3 . Nearly 50 billion pieces of litter are thrown along US roadways and waterways, according to a 2020 study by the non-profit Keep America Beautiful (KAB). That estimate includes more than 800 million pieces of fast-food packaging, 2. 6 billion food-packaging-film items, and 207 million pieces of personal protective equipment, like masks and gloves. Not all litter, however, is intentional. A large volume of litter also comes from unsecured items that fall off the back of vehicles or out of trash receptacles (容器).

To address the country’s ongoing litter problem, some public libraries are creating kits to help people clean up their neighborhoods.

”We want people to be involved in the community, says Samantha Hanchett, marketing coordinator (协调者) at Thomas County Public Library System (TCPLS). “Doing something that benefits everyone, even though it’s quite quiet, is really what a library does all the time.”

The library system launched a litter clean-up program with Keep Thomas County Beautiful (KTCB), the local KAB chapter (地方分会), in 2020. Actually, the chapter had previously held group clean-up events and naturally inspired more individual or joint efforts. As a result, KTCB partnered with the library to create kits for people in the library to check out.

Each kit contains items such as trash bags, gloves, reflective vests, and a booklet with guidance-lines and suggestions for where to clean up in the community. Litter kits are housed at the library system’s main branch in Thomasville, but people can request they be sent to their local branch for pick-up.

Hanchett estimates that kits are checked out between 30 and 45 times each year, noting that they are most popular with groups and grade school students. “People like the convenience of the kits because it’s something they can do on their own time,” she says. “It’s an elastic way of getting involved instead of having an appointed time in which you take part in the activity.”

1. Why are the data mentioned in Paragraph 1?

A．To indicate the pressing litter issue in the US.

B．To show the people’s habits of throwing litter.

C．To present convincing proof of environmental issues.

D．To urge people to preserve roadways and waterways.

2. What is the library always doing?

A．Trying to carry out something to benefit all.

B．Removing the litter by uniting common people.

C．Asking people to get involved in the community.

D．Doing some quiet things to advocate environmental protection.

3. What can we know about KTCB?

A．It created clean-up kits for people to buy.

B．It could stimulate people to borrow kits.

C．It used to launch similar clean-up projects.

D．It was good at holding litter clean-up programs.

4. Which of the following can replace ”elastic“ underlined in Paragraph 6?

A．Dull.

B．Tense.

C．Flexible.

D．Entertaining.

4 . Stonehenge is hiding a secret: the source of one of its stones.

Researchers know that the prehistoric circle’s outer stones come from nearby areas in England. But even after a century of study, the Altar Stone near the center of Stonehenge remains difficult to understand.

The Altar Stone belongs to a group of Stonehenge building blocks known as the bluestones, which came from areas far from Stonehenge. Researchers have found that some of the bluestones come from as far as 225 kilometers away.

“It’s a massive job of transport,” says Richard Bevins, an earth scientist at Aberystwyth University in Wales. His team is looking for the source of the Altar Stone. Uncovering the stone’s origins could suggest which ancient groups of people contributed to the building.

Scientists have been working to find the rock’s origins since 1923. A report about the Altar Stone’s minerals back then suggested it might have come from a set of rocks in Wales near where other bluestones cane from. Bevins’ team decided to revisit the rock’s riddle with modern techniques.

In 2021, the team analyzed (分析) the Altar Stone’s chemical makeup using X-rays. The X-ray method showed that the Altar Stone has high levels of the element barium (钡). But the stone’s makeup didn’t seem to match the rocks in Wales.

In the new study, the team collected 58 samples (样本) from a wider area in England and Wales. Of the 58 sample stones, four had high barium levels similar to the Altar Stone. The team then compared the overall mineral makeup of those four stones with the Altar Stone. But none were a match.

“Maybe we’ve been looking in the wrong area, and maybe we’ve possibly been looking at rocks of the wrong age,” Bevins says, “It’s not clear exactly how old the Altar Stone is.” So scientists may need to consider stone sources that are younger than the ones they have looked at so far.

1. Where do the outer stones of Stonehenge come from?

A．Wales,

B．Scotland.

C．Ireland.

D．England.

2. What does paragraph 7 mainly tell us about the new study?

A．Its sample.

B．Its finding.

C．Its preparation.

D．Its application.

3. What will Bevins’ team probably do in the follow-up study?

A．Date the Altar Stone.	B．Make the 1923 report public.
C．Sell the sample stones.	D．Move their office to the UK.

4. What can we learn about the Altar Stone?

A．It looks pretty young.	B．It was built by the locals,.
C．Its origin remains unknown.	D．Its makeup is the same as others’.

7 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Mary had always been a lover of tales. Her imagination was rich, and she often found herself making up stories in her head. Yet, she never dared to share them with anyone, confined (受限) by her shy nature and a fear of public speaking. Life passed her by in a routine that left little room for self-expression, and her stories remained locked within the walls of her mind.

One day, an old friend invited Mary to attend a local storytelling workshop. Hesitantly, she agreed, hoping to find a way to break free from her shell. As she entered the place, she felt a mix of expectation and fear. What if she stumbled(磕绊) over her words? What if people laughed at her? Despite her anxiety, Mary took her seat among the other participants, each there for their own reason—some seeking a new hobby, others looking for personal growth.

The workshop facilitator(主持人), a charming woman named Evelyn, greeted them warmly. She spoke of the power of stories and the beauty of sharing one’s voice. As the hours went by, Mary learned techniques to build suspense(悬念), create lifelike characters, and tell a fascinating story. The other participants listened carefully, offering ideas and encouragement. For the first time in a long while, Mary felt seen and heard.

As the day drew to a close, Evelyn announced an upcoming storytelling competition. It would be held in a few weeks at, a local bookstore. To Mary’s surprise, she found herself volunteering to participate. The thought of standing onstage frightened her, but something within her longed for the challenge.

注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Paragraph 1:

From that day on. Mary practiced day and night.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

The big day came.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . Grace Cogan’s favorite quote comes from American founding father Thomas Jefferson: “I cannot live without books”. The 14-year-old from Weston, Missouri thinks the same thing.

Grace was born with a disease that affected her skin and eyes, and caused kidney (肾) problems. Doctors told her parents she might not live.___________, she made it. However, she was often sick. During these 14 years, she had 22 operations and a lot of doctor’s ___________.It was reading that_________her in doctors’ waiting rooms or during long drives to appointments. “I always make sure to have a___________with me,” she said.

When Grace was little, her mother, Kelly, read Little House on the Prairie to her. Her dad, Brian,___________her more difficult historical novels like The Red Badge of Courage. Then Grace, though she had serious eye problems, started reading on her own, with her nose usually___________in a book. That’s where she sees most___________. “She wanted to know how things worked. She was so curious,” said Joyce Burch, Grace’s aunt. Maybe because of those early books, or maybe because of where she lives—a farmhouse that’s been home to five_________of her father’s family — Grace came to love history.

She asked her parents to take her to different historical places. She read historical novels, from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to 1776. She even wrote a book, The Historical House, to _________the history of the farmhouse. Because of her disease, Grace can’t go to a public school. But her____________for history meant she came in fifth in the country for the National History Day competition this summer. Grace’s grandmother said that she was not really____________when Grace called to tell her the news. “That girl does not__________.We knew she would do something great,” she said. Apart from reading, Grace also plays the piano and loves musical theater. She would like to work in theater someday. If she can’t, she wants to be an author, ____________writing about history. Grace’s bravery has____________others. “The time with Grace has been an____________journey and adventure,” said Lennie Medcalf, Grace’s private teacher. “I look forward to seeing this world with Grace Cogan in it.”

1.

A．Thus

B．Moreover

C．Also

D．Yet

2.

A．appointments

B．orders

C．requirements

D．suggestions

3.

A．upset

B．touched

C．calmed

D．disappointed

4.

A．toy

B．lesson

C．phone

D．book

5.

A．offered

B．sold

C．threw

D．lent

6.

A．locked

B．buried

C．discovered

D．covered

7.

A．differently

B．bravely

C．clearly

D．quickly

8.

A．friends

B．generations

C．relations

D．farmers

9.

A．explore

B．complete

C．compare

D．defend

10.

A．demand

B．support

C．love

D．need

11.

A．excited

B．worried

C．pleased

D．surprised

12.

A．warm up

B．give up

C．sit up

D．show up

13.

A．actually

B．completely

C．probably

D．gradually

14.

A．confused

B．moved

C．annoyed

D．inspired

15.

A．amazing

B．embarrassing

C．efficient

D．obvious

10 . “Our temperature’s not what people think it is,” said Julie Parsonnet, MD, professor of medicine and of health research and policy in Stanford. “or our common sense that our normal temperature is 37 ℃ or 98.6 F, is wrong.”

That standard of 37℃was made famous by German doctor Carl Reinhold August Wunderlich in a book in 1868. Modern studies, however, have called that number into question, suggesting that it’s too high.

In a latest study published in eLife, Parsonnet and her colleagues explore body temperature trends and conclude that temperature changes since the time of Wunderlich reflect a true historical pattern, rather than measurement errors or biases (偏见). The researchers propose that the decrease in body temperature is the result of changes in our environment over the past 200 years, which have in turn driven physiological changes. 

The researchers analyzed temperatures from three officially-recorded datasets covering different historical periods, using the 677,423 temperature measurements from these datasets to develop a linear model (线性模型) containing the temperatures over time. They determined that the body temperature of men born in the early to mid-1990s is on average 1.06 F lower than that of men born in the early 1800s. Similarly, they determined that the body temperature of women born in the early to mid-1990s is on average 0.58 F lower than that of women born in the 1890s. These calculations match a decrease in body temperature of 0.05 F every 10 years.

The decrease in average body temperature in the US could be explained by a reduction in the amount of energy being used. The authors believe this trend may be due to a population-wide decrease in inflammation (炎症): “Inflammation produces all sorts of proteins and cytokines that speed up your metabolism (新陈代谢) and raise your temperature,” Parsonnet said. Public health has improved sharply in the past 200 years due to advances in medical treatments, more convenient environment, greater availability of food and improved living standards. The authors also argue that comfortable lives at constant surrounding temperature contribute to a lower metabolic rate. Homes in the 19th century had irregular heating and no cooling; today, central heating and air conditioning are commonplace. A more constant environment removes a need to expend energy to keep a constant body temperature.

1. What does the underlined phrase “call ... into question” in Paragraph 2 mean?

A．Find evidence for something.	B．Show support for something.
C．Regard something as nothing.	D．Express doubt about something.

2. Compared to her body temperature at birth, how could it change when a woman was 55?

A．0.58 F lower.

B．0.53 F lower.

C．0.28 F lower.

D．0.25 F lower.

3. What is the main idea of the last paragraph of the text?

A．Introduction of the latest findings of a Standford professor.

B．Appeal to the public to care about the temperature changes.

C．Possible reasons for the changes of average body temperature.

D．Explanation of a rather difficult academic term in plain English.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．37 ℃, Still Normal Body Temperature?

B．The same Body Temperature between Men and Women?

C．The Effects Environment Has on Body Temperature

D．Inflammation: Key Factor to Decrease of Body Temperature