1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

What If You’re Not Good at English?

Researchers whose first language is not English can spend around twice as long reading an English scientific journal article as native speakers. For a PhD student, that can mean     1     (spend) up to 19 additional working days per year just reading papers.

These statistics,     2     (publish) today in PLOS Biology, might not be shocking, researchers say, but it’s important to measure the effects of language barriers on the careers of academics       3     are not fluent in English. “It is the first step for the scientific community       4     (make) more efforts to solve this problem”, says Tatsuya Amano, a biodiversity researcher at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and a co-author of the study.

The team found that among scientists who had published only one paper in English, scientists from countries       5     English is generally poor spent 29.8 percent more time writing papers than native English speakers;     6     from countries with moderate English proficiency (能力) spent 50.6% more time. Similarly, the researchers found that people from countries with low English proficiency spent an average of 90.8 percent more time reading scientific articles       7     native English speakers.

At conferences, even those who overcome obstacles face difficulties in presenting their work in English. Germana Barata, a researcher who     8     (specialize) in science communication at the State University of Campinas in Brazil, says that despite being fluent in English, she still feels uncomfortable at times. “We       9     (give) the same amount of time to present, but all that we can say in 10 minutes is different from       10     a native speaker can say,” she points out.

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Day I Survived

It had been raining buckets that week, and authorities had issued a flood warning, though not for where I was. Still, I had placed sandbags on the floor outside my garden door just in case.

As I was drifting off to sleep, I suddenly heard the sound of rushing water,     1    I were lying beside a waterfall instead of in my bedroom. When I     2    (swing) my legs off the bed, I was shocked by the sensation of cold water lapping against my knees and rising fast.

    3    (feel) my way in the darkness, I grabbed my phone and turned on the flashlight. As I stepped out of my bedroom, water was shooting through the gaps of the garden door. The water     4    have gone over the sandbags, I thought. All around me, my things began to float: chairs, bookshelves, and pieces of my drum set.

I heard the garden door starting to break down     5    the pressure of the flood, and the water was now up to my waist. I began to panic. In bare feet and with my shorts     6    (glue) to my body, I started to walk to my only escape: the door that leads upstairs.

I struggled to the door and tried to pull it open, but the force of the water wouldn’t let me do so. I looked around and grabbed a broom     7    was floating behind me. Using it to pry (撬) open the door, I managed to make a gap of about a foot, just wide enough     8    (force) myself through. Finally, I made it outside. If I had woken up just a few minutes later, I would have drowned. The entire neighborhood was destroyed by the flood.

Later, we     9    (assure) that something like this happens only once every 100 years. I hope so. It pains me to see     10    was once a lovely, cozy street now turns into a waterscape.

3 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

A French bakery has become a tourist attraction in Nanping township, which is part of Zhuhai, a coastal city in Guangdong province.

Papa Romantic, located in Beishan community, attracts a large number of Chinese and foreigners alike. After     1     (taste)the bakery’s bread, some Chinese students who have returned from abroad have expressed admiration, while foreigners who lived in Zhuhai but moved to other Chinese cities such as Beijing     2     (continue) to have bread and pastries from the shop     3     (ship) to them.

The bakery is a welcoming environment for those who want to sit and enjoy authentic French cuisine.

On one side is a well-preserved old ancestral hall, and on the other side are lush trees that provide shade     4     the sun. The shop has a bright storefront, and the aroma of the bread, the aluminum tables and the chairs under sun umbrellas display a peaceful atmosphere away from the hustle and bustle.

At Papa Romantic, the best-selling items include baguettes, croissants, sandwiches, crepes and cookies. In addition, some unique treats such as fig bread and colorful macrons are also popular among young customers.

Owner and baker Ronan Salaun,     5     comes from the Brittany region of France, said the ingredients at his bakery     6     (import), and he refuses to use chemicals or additives in his food.

    7     his friends return to France, they know they need to bring him some crystal salt from a natural salt pond in France. The black pepper he uses comes from Madagascar.

“Simple things are important, and the quality of salt and pepper makes a big difference,” Salaun said.

While remaining true to his French roots, he has also taken into consideration the dietary habits of Chinese people. “Chinese locals prefer soft crust bread, while French like the crusty one. I sell both kinds. I can’t just maintain the original characteristics; I must adapt to locals’ preferences,” he said.

A former mechanical engineer, Salaun, was sent by a Hong Kong company to work at a furniture factory in Wanzai township, Zhuhai, in November 2000. He said he couldn’t have imagined how much his life would change with that move.

At that time, Wanzai was a tiny town     8     (border) Macao known for its flower trade.

For Salaun, life in Wanzai seemed simple and rustic. He remembers    9     when he wanted to take a bath, he had to heat the water up with firewood and then transport the water in a bucket to the bathtub.

Although the living and working conditions were not as favorable as     10     abroad, Salaun grew to love Zhuhai, which is located at the mouth of the Pearl River.

4 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Are You Ready to Hug a Robot?

Getting hugged tends to be a powerful positive emotional experience. Hugs have been shown to enhance social bonding and emotional well-being. However, not everyone can get a hug     1     they need one. Some people are lonely and do not have anyone to hug them. Others may be in long-distance relationships     2     it is not easy to get physical affection from their partner. In this case, they     3     receive fewer hugs than they like.

How can this problem be solved?     4     scientists have proposed is to develop hug robots. This could offer lonely people the positive effects of getting hugged without the need     5    (seek) a person who could hug them. Nevertheless, designing a hug robot is not an easy task. For example, if the robot is very large and made mostly of metal, people might be frightened of it,     6     happily hugging it. Therefore, psychological research is needed.

A new study, which     7    (publish) in International Journal recently, focuses on the development of Moffuly-II, a newly developed hug robot, which can move its arms to perform different small gestures during the hug. When two people hug, they often do specific things with their hands, such as clapping the     8    (hug)person on the back to signal sympathy. It is important that a hug robot can perform similar gestures, too. In the study, the scientists wanted to know whether these gestures would make a robot hug     9    (appealing). Volunteers who Moffully-Il hugged generally preferred hugs with gestures to gesture-less hugs. They felt that the robot was more friendly when    10    (perform) gestures.

The findings of the study indicate that it is possible to design a robot that people enjoy to hug. Details matter here, as the intra-hug gestures played a significant role in determining how much the human volunteers enjoyed the hug.

5 . Directions:   After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct.   For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Number of Steps a Day It Takes to Cut Risk of Early Death

New research suggests exactly how many steps you need to take each day to reduce the risk of heart disease and early death. If you     1     (fail) in your pursuit of walking 10,000 steps a day — researchers have some good news for you.

They found walking up to 10,000 steps a day reduces these risks. The lowest risk of early death was     2     people who took 9,000 to 10,500 steps a day. When it came to avoiding heart attack, people     3     (manage) around 9,700 steps a day had the lowest risks.

Experts have previously found people who spend a lot of time sitting while awake are more likely     4     (suffer) an early death and develop heart disease. It has been unclear     5     walking can balance out the effects of sitting down for most of the day — until now.

A study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, analysed data from 72,174 people     6     (age) around 61 from UK. Participants wore a device for seven days to measure their exercise levels. After a seven-year follow-up, 1,633 deaths and 6,190 cardiovascular (心脏血管的) events, such as heart attack, were recorded. The results showed any amount of daily steps above 2,200 a day were linked to lower death and heart disease —    7     the rest of the day was spent being inactive.

Julie Ward, a senior nurse in the U.K., said, “We encourage people to stay active for     8     heart and circulatory health by doing 150 minutes of moderate exercise a week. “This can be any activity     9     fits into your lifestyle, such as taking regular walking breaks away from your computer screen, going to the gym, enjoying exercise classes, or even getting off the bus one stop     10     (early) to get more steps in.”

6 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.   

Bob’s problems began during his formative years. His parents got divorced when he was young, and neither of his parents wanted to raise him or his brother and sister, so he     1     (bring) up by a foster family chosen by a social worker in the community.

Unfortunately, his foster father was a strict authoritarian and often beat him. Bob rebelled against this strict upbringing, and by the time he was eight years old, he     2     (run) wild, stealing from shops and playing truant. When he reached adolescence, sometime around his thirteenth birthday, he had already appeared in court several times, charged     3     juvenile crimes. The judge blamed his foster parents,     4     (explain) that children needed responsible parents and guardians who would look after them properly. The foster father didn’t agree with the judge and objected to this, pointing out that Bob’s two brothers and sister were well-adjusted children who behaved at home and worked well at school.

This has raised some interesting questions about the modern family system.     5     it is true that parents should not be too lenient with children by letting them do     6     they want,     7     too over-protective by sheltering them from the realities of life, it is also true that they should not be too strict. It has also highlighted the disadvantages of the modern nuclear family     8     the child has only its mother and father to rely on or the single-parent family, in which the mother or father has to struggle particularly hard     9     (support) their dependents.     

In fact, many people believe that we     10     return to traditional family values and the extended family: extensive research has shown that children from these families are generally better behaved and have a better chance of success in later life.

7 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

You may think that mom-and-pop stores are gradually dying out, giving way to chain stores and big business,     1     you would be wrong. The online shopping platform Taobao is a game changer and    2     (revolutionize) the way we buy and sell.

Taobao, or “treasure hunt”, recently became the largest e-commerce website in terms of traffic, surpassing Amazon. It has 190 million    3     (register) users and serves     4     (big) marketplace in the world. Half of China’s Internet users go to Taobao, either to browse, buy or sell, according to Web information company Alexa.

    5     Taobao borrowed its original business model from eBay when it started up in 2003, the student soon became the master. Just three years later, eBay shut down its site and now Taobao controls about 80 percent of the country’s online shopping market.

It charges almost     6     to list items for sale and makes most of its money from advertising. It also plans to share transaction data with its users so they can cash it on buying trends. This allows anyone with an idea and a computer to start a viable business, doing away     7     the need for significant start-up capital.     8     opening up a store on the high street selling to passersby, the world is every Taobao user’s oyster.

A friend of mine is a typical. She opened up a store selling children’s clothing near Nuren Jie,     9     was a popular market in Beijing. It was not a great success but her online sales through Taobao went ballistic. She closed the store and is now e-commerce only.

Effectively, taobao has become the country’s high street, but with global reach.     10     China is the world’s manufacturing base, it is relatively easy for individuals to source cheap goods and sell at a reasonable markup. Micro-stores are opening in their thousands every day and delivering an amazing variety of goods.

8 . 语法填空

Why Being in a Band Is Cool

When you were younger, a piano lesson may have ruined your day. Carrying a flute (长笛) from class to class just for a half-hour lesson     1     have seemed pointless. But as you enter the adult world suddenly you realize that knowing how to play an instrument is pretty cool. Yes, even the flute.

So, what makes being in a band so cool? Is it because you get to go on stage and play to millions of adoring fans? Well, yes, but it’ll be a few years before your dodgy rendition of ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ starts to resemble a Mozart symphony.

    2     talented you’ve been in music it’s still not easy to organize a band, but here’s a quick guide to get you started:

1) Find your members.

You’ll need a drummer, a guitarist, a bass guitarist and a singer. Any other instruments are a bonus. This is where     3     (play) the flute comes in, if you can make playing the flute cool, you deserve all the fame and fortune in the world!

2) Organize a band practice.

If you are lucky enough to have a band member     4     a drum kit and parents who are hard of hearing, you can practise at home for free. Otherwise, you’ll need to find a local studio     5     can be expensive.     6     (divide) the cost equally, including the cost of hiring any equipment such as cymbals for the drummer, you rock together, you roll together !

3) Be productive.

If you’re paying for a studio, the last thing you want is to spend it catching up with each other, so meet half an hour in advance to get all the chatting     7     (finish).

4) Agree on songs to learn, and learn them!

Each band member should choose a song for the whole band     8     (learn) ready for rehearsal. This will allow you to see     9     genres (类型) work for your group.

(5) Start writing.

Once you know what music works for you, start writing! You can do this individually or as a band but the most important thing is to respect other people’s songs. It’s very rare to find     10     who isn’t shy about sharing their first few pieces of writing, so be nice!

If that sounds like a lot of hard work, then you’re right! If it also sounds like a lot of fun, get stated! But what is it that makes all that hard work worth it?

Being in a band teaches you precious life lessons. It is a fun way of learning about how to share opinions respectfully, be creative, become more confident and work as a team. Once you can do that you’ll be well on your way to finding what it is about you that makes you unique, special and cool!

9 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank. How to Start a New Business

An entrepreneur is a person who creates , launches, and begins a new business, typically in response to a market demand that has not been met. Entrepreneurs are often imaginative, self-motivated individuals who develop full-time, successful, and sustainable businesses. Successful entrepreneurs frequently have relevant insights, expertise, and advice they may offer aspiring on their respective paths. Interviewing entrepreneurs to aid     1     might provide insight into the steps they took     2     (achieve) success. Here is the interview of entrepreneur-related questions , and you will find more preparations for it.

Question: How would you describe an entrepreneur?

Answer: An individual who establishes and expands their own company through innovative strategies     3     (know) as an entrepreneur. During the expansion of their companies, entrepreneurs are responsible for several important tasks in addition to cash generation. An entrepreneur perceives a commercial need in their society,     4     (develop) an idea for a business, and then takes the initiative to start their firm. Suppose a business idea does not center on producing a product that fills a gap in the     5     (exist) market. In that case, it most often centers on applying technical advancements to simplify the process of obtaining a product or service.

Question: How do entrepreneurs identify business prospects?

Answer: Entrepreneurs routinely seek chances to expand or increase their company’s revenues. They determine which product to include and which market to enter. An entrepreneur should listen to prospective customers and look for chances to build items that meet their demands. An entrepreneur can determine     6     other businesses in the area are doing and how they succeed by conducting a competitive analysis. This technique may involve conducting a physical survey or reading industry-specific materials. Conversations with consumers also facilitate the identification of their frustrations and negative experiences,     7     they may use to enhance a firm..

Question: What makes an entrepreneur successful?

Answer:     8     an entrepreneur, you are both your manager and the manager of others. To achieve success, you must possess a wide range of abilities. An entrepreneur must be able to manage people, a budget, operations, and in certain cases , investors. It necessitates a work style     9     (characterize) by multitasking and planning for the firm’s short- and long-term goals.     10     successful entrepreneur must be able to spend his time wisely, regularly analyzing and prioritizing projects based on their relevance and significance. It includes engaging in short- and long-term planning, economic forecasts, and market research.

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The Impact of Visual Cues on Behavior

During the energy crisis in the 1970s, Dutch researchers began to pay close attention to the country’s energy usage. In one suburb near Amsterdam, they found that some homeowners used 30 percent less energy than their neighbors     1     the homes being of similar size and getting electricity for the same price.

It turned out that the houses in this neighborhood were nearly identical except for one feature: the location of the electrical meter. Some had one in the basement.     2     had the electrical meter upstairs in the main hallway.     3     you may guess, the homes with the meters located in the main hallway used less electricity. When their energy use was obvious and easy to track, people changed their behavior.

Every habit     4     (initiate) by a cue, and we are more likely to notice cues that stand out. Unfortunately, the environments where we live and work often make it easy not to do certain actions     5    there is no obvious cue to trigger the behavior. When the cues that spark a habit are subtle or hidden, they are easy     6     (ignore).

By comparison, creating obvious visual cues can draw your attention toward a    7     (desire) habit. I’ve experienced the power of obvious cues in my own life. I used to buy apples from the store, put them in the crisper (储藏格) in the bottom of the refrigerator, and forget all about them. By the time I remembered, the apples     8     (go) bad. I never saw them, so I never ate them.

Eventually, I took my own advice and redesigned my environment. I bought a large display bowl and placed it in the middle of the kitchen counter. The next time I bought apples, that was     9     they went. Almost like magic, I began eating a few apples each day simply because they were obvious,     10     (facilitate) the formation of a healthy eating habit rather than keeping them out of sight.