1 . 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。

The audience and viewership for this year’s Spring Festival TV gala, which was aired on Feb 9, Lunar New Year’s Eve or Chinese Lunar New Year, both reached record     1    (high), according to ratings statistics.

    2    (support) by ultra-high-definition production, the gala was telecast on TV screens, public large screens, and mobile devices. A total of 250 million people watched the live streaming of the show via     3    (they) mobile phones with the total views reaching 420 million, up by 37.97 percent and 57.58 percent,     4     (respective), compared with 2023. The China Global Television Network (CGTN) worked with over 2,100 media organizations in about 200 countries and regions to live broadcast or report the show in 68 languages,     5    (result) in over 1.5 billion instances of viewing,    6     increase of 12.69 percent year on year.

This year, the gala, in addition     7    Beijing, had four branch venues. Audience enjoyed a diversity of local cultural elements from those places, such as folk     8     (music) instruments and folk dances.

Since its broadcast in 1983, the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala     9     (become) an essential part of celebrations in the country to greet the Chinese New Year. As a major entertainment during Lunar New Year’s Eve, the gala marks the joyous moment     10     families gather together to celebrate.

2 . About 20 years ago, I was attending a law school while still doing my part-time job to provide my tuition. Despite that, my grades were still among the top ten percent of the class.     1     I was directed to a professor who I had never met. He agreed to supervise the project by email. He emailed me a set of rules and instructions for the paper so that I would meet the requirements.

After several weeks, I completed the legal research and began writing my paper. Two weeks later, I ended my paper draft.     2     I accepted all of them, recomposed it again and again, and finally submitted it to the professor. To my surprise, he gave me a C+, the lowest grade.

    3     A few weeks after my graduation, I happened to notice a contest in a journal where the best student-written paper would get published and win a significant cash prize—$2,500. Since I had the C+ paper at hand, I sent it in, just for fun. A month later, the journal called me to let me know that my C+ paper won first place in the contest out of more than 200 submissions.     4    

Later, I wrote a letter to the local newspaper detailing this story and explaining how paper grades were subjective. The letter was then published. Knowing this, the professor was awkward. Luckily, I didn’t mention his name. He emailed me and explained he’d made a mistake and confused my paper with another student’s.     5     Actually, I didn’t care about an A. And to be honest, if he had given me an A, I wouldn’t have submitted my paper to the contest.

A．So I had nothing to complain about.

B．It was published and I got the check.

C．In fact, my paper should have been given an A.

D．Though annoyed, I could do nothing but accept it.

E．During the graduation season, I had to write an essay.

F．In order to win the competition, I prepared my essay very hard.

G．I showed it to some of my classmates, who gave me some constructive suggestions.

3 . In 1997,I worked at a gas station with a Laundromat (自助衣店) and for $2 a bag we’d wash, dry and fold. One of the days that I provided this ________ changed my perspective on the people we randomly meet in life.

Early one morning, a tattooed (纹身的) giant truck driver ________ a bag of laundry, and I ________ it’d be ready for ________ by the end of the day. Then I threw the load in the washer and pressed start.

An hour later, I went to move the giant’s laundry into the dryer. Then I was ________ to find that every item I pulled from the machine turned pink. The tattooed giant was going to kill me. I would be fired because some red sock was left and because I hadn’t made sure that the machine was completely ________ before I threw in a new load. Just thinking about these, I could hardly ________.

The rest of the day passed in a blur (模糊) as I ________ what would happen when the giant came for his laundry. ________ , the giant returned. When he stepped inside, looking terrifying and stern (严厉的), I ________ . I burst into tears. I admitted my ________ and swore I’d pay for his clothes. But to my ________ , he exploded with ________ and told me that it was fine, no worries. I’d say the words did ________ me. I let out the world’s longest breath as he continued laughing all the way back to the truck.

That day I learned that no one and nothing is ever quite what it seems. Giants can be ________, and a little gas station can also be the unlikely birthplace of many a memorable story.

1.

A．option

B．method

C．service

D．program

2.

A．dropped

B．grabbed

C．removed

D．opened

3.

A．proposed

B．promised

C．agreed

D．warned

4.

A．distribution

B．submission

C．admission

D．collection

5.

A．confused

B．excited

C．shocked

D．amused

6.

A．powerful

B．empty

C．useful

D．automatic

7.

A．breathe

B．understand

C．resist

D．complain

8.

A．predicted

B．determined

C．imagined

D．prevented

9.

A．Eventually

B．Suddenly

C．Hopefully

D．Fortunately

10.

A．woke up

B．gave up

C．sat down

D．broke down

11.

A．secret

B．effort

C．mistake

D．fear

12.

A．astonishment

B．regret

C．disappointment

D．satisfaction

13.

A．applause

B．laughter

C．anger

D．silence

14.

A．inspire

B．hurt

C．relieve

D．remind

15.

A．generous

B．unique

C．careful

D．gentle

4 . Biologists Slagsvold and Wiebe have spent years studying tits, flycatchers, and other birds that lay their eggs into holes in trees, walls and even human-made boxes. “Holes are rare, so there’s great competition,” Wiebe said. Birds will sometimes get into fights. Even after a bird gets a hole, it has to watch out: There’s always a chance that a passerby tries to possess it. Owners don’t have many options to wait for and stop thieves. Some police their nest’s entrance hole, but preparing for parenthood is hungry work, and eventually the birds have to leave to get food. So Slagsvold and Wiebe started to look for alternative home-defense systems the birds might be using.

They noticed feathers, usually helping animals keep warm, but that doesn’t seem to be how these particular birds are using them. Blue tits, for instance, get feathers on top of the nest, rather than putting them in. Some other birds dump feathers into holes before gathering other materials. “They’re white, and often noticeable,” Wiebe said, “as if the birds want to send a message.”

To find out, they built nest boxes — some feathery, some not — in Europe and America, and recorded how tits, flycatchers and swallows reacted. The birds entered feather-free boxes quickly. But they froze at the sight of white feathers, sometimes hesitating outside for an hour. Black feathers scared them less, perhaps because they were harder to see. The feathers didn’t stop the birds as most eventually went inside. But even a brief delay can make a huge difference, Wiebe said. “Even 20 minutes can give the owner enough time to circle back, and fight off their competitors.”

The birds’ behavior shows their high-risk lifestyle. They have to think twice as the holes may be hiding danger. The feathers represent possible violence, showing a predator might be inside.

The experiment reflects the lies animals tell where nest sites are rare. They build a scene so horrible to discourage nest stealers. Birds are terrified of death. And they can exploit that reality to safeguard what’s theirs.

1. What inspired Slagsvold and Wiebe to seek birds’ other possible ways to protect homes?

A．Birds have to fight to get the limited holes.	B．Birds get tired from watching out in nests.
C．Birds face many nest stealers on their own.	D．Birds leave their nests unattended sometimes.

2. What is the function of white feathers outside the nests?

A．To show a friendly welcome.	B．To help stealers avoid danger.
C．To buy time for the nest owners.	D．To confirm this place is occupied.

3. How does the author feel about the birds’ reaction in the experiment?

A．Understandable.

B．Confusing.

C．Possible.

D．Worrying.

4. What’s the best title for the text?

A．Some birds refuse to build their nests	B．It’s important for birds to have feathers
C．High risks of life lead birds to turn to lies	D．Birds create a false scene to protect their nests

5 . I was ten when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. Prior to that, she had been a(n) _______ woman, active to an extent most people found astonishing. As a child, I was amazed by her accomplishments. But at thirty-one, her life _______. And so did mine.

She could do anything, I _______. She won tennis tournaments. She took photographs and held her own exhibition. She _______ as a newspaper columnist, and she cooked Spanish dishes for the family.

Now, she faced her illness with the same _______. Words like “disabled” and “physical therapy” became part of a(n) _______ new world we entered together. _______, I began to help take care of her. And it became routine to _______ her into the kitchen, where she instructed me in the _______ of peeling carrots and potatoes and how to prepare a decent breakfast.

Every accomplishment was a ________ for us both: the electric typewriter, the car with power steering and brakes, her return to ________, where she earned a master’s degree in special education. She eventually founded an activist support group called The Handicappers. One day, without ________ much beforehand, she took me to a Handicappers meeting. I had never seen so many people with so many ________. I returned home, thinking how ________ we really were.

Because my mother accepted her condition with such optimism, I rarely felt sad or resentful about it. Instead, I viewed her drive to look forward to things I ________ as a great mystery and powerful inspiration in my life.

1.

A．gentle

B．energetic

C．talented

D．decent

2.

A．changed

B．failed

C．improved

D．paused

3.

A．imagined

B．admitted

C．doubted

D．believed

4.

A．applied

B．spoke

C．wrote

D．studied

5.

A．success

B．sincerity

C．enthusiasm

D．wisdom

6.

A．familiar

B．strange

C．exciting

D．changeable

7.

A．Gradually

B．Particularly

C．Alternatively

D．Finally

8.

A．drag

B．pull

C．guide

D．wheel

9.

A．art

B．significance

C．safety

D．plan

10.

A．solution

B．milestone

C．dream

D．warning

11.

A．hospital

B．court

C．work

D．college

12.

A．saying

B．hiding

C．pretending

D．showing

13.

A．gifts

B．disabilities

C．weaknesses

D．privileges

14.

A．strong

B．hopeless

C．helpful

D．fortunate

15.

A．took into account

B．bore in mind

C．took for granted

D．kept in check

6 . I joined the coast guard because I wanted to help people. Hovercraft (气垫船) are rare and special. They’ve been discontinued in most commercial operation, because they are so expensive to make, but when it comes to search and rescue, they’re priceless.

From far away, a hovercraft looks like a normal boat. But if you look under its skirt, the craft is not touching the water — it floats on a cushion of air. That cushion allows us to travel over everything from water to muddy land — and even break through ice. We do all of that as a 70-tonne machine, going a maximum of nearly 120 kilometers per hour. These features allow us to rescue a large number of people quickly get onto land, and get someone into an ambulance far easier than with any other device I can think of.

The advantages of hovercraft can also make them difficult to handle. We’ve got a massive vehicle moving fast, sometimes in a thick fog bank up a narrow river. During assignments on other coast guard ships, I had 20 minutes to make alterations to avoid a crash. In a hovercraft, I have 10 seconds. You have to have enough situational awareness to make the right decision every time.

People call us for all sorts of problems: missing divers, on-board fires, or even when they’ve run out of fuel or had a mechanical breakdown. A container ship could burst into flames. We have a strong network here at the base to help everyone through difficult situations like that. Thankfully, we have captains who train us in a safe environment, but you don’t ever get fully comfortable. Anything can throw the hovercraft off — maybe your lift settings are off a little, or the wind blows with a bit of extra weight. After several years operating a hovercraft, I’m still learning. Every one of the captains here agrees: you can drive this thing for 20 years and still be surprised.

1. What makes hovercraft unsuitable for commercial use?

A．Their safety risks.

B．Their poor durability.

C．Their low efficiency.

D．Their production costs.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．How a hovercraft works.	B．What comprises a hovercraft.
C．What distinguishes a hovercraft.	D．How a hovercraft helps victims.

3. What challenge do hovercraft pose to the pilot?

A．They have to make faster responses.

B．They often face mechanical breakdowns.

C．They need more people for decision making.

D．They must consider the environmental concerns.

4. What does the author think of operating a hovercraft?

A．Dull.

B．Demanding.

C．Enjoyable.

D．Effortless.

7 . “Few articles change owners more frequently than clothes. They travel downwards from grade to grade in the social scale with remarkable regularity,” wrote the journalist Adolphe Smith in 1877 as he traced a coat’s journey in the last century: cleaned, repaired and resold repeatedly; cut down into a smaller item; eventually recycled into new fabric. But with the improvement in people’s living standards, that model is mind-boggling in the era of fast fashion. The average British customer buys four items a month. And it is reported that 350,000 tonnes of used but still wearable clothes go to landfills in the UK each year.

Yet the gradual revival of the second-hand trade has gathered pace in the past few years. At fashion website Asos, sales of vintage clothes (古董衫) have risen by 92%. Clothing was once worn out of necessity, and now it is simply a way of life. Busy families sell used items on eBay, teenagers trade on Depop and some fashion people offer designer labels on Vestiaire Collective. Strikingly, it has become big enough business that mainstream retailers (零售商) want a slice of the action.

For some buyers and sellers, the switch to the second-hand is born of financial difficulties. Only a few have become worried about the impact of their shopping habit on the planet. But the shift is only a partial solution. Some people worry that some mainstream brands may “greenwash” — using second-hand goods to improve their image, rather than engaging more seriously with sustainability.

However, the biggest concern may be that people keep buying because they know they can resell goods, still chasing the pleasure of the next purchase but with an eased conscience (愧疚). Boohoo, a powerful fast fashion company, has seen sales and profits rise, despite concerns about environmental problems in its supply chain that led to an investigation last year.

A new Netflix series, Worn Stories, documents the emotional meanings that clothes can have: Each old item is full of memories. Actually, a handbag from a grandmother and a scarf passed on by a father are both valuable for us. A love of style is not a bad or an unimportant thing. But a committed relationship is better than a quick flash. Can we learn to appreciate our own old clothes as well as others’?

1. What does the word “mind-boggling” underlined in paragraph 1 probably mean?

A．Unbelievable.

B．Popular.

C．Reasonable.

D．Influential.

2. With the business mentioned in paragraph 2, the author wants to show _______.

A．old clothes are more popular than new pieces

B．the online second-hand markets are booming

C．the fashion world begins to favor vintage clothes

D．many clothing brands are innovative in their new products

3. How does the second-hand trade impact people according to paragraph 4?

A．It makes people feel free to pursue fast fashion.

B．It makes people more cautious about their budgets.

C．It encourages people to choose eco-friendly clothes.

D．It pushes people to be more engaged with sustainability.

4. Which of the following views does Worn Stories advocate?

A．Old items have lost favor with the public.

B．Old items are worthy of being long cherished.

C．Older generations attach great importance to old items.

D．Older generations care about the quality of their clothes.

8 . With mental health awareness more important than ever, here are the best mental wellness apps that take minority groups into consideration.

Reju

Reju is another meditation and self-care app, launched to respond to the rapid growth in mental health challenges in African American communities. Reju offers a wealth of motivational content to reduce stress, improve mental health, and lead users towards better living. Best of all is the welcoming Reju community for free, where you can connect with peers and get support with issues they’re also facing.

Spoke

Spoke is a meditation (冥想) app designed to deliver mental health support for music lovers. Created by a group of musical artists working with scientific advisers in London, it cleverly combines mental health tools like mindfulness, CBT, and positive psychology with binaural and hip-hop beats, nature sounds, ambient music, and guided lyricism.

Liberate.cx

Liberate.cx is a daily meditation app specifically for the BIPOC community (黑人社区), with mindfulness resources that address topics such as race, microaggressions, anxiety, and self-worth. It draws on expert teachers from diverse cultures to offer wisdom everyone can benefit from.

Headspace

Renowned mental health app, which is only for women. Headspace has launched the Headspace Women’s Collection to provide welcome meditation resources for women. These cover a wide range of issues, including sex and relationships, self-worth, and solidarity. A series of body-supportive sessions are aimed at helping women healing after a miscarriage or struggling with fertility.

1. If a music fan has mental health, which app is appropriate for him?

A．Reju.

B．Spoke.

C．Liberate.cx.

D．Headspace.

2. What is special about Headspace?

A．It is merely for female users.	B．It’s a free mental health app.
C．It provides meditation resources.	D．It appeals to a wider customer base.

3. What’s the purpose of the text?

A．To advertise these apps to attract more users.

B．To arouse more and more attention of the society.

C．To offer wisdom to everyone from diverse cultures.

D．To recommend mental wellness apps for minority groups.

9 . Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is spread, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizen’s patterns of response to politics. By giving citizens independent access to the candidates, television reduced the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates. By centering politics on the person of the candidate, television accelerated the citizen’s focus on character rather than issues.

Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. The messages on which most of us rely are briefer than they once were. The stump speech, a political speech given by traveling politicians and lasting 1 to 2 hours, which was popular in the nineteenth-century, has given way to the 30-second advertisement and the 10 second “sound bite” in broadcast news. Increasingly the audience for speeches is not that standing in front of the politician but rather the viewing audience who will hear and see a short video of the speech on the news.

In these simplified forms, much of what comprised the traditional political speech of earlier ages has been lost. In 15 or 30 seconds, a speaker cannot establish the historical context that shaped the issue in question, cannot detail the probable causes of the problem, and cannot examine alternative proposals to argue that one is preferable to others. In short videos, politicians assert (断言) but do not argue.

Because television is an intimate (亲密的) medium, speaking through it requires a changed political style that is more conversational, personal, and visual than that of the old-style stump speech. Reliance on television means that increasingly our political world contains memorable pictures rather than memorable words. Schools teach us to analyze words and print. However, in a world in which politics is increasingly visual, informed citizenship requires a new set of skills.

Recognizing the power of television’s pictures, politicians craft televisual, staged events designed to attract media coverage. Much of the political activity we see on television news has been crafted by politicians, their speechwriters, and their public relations advisers for televised consumption. Sound bites in news and answers to questions in debates increasingly sound like advertisements.

1. What do we know about “stump speech” in paragraph 2?

A．It’s an event created by politicians to attract media attention.

B．It’s an interactive discussion between two politicians.

C．It’s a kind of political presentation typical of the nineteenth century.

D．It’s a style of speech common to televised political events.

2. It is suggested in paragraph 4 that ________.

A．politicians need to learn to become more personal

B．attractive politicians are favored by citizens

C．citizens tend to favor a politician who analyzed issues

D．citizens need to learn how to evaluate visual political images

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Political presentations today are more like advertisements than in the past.

B．Politicians today tend to be more familiar with the views of citizens than in the past.

C．Citizens today are less informed about a politician’s character than in the past.

D．Political speeches today focus more on details about issues than in the past.

4. What’s the best title for the passage?

A．Television: an Agent of Change in Politics	B．Television: a Platform for Political Debate
C．Television: an Alternative to Stump Speech	D．Television: a New Medium for Communication

10 . 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。

The moment my son Joe knew I was going to have another baby, he tried his best to stay out of our lives. By the time our daughter Molly was due to be born, I had grown accustomed to his embarrassment and animosity (敌意). I had grown accustomed to a lot of things, not the least of which was having an unexpected child at the age of thirty-nine. My husband, to his eternal credit, was delighted. Throughout it all, Joe rarely spoke to me, except to say, “You don’t have to come to my school,” and — after a marathon baby naming conference—“Call her Molly, the name of my friend’s dog.”

When Molly finally arrived, tiny, quiet and perfect, four family arms were there to draw her close. But Joe’s remained tightly crossed over his chest, on the far side of the hospital room I signed to him to come closer but he shook his head slightly. I could see him standing there, arms still folded, staring straight ahead.

Joe stayed away at a friend’s cottage when Molly and I came home from the hospital. He was still gone ten days later when I took our daughter for her first check-up. He arrived home just as I was coming back, tears streaming down my face. “The doctor thinks she might have a hearing problem,” I sobbed. “She’s too quiet she’s not responding like she should. We have to have her tested.”

As my husband comforted me, downplaying my worry, I noticed that Joe had stopped beside the baby, sound asleep in her car seat. He reached out to her, shifting her slightly away from a bump (隆起) in the carpet. “She’s okay,” he said, looking down at her. “There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s just little.”

Three months later as I walked the floor at 4:00 A. M. with a crying and inconsolable (难以安抚的) (and otherwise perfectly healthy) baby in my arms, I dragged myself into Joe’s room and woke him up “Joe, could you take her? Just for a few minutes? I can’t settle her down, Dad’s on business, and I just really need a break.”

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。

Saying nothing, Joe took his little sister from me.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Seeing Molly sleeping peacefully in Joe’s bed, I walked out, followed by Joe.

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