1 . Your boss tells you that you did a bad job. Your coworker criticizes you in front of your whole team. Ouch! It's not easy to take criticism, no matter who it comes from. But, it is easy to ____ the blow when you offer criticism to someone in English. Merely by altering your wording and your attitude, you can help someone grow instead of making them feel __.

Phrases like "You’re wrong! ” and “Your presentation was terrible!" have no place in effective __. In fact, it's best to leave the word "you" out, if at all possible. __ attacks make people feel defective, and then they won't really listen to anything you have to say.

Before starting with the criticism, warm the person up with __ .If you are discussing their work, find several things you truly like about what they have done. For example, "I enjoyed your presentation today. You presented a lot of good and helpful information in it, and I can tell you put a lot of effort into it. I appreciate your hard work." This will lower their __ and make them feel appreciated.

However, a short __ compliment followed by "but" such as “It was a helpful talk, but you really need to improve your presentation skills" won't do much to help the process. After you’ve shared your compliments, allow them time to be __ . As a matter of fact, __ following your compliment with a “^,but” will destroy all you've tried to accomplish by making your __ seem false and insincere.

Remember that the goal of constructive criticism isn’t to make the person feel terrible: it's to help them grow. Instead of directly __ the person, try to get the message through to them in the form of light-hearted advice. Phrases like. "Next time you might want to…” or “I find it helpful to " can __ the blame while still leaving an impact: "Next time you might want to give a little more attention to the audience. I find it helpful to look people in the eyes while I am speaking"

People can't change overnight, especially if they don’t get detailed __. As you might have known, __ saying “you need to work on your presentation skills “won’t help a soul! Be detailed in your advice! Show moderation when you criticize anyone and keep in your mind that over-criticism can easily __ people. Remember, you want them to keep trying and improving. Don't leave them feeling defeated'

1.

A．suffer

B．accept

C．soft

D．ignore

2.

A．defeated

B．encouraged

C．motivated

D．disturbed

3.

A．discussion

B．argument

C．explanation

D．criticism

4.

A．Immediate

B．Personal

C．Accurate

D．Continuous

5.

A．interactions

B．impressions

C．personalities

D．compliments

6.

A．defense

B．spirit

C．moral

D．position

7.

A．decisive

B．serious

C．vague

D．concrete

8.

A．corrected

B．challenged

C．debated

D．absorbed

9.

A．carefully

B．reluctantly

C．immediately

D．occasionally

10.

A．praise

B．attitude

C．assistance

D．achievement

11.

A．helping

B．accusing

C．praising

D．dismissing

12.

A．make up

B．focus on

C．lead to

D．take away

13.

A．command

B．comment

C．instruction

D．information

14.

A．sincerely

B．simply

C．politely

D．unwillingly

15.

A．overload

B．promote

C．inspire

D．simulate

2 . The Music Industry — A New Industry

Not long ago, most professional musicians lived in a world far removed from business management, distribution and promotion. But today, social media, laptop production techniques and musical tastes have largely ______ the old relationship between musicians, their audiences and the marketplace.

A leading U.S. conservatory（音乐学院）now teaches students how to ______ successful careers in this new world. Robert Sirota, president of New York’s famous Manhattan School of Music, takes a small break from his work to play one of his own _______. It’s one moment of traditional musical expression in a conservatory that ______ that the music industry is in major change.

“Everything we know about the _______ of music-making, and the industry of music — including recordings, published materials, concert places, the way people enjoy the performance and concerts — have changed rapidly in the last 20 years,” he says, “and it became clear to me and other people of like mind to ______ how to develop young artistic leaders who are truly ________ of making their way in this new world.”

That’s why the Manhattan School of Music created the Center for Music Enterprise, where students can learn about new media, fundraising, ______ their own concert series, producing their own recordings, creating a package for the media and other necessary skills. Sirota, who completed his own conservatory education in the 1970s, _______ today’s Internet world with what used to be.

“The ______ as we understood in the music world, was that there were a small number of major international symphony orchestras, there were some excellent performers, and there was an _______ audience of concertgoers,” he says. “There were in addition, several multi-national record companies. But what has happened is the way people listen to music has changed.” Klorman knows that many young musicians are worried about the information needed to _______ a successful career today. However, he says the current climate rewards personal initiative and imagination as never before. And if we are creative about putting together new _____, we can carve out a whole new market for ourselves.

The ______ at the Center for Music Enterprise are among the most popular at the Manhattan School of Music. In fact, the supply is not ______ to the demand and the program is expanding. This success has in turn inspired other conservatories to teach business skills for tomorrow’s musical careers.

1.

A．sponsored

B．replaced

C．constructed

D．competed

2.

A．create

B．undertake

C．reflect

D．arrange

3.

A．compositions

B．solutions

C．projects

D．channels

4.

A．claims

B．appeals

C．declares

D．recognizes

5.

A．event

B．item

C．business

D．affair

6.

A．figure out

B．carry on

C．make up

D．set about

7.

A．aware

B．capable

C．ignorant

D．independent

8.

A．inventing

B．transferring

C．searching

D．launching

9.

A．associates

B．differs

C．contrasts

D．varies

10.

A．situation

B．fight

C．statement

D．disaster

11.

A．established

B．constructed

C．founded

D．instructed

12.

A．remain

B．insist

C．persevere

D．sustain

13.

A．customs

B．traditions

C．opportunities

D．purposes

14.

A．courses

B．activities

C．responsibilities

D．contracts

15.

A．suitable

B．adequate

C．exact

D．crucial

3 . It’s almost spring, the time of year when the change in seasons could lead to some pretty fascinating cloud activity in the sky. NASA and the GLOBE Program are inviting you to take part in a citizen science cloud observation challenge. The GLOBE Program is an international science and education program that provides students and the public with the opportunity to participate in data collection and the scientific process.

From March 15 through April 15, citizen scientists of all ages can make up to 10 cloud observations per day using the GLOBE Observer app or one of the other data entry options (for trained GLOBE members). Challenge participants with the most observations will be congratulated by a NASA scientist in a video posted on the GLOBE Program’s website and on social media.

“The GLOBE Program is offering this challenge to show people how important it is to NASA to have citizen scientist observations: observations from the ground up,” said Marile Colon Robles, lead for the GLOBE Clouds team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. “We’re going from winter to spring, so the types of storms will change, which will also change the types of clouds.

Researchers use, and value, this citizen science cloud data because it helps to validate data from Earth-observing instruments. Scientists at Langley work with a set of six instruments known as the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System(CERES)

Even though CERES’ instruments use advanced technology, it is not always easy for researchers to positively identify all types of clouds in their images. For example, it can be difficult to differ thin, wispy cirrus clouds(细小的卷云)from snow since both are cold and bright; even more so when cirrus clouds are above a surface with patchy snow(片状雪)or snow cover. One solution to this problem is to look at satellite images from a particular area and compare them to data submitted by citizen scientists on the ground.

“Looking at what an observer recorded as clouds and looking at their surface observations really helps us better understand the images that were matched from the satellite,” said Colon Robles.

You don’t have to be a cloud-gazing professional to participate. For those who want to be part of the challenge but don’t have a lot of experience identifying clouds, Colon Robles offers the following advice: “Just go outside.” The more clouds you observe, she said, the more comfortable you’ll be collecting data.

1. Why do researchers launch the cloud observation challenge?

A．The GLOBE Program is badly short of hands.

B．The technology CERES uses is not that advanced

C．Scientists can compare data from different instruments.

D．Cirrus clouds are difficult to identify when with snow cover

2. The underlined word “validate” is closest in meaning to _________.

A．create	B．cancel
C．count	D．confirm

3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A．Citizen observers can only submit their data by means of an app

B．Observers submitting the most observations can get a special prize

C．Observations from the ground are not as valuable as satellite images

D．The data collected by citizen scientists will be posted on social media

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．NASA Employs New members

B．Cloud Activities Bring a New Challenge

C．Citizens Gain Experience through Observation

D．Professionals Teach You to Observe Clouds

4 . Molecular biologist Elizabeth Blackburn shared a Nobel Prize for her research on telomeres (端粒)—structures at the tips of chromosomes (染色体）that play a key role in cellular aging. _____ she was frustrated that the important health implications of her work weren’t reaching beyond academia.

So along with psychologist Elissa Epel, she has published her findings in a new book ______ a general audience -- laying out a scientific case that may give readers________ to keep their new year's resolutions to not smoke, eat well, sleep enough, exercise regularly，and _______stress.

The main message of The Telomere Effect, being published Tuesday, is that you have more control over your own aging than you may imagine. You can actually _______ your telomeres—and perhaps your life—by following sound health advice, the authors argue, based on a review of thousands of studies.

“Telomeres listen to you, they listen to your _______，they listen to your state of mind，” said Blackburn, president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolia, Calif.

Telomeres sit at the end of the strands of DNA, like the _______ caps on shoelaces. Stress from a rough lifestyle will shorten those caps, making it more likely that cells will ______ dividing and essentially die.

Too many of these cells accelerate_______，the pair say. This doesn’t cause any particular disease, but research suggests that it speeds up the time when whatever your genes have in store will occur -- so if you’re _______ to heart disease，you're more likely to get it younger if your telomeres are shorter, said Epel, director of the University of California, San Francisco’s Aging, Metabolism and Emotions Center.

“We can provide a new level of specificity and tell people more precisely with clues _____from telomere science, about what exactly ______ is related to long telomeres, what exact foods are related to long telomeres, what aspects of sleep are more related to long telomeres,” Epel added.

Other researchers in the field praised Blackburn and Epel’s efforts to make telomere research relevant to the general public, ______ several warned that it risked ______ the science.

“I think it’s a very difficult thing to prove that lifestyle can affect telomere length and therefore lifespan,”said Harvard geneticist and anti-aging researcher David Sinclair. “To get cause-effect in humans is _____，so it’s based on associations.”

1.

A．Hence

B．Furthermore

C．But

D．And

2.

A．referred to

B．addressed to

C．aimed at

D．informed of

3.

A．implication

B．warning

C．appealing

D．motivation

4.

A．cut down on

B．contribute to

C．lay emphasis on

D．add to

5.

A．enhance

B．lengthen

C．shorten

D．simplify

6.

A．extinction

B．behaviors

C．instincts

D．attitudes

7.

A．influential

B．inevitable

C．progressive

D．protective

8.

A．initiate

B．neglect

C．cease

D．maintain

9.

A．human health

B．human aging

C．human resolution

D．psychological stress

10.

A．relevant

B．sensitive

C．reluctant

D．dedicated

11.

A．emerging

B．suffering

C．profiting

D．suspending

12.

A．illness

B．gene

C．smoking

D．exercise

13.

A．though

B．because

C．so

D．or

14.

A．overestimating

B．oversimplifying

C．underestimating

D．over-viewing

15.

A．impropriate

B．impossible

C．irrelevant

D．imaginary

5 . Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.
假设你是启明中学高三学生王磊，最近收到英国笔友Mike写来的一封邮件，告诉你最近他阅读了儒勒凡尔纳(Jules Verne)的小说《环游地球八十天》,并提出了"Traveling was more enjoyable in the days before the invention of the aeroplane”这一观点。你对此很感兴趣，决定写一封回信，内容包括:
1.你是否赞同这一观点;
2.你的理由(可以用具体事例说明)。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . Directions: Read the following passage. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Bad news sells. If it bleeds, it leads. No news is good news, and good news is no news. Those are the classic rules for the evening broadcasts and the morning papers. But now that information is being spread and monitored in differ ways, researchers are discovering new rules. By tracking people's e-mails and online posts, scientists have found that good news can spread faster and farther than disasters and sob stories.

“The ‘if it bleeds’ rule works for mass media,” says Jonah Berger, a scholar at the University of Pennsylvania. “They want your eyeballs and don't care how you're feeling. But when you share a story with your friends, you care a lot more how they react. You don't want them to think of you as a Debbie Downer."

Researchers analyzing word-of-mouth communication--e-mails, Web posts and reviews, face-to-face conversations---found that it tended to be more positive than negative, but that didn't necessarily mean people preferred positive news. Was positive hews shared more often simply because people experienced more good things than bad things?   To test for that possibility, Dr.Berger looked at how people spread a particular set of news stories: thousands of articles on The New York Times’ website. He and a Penn. colleague analyzed the “most e-mailed” list for six months. One of his first findings was hat articles in the science section were much more likely to make the list than non-science articles. He found that science amazed The Times readers and made them want to share this positive feeling with others.

Readers also tended to share articles that were exciting of funny, or that inspired negative feelings like anger or anxiety, but not articles that left them merely sad. They needed to be aroused one way or the other, and they preferred good news to bad. The more positive an article was, the more likely it was to be shared, as Dr. Berger explains in his new book, Contagious: Why Things Catch On.

7 . Before the age of the smartphone, photographers had to learn how to use high-tech cameras and photographic techniques. Today, with the huge range of camera apps on our smartphones, we’re all good amateur photographers, since the quality of smartphone images now nearly equals that of digital cameras.

The new ease of photography has given us a tremendous appetite for capturing the magical and the ordinary. We are obsessed with documenting everyday moments, whether it’s a shot of our breakfast, our cat or the cat’s breakfast. Even photo journalists are experimenting with mobile phones because their near invisibility makes it easier to capture unguarded moments.

In the past, magazines published unforgettable photos of important people and global events that captured our imaginations. These photos had the power to change public opinion and even the course of history. But if there are fewer memorable images today, it’s not because there are fewer good images. It’s because there are so many, and no one image gets to be special for long.

As people everywhere embrace photography and the media make use of citizen journalists, professional standards appear to be shifting. Before digital images, most people trusted photographs to accurately reflect reality. Today, images can be altered in ways the naked eye might never notice. Photojournalists are trained to accurately represent what they witness. Yet any image can be altered to create an “improved” picture of reality. The average viewer is left with no way to assess the accuracy of an image except through trust in a news organization or photographer.

The question of the accuracy of images gets even trickier when photojournalists start experimenting with camera apps-- like Hipstamatic or Instagram --- which encourage the use of filters （滤镜）. Images can be colored, brightened, faded, and scratched to make photographs more artistic, or to give them an antique look. Photographers using camera apps to cover wars and conflicts have created powerful images--- but also controversy. Critics worry that antique-looking photographs romanticize war, while distancing us from those who fight in them.

Yet photography has always been more subjective than we assume. Each picture is a result of a series of decisions-- where to stand, what lens to use, what to leave in and what to leave out of the frame. Does altering photographs with camera app filters make them less true? There’s something powerful and exciting about the experiment the digital age has forced upon us. These new tools make it easier to tell our own stories--- and they give others the power to do the same. Many members of the media get stuck on the same stories, focusing on elections, governments, wars, and disasters, and in the process, miss out on the less dramatic images of daily life that can be as revealing.

Who knows? Our obsession with documentation and constantly being connected could lead to a dramatic change in our way of being. Perhaps we are witnessing the development of a universal visual language, one that could change the way we relate to each other and the world. Of course, as with any language, there will be those who produce poetry and those who make shopping lists.

1. According to the author, there are fewer memorable photographs today because_________.

A．the quality of many images is still poor

B．there are so many good images these days

C．traditional media refuse to allow amateur photos

D．most images are not appealing to a global audience

2. The author put the word “ improved” in quotation marks in order to _________.

A．indicate it’s a word cited from another source

B．stress that the picture of reality is greatly improved

C．draw audience attention to a word worth considering

D．show it’s arguable whether the picture is truly improved

3. Which of the statements does the author most likely agree with?

A．The daily life pictures are very expressive themselves.

B．Photographs of the digital age are more subjective than before.

C．Photos altered by filters of camera apps are too subjective to be true.

D．Many members of the media value daily life images over major social events.

4. What may be the best title for the passage?

A．Camera Apps Bury Authenticity

B．Photography Redefined: A Visual Language

C．Smartphone: Killer of Professional Photography

D．The Shifting Standards of Professional Photography

8 . Shortly after its opening on the first day of Chinese New Year, The Wandering Earth began to gain momentum. In a little over a week, it made 2.8 billion yuan in the _____market alone. The film's popularity and success has come as a _____ to many reviewers especially since there hasn’t been that much success for Chinese-produced science fiction in the past. Many agree that this film will change the ______situation and bring in a new age for Chinese science fiction.

As a genre (类型), Chinese science fiction has ______general fiction in both the film and publishing industries. Even Liu Cixin's (the author who wrote the short story on which The Wandering Earth is based) The Three Body Problem---which is currently quite popular---didn't have many readers until it was translated into English and won the Hugo Award (雨果奖) in 2015 ______, I haven't read much of any genre written in Chinese, but I do notice that there are't many separate sections of the bookstore dedicated to science fiction. I cannot speak for everyone, but some people seem to have ______a regarding the genre.

My parents were the type who tried to steer me in the direction of non-fiction and the classics. They believed that science fiction and fantasy were “unrealistic nonsense” and would_____my brain”. _______, great science fiction writers do their research. More often than not, one can learn a great deal about science and its possible development from reading science fiction. Sure, some of the concepts may be confusing or technical in nature, but that is also part of the ______. Things like the internet, electric cars and tablet computers were first theorized in science fiction before they were ______. The author simply uses a _______of science and his imagination to create worlds different from the Earth of today, from which we can get bits and pieces that can be turned into a _______.

The world is changing. There may very well be a time when Earth is no longer able to _______the entire population. We could be living on Mars or in giant spaceships; perhaps we will be______to move Earth to a new solar system just like The Wandering Earth. Each of these scenarios(设想) has appeared in science fiction multiple times._______we are to be prepared for what is to come, we can look into modern science fiction for a window into the future.

1.

A．outdoor

B．domestic

C．depressed

D．global

2.

A．achievement

B．compliment

C．surprise

D．priority

3.

A．embarrassing

B．extreme

C．risky

D．complicate

4.

A．contributed to

B．taken over

C．made up

D．lagged behind

5.

A．Personally

B．Obviously

C．Fortunately

D．Hopefully

6.

A．confidence

B．ambitions

C．suspicions

D．misunderstandings

7.

A．damage

B．rot

C．form

D．swing

8.

A．In addition

B．For instance

C．In fact

D．As a result

9.

A．compound

B．investigation

C．memory

D．appeal

10.

A．imagined

B．operated

C．restored

D．invented

11.

A．combination

B．perspective

C．definition

D．consequence

12.

A．mystery

B．restriction

C．connection

D．reality

13.

A．protect

B．sustain

C．double

D．estimate

14.

A．willing

B．thrilled

C．forced

D．allowed

15.

A．Though

B．If

C．Since

D．Before

9 . Directions: Write an English composition in 120-150 words according to the instructions given below in Chinese.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Although it is difficult to make direct year-to-year comparisons because of increase in viewing on digital devices, the trend over the past decade is clear in numerous studies, including the Nielsen ratings. The average age of those who watch nationally televised Major League Baseball games has been _____ these years. Asked in a survey whether they _____ baseball, nearly two-thirds of those ages 18 to 36 said no.

Michael Haupert, a professor of economics at the University of Wisconsin ----la Crosse who studies baseball as a business, explains why many young people might be _____ by what to an older and more knowledgeable fan is one of the most exciting experiences in sports: a no-hitter. ” Failure is more ______ than success,” he says. ”If my students get a third of the answers right on their test, they fail. However, if a ballplayer gets a hit a third of the time, he’s often one of the _____ .” But watch an NBA game for 15 seconds, and you will likely see one team score.

It is not surprising that ______ the length of games----about three hours in recent years-----and increasing the pace of action has become a subject of discussion among those who love baseball. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is strongly ______ of both. For the 2018 season, the league issued a set of new rules designed to do just that. Mound visits are limited. A timer countdown is designed to shorten the break between innings(局).

No one knows if any of these changes will significantly shorten games. According to MLB, the average length of a nine-inning outing this season has been three hours---about five minutes shorter than the 2017 average, itself the longest mean on record.

All of those proposed changes seem to ______ the point. I interviewed at least 100 semi-fans in their late teens and early 20s for my recent book. All considered themselves fans to some degree, though they ______   watched more than snatches—on iPads or smartphones. They told me it made no difference whether a game lasted two or three hours: they would not pay attention for _____ amount of time.

The historic May 14 Supreme Court decision allowing all states to legalize sports betting could have an impact on all this. More people will soon be able to gamble on sports while watching a game on their couch. But whether ______ gambling will attract more young people to baseball is a huge unknown. Many already gamble, both legally and illegally, on fantasy sports, but legalization will provide yet another ______ during games in real time. Will some states allow betting reports in broadcasts? Will it make the young more likely to bet on baseball than on other sports? Stay tuned.

I don’t know what will hook young people on baseball. But abandoning the game’s unique selling proposition---the timelessness that provides both suspense and great conversationhe educated fan -----is not the ______ . Baseball, Clark told me, is like a game of chess---and too many ______ - changes might turn it into something “more similar to a game of checkers.” Baseball may survive in spite of its challenges, precisely because it stands out and stands up against the short ______ spans that negatively affect every aspect of our culture, including politics and education. As Casey Stengel is reported to have said,” Never make predictions, especially about the future. ”

1.

A．arising

B．declining

C．varying

D．rising

2.

A．followed

B．abandoned

C．secured

D．played

3.

A．Held up

B．taken up

C．picked up

D．fed up

4.

A．honorable

B．common

C．acceptable

D．worthwhile

5.

A．stars

B．losers

C．hitters

D．winners

6.

A．decreasing

B．extending

C．increasing

D．balancing

7.

A．disapproving

B．capable

C．supportive

D．independent

8.

A．miss

B．reach

C．deny

D．clarify

9.

A．frequently

B．sometimes

C．rarely

D．typically

10.

A．excessive

B．specific

C．either

D．total

11.

A．risky

B．organized

C．addictive

D．easy

12.

A．distraction

B．appeal

C．pastime

D．channel

13.

A．inspiration

B．answer

C．achievement

D．recreation

14.

A．overwhelming

B．simplifying

C．sweeping

D．underlying

15.

A．information

B．time

C．memory

D．attention