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。

A total of 99 traditional culture enthusiasts, mostly in their 20s and 30s,     1     (gather) at the television show Yellow River Culture Competition, where they provided a youthful interpretation of the     2     (country) “mother river”, according to a meeting recently     3     (hold) in Beijing.

Initiated by Shandong Radio and Television Station in     4     (associate) with eight other provinces and regions along the banks of the Yellow River, the show adopted multiple formats to combine competitions and performances, such as singing folk songs and     5     (recite) poetry, to promote the history and culture of the civilizations that have thrived (繁荣) along the river for thousands of years.

The show invited four famous     6     (scholar), namely Kang Zhen, Meng Man, Li Bo and Yang Yu, as guest celebrities, sharing lesser-known knowledge about the historic moments     7     have been part of Yellow River’s cultures.

Meng Man, a professor at the Minzu University of China, quoted some of     8     most famous poems featuring the Yellow River in ancient China. “The Yellow River is the mother river of the Chinese nation and the     9     (spirit) source of Chinese civilization. Through this program, the audience can not only have a deep understanding     10     the history of the Yellow River, but also take a close look at the happy life of the people living along its banks,” she added.

2 . Conventional chemical fertilizers (化肥) aren’t among the most eco-friendly substances in the world. Not only do they pollute the environment if they get into waterways, but they also reduce nutrients in the soil over time. What’s more, they’re relatively expensive.

Seeking a greener and more sustainable alternative, some farmers have started applying nitrogen-fixing bacteria (固氮细菌) to their crops. These bacteria absorb nitrogen gas from the atmosphere and turn it into ammonia in the soil. That ammonia provides the plants with nutrients, restores poor soil, and boosts the plants’ natural defenses against pest insects.

One problem with the bacteria, however, is the fact that they are very sensitive to heat and humidity (湿度). This means they don’t stand up well to being shipped out to farms from a central source.

With these drawbacks in mind, Asst. Prof. Ariel Furst and her colleagues at MIT have created a method of coating the bacteria in tiny “metal-phenol network” (MPN) shells (外壳). The shells contained organic compounds called phenols, which are generally regarded as safe by the Food and Drug Administration.

This new coating technology could make such bacteria more widely available than ever before. On one hand, these coatings don’t block the bacteria’s growth or functions. On the other hand, they do provide protection from heat and humidity. The coated bacteria can even be freeze-dried, then shipped and applied to crops.

Furst’s team created 12 different MPNs which comprised metals such as iron, manganese, aluminum and zinc, all of which are considered safe for use as food additives. When these MPNs were used on nitrogen-fixing bacteria, all of them were found to protect the bacteria from temperatures of up to 50℃ and from relative humidity of up to 48%.

Furst is now commercializing the technology through a company she founded, called Seia Bio. “When we think about developing technology, we need to intentionally design it to be inexpensive and accessible, and that’s what this technology is.” she said.

1. Why are conventional chemical fertilizers mentioned in the first paragraph?

A．To lead in the topic.	B．To show their advantages.
C．To provide an example.	D．To explain how to use them.

2. What can we learn about nitrogen-fixing bacteria?

A．They prefer high temperatures.	B．They are insensitive to humidity.
C．They reduce nutrients in the soil.	D．They are environmentally friendly.

3. What does the underlined word “they” in paragraph 5 refer to?

A．MPN shells.	B．The plants.
C．Chemical fertilizers.	D．The coated bacteria.

4. What does Furst expect of the new coating technology?

A．It may help farmers to ship crops.

B．It can be widely applied.

C．It might be accessible to more companies.

D．It will limit the growth of bacteria.

3 . Earlier this week, a mother called Meems posted a video online asking users to help her with a task. ________ four lines of a handwritten melody (旋律), Meems said in the video, “My 10-year-old daughter ________ this. Could somebody ________ this? I want to know if it makes sense.”

This was the first time that her daughter had ________ writing music. And it was clear that Meems was ________ as to what her child’s composition sounded like. After she posted the ________, Meems and her daughter ________ a large number of responses from various musicians from around the world. But perhaps the ________ came when an entire string orchestra (弦乐团) responded to Meems’ callout with a multi-part arrangement of her daughter’s ________.

Last week, Dr Hanson, a conductor and assistant professor of music at Seattle Pacific University, invited Meems and her daughter to attend the National Association for Music Education’s Northwest Division Conference where he ________ a roomful of string educators in a performance of Meems’ daughter’s composition.

Feeling ________ and moved, Meems ________ every musician who helped bring her daughter’s composition to ________. “When I posted the video, I never imagined this ________. This is what ________ does. It connects us. Thank you for creating with us.”

1.

A．Laughing at

B．Throwing away

C．Adapting to

D．Pointing to

2.

A．wrote

B．heard

C．spread

D．found

3.

A．recognize

B．teach

C．play

D．change

4.

A．allowed

B．tried

C．suggested

D．imagined

5.

A．curious

B．humble

C．honest

D．conservative

6.

A．letter

B．report

C．video

D．advertisement

7.

A．showed

B．received

C．recorded

D．estimated

8.

A．highlight

B．noise

C．news

D．decision

9.

A．behavior

B．homework

C．plan

D．composition

10.

A．conducted

B．criticized

C．praised

D．interrupted

11.

A．frightened

B．surprised

C．stressed

D．disappointed

12.

A．forgot

B．thanked

C．refused

D．cheated

13.

A．light

B．mind

C．life

D．market

14.

A．accident

B．business

C．view

D．response

15.

A．friendship

B．hope

C．music

D．knowledge

4 . The National Heritage Responders is a volunteer network of around 100 experts in cultural heritage conservation from around Puerto Rico. They assist individuals and institutions in figuring out how to save important objects and buildings after disasters. Their crisis hotline has been busier than ever in recent years because of more frequent and severe weather brought on by climate change. In 2023, there have been around 70 calls so far, up from fewer than 10 in 2008, when the hotline first appeared.

Ann Frellsen, the Atlanta-based book and paper conservator, is a longtime heritage responder volunteer with more than three decades of experience in helping out cultural institutions after disasters. She was among those sent to Puerto Rico over several visits starting a couple of months after two hurricanes hit it in 2017.

After providing initial support via the phone, Frellsen and her team came in to help La Casa del Libro and other local institutions in crisis with equipment, supplies and advice. In fact, much of the advice the hotline provides is via phone or video-chat; volunteers are sent out into the field in certain cases, on an as-needed basis.

“There were no stoplights and signs on the highways because they’d all been blown away,” Frellsen said. She added that figuring out how to reach the more than 20 institutions that needed assistance in Puerto Rico was challenging—not to mention the on-the-job hazards.

When Frellsen isn’t heading into disaster zones to help save artifacts (文物) from fires, hurricanes and floods, she trains others in the heritage conservation field to do the same. Some of the participants may eventually take the test to become National Heritage Responders. But at this moment, they are deep in a hands-on training exercise, based on an imaginary situation cooked up by Frellsen and her co-trainers.

1. What can we say about Puerto Rico?

A．It calls on people to keep in contact.	B．Natural disasters are increasing there.
C．It works hard to build highways.	D．The weather is really nice there.

2. What can be learned about the National Heritage Responders?

A．It teaches individuals how to protect themselves.

B．New volunteers can join it with no tests required.

C．Victims all over the world can contact it by hotline.

D．It sends experts to the disaster areas when necessary.

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

A．Dangers.

B．Skills.

C．Trainings.

D．Rights.

4. What are Frellsen and her team busy doing at present?

A．Taking various tests.	B．Entering a new disaster area.
C．Conducting a practical exercise.	D．Restoring priceless artifacts.

5 . If you’ve ever seen a sparrow steal your dog food or a crow open a garbage bag, you get a sense of that some birds have learned to take advantage of new feeding opportunities—a clear sign of their intelligence. Scientists have long wondered why certain species of birds are more innovative than others, and whether these capacities stem from larger brains or from a greater number of neurons (神经元) in specific areas of the brain.

It turns out that it’s a bit of both, according to a recent study by an international team that included members from McGill University published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

The researchers used a new technique to estimate the number of neurons in a specific part of the brain called the pallium in 111 bird species. The pallium in birds is equal to the human cerebral cortex (大脑皮层), which is involved in memory, learning, reasoning, and problem-solving, among other things. When these estimates about neuron numbers in the pallium were combined with information about over 4,000 feeding innovations, the team found that the species with the higher numbers of neurons in the pallium were also likely to be the most innovative.

“The amount of time chicks spend in the nest as their brains develop might also play a crucial role in the evolution of intelligence,” says McGill University Emeritus Professor Louis Lefebvre who spent more than 20 years gathering examples of feeding innovations. “Larger species of crows and parrots, which are known for their intelligence, spend longer in the nest, which allows more time for the brain to grow and accumulate pallial neurons.”

The results of the study help to deal with previously opposed views of the evolution and significance of brain size and show how a life-history perspective helps to understand the evolution of cognition.

1. What may a sparrow be thought of when it steals dog food?

A．It is lovely.

B．It is immoral.

C．It is heartbroken.

D．It is intelligent.

2. What did researchers do with the 111 bird species?

A．Assessed the neurons in their pallium.

B．Tested a new technology on their brain.

C．Trained them to learn to feed individually.

D．Compared their pallium with the human cerebral cortex.

3. What is behind the intelligence of larger bird species?

A．Their large shape.

B．More time in their nest.

C．Their learning ability.

D．More feeding innovations.

4. In which section may the text appear in a newspaper?

A．Health.

B．Society.

C．Science.

D．Culture.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. How much did disabled travelers spend in the US in 2018?

A．About $45.8 billion.

B．About $58.7 billion.

C．About $81 billion.

2. What is the best thing about Singapore in Nilesh Joshi’s opinion?

A．It enables the disabled to live with dignity.

B．It offers the disabled accessible public transport.

C．Its tourist attractions are free for the disabled.

3. What do we know about John Morris?

A．He spoke highly of the hotel rooms in Las Vegas.

B．He buys magazines 3 or 4 times a week.

C．He once lived in Sydney.

4. Where is Julie Jones employed?

A．At a hotel.

B．In a travel agency.

C．In a publishing company.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What do we know about the museum?

A．It can be explored in one day.

B．It houses a good many exhibits.

C．It can hold thousands of people at one time.

2. Where are the speakers?

A．In Egypt.

B．In the U. K.

C．In Greece.

3. What did the speakers fail to see this morning?

A．The modern artwork.

B．The ancient sculptures.

C．The American carvings.

4. When will the museum close?

A．At 3:00.

B．At 4:00.

C．At 5:00.

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

Arnold and Iris were sitting outside the office of the children’s home, excited and nervous. Then the office door opened, and Mrs. Ronald appeared. “Mr. and Mrs. Arnold, please come in.”

Arnold and Iris entered the office. Arnold handed Mrs. Ronald a folder of documents. She carefully reviewed them. Finally, she looked up at the couple.

“Here’s the thing,” she began to say and Iris felt her heart quicken. Mrs. Ronald’s tone sounded unpromising.

“I’ve read your application to adopt Patrick,” Mrs. Ronald continued. “You are indeed a great couple, with no legal issues, but your income is, frankly, not the best for guardianship. Mr. Arnold is a repairman. Besides, Ms. Arnold, as a nurse, doesn’t have enough time. Last week, we found the boy suffered from depression(抑郁) because of the loss of his parents in an accident and may need regular visits to professionals, which adds to the expenses. In my opinion, you are not suitable as guardians.”

“We can provide Patrick with a loving home,” Iris said, trying to hold back tears. “We have interacted with Patrick for several times. We’re the only family that Patrick is willing to interact with! We love him and will do everything to make him happy.”

“But we’re doing what’s best for Patrick. I’m so sorry we can’t allow you to take Patrick home,” Mrs. Ronald said.

“Who will take care of Patrick then?” “We are looking for his only relative, his aunt. Although she is really busy, maybe she can look after him.”

Iris asked, “Can I see Patrick?”

“Of course,” Mrs. Ronald replied.

Patrick was sitting at the desk in a room, drawing something.

“Hey, Patrick, it’s me, Iris. What are you drawing?” she said softly. Patrick handed her the paper.

“Is this your father and mother?” Patrick nodded. Iris felt really sorry for the poor boy, thinking he needed a warm family.

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。

Leaving the children’s home, the couple decided to continue to take good care of Patrick while working hard to earn money.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One day, they heard Patrick’s aunt could no longer look after him due to work change.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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。

The Lepcha people are a minority group living in parts of India, Nepal, Bhutan, and China. They have a rich and unique culture, and one less-known aspect of their customs     1     (be) their music and dance traditions.

Lepcha music is     2     (primary) oral and performed in a call-and-response fashion. The songs are typically related to themes from nature and Lepcha folktales.

Lepcha dances are a vital part of     3     (they) culture, often performed during festivals and special occasions. One such dance is called the “Ponsum”, performed in a group of eight people. Each dancer carries a bamboo stick,     4     is struck against the ground to the music. This dance is typically performed     5     (celebrate) the end of the harvest season.

Another important dance is the “Chaam”, which is performed only by men     6     (wear) beautiful robes and masks. The dance is performed in a circle     7     the sound of drums and other instruments.

Another interesting aspect of Lepcha culture is their     8     (tradition) clothing, still worn by many Lepcha people today. The women wear a brightly colored blouse and a long skirt while the men wear     9     long-sleeved shirt and baggy trousers.

Overall, Lepcha culture has many fascinating traditions and customs, and their music, dance, and clothing are just a few     10     (example) of their unique way of life.

10 . More than 400 athletes across a variety of sports, ages and levels of experience were questioned for the study by sports psychology experts from Staffordshire University and Manchester Metropolitan University. The findings reveal that athletes’ belief systems — specifically irrational (非理性) beliefs — are related to poorer self-confidence, and in turn, greater competitive anxiety and depressive symptoms.

“Phrases that reflect self-depreciating (贬低) beliefs such as ‘If I lose, I’m a failure’ or ‘If I face setbacks, it shows how stupid I am’ are warning signs,” said the authors. Paul Mansell, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Psychology at Staffordshire University, said, “Despite the psychological benefits of physical activity, studies frequently report poor mental health in athletes, which may be exacerbated by adversities, such as injury, de-selection, and performance pressure. We investigated athletes’ beliefs, how they view stress, their levels of self-confidence and put all this data together to work out what might predict psychological well-being. We found irrational beliefs to be a core reason for symptoms of poor mental health in athletes.”

This is the first known study that has examined irrational beliefs, self-confidence, and the psychological well-being of athletes all together. Irrational beliefs are extreme, rigid, and illogical ideas that people hold. For example, a person might believe that they “must” get what they want, or that just because they have failed, they are a “complete failure”.

“We can all work to help athletes develop mindsets that help them deal with the challenges of sport and life. By encouraging rational and logical beliefs about performance, we can help athletes to stay healthy amidst the high demands of competitive sport,” said Paul Mansell.

The author s propose Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) as an effective tool for protecting self-confidence. REBT helps athletes to challenge these self-depreciating beliefs and develop beliefs that are more helpful and healthy. For example, rather than believe “I am a failure if I fail”, this might be countered with “Failing is not ideal, but it does not mean that I am a failure”.

1. What did the study centre on?

A．Physical health of athletes.

B．The competition state of athletes.

C．Psychological health of athletes.

D．Competition habits of athletes.

2. Which can best replace the underlined word “exacerbated” in paragraph 2?

A．Worsened.

B．Examined.

C．Promoted.

D．Recognized.

3. Which of the following is a sign of irrational beliefs?

A．Setbacks won’t stop me.

B．If I fail, I will lose everything.

C．It is a world full of competition.

D．What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.

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

A．Psychological benefits of physical activity

B．Effective tools for protecting self-confidence

C．Rational and logical beliefs about performance

D．Warning signs of poor mental health in athletes