1 . Technology seems to discourage slow, immersive reading. Reading on a screen, particularly a phone screen, tires your eyes and makes it harder for you to keep your place. So online writing tends to be more skimmable and list-like than print. The cognitive neuroscientist Mary Walt argued recently that this “new norm” of skim reading is producing “an invisible, game-changing transformation” in how readers process words. The neuronal circuit that sustains the brain’s capacity to read now favors the rapid absorption of information, rather than skills developed by deeper reading, like critical analysis.
We shouldn’t overplay this danger. All readers skim. Skimming is the skill we acquire as children as we learn to read more skillfully. From about the age of nine, our eyes start to bounce around the page, reading only about a quarter of the words properly, and filling in the gaps by inference. Nor is there anything new in these fears about declining attention spans. So far, the anxieties have proved to be false alarms. “Quite a few critics have been worried about attention span lately and see very short stories as signs of cultural decline,” the American author Selvin Brown wrote. “No one ever said that poems were evidence of short attention spans.”
And yet the Internet has certainly changed the way we read. For a start, it means that there is more to read, because more people than ever are writing. If you time travelled just a few decades into the past, you would wonder at how little writing was happening outside a classroom. And digital writing is meant for rapid release and response. An online article starts forming a comment string underneath as soon as it is published. This mode of writing and reading can be interactive and fun. But often it treats other people’s words as something to be quickly harvested as fodder to say something else. Everyone talks over the top of everyone else, desperate to be heard.
Perhaps we should slow down. Reading is constantly promoted as a social good and source of personal achievement. But this advocacy often emphasizes “enthusiastic”, “passionate” or “eager” reading, none of which adjectives suggest slow, quiet absorption.
To a slow reader, a piece of writing can only be fully understood by immersing oneself in the words and their slow comprehension of a line of thought. The slow reader is like a swimmer who stops counting the number of pool laps he has done and just enjoys how his body feels and moves in water.
The human need for this kind of deep reading is too tenacious for any new technology to destroy. We often assume that technological change can’t be stopped and happens in one direction, so that older media like “dead-tree” books are kicked out by newer, more virtual forms. In practice, older technologies can coexist with new ones. The Kindle has not killed off the printed book any more than the car killed off the bicycle. We still want to enjoy slowly-formed ideas and carefully-chosen words. Even in a fast-moving age, there is time for slow reading.
1. What is the author’s attitude towards Selvin Brown’s opinion?| A．Favorable. | B．Critical. | C．Doubtful. | D．Objective. |
| A．advocacy of passionate reading helps promote slow reading |
| B．digital writing leads to too much speaking and not enough reflection |
| C．the public should be aware of the impact skimming has on neuronal circuits |
| D．the number of Internet readers is declining due to the advances of technology |
| A．Comprehensive. | B．Complicated. | C．Determined. | D．Apparent. |
| A．Slow Reading Is Here to Stay |
| B．Digital Technology Prevents Slow Reading |
| C．Screen vs. Print: Which Requires Deep Reading? |
| D．Reading Is Not a Race: The Wonder of Deep Reading |
Two little birds were happily sitting on the rock, just having finished their lunch. Their parents had allowed them, for the first time, to go and hunt for their lunch by themselves. And they had enjoyed every bit of the freedom.
Suddenly, a net came and fell on both. They struggled to pass through it but in vain. Two boys jumped down from the branch above them. They quickly gathered the net. One of the boys, Eric, shouted to his little brother Max. “We have finally succeeded after ten days of waiting.”
“Yes, what luck! They look much more beautiful than ordinary birds. Let’s go home and put them in our cage,” Eric said joyfully. They ran home with the birds.
The two little birds were terribly frightened. They thought of their mother who must be anxiously waiting for them.
When the two boys got to the house gate, the sweet smell came out of the kitchen. Their mother Amla was baking cakes, which were what the boys couldn’t live without.
Hearing the boys’ footsteps, Amla anxiously asked, “Where have you been? I was getting worried. I’m cooking your favorite cakes.”
“Look, Mom, we have caught two beautiful birds! We are going to cage them. They will play with us.” Max proudly showed them to Amla.
Seeing the young birds shivering (发抖) in the boys’ hands, Amla said, “They are indeed beautiful. But they are so young and look so scared! They need their mother. Set them free.”
The boys said, “We will look after them.” Amla insisted that they shouldn’t keep them. They turned to their father John for help. Similarly,” John said, “It is not good to cage these birds. We should not take away their freedom.”
The boys were in tears and begged, “We love them so much. Please let us keep then.” “Well, just put them in the cage for the time being. Let’s enjoy your favorite cakes.” The boys jumped with joy. In the evening, John said to Amla, “The birds look very rare. We’d better do some research. Maybe we should call the police first.”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右；2. 请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
The boys woke up only to find a note, “Mom and Dad go to the police station.”
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Just then Dad and Mom returned. On seeing them, the boys asked, “Why did you see the police?”
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3 . For breeding (繁殖) birds, timing is everything. Most species have just a narrow window to get the food they need to feed chicks. Now, after analyzing data that span from 1975 to 2017, a science team suggests that as the climate warms, birds are not only breeding earlier, but their breeding windows are also narrowed—some by as many as 4 to 5 days.
On average, the beginnings and ends of the breeding periods are occurring earlier in the year. However, the ends are shifting back faster than the beginnings, resulting in an average breeding window that is 1.7 days shorter in 2017 than it was in 1975. During that same period, Finland’s average temperature rose by 0.8℃, suggesting many bird species are actively responding to changing temperatures, Hällfors, who led the team, says.
“It’s good for the species if it’s able to follow the optimum conditions as the climate changes,” she says. However, the shorter breeding windows mean more birds are breeding earlier in the season—a risky time for chicks’ survival, especially if the weather turns suddenly cold. In addition, because many late-season species are shifting their breeding windows up, that could mean more competition for food and nesting sites early on, leaving some chicks to go hungry.
Lucyna Halupka, an ecologist at the University of Wroclaw, calls the study “a very important paper” because it’s one of the few ways to measure the breeding period duration. For 2 decades, she says, many scientists studying birds and climate change have looked only at the earliest, median (中间的), or mean laying dates for specific groups of birds. However, she reminds that because the study is limited to Finland, the findings may not apply universally; future studies should examine how breeding seasons move in other regions where the effect of climate change is different. They should also try to determine how shifting breeding windows affect population sizes, she says.
1. What did the scientists find?| A．The weather in Finland becomes warmer. |
| B．It is becoming more difficult for birds to breed. |
| C．The birds in Finland spend fewer days breeding. |
| D．There isn’t enough food for some chicks in Finland. |
| A．Exact. | B．Proper. | C．Changeable. | D．Dangerous. |
| A．It is carried out in a different way. |
| B．It is helpful for people to protect the birds. |
| C．It opens a window for people to learn about these birds. |
| D．It demonstrates the living situation of the birds on earth. |
| A．Scientists Revealed the Secrets of Birds’ Breeding |
| B．Scientists Take Steps to Protect the Birds in the Wild |
| C．Birds Play a Role in Fighting Against Global Warming |
| D．Birds’ Breeding Windows Are Affected by Global Warming |
4 . The Science of Recreational Fear
From peek-a-boo to Halloween haunted houses, research shows that recreational fear can teach us to face scary situations. The “paradox of horror” is that being scared, under the right circumstances, can be fun.
Having fun with fear is an “extremely important tool for learning,” said Mathias Clasen, director of the Recreational Fear Lab at Aarhus University in Denmark. “We learn something about the dangers of the world. We learn something about our own responses: What does it feel like to be afraid? How much fear can I take?”
Horror movies have gotten more popular. And in one survey of more than 1,000 Americans, conducted by Clasen, 55% described themselves as horror fans.
Even babies like being a little spooked (惊的). Peek-a-boo is “an infant jump scare,” Clasen said.
After this rush, many people experience an uplifted mood. One study examined how 262 adults felt before and after they entered an extreme haunted house.
| A．So why do we like it? |
| B．Fifty percent of people said they felt better after the visit. |
| C．And recreational fear, as it is rightly named, could benefit us, too. |
| D．Playing with fear helps us learn what our body does under pressure. |
| E．Horror, though, is not the only genre of what people find scary fun, he said. |
| F．We define recreational fear broadly as a mixed emotional experience of fear and enjoyment. |
| G．Classic childhood games of tag and hide-and-seek are just like the real scenes of predator vs. prey. |
5 . We live in an age when all scientific knowledge — from the safety of vaccines (疫苗) to the reality of climate change — faces organized and often angry opposition. Doubters have declared war on the consensus (共识) of experts. It seems that people have turned argumentative overnight.
In a sense, all this is not surprising. Our lives are affected by science and technology as never before. The world seems full of real and imaginary dangers. Though scientists agree that the Ebola virus is spread only by direct contact with blood or body fluids (液体), if you type “airborne Ebola” into an Internet search engine, you’ll find that some people believe that this virus has almost supernatural powers.
In this often confusing world, we need to rely on science to decide whether what we choose to believe has a basis in the laws of nature or not. But science doesn’t come naturally to most of us. Science has often led us to truths that are really mind-blowing. For example, although the roundness of the Earth has been known for thousands of years, some still feel it hard to accept.
Even when people become scientifically educated, most of them still try to make sense of the world by relying on personal experience, stories or emotions rather than statistics. When they hear a number of cancer cases in a town with a dangerous waste dump (垃圾场), they believe pollution caused the cancers. Yet two things happening together doesn’t mean one caused the other. Even when they turn to the Internet, they let in only the information they agree with to strengthen beliefs that have already been shaped by their worldview.
How can scientists convince doubters? Throwing more facts at people may not be enough. More efforts are supposed to be made.
1. What’s the text mainly about?| A．How people view the world. | B．What challenges science faces. |
| C．Whether science is worth respect. | D．Why people show disbelief in science. |
| A．Unbelievable. | B．Desirable. | C．Dangerous. | D．Obvious. |
| A．They apply logical thinking. |
| B．They stick to their own beliefs. |
| C．They form the views on assumptions. |
| D．They rely on the information on the Internet. |
| A．Through comparison. | B．Through quotation. |
| C．By giving examples. | D．By making definitions. |
When my grandfather died,my 83-year-old grandmother, once full of life, slowly began to fade. Although she was visited often by our loving family members, it was often hard to arouse her interest.
One chilly December afternoon, my sister Meagan, eight, and I were settling in for a long visit with my grandmother, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll.
”I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl,“ she told wide-eyed Meagan,”I got it one Christmas when I was about your age.The very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll. She had an exquisite,hand-painted porcelain face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow.”Grandma’s eyes filled with excitement and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas gift.“I played with my doll all morning long. She was such a beautiful doll... And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my doll down, ever so gently, on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table,I heard a loud crash.”
“I hardly had to turn round — I knew it was my precious doll. When I ran in from the dining room, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. I can still see mother trying to put my poor doll together again. But it couldn’t be done. She was gone forever.” A few days later, Grandma’s younger sister was also gone because of pneumonia. Now the tears in her eyes spilled over-tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for the lost time.
During our rest stay, Meagan thought a good idea and exclaimed,“Let’s get our grandma a new doll for Christmas, one exactly like the doll that got broken. She would not cry when she thought about it.”My heart filled with pride as I listened to my compassionate sister. But where would we find a doll to mach our grandmother’s fond memories?
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。
Where there’s a will, there is a way. We got in touch with a local doll maker.
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Finally, our creation was finished.
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1. Where are the speakers?
| A．In a studio. | B．In a library. | C．In a museum. |
| A．While fishing on a boat. |
| B．While walking through the woods. |
| C．While relaxing on the top of a mountain. |
| A．That he knew the best spots. |
| B．That he had a passion for art. |
| C．That he had a wealth of information. |
| A．A designer. | B．A photographer. | C．An historian. |
Of all the people in Lily’s life, one in particular stands out. As Lily thinks of Shanda, a smile spreads across her face. She feels loved and grateful more than ever that she has such a teacher and friend. Thanks to Shanda’s presence, Lily has become a good dancer now.
Eleven years of dance and going on twelve that year, she doubted it would end up like any other year. She might be stuck in any empty spot and didn’t know what to do with her next dance move. Little did she know that year would change her completely.
That year, Lily felt lucky that Shanda would choreograph (编舞) for her dance. Lily expected to work with Shanda, a young talented dancer, to have an okay dance, but she never expected she would have such an impressive impact on her way to dance.
The moment Lily walked into the marble floored, wall-to-wall mirrored rooms, she already felt like Shanda had faith in her. Shanda smiled at her with appreciative eyes. In the following days, Shanda always encouraged her, “Work to the best of your ability and keep going.” When she wanted to give up, Shanda told her that the real importance of dance was to love it.
Throughout their hard work and devotion, not only did Lily s ability to dance grow, but also their friendship grew. Shanda became more than a teacher to Lily. She was also a close friend that Lily could turn to for anything. Shanda gave her encouragement when Lily need edit the most, and Shanda was always there to cheer Lily up when she felt down,
As the year quickly came to an end, it was high time for Lily to show her dance to the audience. As she walked to the backstage filled with other dancers warming up and expecting their performance, she prayed for a good performance that would convey her improvement. The rhythmic music before her rang in her ears. She waited anxiously for her turn. Finally, after what seemed like days, the hostess announced “Lily”.
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。
Lily had butterflies in her stomach as she stepped onto the big stage.
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Lily felt very excited when the hostess asked her to make a speech.
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In today’s competitive world, the emphasis in athletics is so often put on breaking records. A runner’s creed: “I will win; if I cannot win, I shall do my best.” Those inspirational words, and others like it, fuel the soul of the long distance runners. Competing not only with one another, they hope to achieve their own “personal best”.
For one teen Brandon Schutt, a student in Omaha Burke High School, had been looking forward to his final cross-country race before graduating from high school. He was determined to finish the race with a respectable enough time to qualify for the upcoming state meet. Like him, all other runners were accumulating strength for a take-off.
One runner, Blake Cerveny, whose record was the fastest, tried to beat his own best. After a fast start, he continued to push himself to the limit. If he could hold on to his lead, there was no doubt that he would win. However, with less than 400 meters to go, Cerveny’s legs cramped up(抽筋)and failed him. Resolve to finish，Cerveny rose up from the ground, and continued on his way,only to fall again.His legs had simply given out. Seconds later, he lay curled on the ground, frustrated and disappointed. Other runners surpassed Cerveny with-out stopping. His will to go on faded from his body gradually.
A few moments later, Brandon, running at a very aggressive speed, drew near Cerveny. He had actually been in the same position three weeks prior when he wasn’t able to complete a race. He felt awful about not finishing. He had trained so hard for this final race in high school, to hopefully qualify for the state meet. So this time, he had made up his mind to prove himself under no circumstances.
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。
However, noticing Cerveny’s struggle at arm’s length, Brandon hesitated.
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Everyone in attendance recognized Brandon’s decision as true sportsmanship.
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During the past three decades,China
In 1997,China started
As trains become faster and more intelligent, their software and hardware systems will become more complex thus requiring
