1 . Travelling abroad can present many challenges, including long journeys, language problems, and culture shocks, plus the expense of transport and accommodation.     1     It is rewarding to get to experience life in different ways.

One of the wonderful benefits of going abroad is that you can learn history and culture without real effort. There’s a natural tendency to absorb other cultures and pick up historical concepts, while enjoying yourself at the same time.     2    

Another great benefit is that living in a foreign culture is the only real way to fully understand its language.     3     Even if you’re a complete beginner and only manage to pick up a few key phrases of the local language, you still know more than when you arrive.

    4     People in other countries can demonstrate different ways of doing things and alternative ways of being. It can open up your mind and generate new ideas. A direct encounter with a fresh expression of arts, religions, architecture, and food can contribute to an enlightening and valuable experience.

Removing yourself from the familiar and travelling to a new country can be a very powerful tool for gaining self-awareness and deeper understanding.     5     It can help you shift how you see yourself. Perhaps ironically, visiting a foreign country can also teach you things about your homeland. You get to view your land of birth from another perspective and have something to compare it with.

A．It’s far superior to learning it in a classroom.

B．The new land gives you a fresh social environment.

C．The direct experience helps you remember something easily.

D．Many people wonder what they should do in a foreign country.

E．Travelling abroad can also boost creativity and drive innovation.

F．Another benefit of travelling abroad is the relaxation you can get.

G．However, there’s rarely a dull moment when you’ re in a different country.

2 . Jonathan the tortoise, the world’s oldest land animal, turned 190 over the weekend on the island of St. Helena, where he enjoyed a “cake” of seasonal fruits, leafy greens and vegetables, including carrots carved into the number “190”.

Jonathan was brought to St.Helena from the Seychelles in 1882 as a gift. According to Guinness World Records, Jonathan surpassed the previous record holder, Tu’i Malila, who lived in the 1770s until 1965and could be even older. He arrived in St.Helena as a fully mature tortoise, meaning he was at least 50 in 1882.

“The vet is still feeding him by hand once a week to boost his calories, vitamins, minerals and trace elements, as he is blind and has no sense of smell. His hearing though is excellent and he loves the company of humans, and responds well to his vet Joe Hollins’ voice as he associates him with a feast, Guinness World Records said.

“The tortoise enjoys the sun but on very hot days takes to the shade. On mild days, he will sunbathe his long neck and legs stretched fully out of his shell to absorb heat and transfer it to his core,” according to Hollins. When it’s cold, Jonathan has been known to “dig himself into leaf mold or grass cuttings and remain there all day.”

In most cases, the lifespan of a tortoise or turtle depends on the species and level of care they receive. They generally live much longer in captivity than in the wild, because in the wild, they must find their own food in addition to evading predators while not getting medical treatment. Larger turtle and tortoise species also tend to live longer than their smaller counterparts. For more information about animal record holders, click here.

1. When might Jonathan be born?

A．In 1882.

B．In 1770.

C．In 1965.

D．In 1832.

2. Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the text?

A．Jonathan had a birthday cake made of fruits, meat, and vegetables.

B．Jonathan was born and raised on the island of St. Helena.

C．Jonathan is the Guinness World holder of the oldest land animal.

D．Jonathan is a very old but healthy tortoise with full senses.

3. Which is not a reason why a tortoise in the wild has a relatively shorter lifespan?

A．Species differences.	B．Food shortage.
C．Lack of medical treatment.	D．Animal enemies.

4. Where can we probably find this article?

A．In a science fiction.	B．On a news website.
C．In a travel brochure.	D．In a biology textbook.

3 . Technology seems to discourage slow, immersive reading. Reading on a screen, particularly a phone screen, tires your eyes and makes it harder for you to keep your place. So online writing tends to be more skimmable and list-like than print. The cognitive neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, game-changing transformation” in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit that sustains the brain’s capacity to read now favors the rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.

We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as children as we learn to read more skillfully. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to bounce around the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gaps by inference. Nor is there anything new in these fears about declining attention spans. So far, the anxieties have proved to be false alarms. “Quite a few critics have been worried about attention span lately and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline,” the American author Selvin Brown wrote. “No one ever said that poems were evidence of short attention spans.”

And yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. For a start, it means that there is more to read, because more people than ever are writing. If you time travelled just a few decades into the past, you would wonder at how little writing was happening outside a classroom. And digital writing is meant for rapid release and response. An online article starts forming a comment string underneath as soon as it is published. This mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun. But often it treats other people’s words as something to be quickly harvested as fodder to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, desperate to be heard.

Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a social good and source of personal achievement. But this advocacy often emphasizes “enthusiastic”, “passionate” or “eager” reading, none of which adjectives suggest slow, quiet absorption.

To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words and their slow comprehension of a line of thought. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he has done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.

The human need for this kind of deep reading is too tenacious for any new technology to destroy. We often assume that technological change can’t be stopped and happens in one direction, so that older media like “dead-tree” books are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle has not killed off the printed book any more than the car killed off the bicycle. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.

1. What is the author’s attitude towards Selvin Brown’s opinion?

A．Favorable.

B．Critical.

C．Doubtful.

D．Objective.

2. The author would probably agree that          .

A．advocacy of passionate reading helps promote slow reading

B．digital writing leads to too much speaking and not enough reflection

C．the public should be aware of the impact skimming has on neuronal circuits

D．the number of Internet readers is declining due to the advances of technology

3. What does the underlined word “tenacious” in Paragraph 6 probably mean?

A．Comprehensive.

B．Complicated.

C．Determined.

D．Apparent.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Slow Reading Is Here to Stay

B．Digital Technology Prevents Slow Reading

C．Screen vs. Print: Which Requires Deep Reading?

D．Reading Is Not a Race: The Wonder of Deep Reading

4 . When you ask people to judge others by their speech, a trend emerges: Listeners dislike disfluency. Slow talkers producing loads of ums and pauses(停顿)are generally perceived as less charming. But science tells us there may be even more to disfluency.

Disfluencies do not occur in arbitrary positions in sentences. Ums typically occur right before more difficult or low-frequency words. Imagine you’re having dinner with a friend at a restaurant,and there’re three items on the table: a knife, a glass, and a wine decanter(醒酒器). Your friend turns to you and says, “Could you hand me the...um...” What would you assume they want? Since it’s unlikely that they will hesitate before such common words as knife, and glass, chances are you’ll pick up the decanter and ask, “You mean this?”

This is exactly what we demonstrated through controlled eye-tracking studies in our lab. Apparently, listeners hear the um and predict that an uncommon word is most likely to follow.Such predictions, though, reflect more than just simple association between disfluencies and difficult words; listeners are actively considering from the speaker’s point of view. For example, when hearing a non-native speaker say the same sentence but with a thick foreign accent, listeners don’t show a preference for looking at low-frequency objects. This is probably because listeners assume non-native speakers may have as much trouble coming up with the English word for a common object, like a knife, as for unusual ones and can’t guess their intention.

In another experiment, listeners were presented with an atypical speaker who produced disfluencies before simple words and never before difficult words. Initially, participants displayed the natural predictive strategy: looking at uncommon objects. However, as more time went by, and they gained experience with this atypical distribution of disfluencies, listeners started to demonstrate the contrary predictive behavior: They tended to look at simple objects when hearing the speaker say um.

These findings represent further evidence that the human brain is a prediction machine: We continuously try to predict what will happen next, even though not all disfluencies are created equal.

1. What does the underlined word “arbitrary”mean in paragraph 2?

A．Random.

B．Strategic.

C．Obvious.

D．Consistent

2. What does the author say about the non-native speakers?

A．They can be understood easily.	B．They actively put themselves in others’ shoes
C．Their vocabularies are limited.	D．Their disfluencies are a little less predictive.

3. What does the experiment in paragraph 4 show?

A．Simple things are difficult in some cases.	B．Listeners can adjust predictions accordingly.
C．Distribution of disfluencies is changeable.	D．Disfluencies in communication can be avoided.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Pauses Coexist with Prediction.	B．Brains Are Powerful Prediction Machines.
C．Active Listeners Simplify Talks.	D．Disfluency Says More Than You Think.

5 . ①A group of 41 states and the District of Columbia began a legal case against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, insisting that the company knowingly used features on its platforms to cause children to overuse them. The accusations in the lawsuit raise a deeper question about behavior: Are young people becoming addicted to social media and the internet? Here’s what the research has found.

②David Greenfield, a psychologist and founder of the Center for Internet and Technology Addiction in West Hartford, Conn, said the devices tempt users with some powerful approaches. One is “intermittent reinforcement,” which creates the idea that a user could get a reward at any time. But when the reward comes is unpredictable. Adults are easily influenced, be noted, but young people are particularly at risk, because the brain regions that are involved in resisting temptation and reward are not nearly as developed in children and teenagers as in adults. Moreover, the adolescent brain is especially accustomed to social connections, and social media is all a perfect opportunity to connect with other people.

③For many years, the scientific community typically defined addiction in relation to substances, such as drugs, and not behaviors, such as gambling or internet use. That has gradually changed. In 2013, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the official reference for mental health conditions, introduced the idea of internet gaming addiction.

④A subsequent study explored broadening the definition to “internet addiction.” The author suggested further exploring diagnostic criteria and the language, for instance, noting that terms like “problematic use” and even the word “internet” were open to broad interpretation, given the many forms the information and its delivery can take.

⑤Dr. Michael Rich, the director of the Digital Wellness Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital, said he discouraged the use of the word “addiction” because the internet, if used effectively and with limits, was not merely useful but also essential to everyday life.

⑥Greenfield agreed that there clearly are valuable uses for the internet and that the definition of how much is too much can vary. But he said there also were obvious cases where immoderate use disturbs school, sleep and other vital aspects of a healthy life. “Too many young consumers can’t put it down, ” he said.“ The internet, including social media like Meta, are the drugs affecting the mind.”

1. What was Meta accused of?

A．It added problematic features to its platform.

B．It started a discussion to mislead young people.

C．It tempted children to use social media too much.

D．It conducted illegal research on its parent company.

2. According to David Greenfield, users tend to be addicted to social media and the internet due to         .

A．their under-developed brain

B．the random pattern of rewards

C．their desire to be socially connected

D．the possibility of escaping from reality

3. What can be concluded about the study introduced in Paragraph 4?

A．Addiction is something about behaviors instead of substances.

B．The online language can be interpreted from a broad perspective.

C．Current diagnostic criteria of “internet addiction” isn’t satisfactory.

D．There should be an agreement on the definition of the word “internet”.

4. Dr. Michael Rich and David Greenfield both agree that        .

A．proper use of the internet does good to children

B．the internet is to blame for disturbing healthy life

C．there are cases against immoderate use of the internet

D．the word “addiction” is improperly used on the internet

6 . 阅读下而材料，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。
A Hearty Welcome

Chase counted his new year gifts one more time as he put a robot-shaped eraser into each envelope. “Twenty, twenty-one, twenty-two.”

“Do you have one for everyone in your class?” Mom asked.

“Yep!” Chase said. “I’m ready for the party tomorrow!”

When Chase got to school the next day, he saw a new girl in his classroom. She stood near Ms. Robins and looked around shyly.

“This is Eva,” said Ms. Robins. “Will someone volunteer to show her around today? “Chase raised his hand since he liked showing the new kids around and helping them feel welcome.

“Thanks, Chase, “Ms. Robins said. “Now let’s get down to our work.”

That’s when Chase realized he didn’t have a new year gift for Eva. No one else would have one either. Chase pictured his classmates’ desks covered with gifts while Eva’s desk was empty. He felt sad about that.

At a break, he was careful not to mention the party as he showed Eva around the playground. At lunchtime, he walked Eva to the lunchroom, still worried about what would happen at the party. Eva had brought a packed lunch. so Chase showed her where she was supposed to sit and introduced her to some of the kids at her table.

While eating, Chase suddenly remembered that kids often included candy hearts with the new year gifts they exchanged. This won’t be a New Year’s Day for Eva with no gifts. But as he sat down at his table, an idea flooded into his head. He whispered it to the kids around him. Soon everyone at the table was nodding and whispering.

When they were back in the classroom after lunch, Chase told Ms. Robins about their plan. Ms. Robins smiled. “That’s very thoughtful, “she said. “Let’s go for it.”

It was math time, so Chase invited Eva to study with him. He made sure Eva sat with her back to the room so she wouldn’t notice.

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登作答。

Meanwhile, her new classmates were busying working on something.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

“Here’s your new year gift, Eva. It’s from everyone,” said Chase.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Misty Copeland spends most days twisting, spinning and _______. She practices and _______ the graceful movements of her art. When she isn’t performing she is practicing. When she isn’t practicing, she is stretching. She takes classes almost every day. She takes care of her body so she doesn’t _______ it when she goes to work in a ballet theatre.

“I treat my body with the respect that any musician would to their _______.” says Misty. “I love my body,” she adds.

Was she _______ confident? Actually, she was a _______ girl and avoided the spotlight. But Misty loved music and movement. When she was thirteen, Misty’s teacher suggested she _______ a free ballet class at the Boys&Girls Club. For two weeks, Misty sat on the gym bench watching the class, afraid to _______. Finally, she gave it a _______. At first, she felt ________in the class. She didn’t know anything about ballet, and she was ________ than most of the students. Over time, ________, she began to enjoy the lessons. She discovered that her body — especially her long legs and flexible muscles — was just ________ for ballet. After the class season ended, Misty received a scholarship to a nearby dance studio. Most ballerinas (女舞者) start their training much younger than thirteen. But Misty’s natural abilities and hard work made her improve quickly.

Over the next five years, ballet was Misty’s ________. She practiced, performed, competed and attended ballet programs. “Performing was my favourite part because I felt ________ and open onstage,” she says. “For the first time in my life, I felt like I belonged.”

1.

A．wandering

B．leaping

C．exercising

D．dancing

2.

A．perfects

B．conquers

C．examines

D．describes

3.

A．hurt

B．injure

C．spoil

D．abuse

4.

A．appearance

B．voice

C．techniques

D．instruments

5.

A．found

B．made

C．born

D．trained

6.

A．humble

B．quiet

C．cautious

D．shy

7.

A．attend

B．register

C．learn

D．watch

8.

A．stand up

B．catch up

C．cut in

D．join in

9.

A．rest

B．chance

C．try

D．thought

10.

A．out of place

B．out of order

C．out of mind

D．out of control

11.

A．younger

B．older

C．taller

D．shorter

12.

A．meanwhile

B．however

C．moreover

D．thus

13.

A．ready

B．good

C．right

D．qualified

14.

A．life

B．major

C．prospect

D．stage

15.

A．improved

B．calm

C．free

D．secure

8 . For most people traveling abroad, their first choice is probably to make a beeline for (直奔) tourist sights. For me, I find lots of joy in grocery (食品杂货店) shopping on holiday.

As a vegetarian (素食主义者), finding restaurants that meet my needs is not always easy abroad.     1     The first thing I do, after dropping my bags off, is to go to a grocery store. That enables me to cook breakfast in the morning without walking around for hours trying to find “vegan breakfast” near me.

The variety of foods attracts me every time I travel somewhere new. In Malta, I found the most delicious chocolate-filled cakes, a product I would struggle to find even in the UK.     2     I was so delighted that I could enjoy such an unexpected treat. Another surprise was their selection of ice cream available even in the smallest grocery stores.

    3     Looking for smoked tofu and corn pancakes turns into quite a mission whenever I visit Cluj-Napoca in Romania. There is usually only one variety of smoked tofu, sold in a very small tub (食品盒) and only in the cafeteria section.     4     That is because they are never available at the smaller ones.

Grocery shopping on holiday sounds unusual. But it means being involved in the day-to-day lives of a country’s citizens. I can pretend I am a local and put myself in their shoes. I can watch kids begging their parents for sweets, an international experience that needs no language, or watch couples pick up snacks and drinks for a party on a Friday night.     5    

A．I ended up eating these every day for breakfast.

B．The challenge of finding food is interesting, too.

C．So I always make sure to book a place with a kitchen.

D．Grocery shopping was a vital part of the holiday experience.

E．It’s an act of understanding people as much as of buying food.

F．Corn pancakes always require a trip to the bigger grocery store.

G．By wandering around in a new country, I start to see what they value.

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。

World Olive (橄榄) Tree Day takes place     1     26th November every year. It was established     2     (official) at the 40th session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2019.The olive tree, especially the olive branch, holds an important place in people’s mind. Since ancient times, it     3     (symbolize) peace, harmony and     4     (wise) .It is important not just to the countries     5     these noble trees grow but also to people and communities worldwide.

Protecting and growing the olive tree is     6     increasingly urgent thing as the world fights against climate change. The conservation of cultural and natural heritage is one of UNESco’s     7     (center) goals, and marking World Olive Tree Day strengthens the efforts to achieve it.

World Olive Tree Day is set up     8     (encourage) the protection of the olive tree and stress the values it symbolizes,     9     (inspire) people to appreciate its important social, cultural, economic and environmental significance to humans.

There is much to learn, share and celebrate on World Olive Tree Day, and UNESCO encourages everyone to participate in     10     (activity) such as debates, conferences, cultural events and exhibitions organized worldwide.

10 . You might have heard someone say that a song changed their life. And maybe you used to hate tomatoes, but now you like it. No one doubts that we change as we grow older. But do we change in major ways? Can we really change who we are? People used to believe we stay pretty much the same throughout our lives, but researchers are increasingly finding that we can and do change in big ways.

Psychologists have identified five dimensions that help us understand someone’s personality, which are called the “Big Five.” They are: 1. Openness: How open are you to trying new things? 2. Conscientiousness (尽责性): How responsible are you? 3. Extroversion (外向):How friendly, outgoing, and enthusiastic are you? 4. Agreeableness: How caring, trusting, and generous are you? 5. Emotional stability: How calm are you, especially when problems arise? Everyone has different levels of the big five dimensions. For example, Harry Potter has high levels of openness to experience, while Hermione Granger would score high in conscientiousness.

Scientists used to think that each person’s “Big Five” stayed the same their whole life, but newer research suggests that the dimensions do change. People who took a personality test as teen-agers scored very differently when they took the same test 50 years later. Three dimensions usually changed more than the others, which are emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness. In fact, most adults were more emotionally stable, more conscientious, and more agreeable than when they were younger. Researchers considered this a sign that we mature over time, perhaps learning to get along better with others.

Even though people change over time, the relationship between dimensions often remains similar. For example, someone who was very open to new experiences but who was not agreeable as a teenager was likely still more open to new things than agreeable as an adult. Scores changed, and sometimes changed a lot, but they didn’t change randomly.

1. Why does the author mention Harry Potter and Hermione Granger in Paragraph 2?

A．To identify the impact of the big five dimensions.

B．To stress the value of openness and responsibility.

C．To analyze some main characters in popular fiction.

D．To illustrate various degrees of personality dimensions.

2. Which of the following is the most likely result of people’s aging?

A．Becoming more hot-tempered.	B．Becoming more considerate.
C．Becoming less responsible.	D．Becoming less generous.

3. What does the last paragraph suggest about one’s personality dimensions?

A．Personality dimensions change accidentally.

B．One is likely to be more open than agreeable.

C．Relationship between dimensions stays unchanged.

D．Changes in personality dimensions follow some pattern.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．The Effects of Changing.	B．What Are the “Big Five”?
C．Do People Really Change?	D．Personality Dimensions Matter.