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.

The Art of Blooming Late

Mozart struggled during his teens and early twenties. Though already a productive composer, he had to work as an organist (风琴手)to make ends meet.

Underpaid by his frustratingly average work, he felt a     1     (burn) desire to devote more time and energy to his art. So after a period of doubt and deliberation, that’s exactly what he did. He quit his job, set up shop in Vienna and settled down to     2     turned out to be the most creative period of his life.

If you aspire to do more personally fulfilling work — say,     3     (found) a start-up or turn a hobby into a full-fledged (完全成熟的) career — drafting a plan of action can be slightly discouraging. Even so, a few newly-released books suggest that it’s entirely possible to develop the clarity of purpose to create your own version of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.

In Aristotle’s Way, the classicist Edith Hall describes the ancient philosopher’s belief     4     becoming conscious of our skills, talents and aptitudes and then using our resources to make the most of them is the foundation of living a good life. If you’re not working toward reaching your unique potential — as Mozart did — it’s normal to feel dissatisfied. If that’s the case, says Aristotle, it’s your duty to make things right.

What, then, is holding you back? Rich Karlgaard, author of Late Bloomers, argues that our culture’s obsession with early achievement discourages us from pursuing our passions.     5     having varied interests, studying widely and enjoying our time — essentials for self-discovery — we’re encouraged to pass the tests, become specialists right away and pursue safe, stable and profitable careers.

As a result, most of us end up choosing professional excellence over personal fulfillment and often we lose ourselves in the process.     6     your job requires high-demanding tasks, being a specialist isn’t a treasure. Having a wide range of skills and experiences is     7     (beneficial) because it allows you to be quick-minded and creative.

The authors of Dark Horse, Todd Rose and Ogi Ogas of Harvard’s School of Education, noticed the negative effects of early specialization in a study of people who came out of nowhere to achieve great success. “Despite feeling     8     (overwhelm),” the two write, “most dark horses reluctantly struggled along for years before finally coming to the realization that they were not living a fulfilling life.”

To prompt this kind of revolution in your own life, Rose and Ogas suggest creating a goal tailored to extremely specific activities     9     truly inspires you. As you move forward, there are a few things to keep in mind. First and foremost, it’s never too late to become yourself. There are also benefits of taking a long winding path to self-fulfillment.     10     (remember) that age typically brings wisdom, resilience, humility, self-knowledge and creativity. As research has shown, small daily changes can have a profound effect and slowly but surely lead you closer to the person you think you ought to be.

2 . 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.

Talking With — Not Just to — Kids Powers How They Learn Language

Children from the poorer families begin life not only with material disadvantages but cognitive ones. Research for decades    1     (confirm) this, including a famous 1995 finding by psychologists Betty Hart and Todd Risley: By age four children raised in poverty have heard 30 million fewer words, on average, than their peers from wealthier families. That gap has been linked to shakier language skills at the start of school,     2    , in turn, predicts weaker academic performance.

But just the quantity of words a child hears is not the most significant influence on language acquisition. Growing evidence has led researchers     3     (conclude) quality matters more than quantity, and the most valuable quality seems to be back-and-forth communication — what researchers call conversational turns.

A paper     4     (publish) last week in Psychological Science brings a new kind of support to this idea, offering the first evidence that these exchanges play a vital role in the development of Broca’s area, the brain region most closely associated with     5    (produce) speech. Further, the amount of conversational turns a child experiences daily outweighs socioeconomic status in predicting both the activity in Broca’s area and the child’s language skills.

The researchers confirmed the classic 1995 finding that, overall, kids from wealthier families hear more words. And small     6     their sample was, they even confirmed the 30-million-word gap between the poorest and richest children. But they found that “by far     7     (big) driver for brain development was not the number of words spoken but the conversations,” Gabrieli says.

The researchers calculated that a child’s verbal ability score increased     8     one point for every additional 11 conversational exchanges per hour.

The study is a “very, very important” addition to a growing body of work, says developmental psychologist Kathryn Hirsh-Pasek, director of the Infant Language Laboratory at Temple University. “We have known for quite a while that conversational turns — or     9     in my work we call conversational duets — are very important for building a foundation for language and maybe for learning generally. What remains to be done is to link it     10     we know it has to be linked.”

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.

Signs You Are Eating Pre-Made Food at a Restaurant

Even at fine dining restaurants, serving pre-made food is a common practice most regular customers are not aware of. So how can you know for sure your food was made     1     you ever sat down at your table? Here’s how to tell if the food you’re eating is fresh.

You may be excited to see your waitress approaching with your food not long after you order it, but the biggest sign     2     you’re dinning at a restaurant serving pre-made food is how quickly your food arrives at the table.

A freshly prepared meal that’s made for people     3    (order) takes time. What doesn’t take much time is reheating pre-made food,     4     is often done at fast-food restaurants.

An extensive menu means the chef     5     have all those ingredients on-hand, which makes it difficult to guarantee freshness along with timeliness. To solve this problem, chefs often use pre-made food. That can range from already packaged products     6     preparing the meals in advance, but either way, they’re getting a head start, and the quality of your meal may suffer from     7    .

Often enough, the establishment you     8    (dine) at is the first indicator that your meal is pre-made. Choosing a chain restaurant for your dining destination may seem like a safe choice, for you know what’s on the menu and you know     9     it’s going to taste like, no matter what city you’re in.

Say you’re at a restaurant and you order a steak. You wait in anticipation, watering at the thought of     10    (slice) into a juicy steak. Your order arrives, and it looks just like you imagined it would, except for the taste. That’s probably because your steak hit the microwave before it hit your plate!

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

Buzzwords (流行词) Capture How We Lived in 2023

While walking along Suzhou Creek to gather material for my latest “Shanghai Expression” column, I was wondering     1    Shanghai’s modem skylines match the historical aspects of the area so effortlessly. The old and the new create a unique ambience (格调) .

Near the creek, I encountered Uncle Chen, fishing in a tranquil spot.

“Nice day for fishing,” I said in greeting him.

He looked up with a smile. “Yes, it’s a break from the mobile phono world.”

It     2     (strike) me that American publisher Merriam-Webster included “authentic” on its list of the year 2023’s top words. It reflects a growing focus on genuineness in an era     3       (dominate) by AI, celebrity culture and social media.

As I talked with Uncle Chen, the bustle of the city     4     (continue) around us. Food deliverymen buzzed past. Online celebrities in dopamine dresses held selfie sticks for livestreaming,     5     (highlight) the rise of a breed of “new professionals.”

Tourists and locals alike strolled through the area, some engaged in     6     appeared to be a “citywalk” —a wander     7     a clear destination.

Office workers walked by holding fancy coffee cups, a sign of the evolving coffee trends     8     have swept the city, like the “Moutai-flavored latte.”

Watching Uncle Chen, tourists, online celebrities, office workers and delivery people, I saw a changing city in a realm of constant change, summarized by a variety of contemporary buzzwords.

    9     2023 winds down, it’s interesting to note that buzzwords aren’t just words. Rather, they are markers of the dynamic, ever-changing aspects of life.

Each buzzword has its own story. Each popular phrase offers a peek into the hearts and minds of people, especially the younger generation. Let’s pause     10     (look) at some of them more closely.

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.

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.

6 . 用所给词的适当形式填空

Good afternoon.The lunch time news today     1     (read) by John Howard.The Prime Minister has visited a primary school in Ipswich where she     2     (meet) by the children and their teachers.She opened a new sports centre that     3     (build) with money raised by the parents and teachers.Another ￡20，000     4     (need)to finish the swimming pool，so more money raising activities     5     (organize) for the summer months.Earlier today a group of teachers were in an accident when their coach     6     (hit) by a truck.The teachers     7     (help)by local people until ambulances(救护车) arrived.Most of the teachers     8     (allow) to go home immediately，but those with more serious injuries     9     (take) to Norwich Central Hospital later today.More details     10     (report) to you later this afternoon.

7 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入 1个恰当的单词或者括号内单词的正确形式。

Lantern festivals add magic to     1     (celebrate) and their designs are deeply inspired by traditional culture. Shortly after organizing the lantern carnival in Hong Kong on Sept 24, Wan Songtao and his team hurried back to their hometown of Zigong in Sichuan province, where another grand lantern show was on the cards.

“The older I grow, the more     2     (attach) I become to lantern making” the 54 year old craftsman tells China Daily Early in     3     morning, Wan went to inspect work at Chinese Lantern World,     4     on Sept 27 was transformed into an ocean of light and color by massive lanterns in the shape of humans, flowers, animals and buildings, made to celebrate both the Mid Autumn Festival     5     the National Day.

“For this lantern fair, we derived inspiration from ancient Chinese poems,” Wan says, adding that Tianshang Gongque (the moon palace), a centerpiece as well as one of 21 core lantern installations ( 装 置) at the fair,     6     (inspire) by Su   Dongpo’s The Mid-Autumn Festival. The installation, which was composed of 19 palace style     7     (structure), stretched 270 meters and     8     (rise) high into the sky, drawing visitors’ eyes up to a “full moon”, a round LED screen showing Chang’e, goddess of the moon, flying toward her palace.

The eight-day holiday attracted over 210,000 visitors from around China to Zigong, a city which is     9     (remote) situated in the southwest of China but is home     10     one of the world’s best lantern shows.

8 . 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.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Longjing tea,    1    (literal) meaning Dragon Well tea, is a variety of pan-roasted green tea that    2    (name) after its production region — Longjing Village of West Lake in Hangzhou, China. It is one of the most popular teas in China and is considered as “the Queen of Green Tea”. Nowadays, this tea is also known    3     (lower) blood pressure and help the body keep cholesterol (胆固醇) levels under control, thus    4    (reduce) the risk of heart attack.

Longjing tea has a history over 2000 years, but what makes it even more    5    (fame) is an emperor. A legend links the Qianlong Emperor to Longjing tea. It goes that during his visit     6    tea plantations in the area, he took an interest in the harvesting activities and even joined in. While picking the tea, he received word    7    his mother in Beijing was ill, and in a hurry to leave, he put the leaves he had picked into his sleeves (袖子). On his return, his mother smelled the leaves and asked for tea to be made from them. After drinking the tea, as the story goes, she made a full    8    (recover) and the emperor declared Longjing tea    9    cure for illness, increasing its popularity around the country. Afterwards, Longjing tea became better known as the head of all tea types in China and also    10    (title)as the “Gentleman of the Chinese Teas”.

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.

Buy Now, Pay Later Spending

Buy now, pay later(BNPL) spending is expected to rise to record levels this holiday season. With so many young “buy now, pay later” shoppers already in debt from this short-term financing tool not requiring interest, questions emerge: Why do these shoppers use such a tool? And what risks does it pose to their budgets in the months     1     (come)?

The many Generation Z and millennials (typically around 40 years and younger) tend to use this short-term financing,     2     allows them to buy items and pay for them over time. Offered mostly by financial technologies, BNPL allows these customers to pay back their purchases     3     interest and with the first payment usually made at checkout. The most common “buy now, pay later” plan is     4     customers make four equal payments and pay off the debt in six weeks. It’s been a lifeline for some people, such as a university student     5     weekly income is not big enough. “BNPL provides consumers with flexible payment options so they     6     manage spending,” said Vivek Pandya, lead analyst at Adobe Digital Insights. That is of great importance for many consumers, especially     7     with a tendency to purchase higher-cost items.

However, since BNPL     8     (appear), warnings from experts have come into our view. They have been indicating that it’s financially unhealthy to form such a spending habit. According to New York Federal Reserve economists, BNPL may encourage debt to increase over time,     9     (influence) a consumer’s ability to meet non-BNPL commitments, or users to over extend themselves. Users should also note that     10     interest is not charged on the loan, they’ll be hit with late fees for missed payments, which can add up quickly, says the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.