows when we forget how helpful our fear is trying to be.
1. What’s the best title for the passage?| A．Ways to build up team spirit. | B．Different ways to deal with fear. |
| C．Love your fear. | D．Fear, a sign of weakness. |
| A．Experiencing fear helps us to build a sort of endurance to fear. |
| B．People who get scared easily have no chances to get changed. |
| C．Fear is harmful to our health. |
| D．Fear is something to be avoided. |
| A．fight against | B．look down upon | C．be more careful with | D．get closer to |
| A．Attend challenging trips or physical activities. |
| B．Take some medicine containing endorphins and dopamine. |
| C．Read scary books or see scary movies. |
| D．Take a scary roller coaster ride. |
3 . The Grey’s Anatomy doctors are navigating the patients that have kept them on our screens for some 400 episodes of the show. But in this episode, for the first time, the
But can seeing the realities of climate change affecting characters on the screen help us relate
Non-profit storytelling consultancy Good Energy believes it can. It is among a small but growing number of organizations
The Good Energy Playbook’s suggestions are appropriately wide-ranging: characters with climate anxiety and those fighting against injustice; utopian (乌托邦的) narratives that explore climate solutions; storylines that quietly
The playbook was created by Good Energy founder Anna Jane Joyner, “It started as a personal
Many research studies looked at the impact introducing climate stories had on viewers, and found it prompted greater concern about climate change. It also
Climate stories, then, seem like a pretty good idea. But these sorts of narratives have been few and far between. Julie Doyle, professor of media at the University of Brighton in the UK, says climate change has
It’s time to break the climate silence, says Doyle. “Mainstream media has tended to follow rather than lead, and it would be great if mainstream media could lead this.” Day-to-day mentions of climate change in media are especially important because, while blockbuster climate films can have a positive impact on awareness and action, the effect is sadly
| A．resistance | B．background | C．response | D．application |
| A．fictional | B．scientific | C．educational | D．theoretical |
| A．logical | B．moral | C．occasional | D．spiritual |
| A．differently | B．effortlessly | C．reluctantly | D．systematically |
| A．depending on | B．referring to | C．identifying with | D．calling for |
| A．restore | B．feature | C．demonstrate | D．sponsor |
| A．reflect | B．maintain | C．eliminate | D．strengthen |
| A．integrate | B．reverse | C．initiate | D．publish |
| A．transition | B．campaign | C．achievement | D．association |
| A．transferred | B．promoted | C．shifted | D．underestimated |
| A．For example | B．As a result | C．On the contrary | D．In addition |
| A．narrative | B．character | C．plot | D．memory |
| A．explored | B．competed | C．struggled | D．appealed |
| A．narrow-minded | B．ever-changing | C．short-lived | D．far-sighted |
| A．resumes | B．fades | C．deepens | D．increases |
4 . Humans have many unique behaviors among animals. For example, we have a formal language that permits communication about things that exist in the past, present, and future. Yet we share at least one emotion with many other species fear.
To really understand our fears we have to go further to study how animals long before humans came into being assessed (评估) and managed predation (捕食) risk in the wild. All animals, past and present, must assess life-threatening predation risks (风险) and make decisions to avoid or otherwise manage those risks. It is a proper balance: being too fearful is costly if fear means that you miss out on getting food, mates, or other important resources. However, being too brazen could end very poorly indeed. It is the context that influences all decisions. If they’re hungry, it’s wise to take more risks or they will go hungry. And, if they’re powerful and can steal food from others at will, perhaps it’s OK to be a bit more careful. Successful individuals are those that make right assessment, and because of this, leave more descendants.
Natural expressions of fear influence the structure of ecological communities, and the removal of predators changes entire ecosystems. To manage predation risks, animals modify(调整) their activity patterns, habitat selection, and their diet. Fear of predators can also reduce an individual’s reproductive(繁殖)success. All of these fear-driven modifications can have a great influence on both the environment and the diversity of many species. Fear, as it turns out, is an essential part of healthy ecosystems and helps keep biodiversity.
Fear is a natural emotion, and that it’s impossible to completely avoid it. It is comforting to know that fear comes from a long line of ancestors, both human and nonhuman. It is a compass(指南针)that, when used I properly, guides us away from danger and toward opportunity.
1. What do we know about animals’ risk assessment and management according to paragraph 2?| A．Animals are too fearful to make right assessments. |
| B．Animals will fail to get food when they are fearful. |
| C．Animals have to make proper decisions based on different situations. |
| D．Animals which arc more fearful are more likely to make right assessment. |
| A．brave | B．afraid | C．hungry | D．strong |
| A．The ways animals manage fear |
| B．The influence fear has on ecosystem |
| C．The approaches to keeping a healthy ecosystem |
| D．The problems fear brings about to the ecosystem |
| A．Fear from Our Deep Past | B．Survival of the bravest |
| C．Emotion from human and nonhuman. | D．Path to risk management |
 | Hello, I’m Anna Green. I’m a student at Star Middle School. I’m in Class Two. My parents are teachers. I have a friend in my class. His name is Jackson Smith. He likes black. Look! He has a black cup and three black pens. |
 | My name is Alice. Jones is my last name. I’m at Ziyang Middle School. Yellow is my favorite color. I have a nice family. Jack and Tom are my parents. Scot is my grandfather. And I have a sister Grace. We like the same color. |
 | Hi! I’m Dave Brown. I’m an English boy. Now I live with my uncle and aunt in China. They have a daughter May and a son Peter. Peter likes drawing very much. Here is picture. Look! A black dog is in it. |
| A．Class One. | B．Class Two. | C．Class Three. | D．Class Four. |
| A．Three. | B．Four. | C．Five. | D．Six. |
| A．A brown cat. | B．A black cat. | C．A brown dog. | D．A black dog. |
6 . Have you seen bees at work and stopped to wonder how smart they are? Results of a recent experiment prove that bees are clever enough to
Behavior
Nigel Raine, PhD, from Royal Holloway, University of London, has always been interested in finding out why animals behave as they do. He is also interested in bees. Therefore, it turned out to be not a
A(n)
Flowers make pollen (花粉), and when bees visit them, they
They completed the experiment on the roof of Queen Mary, using
Travelling salesman
The problem that the bee solved is similar to a math puzzle called the “travelling salesman problem”. A salesman who goes to
Scientists are very interested in how they do this. It would help us to understand how pollen is moved around.
| A．waste | B．save | C．devote | D．have |
| A．disappointment | B．specialty | C．joy | D．surprise |
| A．takes | B．operates | C．installs | D．purchases |
| A．easier | B．harder | C．shorter | D．smoother |
| A．gather | B．produce | C．draw | D．carry |
| A．make | B．start | C．examine | D．continue |
| A．artificial | B．brightly-coloured | C．scented | D．fresh |
| A．pollen | B．nectar | C．seed | D．food |
| A．convenient | B．secret | C．new | D．specific |
| A．surprise | B．embarrassment | C．delight | D．regret |
| A．various | B．distant | C．interesting | D．business |
| A．get over | B．figure out | C．count down | D．round off |
| A．trick | B．deal | C．calculation | D．experiment |
| A．However | B．In addition | C．Therefore | D．After all |
| A．cause | B．hate | C．reduce | D．suffer |
7 . Gelje Sherpa was leading a Chinese climber up Mount Qomolangma when he spotted a Malaysian climber in need of help, and the two men then abandoned the summit (顶峰) in order to rescue the Malaysian climber. They were in the “death zone”, an area near the summit of Mount Qomolangma where temperatures are extremely low and where there isn’t enough oxygen to breathe.
The Malaysian climber had “nothing” and was on the brink (边缘) of death. Gelje recalled that no one was helping him, no friends, no oxygen, no Sherpas with him and no guides. Stopping at an altitude where the body was rapidly deteriorating (恶化) and where many deaths occur was quite dangerous for him. However, other climbers and guides just focused on the summit, so that they didn’t notice the Malaysian climber’s state.
According to Nepali officials, 12 people have died, and five are missing on Qomolangma as the spring climbing season comes to an end. Gelje, the Sherpa, said there were a few likely reasons why this season has been so deadly. The weather has been poor and extremely cold, and some climbers lack experience or sufficient training for such a high altitude.
Gelje was guiding a Chinese climber to the summit when he made the decision that they would abandon their journey to save the Malaysian climber.
It was nearly an impossible task: Gelje had to secure the climber to his back and carry him down 600 meters for about six hours before another guide joined the rescue. They then took turns carrying the climber, wrapped in a sleeping mat, sometimes having to drag him through the snow, before reaching a helicopter that carried them down to base camp.
The rescue, which took place on May 18, 2023, was massively challenging. Gelje has previously carried out more than 55 rescues during his work as a guide, some very long operations, but he said the rescue was the hardest in his life.
1. When did Gelje meet the climber in danger?| A．After reaching the summit. | B．During the rest in the “death zone”. |
| C．On the way to the top of the mount. | D．During the journey back to base camp. |
| A．They didn’t know the climber. | B．They were at a dangerous altitude. |
| C．They lacked experience of helping people. | D．They only cared about their arrival at the summit. |
| A．He’s an experienced coach. | B．He’s careful and skilled at climbing. |
| C．He s a rescue worker on Qomolangma. | D．He’s irresponsible for the climber he led. |
| A．A Hard Rescue for a Climber | B．A Difficult Task from a Guide |
| C．A “Death Zone” Blocking Climbers | D．A Sad Decision to Give Up Climbing |
8 . Getting rid of old tyres has long been a problem. Most are thrown into landfills or piled up in storage. Energy recovery is another common method. This involves burning tyres to generate electricity or heat for industries, but that produces planet warming pollution; or we use them to repair roads, but chemicals from them might pollute the ground.
Some firms, therefore, have begun exploring an alternative. One such firm is Wastefront, which owns a big tyre-recycling plant in north-east England. In a couple of years, it will be able to turn 8 million old tyres into new products, including a black liquid called TDO (轮胎衍生油).
The process works by deconstructing a tyre into steel, rubber, and carbon black (炭黑). After tearing down the steel, the remaining material is exposed to high temperatures in the absence of air to make the rubber change into a mix of hydrocarbon gases, and then they’re removed. What is left behind is pure carbon black. Once the removed gases cool down, a part of them liquefies into TDO. The remaining gases are to be burned to fuel the process. This creates a closed-cycle system that prevents emissions (排放).
The carbon black can be reused to make new tyres. That is of interest to tyre-makers because it helps efforts to become carbon neutral-achieving a balance between the amounts of carbon dioxide produced and the carbon dioxide removed from the atmosphere. Producing new carbon black requires burning heavy oil or coal, which lets off plenty of greenhouse gases
The recovered TDO is well-suited for making diesel (柴油). While not completely carbon-neutral, it does produce an 80-90% reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide, compared with the conventional fuel. The future market for such cleaner fuels will remain large, even though electric vehicles are on the rise. Fossil-fuelled vehicles will exist for decades, particularly the big burners of diesel-trucks, which are harder to electrify. The fuel is also needed by trains and ships. So, anything that helps clean up overall emissions is useful—especially if it also eases a mountainous waste problem.
1. What’s the purpose of the first paragraph?| A．To analyze causes. | B．To present problems |
| C．To reach solutions. | D．To make comparisons |
| A．Air boosts the burning of the old tyres. |
| B．The remaining gases are emitted into the air. |
| C．Pure carbon black is an unprocessed substance. |
| D．TDO comes from the removed hydrocarbon gases. |
| A．Diesel made from TDO. | B．Clean electric energy. |
| C．Carbon-neutral process | D．Recovered TDO from old tyres. |
| A．The Problems of Burning Old Tyres. |
| B．The Black Liquid Called TDO. |
| C．The System Preventing Emissions |
| D．The Alternative to Tyre-recycling. |
9 . Christmas was approaching. I still hadn’t prepared a gift for my wife Donna. However, Donna was good at
We had just moved to Italy and were still
Northern Italy is usually
Donna’s daily calls continued, and so did my daily visits. I still didn’t mention the
When approaching our home, Donna shouted, “You give me the best Christmas gift!” I was
| A．decorating | B．recycling | C．evaluating | D．planning |
| A．thoughtful | B．cheap | C．common | D．similar |
| A．exercising | B．unpacking | C．wandering | D．arguing |
| A．library | B．house | C．store | D．clinic |
| A．horribly | B．abnormally | C．reasonably | D．rarely |
| A．freeze | B．escape | C．starve | D．move |
| A．replaced | B．advocated | C．ruined | D．enriched |
| A．collection | B．treatment | C．approval | D．description |
| A．reward | B．topic | C．proposal | D．assistance |
| A．turn in | B．turn out | C．turn on | D．turn away |
| A．complaint | B．schedule | C．disappearance | D．prediction |
| A．proudly | B．silently | C．angrily | D．blindly |
| A．analyze | B．get | C．break | D．publish |
| A．frightened | B．thrilled | C．inspired | D．confused |
| A．purpose | B．theory | C．adventure | D．example |
10 . For some people, nothing beats a long walk on a sandy beach. But there’s no denying that it’s not as easy or as fast to get around on the beach as it is on a road or a sidewalk. But why is it so hard to walk on sand?
The problem with sand is that it’s soft; you “sink in” at each step. This forces you to use 2.1 to 2. 7 times more energy with every step you take. Another idea is that people walk more difficultly on soft than they do on hard surfaces, a study found. The researchers compared how people walked on foam (沫) and hard surfaces by analyzing the forces under their feet and how much oxygen each person consumed. They found that walking on soft surfaces, such as sand, mud and snow, caused people to take longer steps — actions that use more energy than walking on a hard surface.
But as experienced beach walkers know, there’s a way to make it easier to walk on sand: Just add water, When sand is wet, it becomes more compact (紧密), and walking on it is more similar to walking on hard surface. In other words, it’s much easier to cross a beach by walking along the shoreline, where the waves roll in and out. This is a balance though; too much water could make the sand soft once again. If water isn’t an option, there is another way to make walking on sand easier — increasing your surface area. This could be accomplished by wearing shoes.
Although it’s more difficult, there are some good reasons to exercise on sand. The impact forces are lower on sand than on hard surface. Research suggests that walking across sand is much easier on your joints (关节) and muscles, especially compared with an unforgiving surface such as concrete (混凝土). This means sand is a better surface for helping athletes recover more quickly from workouts.
1. Why is the question raised in the first paragraph?| A．To show problems. | B．To call up readers’ memories. |
| C．To invite readers to answer it. | D．To draw readers’ attention to the topic. |
| A．By putting on shoes. | B．By taking longer steps. |
| C．By walking in the water. | D．By using special breath methods. |
| A．Sand. | B．Concrete. |
| C．Foam. | D．Snow. |
| A．Tips for Beach Vacation | B．All Kinds of Sports on the Sand |
| C．Why Is It So Hard to Walk on Sand? | D．Where Are We With the Sand Research? |
