1 . Cities usually have a good reason for being where they are, like a nearby port or river. People settle in these places because they are easy to get to and naturally suited to communications and trade. New York City, for example, is near a large harbour at the mouth of the Hudson River. Over 300 years its population grew gradually from 800 people to 8 million. But not all cities develop slowly over a long period of time. Boom towns grow from nothing almost overnight. In 1896, Dawson, Canada, was unmapped wilderness(荒野). But gold was discovered there in 1897, and two years later, it was one of the largest cities in the West, with a population of 30,000.
Dawson did not have any of the natural conveniences of cities like London or Paris. People went there for gold. They travelled over snow-covered mountains and sailed hundreds of miles up icy rivers. The path to Dawson was covered with thirty feet of wet snow that could fall without warming. An avalanche(雪崩) once closed the path, killing 63 people. For many who made it to Dawson, however, the rewards were worth the difficult trip. Of the first 20,000 people who dug for gold, 4,000 got rich. About 100 of these stayed rich men for the rest of their lives.
But no matter how rich they were, Dawson was never comfortable. Necessities like food and wood were very expensive. But soon, the gold that Dawson depended on had all been found. The city was crowded with disappointed people with no interest in settling down, and when they heard there were new gold discoveries in Alaska, they left Dawson City as quickly as they had come. Today, people still come and go — to see where the Canadian gold rush happened. Tourism is now the chief industry of Dawson City — its present population is 762.
1. What attracted the early settlers to New York City?| A．Its business culture. |
| B．Its small population. |
| C．Its geographical position. |
| D．Its favourable climate. |
| A．Two-thirds of them stayed there. |
| B．One out of five people got rich. |
| C．Almost everyone gave up. |
| D．Half of them died. |
| A．They found the city too crowded. |
| B．They wanted to try their luck elsewhere. |
| C．They were unable to stand the winter. |
| D．They were short of food. |
| A．The rise and fall of a city. |
| B．The gold rush in Canada. |
| C．Journeys into the wilderness. |
| D．Tourism in Dawson. |
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.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . Could a new treatment developed by the US company Lilly mean “the beginning of the end” of Alzheimer’s? Could we even cure it some day? These are headlines and questions swirling (流传) around after news of a new drug, called donanemab, showed promising results in phase-3 trials.
The brain science behind Alzheimer’s is complex, but CT and MRJ scans suggest that poisonous changes occur in the brain, including the abnormal build-up of proteins called amyloid plaques and tau tangles. The damage starts in the parts of the brain essential for forming memories but then spreads throughout the organ, with brain tissue shrinking significantly.
Developing treatments for Alzheimer’s has been a challenge, with almost 20 years passing with no new drugs. But in the last year, two new ones have emerged: donanemab and lecanemab. Neither are cures or magic bullets for the disease, but they do address key symptoms. They target the amyloid proteins that can accumulate in the brain and damage neurons, slowing down its progression.
While this news is exciting, there are major caveats. One is whether it will ever become available on the NHS. The cost is estimated to be about £20,000 per person per year of treatment.
Another is the serious side effects: in the study, brain swelling occurred in 24% of participants and brain bleeding occurred in 31.4% on the drug compared with 13.6% in the placebo (安慰剂) group. There were also three deaths during the trial.
Part of the problem for me, as an academic, in assessing the drug is that the full results of the trial haven’t yet been shared publicly or published in a peer-review journal. We cannot access the full data or examine the trial yet, and there is always a motivation for private companies to overstate the effectiveness of new drugs. Trial results need to be assessed by an independent body of experts.
While it is unlikely to change clinical practice until at least 2025, the news of donanemab is again an indication that science is continuing to make progress when it comes to treating the major causes of illness and death, even one related to the highly complex inner workings of the brain, So, there are caveats and the need for caution, but these new drugs are indeed the grounds for that rare thing these days: hope.
1. What can we learn about Alzheimer’s from the passage?| A．There exists a new drug to cure it completely. |
| B．Most people will develop Alzheimer’s when they are old. |
| C．It is caused by the accumulation of some proteins in the brain. |
| D．It results from the loss of memories as people get older. |
| A．Warnings. | B．Discussions. | C．Debates. | D．Weaknesses. |
| A．It has serious side effects such as brain bleeding and deaths. |
| B．The effectiveness may be blown up without fair assessment. |
| C．The cost of the new drug is out of reach for ordinary people. |
| D．There is no possibility for new drugs to be admitted into the NHS. |
| A．Approving. | B．Doubtful. | C．Unclear. | D．Indifferent. |
4 . Science is a process that builds upon existing theories and knowledge by continuously revising them. Every aspect of scientific knowledge can be questioned, including the general rules of thinking that appear to be most certain. So why is science trustworthy if it is always changing? If tomorrow we will no longer see the world as Newton or Einstein found it to be, why should we take seriously today’s scientific description of the world?
The answer is simple: Because at any given moment of our history, this description of the world is the best we have. The fact that it can be made better can’t diminish (降低) the fact that it is a useful instrument for understanding the world.
Consider a folk healer’s herbal medicine. Can we say this treatment is “scientific”? Yes, if it is proven to be effective, even if we have no idea why it works. In fact, quite a few common medications used today have their origin in folk treatments, and we are still not sure how they work. This does not imply that folk treatments are generally effective. To the contrary, many of them are not. What distinguishes scientific medicine is the readiness to seriously test a treatment and to be ready to change our minds if something is shown not to work. A research doctor in a modern hospital must be ready to change his theory if a more effective way of understanding illness, or treating it, becomes available.
What makes modern science uniquely powerful is its refusal to believe that it already possesses ultimate truth. The reliability of science is based not on certainty but on a complete absence of certainty. As John Stuart Mill wrote in “On Liberty” in 1859, “The beliefs which we have most warrant (依据) for, have no safeguard to rest on, but a standing invitation to the whole world to prove them unfounded.”
1. Why does the author raise the two questions in paragraph 1?| A．To add some fun. | B．To express doubts. |
| C．To introduce the topic. | D．To provide background. |
| A．It can be timeless. | B．It can be improved. |
| C．It is of little value. | D．It is the best at any moment. |
| A．Dismissive. | B．Objective. | C．Pessimistic. | D．Sympathetic. |
| A．It is unwise to believe in science. |
| B．Too much uncertainty lies in science. |
| C．The foundation of science is unfounded. |
| D．The lack of certainty makes science credible. |
5 . Personalized medicine changes conventional medicine which typically offers blanket recommendations and offers treatments designed to help more people than they bam but that might not work for you. The approach recognizes that we each possess unique characteristics, and they have an out size impact on our health.
Around the world, researchers are creating precision tools unimaginable just a decade ago: superfast DNA sequencing(排序); tissue engineering, cell reprogramming, gene editing, and more. The science and technology soon will make it possible to predict your risk of cancer, heart disease, and countless other illnesses years before you get sick. The work also offers prospects for changing genes in removing some diseases.
Last spring, researchers at the National Cancer Institute reported the dramatic recovery of a woman with breast cancer, Judy Perkins. The team, led by Steven Rosenberg, an immune(免疫的) treatment pioneer, had sequenced her cancer cells’ DNA to analyze the sudden change. The team also removed a sampling of immune cells and tested them to see which ones recognized her cancer cells' genetic faults. The scientists reproduced the winning immune cells by the billions and put them into Perkins to attack her cancer cells. More than two y cars later. Perkins, a retired engineer from Florida, shows no signs of cancer.
Thirty years ago, scientists thought that it would be impossible to understand our genetic rules and sequence the 3.2 billion pairs of different elements in our DNA. “It was like you were talking fairytales,” Kurzrock said. “The conventional wisdom was that it would never happen. Never And then in 2003, never was over.”
It took the Human Gene Project 13 years, roughly one billion dollars, and scientists from six countries to sequence one gene complex. Today sequencing costs about a thousand dollars. The latest machines can produce the results in a day. The technology, combined with advanced cell analysis, clarifies the astonishing biochemical variations that make every human body unique.
1. What can we know about personalized medicine?| A．It has emerged a decade before. |
| B．It offers blanket recommendations. |
| C．It uses genetic information to help patients. |
| D．It administers treatment intended for most people. |
| A．Promising. | B．Highly risky. | C．Fruitless. | D．Strictly confidential. |
| A．Sequencing her immune cells. |
| B．Reprogramming her cancer cells |
| C．Analysis of her life style changes. |
| D．Identification of cancer-fighting cells. |
| A．Its wide applications. | B．Its recent advances. |
| C．Its major disadvantages. | D．Its attractive prospects. |
Luosifen is a combination of river snails and rice noodles, originating in Liuzhou, Guangxi, southern China. Since Liuzhou is a city full of Luosifen restaurants, with many near one another, you can even smell it
7 . Do you crave chips, pizza, donuts, or cake? These kinds of foods are high in sugar and fats, which make them delicious but not nutritious. A recent analysis suggests that certain ingredients in these types of processed foods can be addictive.
According to the research published in the journal Addiction, certain foods can trigger the same feelings as drugs. It all comes down to what’s happening in the brain. When we feel happy, it’s due to a flood of the feel-good chemical dopamine(多巴胺) in the striatum. This region is part of the brain’s reward circuit. The striatum gets a dopamine rush when something good happens. Drugs and alcohol can cause a similar high. So, it turns out, can some popular snack foods.
“We’re designed to find carbohydrates(碳水化合物) and fats,” says Ashley Gearhardt, a psychologist at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Evolving such tastes helped our ancestors “overcome famine and make sure we survive,” she explains. That critical role shaped the brain’s reward system, making us hard-wired to enjoy carbohydrates and fatty foods.
The problem isn’t with all foods containing carbohydrates and fats. Fruit is full of sugar. Oats and other whole grains have lots of carbohydrates. Nuts and meat have fat. But such unprocessed foods—eaten in a form that’s similar to how they grew—also contain other nutrients, such as fiber, that slow digestion. That limits how quickly our bodies can absorb the nutrients.
Cookies, candy, soda, fries and other highly processed foods lack those additional nutrients. Such foods contain ingredients that have been highly changed from their natural state. They’re chock full of easy-to-absorb carbohydrates and added fats. What’s more, they often contain ingredients that don’t naturally occur together. When we eat these foods, we get a quick “hit” of carbs and fats that give the brain a boost. That makes us want to eat them again and again.
1. According to the article, which types of food can be addictive?| A．Fruits and grains. | B．Cookies and cake. |
| C．Nuts and meat. | D．Oats and fiber. |
| A．They provide quick energy. | B．They helped our ancestors survive. |
| C．They are full of fiber. | D．They contain natural sugars. |
| A．It gets a boost of carbs and fats that make us feel full. |
| B．It slows down the digestion process. |
| C．It triggers the same feelings as drugs. |
| D．It releases feel-good chemicals that prevent addiction. |
| A．Certain processed foods can create addictive responses. |
| B．Unprocessed foods are better for you than processed foods. |
| C．Our brains are born to enjoy carbohydrates and fats. |
| D．The lack of additional nutrients in processed foods makes them unhealthy. |
A new chain of coffee shops has sprung up in the city of Wuxi, East China’s Jiangsu province, themed on the ancient Huishan clay figurine (泥人) culture—with a few modern adaptations. The Nanimomo Cafe chain has expanded
Huishan clay figurines are made from the black clay found at the foot of Huishan Mountain in Wuxi. They are said to have a
9 . 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。
Catherine was the coolest kid in her class. Whenever she went, she was in the spotlight, with a bunch of kids following her and doing everything she did.
Her deskmate, Landy, however, was not in the cool kids’ group. Being the tallest kid in her class, she was teased by her classmates, who were always chanting “Landy, Landy, long as spaghetti (意大利面 )”. Every time Landy heard those silly chants, she could feel her face burst into flames. God knew how she wished the ground to crack and swallow her!
Catherine didn’t really like it when the kids chanted “Landy, Landy, long as spaghetti”. But she never told them to stop either, and nor did she ever talk to her. She liked being popular.
One weekend, Catherine went over to her grandfather for Thanksgiving. Her grandfather lives on a farm at the opposite end of town, where he keeps chickens. While helping to feed the chickens, Catherine noticed a peculiar one. Curling in the corner, it looked smaller than the others and was almost half-bare!
“What’s the matter with it?” She asked her grandfather, with a puzzled frown on her face. Her grandfather told her how chickens could act. “They have a pecking (啄) order,” he explained, wrinkles of concern spreading around his forehead. “If one chicken is different, the others will push it away and keep pecking it. Sometimes they peck it so much that it dies.”
“Oh, what a poor little thing!” Catherine let out a sigh as she scooped the frightened chicken up in her arms, whose heart was beating fast in the bony little body. Suddenly, she thought of Landy, the girl being “pecked” by her classmates. “I’m going to take it home and take good care of it,” she said with a determined look.
Back in school, Catherine told the cool kids about the chicken. “It’s looking healthy,” she said proudly. “It’s fatter and its feathers are growing. Even the cat likes it. She carries it around the garden, and...” Everyone was entertained by Catherine’s story of her lovely chicken, laughter lingering around the classroom.
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。
Paragraph 1. Then Catherine spotted Landy sitting by herself in a corner.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2. But Catherine walked directly toward Landy, regardless of what they said.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
10 . In the near future, instead of going to your wardrobe (衣柜) to choose something to throw on for your next video call, you might turn to your virtual wardrobe to pick out a 3D digital dress to wear. At least, that's what a number of people in the fashion and tech space are relying on as more businesses look to the promise of digital fashion. Moreover, those virtual clothes won't just be for your video calls, but could eventually be worn all over the virtual world, and eventually, perhaps, viewed on your body in the real world through the Augmented Reality (AR) glasses.
“There are more and more second worlds' where you can express yourself. But there is probably an underestimation of the value being attached to individuals who want to express themselves in a virtual world with a virtual product, through a virtual image,”a marketing officer Robert said. As the field develops, there are two ways of using digital clothes—wearing them yourself through AR and providing digital clothes for your virtual body.
But why should we replace our physical clothes? Supporters say there's unlimited creative expression through digital clothes, which now look increasingly more elegant thanks to developments in 3D and AR technology. “Clothing represents an expression of a personality. It always exists in the physical world, and it will exist in the virtual world,” said Simon Whitehouse, a designer.
He explained, “From the brand side, it's incredibly profitable to sell clothes without producing physical clothes. It's reinventing an entire supply chain. There's no water usage, there's very limited CO2 emission. There are no samples being sent out or returned. There are no show rooms, and there's no physical prototype (实物模型).”
1. What can you probably do in the near future according to paragraph 1?| A．Open a virtual fashion clothing store. |
| B．Design 3D digital clothes for yourself. |
| C．Buy a bigger wardrobe for your bedroom. |
| D．Wear virtual clothes made by digital technology. |
| A．AR technology will bring a challenge to people. |
| B．One's character will be seen in the virtual world. |
| C．Digital clothes will be more convenient for people. |
| D．One's expression only can be seen in the physical world. |
| A．Approving. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Unclear. | D．Grateful. |
| A．The increase in AR glasses. | B．The digital fashion in the future. |
| C．The virtual body in digital clothes. | D．AR glasses made by new technology. |
