2 . I’ve reached the turn-around point of the day’s kayaking (皮划艇) trip. Sweat runs down my cheek as I ______ my fingers through the cool water. I look around. It’s just me, a couple of seagulls, and shining freshwater to the horizon. This, I whisper to myself, is ______.

Solo outings had never ______ my mind before because I always had loyal friends willing to tag along. But three years ago, I moved to Cleveland. Meeting close friends in a new city is ______. And a world wide health crisis made ______ impossible.

In October 2022, I decided to ______ a whole day on a solo hiking trip. I went to Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) to ______ the autumn leaves. Five miles in, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so alive. I was more ______ of my surroundings than I’d ever been while hiking that day. I studied the markings of trees, focused my ears on each forest sound and did something I had almost never spared ______ for: I listened to my own thoughts. Every word in my mind pointed to a newfound ______—solo hiking is my happy place. From then on, I have adjusted myself to any solo activity.

Pride ______ through my body when I first launched my kayak. My chest, ______ tightened by nerves, was bursting with happiness as I finally reached the middle of the river that I’d long ______ standing on shore before.

Adventuring alone has become like medicine for me! It’s also pushed me to go ______ my comfort zone and to meet new people. Through meetups and social media, my adventure friend circle has ______. But at least once per month, I schedule time to hit nature with my favorite trail buddy: me.

1.

A．dip

B．raise

C．point

D．slip

2.

A．exhausting

B．awesome

C．surprising

D．terrible

3.

A．crossed

B．lost

C．cleared

D．occupied

4.

A．available

B．crucial

C．tough

D．common

5.

A．admissions

B．circumstances

C．connections

D．relationships

6.

A．bring up

B．take up

C．pull up

D．put up

7.

A．appreciate

B．collect

C．cut

D．sweep

8.

A．ashamed

B．scared

C．aware

D．tired

9.

A．time

B．effort

C．room

D．money

10.

A．myth

B．regulation

C．definition

D．truth

11.

A．pulled

B．looked

C．coursed

D．carried

12.

A．occasionally

B．initially

C．constantly

D．instantly

13.

A．visited

B．swam

C．rowed

D．admired

14.

A．within

B．into

C．beyond

D．through

15.

A．emerged

B．ballooned

C．surrounded

D．encountered

4 . More than three billion people rely on the ocean to make a living, most of whom are in developing countries. As the global population increases, the demand for seafood is expected to rise, too.

Although ocean ecosystems are stretched to the limit by climate change, overfishing and more, studies nevertheless suggest that seafood can be expanded sustainably to meet future food demands. Success will depend on small-scale fisheries. These fisheries can be remarkably efficient. Almost everything that hand-to-mouth fisheries catch is consumed. By contrast, around 20% of the fish caught by industrial ships is estimated to be wasted, mainly because of unwanted by-catch.

Small fishers rarely have the right resources to expand their operations, or even to survive. If they do scale up, they might lose some of their current advantages or engage in the same harmful practices as do large commercial fisheries. Managed with care, however, small fisheries could provide win-wins for livelihoods and the environment.

Most nations already have management policies for marine ecosystems that provide for small-scale fisheries. But small-scale fishers’ rights to access are often poorly defined, ineffectively enforced or unfairly distributed (分配). Government subsidies (补贴) also require reform. One estimate found that large-scale fishers receive about 3.5 times more subsidies than small-scale fishers do. Instead, subsidies and other funds should be directed towards small-scale fishers to let them expand their access to markets, while keeping them from adopting the negative practices of large-scale operations.

The total global loss and waste from fisheries is estimated at between 30% and 35% annually primarily due to a lack of technology, good manufacturing practices, and infrastructure such as decent roads and cold storage. Public and private investment in cold-storage facilities and processing equipment could help. One promising strategy is to pair international or national funding with direct contracts for feeding programmes linked to schools, hospitals and similar facilities. Such arrangements would provide small fisheries with large, consistent markets and storage infrastructure that boosts local consumption and does not incentivize (刺激) overfishing.

Moreover, simple incentive programmes could be conducted by funders, managers and local governments trying to promote sustainable fisheries. For example, local markets could display a rating system for individual fishers or small fisheries. This could include various elements of sustainability other than environmental ones — such as providing information on the type of fishing equipment, location of the catch and freshness. Promoting the rating as a social responsibility concept would inform consumers of the need to support sustainable fisheries.

Anyway, only joint problem-solving efforts can deliver seafood protein, sustainably, to a world that increasingly needs it.

1. The passage mainly tells us that ________.

A．small fisheries can help the world if managed with care

B．the global demand for seafood is increasing dramatically

C．small-scale fisheries need to be commercialised urgently

D．people in developing countries are more reliable on fishing

2. Small-scale fisheries are more efficient because ________.

A．what they catch is hardly wasted	B．their by-catch accounts for a larger share
C．they catch fish by industrial means	D．their operation is limited within a small area

3. What can be inferred about small fisheries’ current situation?

A．They gain no support from governments.	B．They are expanding to meet local demands.
C．They have little access to good resources.	D．They impact marine ecosystems negatively.

4. To promote sustainable fisheries, which of the following is one of the author’s suggestions?

A．To initiate a rating system for small fishers to evaluate the local markets.

B．To provide technology for small fisheries to boost their fishing efficiency.

C．To inspire a sense of social responsibility in large-scale fishers and consumers.

D．To facilitate direct cooperation between small fisheries and feeding programmes.

5 . I stopped at the top of the hill, my right foot pressed back against the coaster brake (脚刹) on my bicycle. All I needed to do was to_______ my foot, and I would be swept down the hill. But I _______ . To my 12-year-old eyes, the hill was a mountain and the slope was _______ steep, which prevented me taking up the challenge.

When I returned to my hometown more than three decades later with my friends Dave and Scott, we _______ to the base of the hill and walked our bikes _______ . We stood once more at the top of that hill, looking down from the edge, but this time with a _______ set of eyes. To our surprise, now the _______ seemed more obvious, even larger than we’d imagined as kids. We knew that once we started down, there was no stopping or _______ . And right at the bottom of the hill, we would have to turn left to _______ dumping into the stream.

Dave went first. Then I was next. My heart was pounding. I ________ on the bike for a moment. Then I released the brake and yielded myself to ________ . I skidded to a stop next to Dave. Scott followed. The three of us spent several minutes laughing, draining off the adrenaline (肾上腺素) . We had ________ the childhood challenge of riding our bikes down the steep hill.

We didn’t know it then, but we’d face many similar ________ over the years — leaving home, getting married, moving to a different town, starting a new job, and many others — that would cause us to pause at the ________ and collect our courage ________ we launched ourselves down the trails of our lives.

1.

A．stamp

B．break

C．lift

D．keep

2.

A．paused

B．started

C．charged

D．fell

3.

A．unnecessarily

B．incredibly

C．occasionally

D．hardly

4.

A．ran

B．rode

C．climbed

D．wandered

5.

A．out

B．off

C．away

D．up

6.

A．similar

B．whole

C．different

D．smart

7.

A．risk

B．stream

C．slope

D．assumption

8.

A．turning back

B．looking down

C．giving in

D．breaking out

9.

A．get

B．avoid

C．make

D．search

10.

A．called

B．improved

C．smiled

D．balanced

11.

A．pressure

B．fate

C．gravity

D．difficulty

12.

A．recalled

B．completed

C．forgotten

D．received

13.

A．activities

B．troubles

C．lessons

D．periods

14.

A．corner

B．route

C．edge

D．line

15.

A．when

B．because

C．after

D．before

6 . “I was in the ICU. I’d been told I’d be released the next day. The worst, it seemed, was behind me.” Jake Ryan didn’t know it at the time, but the worst was not totally behind him. After his open heart surgery, he was about to enter a different and difficult journey on the road to physical and emotional recovery.

Upon discharge (出院), the hospital gave Jake a “care package.” “I miss my 3-year-old twins. I remember thinking how much I wished there was a book in the package that would offer guidance for how to be a dad following surgery. There wasn’t, but it was out of that thought that this book was born.”

Dear Diary Franklin is a novel written in the voice of 11-year-old Hannah Brody, whose father had suddenly collapsed on a gym floor and was in need of serious medical attention. The book is written in diary format, which gets readers deep inside the head and heart of its young heroine.

Through her diary, readers hear about Hannah’s feelings and frustrations as she copes with the anger, fear and confusion of the impact of her father’s surgery. What are they keeping from me? And why? She repeatedly hears the catchall cliché (陈词滥调) “everything is going to be fine” so many times that she can only think anything but. Her own translation: “Normal was over.” While her dad does his best to keep things as normal as possible, his recovery, as you’d imagine, is slow and his routine changes. Meanwhile, there’s the matter of school and Hannah’s place within what for some is a terrifying social universe—she has few friends.

While Ryan said his motivation was to help men (or parents in general) deal with the aftereffects of major surgery in their families and themselves, he has delivered a valuable story for children and grownups alike in how to tackle a difficult life event that nobody can truly prepare you for.

1. What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph l refer to?

A．That he was sent to the ICU.

B．That he had got past the worst things.

C．That he would go through a tough recovery.

D．That he would be discharged from the hospital.

2. Why did Jake Ryan write Dear Diary Franklin?

A．To share a personal journey of recovery.

B．To provide support for parents after surgery.

C．To explore the challenges of post-surgery life.

D．To offer guidance for children with sick parents.

3. What can we learn about Hannah Brody from the text?

A．She terrifies her friends away.	B．She buys what is told to her.
C．She changes her father’s routine.	D．She suffers lots of hardships.

4. What is the text?

A．A news report.	B．A child’s diary.
C．An advertisement.	D．A book review.

7 . Imagine you’re out for an evening stroll (闲逛) in a foreign city, looking to find a restaurant for dinner. You will look for the busiest restaurant with the most diners because its popularity is bound to reflect on the quality of food and service. But is this true?

In tourist areas, which lack regular, local customers, the number of diners is unlikely to hold information about the quality of the meal. In this case, following the example of others could have led to a sub-optimal (次佳的) dinner choice in an overcrowded restaurant.

Spontaneously (不由自主地) copying other people’s thoughts or choices or simply going with the crowd is often referred to as “Herd behaviors”. It is a frequent occurrence among humans as well as many other animals, a common example being sheep.

Herding can appear to make a lot of sense. Average judgements of large groups of people often outperform individual choices. Furthermore, following the crowd appears to offer protection and comfort — after all, there’s “safety in numbers” — while helping to maintain a favourable reputation. Finally, following the herd reduces the effort needed to make a personal or unique decision.

Herd behaviors, while common and easy to explain, can have many harmful effects. Blindly following the herd can have grave consequences when trying to escape from danger. As seen in examples during earthquakes, herding may result in the entire crowd rushing for the same door, even if other exits are available. This unavoidably affects evacuation (撤退) efforts and may result in avoidable injuries or even deaths.

Psychology research suggests that it’s surprisingly difficult to resist the influences of the herd. In an experiment involving financial decision making, researchers found that warning messages about the potential errors of the crowd were surprisingly ineffective in helping customers make better choices. It appears there is no quick and easy fix. Instead, it is advisable to involve individuals adopting more critical approaches towards peers’ opinion, and questioning others’ behaviors as opposed to blindly following them.

1. What does the author want to tell us by the restaurant example?

A．Undesirable outcomes of herding,	B．Wise dinner choices of most customers.
C．Practical ways of avoiding herding.	D．Poor conditions of popular dining places.

2. What does paragraph 4 mainly tell us about herding?

A．Its application.	B．Its disadvantages.
C．Its definition.	D．Its benefits.

3. What does the author suggest readers do in the last paragraph?

A．Send warning messages.	B．Follow peers’ opinions.
C．Stop behaving critically.	D．Have our own judgments.

4. Which is the best title for the text?

A．Why can’t you find the reasons for herding?

B．Why shouldn’t you follow the crowd blindly?

C．When should you avoid influences of herding?

D．How can you discover wisdom of crowds?

8 . As climate change causes ocean temperatures to rise, one of Greenland’s previously most stable glaciers is now reducing at an unheard-of rate, according to a new study.

The study was led by researchers at The Ohio State University. The team found the truth. Between 2018 and 2021, Steenstrup Glacier in Greenland reduced about 5 miles, thinned by about 20% and doubled in the amount of ice that went into the ocean. According to the study, such a rapid change is so extraordinary among Greenland’s ice formations that it now places Steenstrup Glacier in the top 10% of glaciers that contribute to the entire region’s total ice discharge.

Steenstrup Glacier is part of the Greenland Ice Sheet, a body of ice that covers nearly 80% of the world’s largest island, which is also the single largest contributor to the global sea rise from the cryosphere (冰冻圈), the portion of Earth’s ecosystem that includes all of its frozen water. While the region plays a crucial part in balancing the global climate system, the area is steadily reducing as it loses hundreds of billions of tons of ice each year because of global warming.

As far as scientists knew, Steenstrup Glacier had been stable for decades. It was hardly influenced by the rising temperatures that had influenced so many other regional glaciers, likely because of its special position in shallow water. It wasn’t until Thomas Chudley, lead author of the study, and his colleagues collected observational and modeling data from previous remote sensing analyses on the glacier that the team realized Steenstrup Glacier was likely experiencing melting due to anomalies (反常现象) in deeper Atlantic water.

According to Chudley, the current situation in Greenland serves as an early warning sign for possible future events in West Antarctica within the next few centuries. He also expressed the importance of conducting direct observations in the fjord to understand the reasons behind the changes observed in Steenstrup Glacier.

1. Why does the author mention the figures in paragraph 2?

A．To count the number of global glaciers.

B．To show the severity of melting glaciers.

C．To tell people the percentage of glacier water.

D．To stress the consequence of global warming.

2. What possibly makes Steenstrup Glacier stable for a long time?

A．Its location.

B．Its content.

C．Its sort.

D．Its big coverage.

3. What is Chudley’s attitude to the current situation in Greenland?

A．Optimistic.

B．Concerned.

C．Disappointed.

D．Confident.

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．A once-stable glacier in Greenland is now rapidly disappearing.

B．The Steenstrup Glacier is the largest contributor to the global sea rise.

C．Researchers try to enter Greenland to observe how it has changed.

D．Glaciers play a crucial part in balancing the global climate system.

10 . Where do great musicians, great mathematicians and great sportspeople get their talent? For decades now, we have assumed that most of them are simply born with a talent that ordinary people do not have. When baseball legend Ted Williams claimed that his achievement had nothing to do with natural ability but were the result of practice, practice, practice, people assumed that he was merely being modest. But scientists now believe that there was a good deal of truth in what he said.

Throughout the last century, it was accepted that we inherit （继承） many of our characteristics from our parents via their DNA, that each of us inherits a fixed amount of intelligence -a fixed IQ, and that most of us are to be ordinary. But now it is accepted that our genes interact with their surroundings, getting turned on and off all the time. “There are no genetic factors that can be studied independently of the environment,” explains Michael Meaney of McGill University. “And there are no environmental factors that function independently of our genes. They work alongside each other.”

How does this view of the role of genes change our understanding of individual talent and abilities? Does it now mean that genes don’t matter, and that we all have the potential to be like, say, Lionel Messi or Lebron James? Such a claim flies in the face of reason. The genes we inherit clearly matter, as do genetic differences between individuals. But it is also true that Lionel Messi would not have become the super footballer he is, nor Lebron James a basketball superstar, without putting in thousands of hours of practice. They could have turned out entirely different people. Talent researcher Kevin Rathunde agrees. “High academic achievers are not necessarily born much smarter than others but genes do count,” he writes in his book Talented Teenagers, “and above all they usually work harder and develop more self-discipline.”

1. What did Ted Williams think led to his success?

A．His natural talent.	B．His full commitment.
C．His modest personality.	D．His extraordinary intelligence.

2. What did we widely believe during the 20 century?

A．Intelligence has little to do with DNA.

B．Our genes interact with our environment.

C．The majority of us are of average intelligence.

D．Our character is simply decided by inherited DNA.

3. Why does the author mention “Lionel Messi” and “Lebron James” in paragraph 3?

A．To clarify a point.	B．To illustrate a rule.
C．To offer a solution.	D．To make a prediction.

4. Which statement will Kevin Rathunde probably agree with?

A．Most of us are born to be average persons.

B．We could all be geniuses if working hard enough.

C．Genetie factors are more important than hard work.

D．Great talent is a combination of genes and practice.