1 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. reminder B. partner C. non-fiction D. setting E. survival F. acknowledges G. tastes H. symbolic I. value J. meaning K. grasps

What makes the perfect winter read?

As the weather turns and the sky darkens, autumn and winter can often feel like the perfect time for curling up with a good book.

But I wonder if it’s just me who finds that my reading     1     seem to change along with the seasons? The books I might choose to read in some sunny garden are very different from the ones I want when the wind is blowing outside and a few precious hours of watery daylight are the best we can hope for.

I always     2     writing that evokes (唤起) time and place, and in the midst of the coldest, darkest part of the year, I want more than ever for a book to be “a ball of light” in my hands, as Ezra Pound famously once put it — a(n)     3     of life and love.

I also need a certain degree of comfortness in a winter read — something that will keep me warm when the weather won’t! Give me gothic (哥特式的) building in the snow, with heroines whose passions burn brightly. Or let me escape completely, into some fantasy     4     — but I’d still like my forests icy and pine smelling. Give me stories of     5     and re-birth. Remind me that this time of year has     6    , too.

Katherine May’s beautiful, poetic deep thought on the season, Wintering, does precisely this. Seemingly, it’s     7    , combining aspects of her life with more universal thoughts on how we might winter well. But there’s a lyrical (抒情的),     8     quality to the writing that confuses plain concepts like “genre”. She     9     that in winter we need different tools to get us through the season and it also offers one such tool, since Wintering itself is the perfect guide book and     10     to see you through until spring.

That’s why books that help me see the beauty of the season will always be high on my list of winter reads.

2 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. accessible     B. criterion     C. concentrate     D. reduced        E. evolved       F. explore G. host             H. interact       I. restorative       J. stimulation     K. verbalise

Outdoor Play Benefits Kids’ Mental Restoration

Many of the psychological benefits of outdoor play are already well established. Our brains     1     in natural landscapes, and our perceptual (感知的) systems are particularly well suited to wild outdoor spaces.

This means that natural scenes provide the perfect level of     2    , which is thought to help recharge the brain when it is tired and easily distractable. Supporting this theory, one study found that children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were better able to     3     following a 20-minute walk in the park, compared to a 20-minute walk on the streets of a well-kept urban area. Being exposed to grass and trees seemed to have had a beneficial effect on their minds. The authors recommended using such “doses (剂量) of nature” as a safe and     4     way of supporting children with ADHD, alongside other tools.

Besides these     5     effects, outdoor play can offer valuable learning experiences. For example, playing with mud or sand can help children develop the way their senses and movement     6    , which allows the child to gradually understand his or her bodily signals.

Such activities — away from the house or classroom — may also help children to find ways to cope with emotions that may be hard to     7     in other environments. So-called “sand tray therapy”, which involves using sand and clay to express one’s thoughts and feelings, is an accepted form of counselling for children who are struggling to     8     their emotional state.

When it comes to the child’s physical health, the most obvious advantage of outdoor play may be the exercise. A child may find it easier to build up strength and endurance in a large open space resulting in a(n)     9     risk of overweight, according to one study led by Elizabeth Gershoff, professor of human development and family sciences at the University of Texas at Austin, US.

The latest findings, however, suggest there could be a(n)     10     of other advantages to playing in natural environments — and the secret may be alive in the mud itself.

3 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. fertile   B. rewoven C. deep-rooted D. recapture   E. produce   F. needlessly G. foodstuffs H. minerals   I. worthlessly   J. document   K. deforested

The Promise of the Circular Economy

The origins of the expression “waste not, want not” can be traced to the 1500s.We feel bad when we expend resources     1     (like leaving lights on when we’re away) or throw out things that shouldn’t have become trash (like uneaten, past-its-prime produce). This is a     2     guilty feeling.

But we do waste in ways big and small. The result is this shocking fact: Of the     3    , fossil fuels, and other raw materials that we take from the Earth and turn into products, about two-thirds end up as waste. And, more likely than not, that waste is part of a larger environmental problem.

“Plastic trash drifted into     4     soils, rivers and oceans. A third of all food rotted, even as the Amazon was     5     to produce more,” writes senior environment editor Robert Kunzig in “The End of Trash”. Climate change is what happens when “we burn fossil fuels and spread the waste – carbon dioxide -- into the atmosphere.”

What if we could     6     waste and turn it into something else? This concept, called the circular economy, is not entirely new. For generations, in Prato, Italy, old wool sweaters have been reduced to their knitting thread and     7     into new clothes. And environmentalists have supported the ideas of “reduce, reuse and recycle” since the 1970s.

Kunzig was sent to     8     where the new circular economy is taking hold. They found a lot of examples. In London, researchers are feeding rotted farm     9     to insects, which are made into animal feed. In hotel kitchens around the world, chefs are reducing waste from     10     like cookies, yogurt and Coke with AI garbage cans that measure it.

“It reminds me of a line in Diner, a movie I love: If you don’t have good dreams, you got nightmares.” Kunzig said, “The circular economy is like that -- it’s a dream we have to try to make real.”

4 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box.   Each word can only be used once.   Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. thread   B. illustrate   C. breaks   D. films   E. engage     F. second G. favored   H. constantly   I. embracing   J. considerably     K. certified

Learning for a Distracted Generation

Today's students have a problem, and it is not the one written on the board. They were born into a world where algorithms (算法) keep them clicking, scrolling and swiping at a rapid pace. Technology, smartphones, social media, and immediate access to the internet are hurting their ability to focus and changing the way they think.

Now teachers have a problem too. They find it particularly exhausting to ask students to read complex or long texts without taking regular     1    . Smartphones have clearly affected the younger generation, but how education should evolve for digital-native students was not something that was covered when they were getting     2     .   

A common     3     among teachers is that short is good. When students can't seem to pay attention to long lectures, many teachers simply hack lessons into smaller chunks (模块). In fact, students need time to     4     with a topic once the teacher introduces it before moving on. Switching between small lessons too quickly could rob them of valuable comprehension.

A 2018 study from educational publisher Pearson found that students aged between 10 and 24 tend to stay away from physical books. They prefer video as a source of information     5     only to teachers. Therefore, some tech-forward teachers choose to “meet kids where they are" on platforms such as YouTube and Instagram. Asha Choksi, vice president of global research at Pearson, gives the example of a teacher who     6     himself performing a science experiment and posts it to YouTube. When it is time for class, he uses the video to     7     materials in the textbook, which can seem boring to students.

Still, while those educators are     8     technology in the classroom to meet students’ needs, they are also finding value in traditional methods, and so suggest a blended (混合的) learning approach. Diregt instruction from them will never be replaced in their classes. Technology will be     9     only when it improves a lesson in ways that are impossible offline.

Digital natives will continue to eagerly adopt new media. Teachers have no choice but to adapt. They are making an effort not only to ensure that students take advantage of new technologies, but to teach students valuable skills that can help them succeed in a world     10     trying to distract them. Think of the Zuckerbergs, the Gates, the Jobs and all those pioneers in the tech world. They became successful not because they could code; it was because they could think.

5 . Directions: Complete the passage with the words given in the table. Each word can be used only once. There is an extra one that you will find no use for.

A. improve B. ignores     C. acceptable     D. crowd     E. desire     F. affect G. excellent   H. assignment     I. reduce   J. achieve     K. up-to-date

Tips to be a successful high school student

Everyone wants to be the best High School student. Unlikely, only few top it. Want to be one of them? Follow these tips, know the secret only the toppers know!

Dream big

You are the product of your thoughts. Dream big and have a higher purpose to live. Dream makes you    1     for something necessary for your life. It ensures a high level of excitement, and thus you stay highly focused. Therefore, you should be serious about dreaming big and    2     the quality of your life. Find the reasons to get good grades. Make your parents happy and your co-mates admire you. Do not be one among the    3    ; try being the one above the crowd. Dreaming big motivates you and makes you    4     more.

Do one task at a time

Avoid multitasking! Like listening to songs while doing your homework or doing a(n)     5     watching your favorite football show. Do you think you are saving your time? But no, you are not. Multitasking can     6     your productivity and effectiveness. Affecting your work is secondary, you know what? Multitasking can     7     your memory and reduce your IQ by 15 points.

Do not procrastinate (拖延）

Time and tide wait for none. It's very easy to procrastinate and it is     8     occasionally. However, making a habit out of it is where things go wrong. Awareness and diligence are the keys to be    9     students in high school. Being on time is the virtue(美德)．It is always advisable to complete tasks well before time, stay    10    , have preparation for exams beforehand, and stay on top of your game.

There is no shortcut to reach your dream. Still getting successful does not demand more of hard work. Little smart work can do everything.

6 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once.   Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. mobility        B. concerning        C. joblessness        D. upcoming        E. unemployed F. automated       G. deliberately       H. inequality       I. quoted        J. assumed        K. significantly

Will a Robot Really Take Your Job?

It is one of the most widely quoted data of recent years. No report or conference presentation on the future of work is complete without it. It has been pointed to as evidence of a(n)     1     jobs disaster by think-tanks and government agencies. The finding that 47 percent of American jobs are at high risk of being     2     by the mid-2030s comes from a paper written by two Oxford academics, Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne. It has since been     3     in more than 4,000 other academic articles. Such misunderstandings reflect the polarized (两极分化的) debate     4     the nature of automation and the future of jobs.

At one extreme are the negativists. They warn of mass technological     5     just around the corner. One advocate of this position, Martin Ford, has written two best-selling books on the dangers of unemployment caused by automation. He worries that middle-class jobs will disappear, economic     6     will cease, and the richest people in a country could “shut themselves away in gated communities, perhaps guarded by self-directed military robots and drones.” The     7     masses will live on a universal basic income.

At the positive end of the debate, classical economists argue that in the past, new technology has always ended up creating more jobs than it has destroyed. It was several decades before industrialization led to     8     higher wages for British workers in the early 1800s. While automation is likely to increase     9     in the short run by pushing some people into lower-paid jobs, it eventually increases the overall size of the economic pie.

Frey is often     10     to be in the first camp. His paper simply wanted to point out that 47 percent of the current jobs in America were more likely to be affected by automation. It got more attention than they would ever have expected. In part, this is because fear sells, particularly when it is stirred up by a misunderstanding.