1 . Pieter Bruegel’s iconic 1565 painting The Harvesters hangs at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The work showed people harvesting wheat nearly as tall as they were.“nowadays, however, if you walk through a wheat field, you basically see that wheat is about knee-height. The reduced height is essentially a consequence of breeding (培育)along with genes for increasing production to feed a growing population,” biologist De Smet explained.
De Smet says wheat is just one example of how historical artwork can allow us to track the transformation of food crops over time. He teamed up with art historian Vergauwen, a friend since childhood, to document such artwork around the world. They have been mainly looking at things where they can spot changes in shape, color and size.
Their interest in plants in artwork began with a visit to the Hermitage Museum, where they noticed an odd-looking watermelon in an early-17th-century painting. It appeared to be pale and white on the inside. Biologist De Smet assumed the painter had done a poor job. But art historian Vergauwen had a different idea. “No, this is one of the best painters ever from that era. So if he painted it like that, that’s the way it must have looked like,” he explained.
Other paintings revealed that both red and white watermelons were grown during the 17th century.“With all the genetic knowledge we now have, we can look in more detail how something comes about,”De Smet said. “For example, until the 18th century, European strawberries appeared tiny in paintings-they then grew in size as they were crossbred with North American varieties.”
Ultimately, the team hopes to create an online research database of historical plant artwork. They seek the contributions of art enthusiasts around the world via the social media. “However,” Vergauwen reminds, “if you’re going to use, for example, Picasso to try and understand how a pear looked in the early 20th century, you might be misled.”
1. What can we learn about the painting The Harvesters?| A．It shows how people successfully grew wheat. |
| B．It proves that wheat was much shorter in the past. |
| C．It explains the consequence of different breeding methods. |
| D．It gives clues about how wheat in the 16th century looked like. |
| A．Their preference for food crops. |
| B．Their friendship since childhood. |
| C．Their divided views on an old painting. |
| D．Their shared interest in Hermitage Museum. |
| A．Art enthusiasts are not careful enough. |
| B．Abstract paintings often mislead people. |
| C．The source paintings need to be realistic. |
| D．Picasso’s paintings are hard to understand. |
| A．To comment on historical plant paintings. |
| B．To tell interesting stories behind plant artwork. |
| C．To inform readers of a scientific breakthrough. |
| D．To introduce a study on food crop transformation. |
2 . Six-year-old Ryan Coutinho wasn’t used to smiling. He felt
Now he does. And he is always
The boy lives in a
Ryan’s story could have
Ms Mattos agreed to do it for free. The mother happily
Then, two days after Brazil’s Children’s Day, Ryan finally got a new denture(假牙).
“We all cried. It was very moving,” Ryan’s mother said.
“All this is
| A．happy | B．upset | C．thankful | D．confident |
| A．grateful | B．sensitive | C．sympathetic | D．hateful |
| A．poor | B．rich | C．happy | D．big |
| A．all the time | B．from time to time | C．hardly | D．always |
| A．meet | B．treat | C．save | D．research |
| A．turned down | B．agreed to | C．showed off | D．hesitated about |
| A．activity | B．performance | C．service | D．operation |
| A．strategy | B．game | C．visit | D．experience |
| A．spread | B．ended | C．changed | D．started |
| A．factory | B．bank | C．clinic | D．school |
| A．discussion | B．decoration | C．improvement | D．examination |
| A．ignored | B．accepted | C．considered | D．abandoned |
| A．worth | B．efficient | C．unnecessary | D．random |
| A．loses | B．sees | C．shares | D．regains |
| A．bravery | B．honesty | C．generosity | D．fairness |
3 . Society tells us we should socialise to the fullest, and that those who are surrounded by people are the most successful and the happiest. These days, we’re almost always connected, whether in person or through our phone screens and online social networks. But there’s something to be said for solitude(独处), “Being alone doesn’t necessarily mean being lonely”. In fact, spending time by yourself is an essential element of self-care.
Around the globe, different cultures have wide-ranging perspectives on what it means to spend time alone. If you live or have spent time in the United States, you’re probably aware that Americans tend to reject solitude. For many younger people, weekends are packed with social activities, ranging from brunch with friends to dinner parties to game nights to drinking at bars and everything in between.
The United States isn’t the only place where you’ll find a heavy emphasis on social time. Across the Atlantic, the United Kingdom is known for being an extremely extroverted(外向型的)country. A survey of Brits found that more than half had never done and would be unwilling to do activities like going to theme parks or seeing live music alone. Most Brits spend almost twice as much of their leisure time socialising with others as they do being alone.
The home can be a place of rest, relaxation and recharge—that is, if you live by yourself or have the space to be alone in your home. The country in which people are least likely to live alone is India, at about 4 percent of the population. China is also quite fond of multiple-person households, with only about 10 percent of people living by themselves. In more collectivist cultures like these, many aspects of life are related to community. Thus, spending time alone isn’t as ingrained(根深蒂固的)as a social convention in places like these, and the good of the group takes priority over the needs of one person.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?| A．People can benefit more from solitude. |
| B．People tend to socialise more nowadays. |
| C．Being alone generally equals being lonely. |
| D．Being alone enables people to be carefree. |
| A．Imaginative and wild. | B．Responsible and energetic. |
| C．Optimistic and dutiful. | D．Outgoing and sociable. |
| A．Because they share a specific culture. |
| B．Because they lack some local customs. |
| C．Because they possess enough home space. |
| D．Because they give priority to their own needs. |
| A．The Essence of Self-care | B．Enjoy Solitude, Enjoy Yourself |
| C．The Functions of Different Cultures | D．The Perspectives on Solitude |
It was time to go home. “Remember to work on your class speeches for homework,” Miss Walker said as everyone started talking and packing their school bags. Jenny felt sick. She hated having to read aloud in class. She was sure everyone would get really bored with listening to her. Once, when Jenny was reading out her holiday diary, Lee was even looking at his watch, a silver and blue one which seemed just magical.
Jenny watched Lee walk ahead of her as they left school. He seemed so clever, and he had a certain sort of shining confidence. He was just one of those people who were good at everything. Jenny sighed. As she turned the corner, she saw Lee’s watch lying right in the middle of the path.
Jenny picked it up and wanted to return it to Lee, but she couldn’t catch up with him. When she arrived home, Jenny put it on, thinking about the magic. She was surprised that it fitted so well. She walked to the mirror and started practicing her speech. Words just flooded out of her. “I’m going to talk about swimming. I have been lucky. I’ve won lots of competitions. But when I’m in a race, I’m not really thinking about winning. I’m just loving the feeling of being in the water…” Jenny laughed with excitement. She walked across the room. She suddenly seemed to have a certain sort of confidence. Turning back to the minor, Jenny saw a flash of light from the watch in the glass. The flashes of silver seemed almost magical. So maybe Lee’s watch really did have something magical.
The next day, as the lesson began, Miss Walker ask cd who was going to be brave and go first. Nobody moved, Jenny slowly raised her arm. Before Miss Walker could say something, there was a shout “She’s stolen in y watch!” Lee said angrily. “It went missing at school yesterday.”
注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2.续写部分分为两段. 每段的开头语已为你写好；
Paragraph 1:
Everybody was fixing their eyes on Jenny, waiting for an explanation,
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:
Miss Walker smiled and asked the class lo listen lo Jenny’s speech first.
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5 . Ai-Da sits behind a desk, a paintbrush in her hand. She looks up at the person posing for her, and then back down as she applies another drop of paint onto the canvas(画布). A lifelike portrait is taking shape. If you didn’t know a robot produced it, this portrait could pass as the work of a human artist.
Ai-Da produces portraits of sitting subjects using a robotic hand attached to her lifelike figure. She’s also able to talk, giving detailed answers to questions about her artistic process and attitudes towards technology. She even gave a TEDx talk titled “The Intersection of Art and AI” in Oxford several years ago. Ai-Da’s creators have also been experimenting with having her write and perform her own poetry.
But how are we to interpret Ai-Da’s output? Should we consider her paintings and poetry original and creative? Are these works actually art?
What discussions about AI and creativity often overlook is the fact that creativity isn’t an absolute quality that can be defined, measured and reproduced objectively. When we describe an object-for instance, a child’s drawing—as being creative, we project our own assumptions about culture onto it. Indeed, art never exists in isolation. It always needs someone to give it “art” status. And the criteria for whether you think something is art are formed by both your expectations and broader cultural conceptions.
If we extend this line of thinking to AI, it follows that no Al application or robot can objectively be “creative”. It is always we—humans—that decide whether works created by AI are art.
Some may see robot-produced paintings as something coming from creative computers, while others may be skeptical, given the fact that robots act on clear human instructions. In any case, attribution (归属)of creativity never depends on technical arrangement alone—no computer is objectively creative. Rather, the attribution of computational creativity is largely inspired by contexts of reception. Through particular social information, some people are inspired to think of AI output as art, systems as artists, and computers as creators. Therefore, as with any piece of art, your appreciation of AI output ultimately depends on your own interpretation.
1. What can we learn about Ai-Da?| A．She has a complex many-sided personality | B．She beat others in the debate on art and AI. |
| C．She is capable of drawing high-quality portraits. | D．She can write poems without being programmed. |
| A．That art is content-based. | B．That art can take many forms. |
| C．That creativity is closely related to cultures. | D．That creativity is often measured subjectively. |
| A．Every coin has two sides. | B．Great minds think alike. |
| C．Four eyes see more than two. | D．Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. |
| A．Is AI-created Art Really Art? | B．Will People Accept AI Artists? |
| C．Can We Use AI to Create Portraits? | D．Do We Need to Improve AI’s Creativity? |
Navigating human emotions can sometimes feel like walking through minefields(布雷区), especially when these emotions are negative.
Envy is one of such emotions with certain negativity when it
Envy could cause serious damage to relationships if
It’s impractical to completely prevent envy, but it is possible to refine the way we process it. Envy is not something to hide away. Being honest with ourselves about the way we feel
We have all
7 . Cheap Travel Destinations for Winter Trips
·Charleston, South Carolina(Hotel Cost：$72.33，Round-Trip Flight：$303)
The charming city of Charleston is ripe for exploring even during the cooler winter months. Catch a show at the Charleston Stage Company or watch a performance from the Charleston Ballet. If it’s your first time visiting, take a carriage tour of the city to explore 25 to 30 blocks of the downtown area.
·Anchorage, Alaska(Hotel Cost：$43. 67，Round-Trip Flight：$577.50)
Walk on a glacier, see wildlife and explore attractive national parks for cheapness in Anchorage. The Chugach Mountains are easily accessible, just 20 minutes from the downtown area.
·Washington, D. C.(Hotel Cost：$150，Round-Trip Flight：$206.50)
Take a trip to the Lincoln Memorial, express respect and admiration to the soldiers that served in World War Ⅱat the National World War Ⅱ Memorial and discover other sites that honor American history—free of charge. Galleries, museums and historic neighborhoods are ripe for exploring even during the winter months.
·Savannah, Georgia(Hotel Cost：$49，Round-Trip Flight：$317.50)
Taking a self-guided tour of this southern city is one of the best ways to see famous landmarks and sites free of charge. Visit the 22 public squares and see the General Casimir Pulaski Monument. And don’t forget to get your picture taken at the same bus stop bench used in the movie Forrest Gump, in Chippewa Square.
1. Which place will you choose to go if you are interested in modern American history?| A．Savannah, Georgia. | B．Charleston, South Carolina. |
| C．Anchorage, Alaska. | D．Washington, D. C. |
| A．Travelers can often see wildlife in the parks. |
| B．Travelers can watch a performance of ballet. |
| C．Travelers have to take a self-guided tour to travel. |
| D．Travelers often take pictures at a bus stop bench. |
| A．newspaper | B．novel | C．web page | D．magazine |
It was the day of the big cross-country run. Students from seven different primary schools in and around the small town were warming up and walking the route(路线)through thick evergreen forest.
I looked around and finally spotted David, who was standing by himself off to the side by a fence. He was small for ten years old. His usual big toothy smile was absent today. I walked over and asked him why he wasn’t with the other children. He hesitated and then said he had decided not to run.
What was wrong? He had worked so hard for this event!
I quickly searched the crowd for the school’s coach and asked him what had happened. “I was afraid that kids from other schools would laugh at him,” he explained uncomfortably. “I gave him the choice to run or not, and let him decide.”
I bit back my frustration(懊恼). I knew the coach meant well—he thought he was doing the right thing. After making sure that David could run if he wanted, I turned to find him coming towards me, his small body rocking from side to side as he swung his feet forward.
David had a brain disease which prevented him from walking or running like other children, but at school his classmates thought of him as a regular kid. He always participated to the best of his ability in whatever they were doing. That was why none of the children thought it unusual that David had decided to join the cross-country team. It just took him longer—that’s all. David had not missed a single practice, and although he always finished his run long after the other children, he did always finish. As a special education teacher at the school, I was familiar with the challenges David faced and was proud of his strong determination.
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.
We sat down next to each other, but David wouldn’t look at me.
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I watched as David moved up to the starting line with the other runners.
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9 . The elderly residents (居民) in care homes in London are being given hens to look after to stop them feeling lonely.
The project was dreamed up by a local charity (慈善组织) to reduce loneliness and improve elderly people’s wellbeing. It is also being used to help patients suffering dementia, a serious illness of the mind. Staff in care homes have reported a reduction in the use of medicine where hens are in use.
Among those taking part in the project is 80-year-old Ruth Xavier. She said: “I used to keep hens when I was younger and had to prepare their breakfast each morning before I went to school. ”
“I like the project a lot. I am down there in my wheelchair in the morning letting the hens out and down there again at night to see they’ve gone to bed.”
“It’s good to have a different focus. People have been bringing their children in to see the hens and residents come and sit outside to watch them. I’m enjoying the creative activities, and it feels great to have done something useful.”
There are now 700 elderly people looking after hens in 20 care homes in the North East, and the charity has been given financial support to roll it out countrywide.
Wendy Wilson, extra care manager at 60 Penfold Street, one of the first to embark on the project, said: “Residents really welcome the idea of the project and the creative sessions. We are looking forward to the benefits and fun the project can bring to people here.”
Lynn Lewis, director of Notting Hill Pathways, said: “We are happy to be taking part in the project. It will really help connect our residents through a shared interest and creative activities.”
1. What is the purpose of the project?| A．To ensure harmony in care homes. | B．To provide part-time jobs for the aged. |
| C．To raise money for medical research. | D．To promote the elderly people’s welfare. |
| A．She has learned new life skills. | B．She has gained a sense of achievement. |
| C．She has recovered her memory. | D．She has developed a strong personality. |
| A．Improve. | B．Oppose. | C．Begin. | D．Evaluate. |
| A．It is well received. | B．It needs to be more creative. |
| C．It is highly profitable. | D．It takes ages to see the results. |
10 . In 2019, the world generated 54.6 million tons of e-waste. However, just 17.4 percent of it was formally collected and recycled. Since 2014, the amount of e-waste recycled has grown by 1.8 million tons—a relatively small amount, considering that the amount of e-waste generated increased by 9.2 million tons in the same period.
Global reserves of some elements, such as platinum, are supposed to be fully used up within 15 years if the proportion of recycled stocks entering production doesn’t increase. E-waste and EV batteries are currently recycled through processes called pyrometallurgy (火法冶金术) and hydrometallurgy (湿法冶金术). However, they involve burning temperatures with a high energy demand and deep carbon footprint, and poisonous chemicals which are harmful to the environment. Alternatives are therefore being sought.
A team of scientists from the University of Coventry are extending one such alternative. They have been using non-poisonous bacteria to oxidize and recover the precious metals—a process known as “bioleaching”. They have shown that copper is widely recoverable from e-waste, and that all metals present in EV batteries can be recovered by using microbes (微生物). If extended, bioleaching facilities would mean that manufacturers of EV batteries and other electronic goods would be able to recover metals locally, relying less on costly exports to recycling centers abroad.
“At present, a key limitation for e-waste recycling is the lack of certification detailing the types and amounts of metals contained in electronic goods. But with an efficient recycling process appearing, manufacturers have the motivation to use more recycled material in their products, which will change the very design of electronics goods. It’s about closing the loop of a product’s life cycle,” said the leader of the Bioleaching Research Group, Sebastien Farnaud.
Ultimately, bioleaching technology is born out of the idea of creating a truly circular process for the things that we consume. We need to shift from a mindset and economy where we see waste as an end product, to one where there isn’t even a start or an end at all.
1. What do the statistics in Paragraph 1 indicate？| A．People pay no attention to e-waste recycling. |
| B．The recycling rate of e-waste is comparatively low. |
| C．E-waste has caused serious environmental problems. |
| D．The amount of e-waste is sharply increasing every year. |
| A．They are not environmentally friendly. |
| B．They only apply to certain e-waste. |
| C．They generate metals with a complex process. |
| D．They cause a sharp rise in local temperatures. |
| A．It has been applied abroad. | B．It releases no poisonous gas. |
| C．It recovers metals by microbes. | D．It promotes the local export trade. |
| A．a travel guide | B．a fiction novel |
| C．a health magazine | D．a scientific journal |
