3 . Roughly 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. In 1752, workers digging in Herculaneum uncovered a home that had belonged to a rich person. Inside, workers discovered over 600 scrolls (卷轴) , most of which were made from papyrus — a paper-like material.

The heat from the volcano had burned the scrolls so much that they looked like chunks of charcoal (木炭块) . These scrolls were so fragile that just touching them could make them fall apart. So scientists have been looking for ways to read the scrolls without opening them. Brent Seales, a computer scientist at Kentucky University, has been working on this for over 20 years.

Dr. Seales has developed a method of using a CT scanner to take 3D X-ray images of a papyrus scroll. Then he uses a computer program to "unroll" the scroll, and gets pictures of what it looks like on the inside. In 2016, his team used this method to read a burned scroll found near the Dead Sea. But the ink in the scrolls from Herculaneum was made from charcoal and water and didn't show up well in CT scans. So he decided to train an AI program, hoping to find the writing on the scrolls by looking for places where the papyrus was rougher.

Though Dr. Seales was making progress, it was slow going. Then he encountered two businessmen, who had the idea of creating a contest for decoding (破译) the scrolls. The contest, called the Vesuvius Challenge, was announced in March. About 1,500 people have participated in the contest and they're sharing information as they make progress. In August, Casey Handmer found a pattern that revealed where the ink had been on the scrolls.

Following Mr. Handmer's lead, Luke Farritor, a 21-year-old student at Nebraska University, created an AI program that found a whole word: “”, or “porphyras” which means “purple”. This was the first word ever read from these ancient scrolls. For his efforts, Mr. Handmer won $10,000.

“Now it is time to explore these words,” Dr. Seales says.

1. What is paragraph 1 intended to show about the scrolls?

A．Their features.	B．Their creation process.
C．Their source.	D．Their historic value.

2. What can we know from paragraph 3?

A．The CT scanner couldn't work well for all scrolls.

B．The materials of the Herculaneum scrolls were rare.

C．An AI program is the most useful in decoding the scrolls.

D．Seales went to the Dead Sea to search for decoding methods.

3. What is the purpose in holding the Vesuvius Challenge?

A．To share scroll-reading technologies.	B．To develop ways to write on the scrolls.
C．To push researchers to study AI.	D．To attract people to explore the scrolls.

4. What might be the best title for the text?

A．Reading Burned Ancient Scrolls Without Opening Them

B．Organizing an International Contest to Write Scrolls

C．Developing Technology to Help Appreciate Scrolls

D．Unearthing Many Ancient Scrolls in Herculaneum

6 . Gorillas (大猩猩) in films such as King Kong and Tarzan are wildly beating their chests when under threat. Researchers have tried to find out what the behavior might mean, and they doubt that the gorillas exhibit this behavior not to start fights, but to prevent themselves — and chest-beating could be used to advertise their body size to other gorillas.

Scientists observed 25 wild male mountain gorillas for over 3,000 hours. The research team used audio (音频) equipment to record the sound frequency, rate, duration, and amount of chest beats. To determine each gorilla’s size, the researchers used cameras to photograph and measure each gorilla’s back.

Although the rate, duration, and amount of beats did not correlate with the size of the gorillas, sound frequency did , the researchers report. The team also noticed that larger gorillas produced deeper-tone chest drumming. Previous research has shown that a gorilla’s larger body size is linked to reproductive success and social rank. The chest-beating could be a way for the gorillas to advertise their size to others and, in turn, avoid fights that could result in serious injury or death.

Though gorillas can obviously observe size just by getting a good look at others, the researchers suggest chest beating is copper-bottomed when trying to communicate through a thick forest. The sounds gorillas created by beating their chests are powerful enough to travel long distance through thick forests and signal others their size and fighting ability.

Animal expert Anna Nekaris says it would be interesting to see if smaller gorillas can imitate the deep tones of larger ones in future studies. Nekaris says, “For now, the researchers will continue to study chest-beating to see if the action can pass on other information, such as dominance rank, sex, and individual identity, to nearby gorillas.”

1. What is the second paragraph mainly about according to the research?

A．Its findings.

B．Its purpose.

C．Its samples.

D．Its method.

2. Why do some gorillas beat their chests?

A．To declare war on other gorillas.	B．To frighten other gorillas away.
C．To welcome their companions.	D．To celebrate their victory in a fight.

3. What does Nekaris suggest researchers’ study in the future?

A．If smaller gorillas can make deep-toned chest drumming.

B．If gorillas’ chest-beating contains other information.

C．If larger gorillas are better at using their body influence.

D．If gorillas have other communication skills.

4. Which section may the passage come from in a newspaper?

A．Health.

B．Entertainment.

C．Science.

D．Sports.

7 . Larry and I have always had our basic values in common, but our interests are as far apart as opera and basketball. I love art, and he is a huge sports fan. His big passion is seeing basketball games. He has been sharing season tickets with his friends for years. I must admit I’ve been always invited to see the games together.

This morning, I called my brother, Larry, and said, “I have a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which do you want to hear first?” “Good news first,” Larry answered. “You can go to sleep early tonight,” I said. “Okay. What’s the bad one?” he asked. “We’re going to the opera!” I answered, laughing loudly.

There was a reason for the joke. The last time I invited him to go to the opera, he fell asleep in the theater. I had to admit it was always boring for him, but when I gave him a ticket for my favorite opera, I really thought he might enjoy it. I woke him up, but soon he fell asleep again. When Larry found I was joking, he breathed a sigh of relief on the other end. He said, “But I want you to go to see the last basketball game this autumn with me.” I promised and complained, “Not again!” Actually, most of the time, when the game was on, I’d be texting or daydreaming. Sometimes, my telephone messages would be interrupted when the home team scored. I knew they scored because everyone jumped up and exchanged high- fives and fist bumps.

However, today, as I looked around at thousands of people cheering and getting increasingly excited, I decided to at least give it a try—for my brother’s sake, if not for my own. The game was intense, and I was fascinated soon. When the other team scored, I eventually felt a bit disappointed with the rest of my crowd. My brother was surprised to see me getting involved. I was astonished myself! I didn’t keep glancing at the clock, counting the minutes until we got out. Time flew. The game was over before I knew it.

1. Why does the author quote his conversation with Larry in paragraph 2?

A．To show their common values.	B．To show their sense of humour.
C．To show the trust between them.	D．To show the difference in their interests.

2. What was the author’s original reaction to basketball games?

A．He was casual about it.	B．He was pleased to watch it.
C．He felt puzzled about it.	D．He was curious about it.

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

A．Bored.

B．Disappointed.

C．Addicted.

D．Satisfied.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Art and Sport	B．From Opera to Basketball
C．Cheering for the Home Team	D．Developing a Passion for Opera

8 . It is not only praise or punishment that determines a child’s level of cognition (认知). There are some other important ways we shape our kids—particularly by giving instructions and commands in a negative or positive choice of words. For example, we can say to a child “Don’t run into traffic!” or “Stay on the footpath close to me.” In using the latter, you will be helping your kids to think and act positively, and to feel competent in a wide range of situations, because they know what to do, and aren’t scaring themselves with what not to do.

Actually, it is all in the way the human mind works. When we think, we automatically practise. For example, if someone offered you a million dollars not to think of a blue monkey for two minutes, you wouldn’t be able to do it. When a child is told “Don’t fall off the tree,” he will think of two things: “don’t” and “fall off the tree”. That is, he will automatically create the picture of falling off the tree in his mind. A child who is vividly imagining falling off the tree is much more likely to fall off. So it is far better to use “Hold on to the tree carefully.”

Clear, positive instructions help kids to understand the right way to do things. Kids do not always know how to be safe, or how to react to the warning of the danger in negative words. So parents should make their commands positive. “Sam, hold on firmly to the side of the boat” is much more useful than “Don’t you dare to fall out of the boat?” or “How do you think I’ll feel if you drown?” The changes are small but the difference is obvious.

Children learn how to guide and organize themselves from the way we instruct them with our words, so it pays to be positive.

1. Why do we choose positive words when giving kids commands?

A．To help them to learn in different situations.

B．To instruct their own behaviors.

C．To guide them to imagine the picture.

D．To improve their imagination.

2. What can we infer from Paragraph 2?

A．A child will act on what is instructed.

B．One won’t think of a blue monkey when given money.

C．A child will surely fall off the tree when told not to.

D．One can’t help imagining what is heard.

3. Which of the following commands helps kids to be safe?

A．How do you think I’ll feel if you get hurt?

B．Don’t walk on the grass.

C．Stay on the sidewalk until it’s safe to cross.

D．Don’t you dare to walk through the red light?

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Positive instructions guide kids	B．Praise makes kids confident
C．Right instructions keep kids safe	D．Clear commands make kids different

9 . In habitats across the planet, animals periodically drop everything to walk, fly or swim to a new place. Wildlife such as whales and geese learn migration paths by following their parents. Others, including small songbirds, gain the distance and direction of their migration within their genetic code. And some animals use a combination of genetics and culture to guide their migration.

Another group of migrators does not quite fit either model, and researchers have only recently started to figure out how they find their way. Take the Cory’s shearwater, an oceangoing sea bird that migrates over the Atlantic every year. The young do not migrate with their parents, so culture cannot explain their journeys. And the exact paths vary wildly from individual to individual, making genetics equally unlikely.

Cory’s shearwaters are long-lived, rarely producing young successfully before age nine. This leaves an opening for learning and practice to develop their migration patterns. Researchers call this the “exploration-refinement”, and until now it has been hypothetical (假设的) because of difficulties in tracking migratory animals’ movements.

But a team of researchers has done that by attaching small geolocators to more than 150 of the birds aged four to nine. They found that younger birds traveled longer distances, for longer periods, and had more diverse paths than older birds. “We finally have evidence of the ‘exploration-refinement’ for migratory birds,” says Letizia Campioni, who led the study. Younger Cory’s shearwaters are able to fly just as fast as the adults—but they do not, suggesting that the young do more exploring, which gradually fades as they mature and settle into a preferred course.

Although it may seem less efficient than other strategies, “exploration refinement could be beneficial to birds and other organisms in a rapidly changing world due to unpredictable man-made changes,” says Barbara Frei. “It might be safer to repeat a behavior that was recently successful than to rely on patterns that were perfected long ago but might no longer be safe.”

1. Why does the author mention different migration models in Paragraph 1?

A．To give an example.	B．To lead in the topic.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To support an idea.

2. What does the underlined word “this” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．The opening for learning and practice.

B．The unique living habit of Cory’s shearwaters.

C．The way Cory’s shearwaters form their migration patterns.

D．The process scientists track Cory’s shearwaters’ movements.

3. What does Letizia’s study find about the younger Cory’s shearwaters?

A．They lower the speed for exploration.	B．They move in a predictable manner.
C．They travel as much as adult birds.	D．They look for a course with their parents.

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

A．Fixed Tracks: Safer Migration Model

B．Migration Models: Important Ways to Deal With Changes

C．A Combination of Strategies: A Wise Choice for Migration

D．Exploration Refinement: Migration Model With Better Adaptability

10 . The scary day of our diving(跳水)test in my Monday morning high school physical education class was here. My parents thought we were honored to have an Olympic-size swimming pool at the school. But I wasn’t so _________.

Not only was I terribly _________ in regular classes and sat in the back of the room, but also I’d not be called upon to read. Each Monday I would work my way to the back of the lane forming at the diving board so I would not have to _________ the dives.

My blood ran cold when the teacher _________ we would be graded for our final on the most difficult dive. I _________ as the line to the awful diving board shortened. As I watched, each student seemed to perform the difficult _________ effortlessly, and shortly I would have to _________ something I’d never even practiced before.

Then I remembered someone telling me that when you _________ yourself doing a skill over and over, it’s just as effective as _________ practicing that skill. So I watched carefully as each girl jumped at the end of the board once, added a jump for height, __________ her body in half to reach for her toes, and finally straightened out like an arrow for entry into the water. I think I was actually in a state of __________, because all of a sudden I saw these four steps as achievable.

Then it was my __________. With my heart pounding and knowing I was going to be embarrassed(尴尬的、难堪的)beyond belief, I __________ the board, jumped once and then again to get height, folded for the toe reach, and stretched(伸展)out just as I had pictured in my mind, entering the water straight as a(an)__________.

I received an A for the course. It was __________ to think that I had just learned my first dive.

1.

A．upset

B．sure

C．nervous

D．anxious

2.

A．outgoing

B．confident

C．shy

D．calm

3.

A．master

B．train

C．exercise

D．practice

4.

A．believed

B．announced

C．ordered

D．assumed

5.

A．survived

B．cheered

C．shook

D．jumped

6.

A．movement

B．board

C．water

D．dive

7.

A．try

B．attack

C．avoid

D．expect

8.

A．know

B．picture

C．think

D．realize

9.

A．gradually

B．quickly

C．physically

D．slowly

10.

A．folded

B．strengthened

C．stretched

D．developed

11.

A．sorrow

B．fright

C．shame

D．shock

12.

A．turn

B．top

C．reply

D．object

13.

A．got out

B．walked down

C．took off

D．turned up

14.

A．boat

B．ball

C．arrow

D．lightning

15.

A．nervous

B．amazing

C．terrible

D．different