1 . Three of the Best Small Breweries (啤酒厂) in the USA

If you’re tired of drinking the same old beer and would actually like to have a taste of true beer that’s been handcrafted with care and genuine passion by newbies (新手) in the market — then this blog is going to give you exactly that.

City Built Brewing Co.

This place has got something for everybody — whether you’re a “classic” person who just wants to have a glass of your favourite beer on a hot summer day or an adventurer who wants to be hit with flavours that you have never tried before-the City Built Brewing Company will meet all your needs since it provides a variety of drinks for a mixed crowd.

Firestone Walker Brewing Co.

Even though it’s not one of the biggest players in the market, its extremely innovative marketing strategies will convince you otherwise. The Firestone Walker Brewing Co. has quickly managed to gain a lot of visibility in 2022 simply by having a great social media presence, along with a killer webpage that invites beer lovers in. Its true specialty lies in creating seasonal beers made annually and available only for a limited period of time. Apart from this, it also has a variety of other kinds of beer that are brewed all year round.

Dovetail Brewery

Here’s a place that you should go to for both-the great beer and the fun experience. Started by two friends (Bill and Hagen) who met in beer school, the brewery is best known for how well they convert classic European beers to suit the American tastebuds (味蕾).

Not just that, but you’ll also get to experience a place of great architecture when you visit this brewery, along with the amazing food that’s to die for.

1. What is unique about Firestone Walker Brewing Co. ?

A．It brought in foreign flavours.	B．Its architecture style is appealing.
C．Some of its beer is offered for limited time.	D．It makes special flavour only for adventurers.

2. What do the three breweries have in common?

A．Their beer is of poor quality.	B．Their products are handmade.
C．They provide hands-on experience.	D．They don’t have webpages to advertise.

3. Where is probably the text from?

A．A guidebook.

B．A newspaper.

C．A textbook.

D．A website.

2 . Leonardo da Vinci experimented with chemicals while painting some of his representative works — including The Mona Lisa — forming a poisonous layer hidden beneath the celebrated art. Researchers studying a tiny microsample from a corner of the painting found a substance known as plumbonacrite (水白铅矿), a poisonous compound (化合物) formed when oil and lead(Ⅱ) oxide (氧化铅)are mixed together.

The Mona Lisa, and many other paintings from the Renaissance era in the early 1500s, were painted on wooden panels. These required a thick base layer to enable artists to create their works on top. The most common method was using a substance called gesso, which comes from plaster of Paris, but the presence of plumbonacrite suggests Da Vinci layered his painting with lead white paint, mixed with oil infused (泡) with lead(Ⅱ) oxide.

Writing in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, the authors said, “The most remarkable signature in the sample is the presence of plumbonacrite, a rare compound that is stable only in an alkaline(碱性的) environment. Leonardo probably attempted to prepare a thick paint suitable for covering the wooden panel of The Mona Lisa by treating the oil with a high load of lead(Ⅱ) oxide. ”It is thought the lead(Ⅱ) oxide may have been used to help the paint applied on top of it to dry.

The team reviewed Da Vinci’s writing to find reference to his use of the chemicals, but found only “unclear references” to plumbonacrite. It seems once again the famous scholar was ahead of his time, with the technique only found in other paintings by Rembrandt in the 1600s. Use of plumbonacrite at the time seems to have been limited to skin and hair treatment.

In addition to The Mona Lisa analysis, the team used high-resolution analytic techniques on 17 samples from across the surface of The Last Supper and found it also contained the same poisonous base layer.

1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?

A．A poisonous compound was found in The Mona Lisa.

B．Da Vinci created his painting through trial and error.

C．Researchers damaged the famous painting while studying it.

D．Da Vinci buried some poison under the painting to protect it.

2. What did Da Vinci possibly do while painting?

A．He used lead to decorate the painting.

B．He applied oil to cover the wooden panel.

C．He treated skin and hair with plumbonacrite.

D．He mixed oil and lead together to create a thick paint.

3. Why did the author mention The Last Supper?

A．To support the finding above.

B．To show how talented Da Vinci is.

C．To explain the process of artwork creation.

D．To stress the importance of analytical techniques.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．Mona Lisa, a Mysterious Woman

B．Poisonous Chemicals Help Create Artworks

C．Da Vinci, a Distinguished Painter as Well as a Chemist

D．The Mona Lisa Reveals a Poisonous Secret Hidden in the Painting

3 . Ever since we were together, my wife has known about a magical place called Lincoln City, a modest beach town on the central-Oregon ______. But for me, it holds a Shangri-La-like myth. Lincoln City is where I spent one ______ week each year as a boy, ______ the rough beaches for beautiful pebbles, fishing off the local pier, and ______ matches outside my aunt’s beach house. These are ______ my happiest childhood memories.

So it was with great ______ that, not long after marrying, I took my wife to visit the “Best Place” in the world. For me, it was every bit as ______ as I remember. For her, no so much. She couldn’t ______ the fishy smell as well as the chilly wind. Ever since, she has considered Lincoln City my unexplainable ______ with no basis in reality.

In most cases, our assessments of a place or experience seldom differ. In this case, our wildly ______ perceptions of Lincoln City can be ______ by one of the strangest and most powerful feelings that humans ______: nostalgia (怀旧). Psychologists have-defined nostalgia as a, self-conscious, ______ but dominantly positive- experience, a defense response to unhappiness and a relief from a negative mood. Maybe that is why on a windy ______ day, the kind that would normally make me ______, a fishy smell will bring me the mixed feelings that my wife couldn’t share.

1.

A．plain

B．forest

C．coast

D．desert

2.

A．chained

B．compared

C．crowded

D．contented

3.

A．combing

B．marking

C．piling

D．cleaning

4.

A．putting out

B．throwing away

C．playing with

D．trading for

5.

A．tightly

B．literally

C．slightly

D．noisily

6.

A．greed

B．expectation

C．envy

D．guilt

7.

A．practical

B．charming

C．modern

D．mysterious

8.

A．oppose

B．adopt

C．encounter

D．stand

9.

A．affection

B．crisis

C．touch

D．respect

10.

A．same

B．varied

C．stubborn

D．objective

11.

A．instructed

B．explained

C．prevented

D．judged

12.

A．abandon

B．occupy

C．lack

D．possess

13.

A．bittersweet

B．breath-taking

C．awe-inspiring

D．carefree

14.

A．sunny

B．foggy

C．misty

D．freezing

15.

A．tolerate

B．relax

C．complain

D．enjoy

4 . A 40-year-old man in China found his calling — teaching quantum mechanics (量子力学) on social media — after being unemployed for more than 20 years. Li Wei, from Qinghai province in northwestern China, became ________ for teaching science in an easy-to-understand way on his Douyin account.

Such is his popularity, he has ________ 1.8 million followers. “I don’t like ________ people,” Li said. He ________ a bachelor’s degree in law 20 years ago, but he did not find ________ in that field because of his personality. “I suffered a great failure,” he said. The turning point in his ________ came two years ago when he ________ his friend in the photovoltaic (光伏电池的) business and was ________ to find that lots of people have no knowledge of the technology.

Photovoltaic ________ a special electrical system that produces energy from a ________ and inexhaustible source, usually the sun. With a strong ________ to help people understand, Li came up with the idea of creating clips to teach science using simple everyday words ________ of terms. As he created more teaching videos, he began to realize he was good at it and ________ his subjects to include quantum mechanics and life sciences. Despite experiencing a series of failures, he finally found his ________. It’s never too ________ to do what we enjoy.

1.

A．evident

B．attractive

C．effective

D．popular

2.

A．accumulated

B．told

C．urged

D．admired

3.

A．listening to

B．waiting for

C．dealing with

D．talking about

4.

A．needed

B．gained

C．offered

D．refused

5.

A．employment

B．experts

C．information

D．applications

6.

A．game

B．career

C．relationship

D．growth

7.

A．left

B．saved

C．joined

D．believed

8.

A．anxious

B．horrified

C．surprised

D．eager

9.

A．results in

B．responds to

C．looks for

D．refers to

10.

A．strange

B．reputable

C．secret

D．renewable

11.

A．desire

B．tradition

C．character

D．knowledge

12.

A．full

B．free

C．true

D．aware

13.

A．introduced

B．expanded

C．found

D．chose

14.

A．caring

B．ending

C．setting

D．calling

15.

A．late

B．busy

C．good

D．easy

5 . English businessman Richard Branson made history on July 11, 2021 as he and three other crewmates became the world’s first space tourists. The flight was made by a spacecraft named VSS Unity that was built by Branson’s company, Virgin Galactic. The flight lasted slightly more than an hour, and took Branson and crew to an altitude (海拔) of 53.5miles above the Earth, just a little above the boundary (边界) of space which lies 50 miles above the Earth.

At that height, the atmosphere turns into the black of outer space and the Earth becomes a bent ball of blue. Travelers also exhibit weightlessness as there is no gravity, the force that keeps our bodies walking on the Earth’s surface. Therefore, Branson and his fellows were able to float around in VSS Unity while enjoying the views. They were able to do that for three minutes before the spacecraft began its downward journey. It landed back at Virgin Galactic’s space port in New Mexico, United States, which is the same place from where it had taken off 90 minutes before.

On landing back, Branson said, “I have dreamt of this moment since I was a kid but honestly, nothing could prepare you for the view of the Earth from space. It was just magical. I’m just taking it all in, and it’s unreal.”

July 11’s flight is the start of space tourism for one and all. In early 2022, customers who can afford a ticket for a quarter of a million dollars can line up for a seat on a trip to space. And guess what — they will have a choice of spacecraft. Jeff Bezos, who owns a famous company, is all set to launch himself into space on July 20 on board a spacecraft built by his new branch company Blue Origin. Blue Origin will also carry tourists to space.

1. What is Richard Branson famous for?

A．His success in tourism.

B．His company of Virgin Galactic.

C．His spaceship named VSS Unity.

D．His first commercial space travel in history.

2. What does Branson think of his space travel?

A．Unbelievable.

B．Adventurous.

C．Regrettable.

D．Worthless.

3. What do space tourists have to do?

A．Take a spacecraft of Virgin Galactic.

B．Pay $250,000 for the rocket tour.

C．Pass the fitness test for astronauts.

D．Line up for a position in Blue Origin.

4. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．Humans will move to other livable planets.

B．Ordinary people will soon land on the moon.

C．Private rocket space travel is growing gradually.

D．Some companies abandon their proper business.

6 . 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。

It was our first day to explore the city of Jerusalem on our own, without a friend or tour guide leading the way. We had completed a week-long tour and felt confident that we could walk through the ancient streets by ourselves now. Then we suddenly realized that the sky had turned from clear blue to gray.

“It's time to head back!” we said at the same time. As we proceeded along the Hebron road to our apartment, the storm clouds covered the entire sky, and the first raindrops began to hit our heads. “Should we grab a taxi?” I shouted to my husband, the rain being so loud I had to raise my voice. “No, we can make it,” he replied loudly. “It's only a twenty-minute walk, and we will go fast.” As the rain and wind increased, so did our footsteps.

We marched ahead, but it wasn't long before we realized that we had been walking much longer than it should have taken us to arrive home. How in the world did we manage to take a wrong turn? We stopped a moment to say a prayer. It was simple and went something like this, “Please, God, lead us back to our apartment and send us your angels for protection.”

It was still pouring when my husband paused, detecting what appeared to be a pathway off the main road. “I think we should take this path,” he announced. “Here?” I was doubtful. I followed his lead as we made our way through overgrown brush until we entered a slight clearing. Looking out into the darkness from behind the bushes, we realized that we had come to a residential neighbourhood. “Let's just wait a minute,” he said. As we stood under the trees, some headlights appeared. A car pulled up to the roadside just below where we were huddled (挤在一起). Soon, a woman got out of the car.

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。

I approached her and the woman was noticeably shocked to see such a sight.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Noticing the confused looks on our faces, the woman suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Kelby Nelson had always looked up to his dad Mr Nelson, a hardworking man who had always put his family first. As his dad’s birthday _______ , Kelby wanted to do something special to show his _______ for all that his father had done for him. After much thought and consideration, Kelby decided to give his dad a gift that would truly make his day more special.

Kelby knew that his dad had a deep _______ for photography but had never pursued it as more than a hobby. _______ by this, Kelby decided to give his dad a once in-a-lifetime opportunity to showcase his work in a local art gallery.

Kelby _______ contacted the owner of a popular gallery in town and explained his _______. Impressed by the heartfelt gesture, the owner agreed to host an exhibition featuring Kelby’s dad’s photographs. Kelby then spent weeks meticulously(精心地) _______ the best photos from his dad’s collection, ensuring a diverse and attractive showcase.

On the day of his dad’s birthday, Kelby blindfolded(蒙住) him and led him to the gallery. As they entered, Kelby _______ the blindfold, revealing a gallery filled with amazing prints of his dad’s photographs. His dad stood there, _______ , his eyes moist with emotion.

The gallery opening ________ a surprise party, with friends, family, and fellow photography enthusiasts gathered to ________ Mr Nelson’s talent. The local media caught wind of the event and sent reporters to cover the exhibition, further expanding Kelby’s dad’s ________ .

Overwhelmed(淹没)by the love and ________ surrounding him, Kelby’s dad thanked his son, not just for the ________ gift, but for encouraging him to pursue his passion and giving him the ________ to share his art with the world.

1.

A．approved

B．continued

C．approached

D．updated

2.

A．registration

B．appreciation

C．responsibility

D．preference

3.

A．passion

B．regret

C．guilt

D．worry

4.

A．Confused

B．Inspired

C．Impressed

D．Challenged

5.

A．moderately

B．narrowly

C．secretly

D．desperately

6.

A．hobby

B．ambition

C．result

D．plan

7.

A．stealing

B．selecting

C．telling

D．separating

8.

A．removed

B．covered

C．observed

D．reduced

9.

A．careless

B．selfless

C．speechless

D．helpless

10.

A．gave way to

B．turned into

C．referred to

D．broke into

11.

A．defend

B．define

C．confirm

D．celebrate

12.

A．recognition

B．achievement

C．position

D．transition

13.

A．soul

B．crowd

C．support

D．wonder

14.

A．ordinary

B．incredible

C．familiar

D．virtual

15.

A．talent

B．ability

C．relief

D．confidence

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

In December, an unseen disease arrived in a village. Ally was one of the victims. She lay, barely moving, in her bed staring at a wall out of the window under her blanket.

The doctor took her father, who was a painter, aside and claimed, “She has one chance in—let us say, ten. And that chance is for her to want to live. Try to encourage her to think more hopeful thoughts, about the future, about living.”

Her father took some paper and a pen into Ally’s room and began a pen drawing, in an attempt to raise Ally’s spirits. Ally’s eyes were open, but they weren’t watching him. Instead, she stared out the window and counted backwards, “Ten, nine, eight, seven…”

“What are you counting, dear?” asked her father. “They’re falling faster now,” replied Ally.

“Three days ago there were almost a hundred. But now there are only five left now. Five leaves on the ivy vine (常春藤). When the last one falls, I must go, too.”

“Oh, I never heard of such nonsense,” quickly replied her father. But Ally’s mind was made up. “I want to see the last one fall. I want to go sailing down, down, just like one of those poor, tired leaves.”

“Try to sleep,” said her father. Ally closed her eyes quietly. Watching her daughter’s pale face, he was lost in deep thought. As a painter, he had never produced a masterpiece he longed to paint in 40 years. As a father, he even couldn’t help her daughter cheer up. Looking out of the window, he noticed that there was just one remaining leaf. What’s more, a cold rain was falling mixed with snow. “Are there people in the world that are foolish to think they’ll die because leaves drop off from an ivy vine? This is not a place in which Ally shall lie sick.” He made up his mind to do something.

The next morning, Ally woke and asked for the curtains to be opened. One leaf remained on the ivy vine, bravely holding on in the wind and rain. “It will fall today. And I will die with it.”

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

The following day, Ally asked again for the curtains to be opened.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A few weeks later, Ally recovered completely and the secret was revealed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . Food waste across the globe continues to fuel climate change, nature loss and pollution while hurting the global economy according to the UNEP Food Waste Index Report 2024, which says it is important for countries to connect the fight against hunger and the three global crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.

The report, whose findings revealed that the total food loss on the global economy is estimated at roughly $1 trillion, emphasized that reducing food waste is an opportunity to reduce costs and tackle some of the biggest environmental and social issues of our time: climate change and food insecurity.

While making opening remarks at the conference that launched the report, Dechen Tsering, acting director of the climate change division at the UNEP, said government polices, such as tax rebates (退税) and waste collection fees, could be used to stimulate changes in business practices and consumer behavior. In addition, better data on the cost of food waste and the environmental, economic, and social benefits of limiting food waste could help influence investors and consumers.

According to the report, as of 2022, only 21 countries had included food loss and waste reduction in their national climate plans, including China, Namibia, Sierra Leone, etc. Meanwhile, the number of people who are food insecure and in urgent need of humanitarian assistance in the Greater Horn of Africa rose to 74 million at the end of February, according to another report released by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and other agencies.

The international agencies said that the 2023 El Nino rains contributed to the rise in the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance in the region. With wetter-than-normal conditions forecast in most parts of African countries during the 2024 March-May rainfall season, the situation may not improve.

1. What does the Report 2024 indicate?

A．Food loss is the biggest problem to tackle.

B．Serious pollution can cause food insecurity.

C．Food waste worsens the environmental situation.

D．Many countries are cooperating to fight against hunger.

2. Which of the following may Dechen agree with?

A．Effective measures should be taken by government.

B．Unnecessary costs in climate lead to development problems.

C．Data make no sense to consumer behavior and investors’ decision.

D．Avoiding waste collection fees is beneficial to limiting food waste.

3. What can we infer from the last two paragraphs?

A．Humanitarian assistance is the only way to help African people.

B．Food insecurity is still a big challenge to many African countries.

C．The situation of food waste in Africa becomes more and more severe.

D．The number of people needing help is increasing mainly due to bad weather.

4. What is the purpose of the passage?

A．To reveal the urgent financial situation in Africa.

B．To stress the necessity of food waste prevention.

C．To call for the joint efforts of governments in climate.

D．To raise the awareness of environmental conservation.

10 . Scientists have designed plenty of devices that can pick up solid objects. Big mechanical claws can lift cars. Small claws can pluck (摘，拉) prizes from a glass box in an arcade game (街机游戏). But these new pluckers can lift something else entirely — a liquid.

Engineers have built the device, which can pick up and move a single drop of liquid. The device is made of two flexible crossed pieces. It is about the size and shape of a finger. Experimental tests showed that the pair can lift up a drop of liquids as small as 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) across.

Such a device might help scientists safely handle biological liquids like blood, says Arun Kota. That task could be particularly useful in laboratories where samples are tested for signs of flu or other infectious diseases. Kota is a mechanical engineer at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He worked on these new devices.

The new device combines tech from two fields of engineering. One is soft robotics. Unlike robots made from hard and heavy materials such as metal, soft robots are made from soft stuff. The other field is materials science. “Many materials are repellent to water, but in alcohol or oil they’re no longer able to do it,” Kota says. Working with Wei Wang, an engineer in his lab, he developed such materials, which will not let any liquid pass through them.

The group completed their design by 2017. Yet cool as it was, it had no obvious use. Xiaoguang Dong, an engineer at Vanderbilt University, doubts whether infectious disease labs are looking for such a device. “To me, this is not really practical,” he says. “The number of droplets that can be lifted is very small. They need independently robotic fingers to lift several droplets. If you want to control hundreds of droplets, how do you do that?”

1. Why are the big mechanical claws and small claws mentioned in paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the function of the new invention.

B．To show the common usage of mechanical tools.

C．To give examples of some recent scientific findings.

D．To reveal the importance of accurately lifting liquids.

2. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us about the new device?

A．Its future.

B．Its feature.

C．Its creator.

D．Its principle.

3. What does the underlined word “repellent” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Exposed.

B．Resistant.

C．Connected.

D．Similar.

4. What improvement should be made to the new device?

A．It should be easier to use.	B．It should be safer in disease labs.
C．It should combine low-cost materials.	D．It should carry many more drops of liquid.