5 . The invention of rubber surgical gloves is celebrating its 135th anniversary in 2024!

Believe it or not, this little tool ________ in every doctor’s office and hospital was invented out of ________. In 1889, Dr. William Halsted was in love with the nurse and eventual wife, Carolyn Hampton. ________, this invention should be named “Rubber Gloves of Love”.

Hospital procedures ________ surgical personnel to wash and disinfect their hands before interacting with patients. Carolyn ________ severe dermatitis (皮炎) due to the use of mercuric chloride (氯化汞) for disinfection. She was almost about to ________ but Halsted wanted to keep her near him. To protect her ________, he thought hard and suddenly, something ________ him. He contacted the Goodyear Rubber Company, asking the engineers there to ________ thin rubber gloves for Carolyn.

________ rubber gloves were very different from what we have today, but they proved to be an excellent ________ to the operating room. The gloves were ________ well received. Many other personnel began wearing the gloves. It’s generally ________ that now they have many uses, far beyond their original ________. For example, hairdressers use them to prevent getting poisoned by dyes and solutions used in their business.

Whenever I see gloves anywhere, I couldn’t help but think of this ________ of inventing the “rubber gloves of love”.

1.

A．seen

B．made

C．tested

D．confirmed

2.

A．sympathy

B．love

C．curiosity

D．thankfulness

3.

A．Instead

B．Besides

C．Indeed

D．Otherwise

4.

A．allow

B．cause

C．promise

D．require

5.

A．developed

B．discovered

C．controlled

D．cured

6.

A．succeed

B．graduate

C．resign

D．retire

7.

A．achievement

B．courage

C．legs

D．hands

8.

A．happened to

B．occurred to

C．answered for

D．waited for

9.

A．check

B．clean

C．count

D．fashion

10.

A．Original

B．New

C．Extra

D．Regular

11.

A．response

B．attitude

C．sensitivity

D．addition

12.

A．usually

B．actually

C．carefully

D．nearly

13.

A．said

B．known

C．reported

D．announced

14.

A．belief

B．identity

C．purpose

D．quality

15.

A．story

B．record

C．work

D．memory

6 . Researchers have identified a growing threat to astronomy from the sunlight reflecting off communication devices in space. One such device, a communication satellite called BlueWalker 3, is currently one of the brightest objects visible from Earth, matching the brightness of Procyon and Achemar, two of the brightest stars in the night sky.

“BlueWalker 3 is visible in both dark sky and urban skies, though in urban settings this will be limited to when BlueWalker 3 passes overhead,” said Dr. Jeremy Tregloan-Reed, a co-author of the study at the University of Atacama in Chile. “Large constellations (星座) of bright artificial satellites in low Earth orbit pose significant challenges to ground-based astronomy,” the study’s authors wrote.

Tregloan-Reed said a large reflective brightness means that when a satellite crosses the detector of a telescope, it leaves a mark that can be difficult, if not impossible, to remove. This could lead to loss of data from the affected pixels (像素). But he said space-based astronomy also faced challenges from such satellites, noting that observations by the Hubble telescope had increasingly been affected by marks from Starlink satellites. Besides, the team notes the radio frequencies used by BlueWalker 3 are close to those used for radio astronomy, raising the possibility that such satellites could cause interference.

While BlueWalker 3 was folded when it was launched last year, once in space it opened up to reveal a huge surface area that reflected sunlight. Tregloan-Reed added that even if all the reflective brightness of all satellites was reduced to below the level visible by the naked eye, “the sky background glow will increase due to the accumulative effect of having hundreds of thousands of satellites from various operators from many countries in low Earth orbit. It is disastrous!”

BlueWalker 3, built by AST Space Mobile, is just the first one to be launched. The company is planning a constellation of satellites nicknamed BlueBirds, consisting of over 100 similar satellites and aimed to provide satellite network service for the whole world. You can imagine how bright the night sky will be at that time!

1. What can we know about BlueWalker 3?

A．It threatens the sunlight.	B．It was invented by Dr. Jeremy.
C．It is brighter than Procyon and Achernar.	D．It is visible in urban skies when passing overhead.

2. The brightness of BlueWalker 3 is most likely to affect ________.

A．earth orbit	B．space observation
C．radio frequency	D．satellite communication

3. Concerning the plan of BlueBirds, what might the author agree with?

A．It has potential drawbacks.	B．It is bound to be accomplished.
C．It is irreplaceable for astronomy.	D．It provides network service for the world.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．BlueWalker 3—A Bright and Dark “Star”	B．BlueWalker 3—The Most Valuable Satellite
C．The Night Sky—Glowing with BlueWalker 3	D．The Night Sky—Heavily Polluted by BlueWalker 3

7 . In the 7th grade, I was a naughty boy. Ms. Dinos pulled me aside for a fateful chat. What she had to say was simple—I was a follower with the potential of a leader, and what I needed was some new friends and some time to grow up. She suggested to my mother that I repeat the 7th grade. After a pout (噘嘴), a plea and a prayer, I made a deal, “give me the summer and I’ll show you!”

That summer, I made it my business to do just that. By the following school year, I was awarded a medal that valued my efforts. Two of those three friends she warned me of eventually became alcoholics—one an ex-con (前科犯), the other a woman-beater. Ms. Dinos saved my life.

Twenty years later, Ms. Dinos and I were reunited on the internet. However, she didn’t remember the event at all. Right then it hit me. That event that meant so much to me was just a singular moment in her well-lived life. And I learnt that Ms. Dinos had since become a famous garden designer, for she had a gift for planting seeds.

It was only months after reuniting with Ms. Dinos that an old student of my own popped up online. She informed me of the moment that I inspired her. According to her, I once shared a drawing of mine with the class. That student was so moved by the drawing that she wanted to learn to do the same. That picture ignited in her a passion that she later turned into a career. My own little seed was planted and now has grown.

Now understanding what I do about the power of planting seeds, I take every opportunity: share what I can with as many young people as possible. I offer bits of wisdom or words of encouragement, but sometimes just a smile—it goes a long way. I know that one day, when they’re ready for it, that seed I planted will he there, ready to grow.

1. How did the author respond to Ms Dino’ suggestion?

A．He ignored the advice.	B．He accepted it willingly.
C．He begged for another chance.	D．He decided to change schools.

2. From paragraph 3, we can learn that ________.

A．Ms. Dinos could recall the event vividly	B．Ms. Dinos had become a famous leather
C．the author had the same feeling as Ms. Dinos	D．the author was surprised by Ms. Dinos’ reaction

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

A．Invited.

B．Unfolded.

C．Sparked.

D．Displayed.

4. What does the author most likely want to tell us?

A．Seeds need planting.	B．We are all gardeners.
C．Pictures perform miracles.	D．Ms. Dinos predicts the future.

8 . The National Library of China (NLC) consists of NLC Ancient Books Library, NLC South Area and NLC North Area.

• The NLC Ancient Books Library provides research services based on general ancient books, rare books in foreign languages, chronicles and genealogies, and temporary thematic exhibition services.

• The NLC South Area provides professional services based on documents in foreign languages as well as special collections in Chinese and foreign languages, and display services of the National Museum of Classic Books.

• The NLC North Area provides services for the public, mainly including loan service and reading service of Chinese documents, electronic resources, audio-visual resources and children’s services.

Rules and Regulations

* By presenting NLC reader’s card, readers aged 13 and above can enter the open-stack reading area of the NLC and readers aged 16 and above can enter the closed-stack reading area.

* Children aged 15 and below can enter the NLC Children’s Library. Children before school age entering the Children’s Library shall be accompanied by an adult. Accompanying adults (one adult for one child) can enter the NLC Children’s Library with valid certificates.

* Personal books, periodicals and newspapers are not allowed in the Library. Bags and other articles can be stored in the lockers for free. Please eat and drink in the designated areas, and do not bring tood, colored or sugary drinks into the reading area.

Opening Hours:

♦ Ancient Books Library: Tuesday to Saturday, 9:00—17:00

♦ South Area: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00—17:00

♦ North Area: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00—17:00

♦ Children’s Library: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00—17:00

1. People can go to ________ to enjoy thematic exhibitions.

A．the NLC North Area	B．the NLC Ancient Books Library
C．the NLC South Area	D．the NLC Museum of Classic Books

2. What is required in the reading area?

A．Children must be accompanied by an adult.

B．Readers with bottled water can’t be admitted.

C．Readers should show their cards or certificates.

D．Primary pupils can enter the closed-stack reading area.

3. When is the North Area accessible?

A．At 11:00 a. m. on Monday.	B．At 9:00 p. m. on Sunday.
C．At 8:00 p. m. on Saturday.	D．At 10:00 a. m. on Thursday.

10 . Whenever you pick up an apple and prepare to eat it, you may notice a small sticker attached to the fruit with a row of four or five numbers on it.That string of numbers is something called a Price Look-Up (PLU) code.     1     It’s designed to help supermarkets get to know their inventory (库存) of fruits and vegetables, and to make it easy for checkout clerks to know what to charge for a particular item. Thus, you can get through the line and out of the door more quickly.

From the code, you can also know what specific variety of a particular fruit or vegetable you’re going to enjoy — whether it’s a Honeycrisp apple or a Shamouti orange. And it may tell you the size of the fruit or vegetable.     2     You may know whether it was grown conventionally (常规地) or on an organic farm.

A volunteer committee developed PLUs in 1988. One important reason why PLUs were invented was to enable supermarkets to tell the difference between conventionally grown fruits and vegetables and higher-priced organic food. As organic produce was being introduced then, cashiers often wrongly sold it at the conventional price.     3     There are now more than 1,500 different PLUs in use around the globe.     4     Just type in the code from a sticker on a piece of fruit, and it will tell you that 3114, for example, refers to an extra large green mango,belonging to the Keitt or Francis varieties of that fruit.

    5     The produce industry has been trying to develop biodegradable (可生物降解的) PLUstickers, but it’s difficult to do that. Eventually, PLUstickers may be replaced altogether by lasers that mark the codes on fruits and vegetables.

A．The function is fairly simple.

B．PLU codes have a long history.

C．You probably think organic food is healthier.

D．The appearance of PLUs helped solve this problem.

E．Besides, it shows where the fruit or vegetable comes from.

F．The future of fruit and vegetable stickers is still uncertain.

G．You can use the PLU search app to know what a particular one means.