1 . The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, completed in 1436, is the most important landmark in Florence, Italy, and the fourth largest church in the world.
The most famous part of the church is the dome (穹顶). It was created by the genius of the Renaissance (文艺复兴), Filippo Brunelleschi, who showed a great mastery of technical knowledge. Interestingly, Brunelleschi had been a trained goldsmith (金匠) and had never built anything in his life before building the masterpiece. This may sound crazy, but in many ways we look at the relation between Brunelleschi and the church, it seemed that he was “the chosen one” to complete the construction.
When he was born in 1377, the church had been under construction for 80 years with no solution to the dome-shaped roof. The building of the church had grown so larger and grander than the original plans that no one had any idea how it would or could be done. In 1418 a public competition was announced for the construction of the dome. Of course, there was the possibility of building the dome with a wooden structure to support it, but that would end up being costly requiring over 400 trees, lots of manpower and time. When Brunelleschi entered the competition, he was the only one with an idea that did not use wood, which caught the attention of the judges. Brunelleschi did many mathematical calculations and invented a lot of new tools and machines for the project, which was started two years after he won the competition. He finished the dome in only sixteen years, which was shockingly fast back in his time.
Always known as a secretive person, Brunelleschi didn’t leave a single building plan, drawing, or even a letter behind on how he managed to come up with such an amazing design. For years, the structure was a huge mystery about how the dome was built.
1. Why did the church remain unfinished for a long time?| A．It was waiting for the chosen one for the task. | B．It went too far away from the original plan. |
| C．The wood, labor and time were not enough. | D．The tools and machines had not been invented. |
| A．He was a trained goldsmith. | B．He had a gift for invention. |
| C．He raised a different design. | D．He was good at calculation. |
| A．1418. | B．1420. | C．1434. | D．1436. |
| A．Not outgoing in personality. | B．Creative in imagination. |
| C．Not afraid when making decisions. | D．Energetic when working. |
2 . Around the world, support is growing for electric cars. Car makers are producing more electric cars with a longer distance and lower prices. Some European countries plan to be all-electric by 2040 or sooner. However, there are a lot of difficulties, including one practical consideration for customers:If they buy electric cars, where will they charge (充电) them?
Public charging stations arc not built evenly around the world. Places with lots of support from governments, like China and the Netherlands have thousands of public charging stations. But in many places, there are not many public chargers. That’s a problem for people who need to drive further than the 200 miles or so that most electric cars can travel.
This situation worries many potential (潜在的) electric car owners. “If I can’t charge, there’s no way for me to have an electric car as my primary transportation,” says Solie, who works far from his home.
Mr. Romano, the CEO of ChargePoint, says workplaces should have around 2.5 chargers for every employee and stores need one for every 20 electric cars. Highways need one every 50 to 75 miles, he says.
Luckily, car makers and governments are pushing to fill the gaps. The number of chargers grew by 72 percent to more than 322, 000 last year, the International Energy Agency says. BMW, Daimler, Volkswagen, and Ford are building 400 fast-charging stations in Europe.
But there are pitfalls. There arc different types of charging stations, and no one knows the exact mix drivers will finally need. A store might spend $5, 000 for a charger, which provides a car with 5 to 15 miles of range in 30 minutes. But once most cars get 200 or 300 miles per charge, slow chargers are less necessary.
1. What prevents potential customers from buying electric cars?| A．The long-time charging. | B．The power problem. |
| C．The safety. | D．The price. |
| A．Tired. | B．Hopeful. | C．Supportive. | D．Uninterested. |
| A．There is a great need for chargers. | B．The government should take action. |
| C．Car makers will have a bright future. | D．Electric cars are becoming less popular. |
| A．Dangers. | B．Problems. | C．Advantages. | D．Achievements. |
3 . Becca was 6 when she was told she had cancer on Sept. 8, 2014. She clearly remembers the bad days of her 26 months of non -stop treatment. Luckily, Becca celebrated her final treatment on Nov. 13, 2016, and she has been cancer-free ever since. But she was thinking about what her life was like while experiencing the treatment.
“I was never able to do much, and that’s what the kids lying in their hospital beds right now experience, asking their mom and dad, ‘When are we leaving? When can I play with my friends?’ So I decided I have to help them.”
In February, 2017, Becca came up with the idea for Knots and Arrows, a company that makes bracelets (手镯) out of swimsuit materials (泳衣布料). Part of the money made from each bracelet goes to the organizations that help people with cancer.
Becca created the company with her father, Gerhard Salmins. Gerhard Salmins once had cancer and already recovered from it. “I would be in the hospital sitting there crying and then my dad would come in and he would play games with me,” she said. “It made me forget about what I was going through” Becca said the name of the organization shows the motto (座右铭) she stuck to through her personal cancer journey.
Her organization has already given thousands of dollars to research organizations and families in need. Becca said she hoped her bracelets would make people remember that great things can result from small changes. “No matter what age you are, what you look like, and how you act, you can make a difference!”she said.
1. What happened to Becca at the end of 2016?| A．She recovered from cancer. | B．She created an organization. |
| C．She raised a lot of money. | D．She was helped by a company. |
| A．He showed Becca a famous motto. | B．He fought off cancer successfully. |
| C．He advised Becca to forget her pain. | D．He named the company Knots and Arrows. |
| A．Negative. | B．Creative. | C．Caring. | D．Clever. |
| A．To tell us having a motto is important. |
| B．To prove cancer can be got over successfully. |
| C．To show there’s always someone who needs help. |
| D．To make us realize everyone can make a difference. |
4 . Some students get so nervous before a test. They do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock, a professor at the University of Chicago in Illinois, has studied these highly anxious test-takers. The students start worrying about the results. And when they worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources (资源).
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short maths tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of 12% worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of 5%. Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test. Professor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
“What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention (干预), all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. They were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these tests.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.
1. What may the students start worrying about before an exam?| A．Whether they can pass the exams. |
| B．What other students do during the test. |
| C．Whether they have remembered the materials. |
| D．What kind of problems they will meet on the test paper. |
| A．Asking the students to think nothing of the test. |
| B．Asking the students to focus on the test. |
| C．Asking the students to sit quietly before the test. |
| D．Asking the students to write about their worries before the test. |
| A．became less nervous before the test. |
| B．were better at controlling their feelings. |
| C．did worse than those who wrote about their feelings. |
| D．did better than those who took two tests. |
| A．Writing about worries before an exam can work a bit. |
| B．Studying in the library can improve students’ performance. |
| C．Students can only write about worries right before an exam. |
| D．It doesn’t matter where to write about worries before an exam. |
5 . I have invented robots that crawl(爬)through pipes to check them for damage. Two of my
When I was in fourth grade, our teacher gave us a
Soon after I wrote to the company, our mailman
My dad noticed my interest in inventing and
Together, my dad and I repaired radios and televisions. Once, I surprised my dad with a
As my father and I worked together, I began to
| A．approaches | B．experiments | C．inventions | D．conclusion |
| A．died | B．began | C．fade | D．won |
| A．project | B．lesson | C．surprise | D．present |
| A．decisions | B．products | C．orders | D．accounts |
| A．joined | B．owned | C．started | D．chose |
| A．opened | B．offered | C．delivered | D．lent |
| A．enjoyed | B．minded | C．avoided | D．hated |
| A．stopped | B．blamed | C．controlled | D．encouraged |
| A．tool | B．promise | C．mistake | D．trick |
| A．young | B．different | C．great | D．real |
| A．reasonable | B．improper | C．practical | D．unusual |
| A．Imagination | B．Failure | C．Happiness | D．Wealth |
| A．hope | B．suggest | C．realize | D．consider |
| A．honor | B．difficulty | C．experience | D．interest |
| A．grateful | B．polite | C．related | D．equal |
6 . With the help of a new mobile application called Farm Assistant, developed by Wu Zeyin, farmers in Botswana can make their work much easier.
Wu, an 11-year-old pupil from Hubei province, moved to Botswana with his family seven years ago. During the past years living in the country, he found that the quantity of fruit and vegetables sold at local supermarkets was very limited, and the quality was poor. Some vegetables weren’t ripe, such as small carrots and green tomatoes, and they were quite expensive.
Tropical savanna(草原)and desert climates are typical in most parts of the country, making it difficult to grow common crops. Drought-tolerant species of corn, sorghum and beans are also uncommon. For a long time, Botswana had to import many grains, fruits and vegetables from neighbouring countries, such as South Africa, to meet the needs of its people.
Botswana has made a series of cooperative arrangements with China to get rid of food shortages. In July last year, a pilot project to grow China’s water-saving and drought-tolerant rice was successfully undertaken in Gaborone, the capital of Botswana, which brought Wu some new ideas on local agriculture.
“At that time, I was preparing for the first Youth Artificial Intelligence and Future Media Global Innovation Challenge,” he said, “When I got the news, I gave up my first plan of developing a personal time management app, and decided to develop an app for agriculture.”
The app supports eight crops commonly grown locally, including tomatoes, potatoes, onions, corn, carrots, cabbage, eggplant and radishes. Farmers who use the application can click on the pare to see its watering needs, opening time, seed price, selling price and production. After planting the seeds, farmers click the timer to start, and the application reminds them what to do at each stage.
When asked why he wanted to help local farmers here, Wu quotes an old saying in China: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
1. Which can be the main reason for Botswana’s food shortage?| A．Limited supplies in local markets. |
| B．Unfavourable climate conditions. |
| C．Lack of advanced farming techniques. |
| D．Frequent threats from natural disasters. |
| A．Launched. | B．Removed. | C．Adapted. | D．Promoted. |
| A．It improves local planting environment. |
| B．It identifies the commonly grown crops. |
| C．It teaches farmers when to plant the seeds. |
| D．It provides basic information of the crops. |
| A．Botswana’s Food Problem Solved by a New App |
| B．Technology Is Making a Difference in Botswana |
| C．Gifted Chinese Teenager Helps Botswana Farmers |
| D．Chinese Old Wisdom Promises a Brighter Future |
7 . ChatGPT, designed by OpenAI to carry on conversations just like humans, has become a viral excitement. The AI-powered tool went from zero to a million users in just five days! Its ability to provide in-depth answers to user questions has even drawn the attention of distinguished technology companies.
The intelligent robot understands what the user says or types and then responds in a way that makes sense. Its vast body of knowledge has been gathered from the internet and archived books. It is further trained by humans. This makes ChatGPT a useful tool for researching almost any topic.
“We have a lot of information on the internet, but you normally have to Google it, then read it and then do something with it,” says Ricardo, chief science officer and co-founder of AI company Erudit. “Now you’ll have this resource that can process the whole internet and all of the information it contains for you to answer your question.”
ChatGPT cannot think on its own. It depends on the information that it has been trained on. As a result, the AI tool works well for things that have accurate data available. However, when unsure, ChatGPT can get creative and flow out incorrect responses. OpenAI cautions users to check the information no matter how logical it sounds. Also, ChatGPT has only been trained with information till 2021. Hence, it cannot be relied upon for anything that happened after that.
Experts believe ChatGPT has limitless potential to solve real-world problems. It can translate long texts into different languages, create content on almost any topic, and even summarize books.
However, ChatGPT has received mixed reactions from educators. Some believe it could serve as a valuable tool to help build literacy skills in the classroom. It could also be used to teach students difficult science or math concepts. But other educators think ChatGPT will encourage students to cheat. They fear this will prevent them from building critical thinking and problem-solving skills. As a result, many districts are starting to ban its use in schools.
1. What is the unique feature of ChatGPT?| A．It has artificial intelligence. | B．It can answer users’ questions. |
| C．It has the largest number of users. | D．It can engage in meaningful conversations. |
| A．Its capability of information processing. | B．Its accurate information. |
| C．Its availability of up-to-date data. | D．Its vast body of questions. |
| A．ChatGPT is unable to think itself. | B．ChatGPT lacks creativity. |
| C．ChatGPT offers illogical information. | D．ChatGPT is not properly trained. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Disapproving. | C．Objective. | D．Intolerant. |
8 . Raising awareness of a serious issue begins with its being visible to students. Amazon has some fantastic things for classroom walls that you can get at a reasonable price.
| Hitting, kicking, slapping, spitting, pushing, blocking Stealing or destroying someone’s possessions Making rude hand gestures (手势) Touching in unwanted & improper ways | Name calling Insults (辱骂) Teasing Improper sexual comments Threatening to cause harm | Lying & spreading rumors (谣言) Telling others not to be friends with someone Embarrassing someone in public Damaging someone’s social relationships | Posting/sending hurtful texts, emails or posts, images or videos Making online threats Imitating others online or using their log-in Spreading unkind rumors online |
 | |||
| A．The types of bullying. | B．The ways of anti-bullying. |
| C．The causes of bullying. | D．The effects of anti-bullying. |
| A．Physical bullying. | B．Verbal bullying. |
| C．Social bullying. | D．Cyber bullying. |
| A．To sell posters. | B．To report a bullying survey. |
| C．To fight against bullying. | D．To reveal a rise in bullying. |
9 . Cimabue, the greatest painter of a Middle Ages in Italy, was surprised one day after his lunch break to discover that a fly had seated itself under the nose of a character that he had been working on. He swatted (重拍) at the fly, but it did not move. He reached out to touch the insect, only to find it was only wet paint. Turning around, he saw that his apprentice (学徒), Giotto, was laughing. Giotto had painted the fly when Cimabue was away, and it looked so real that Cimabue had been completely fooled.
Giotto di Bondone was born into a poor family in a village. Legend has it that one day, when Cimabue was wandering around the countryside, he spotted a young shepherd boy drawing pictures of his sheep, which were so vivid that Cimabue immediately asked him to come to Florence and learn how to paint. That was how Giotto’s story began in Florence, where the young student flourished under Cimabue s instruction and soon surpassed his master in skill.
At that time, people in paintings didn’t look real, and the symbolism of art was difficult for viewers to connect with it. Innovation (创新) was not stressed, so art had remained the same for hundreds of years.
However, Giotto thought art should be something more connected with people in a more realistic way. His masterpieces included the forty major frescoes (壁画) for the Arena Chapel. Adopting many techniques that were uncommon then, he painted people the way he saw them, instead of the overly tall and boxy people that other artists painted. He created three-dimensional space by using perspective, something that had not been done since Roman times.
In addition to painting, Giotto wrote poetry and drew architectural plans. When Giotto was in his sixties, he painted the Ognissanti Madomma, another famous work of art. He continued working until the age of seventy. The ideas Giotto brought to painting throughout his life revolutionized the art world and made him one of the greatest painters ever.
1. What does the anecdote in paragraph 1 tell us about Giotto?| A．His humor | B．His talent | C．His courage | D．His determination |
| A．Impressed | B．Stressed | C．Doubtful | D．Concerned |
| A．Vivid colors | B．Classic skills |
| C．Original composition | D．Lifelike quality |
| A．Great minds think alike | B．Innovation is the vitality of art |
| C．Constant dripping wears away a stone | D．A slow sparrow should make an early start |
10 . When 12, I knew my teen years would be the
Books were my true friends back then. I was so
After
Kindness saved me
| A．best | B．worst | C．calmest | D．craziest |
| A．completely | B．obviously | C．suitably | D．amazingly |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Besides | D．Finally |
| A．appreciation | B．impression | C．problem | D．organisation |
| A．strategy | B．personality | C．purpose | D．style |
| A．formal | B．suitable | C．negative | D．positive |
| A．believed | B．arranged | C．received | D．addicted |
| A．confused | B．obvious | C．fluent | D．thankful |
| A．comment | B．recommendation | C．accommodation | D．kindness |
| A．help | B．master | C．honor | D．rescue |
| A．shocking | B．surviving | C．calming | D．sharing |
| A．author | B．summary | C．shelter | D．volunteer |
| A．away | B．in | C．for | D．out |
| A．when | B．if | C．although | D．because |
| A．working out | B．making a difference | C．going through | D．working on |
