2 . No one dances like you. Your mom knows it. Your friends know it. Even computers know it. Now, before you get too excited, keep in mind that it doesn’t mean you’re a particularly good dancer. Only that the way you throw your arms in the air is entirely unique.

In fact, according to a recent study, the scientists, from a research center in Finland, discovered a computer could magically identify your moves to whatever type of music. “We actually weren’t looking for this result, as we set out to study something completely different,” lead study author Emily Carlson explained in the interview. “Our original idea was to see if we could use machine learning to identify which type of music our participants (参与者) were dancing to, based on their movements.”

Unexpectedly, they built dance-recognition software. Thus, you may say, they moonwalked into the discovery.

For their study, the researchers asked 73 participants to dance to various types of music—while computer software tried to determine what kind of music they were listening to. Was it Blues? Jazz? or Metal? It turned out the computer wasn’t so good at telling styles of music. It made the right guess only about one in three times. But it did surprise the researchers with its impressive ability in another aspect: it knew exactly who was dancing 94% of the time.

In their introduction to the paper, the authors suggested that, “One of the most significant features of music is its tendency to make us move. The majority of people respond to hearing music with some kind of movement, from simply clapping to a beat to making complex (复杂的) dance movements.”

Of course, we don’t dance the same way to every song. That would be, well awkward. As the authors note, dance moves are changed according to the volume (音量) of the bass drum (低音鼓). Not only that but “the presence of kick drum uniquely related to the speed of head movements.” That’s a very technical way of suggesting that we dance to the music we’re given. The thing is, at the heart of the dance are movements—and whether they’re gentle taps or all out booty-shaking, they could function as identifiable biometric data (生物特征资料).

“It seems as though a person’s dance movements are a kind of fingerprint,” study co-author Pasi Saari noted in the paper. “Each person has a unique movement signature that stays the same no matter what kind of music is playing.”

1. What was the original idea of the research?

A．To discover music features.	B．To recognize the dancer.
C．To identify the type of music.	D．To tell dancers’ response.

2. The underlined words “moonwalked into” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ________.

A．firmly supported	B．seriously reported
C．unexpectedly made	D．unreasonably questioned

3. According to Paragraph 6, ________.

A．dancing technique is decided by the given music

B．the volume of drums may be determined by dance moves

C．drum players’ head movements change the speed of playing

D．dance movements could function as identifiable biometric data

4. Which might be the best title for the passage?

A．Is It Necessary to Carry Out Such Research?

B．The Way We Dance Is Kind of like a Fingerprint

C．The Tendency of Music to Make Us Move Is Complex

D．Why Do People Dance in the Same Way to Different Music?

3 . Indoor Skydiving

Have you ever dreamt of flying? Have you ever wanted to experience the excitement of skydiving, but didn’t want to jump out of a plane? Indoor skydiving has opened up a whole new world for you to try flying.

Indoor skydiving is an activity, simulating（模拟）the free fall of a skydive. That means you learn to fly in a column of air produced by a wind tunnel （风道） inside a limited area. Before flying, you need to wear certain equipment to protect you. And each of you is equipped with an instructor that helps you learn to control your body while flying. But you aren’t trained to be more aware in the sky as a normal skydiver.

To be an indoor flyer, you can be at all ages. Fear of height or lack (缺少) of experience won’t stop you from trying. The only real limitation preventing people from flying is weight limit. Countless physically challenged flyers have safely flown with the help of experienced instructors.

Although indoor skydiving gets its name from skydiving, the similarities between the two are actually very few. The one they are in common is in the sense that they both share the freedom of flying.

However, in traditional dives, skydivers usually step out of a plane from more than 10,000 feet high, while indoor skydiving just needs flyers to lean forward and lie on the air. Also, being an outdoor activity, skydiving depends on the weather. The wind, rain, or snow can cancel your plans to jump. Indoor skydiving removes this effect from the picture. Normally, a skydive lasts just between 45-60 seconds, but tunnels allow skydivers to fly longer and as much as they like.

While most people put skydiving in the must-do list, indoor skydiving is much more than that! What used to take skydivers tens of thousands of jumps and years of experience can be learned in a relatively shorter period of time. Skydivers could be trained at lower cost compared to being trained in the sky. Because people of all ages can fly, children are quickly becoming some of the most talented skydivers. Thus, all these will certainly benefit the development of skydiving.

1. What do indoor skydivers need to do before flying?

A．Jump out of a plane.	B．Become aware of the sky.
C．Produce a column of air.	D．Put on protecting equipment.

2. What may prevent people from trying indoor skydiving?

A．Their age.	B．Fear of height.
C．Their weight.	D．Lack of experience.

3. What do skydiving and indoor skydiving have in common?

A．The sense of flying.	B．The cost of training.
C．The length of free fall.	D．The dependence on weather.

4. Which of the following might the author agree with?

A．The future of skydiving depends on children.

B．Indoor skydiving is beneficial to skydiving.

C．Fewer people show interest in skydiving.

D．Indoor skydiving will replace skydiving.

4 . Music is something I could never live without. Without music, I was shy, _________and the type of person that would only talk when asked to. _________allowed me to express myself. Singing my heart out during grade choir (合唱团) practice and trying out for the school play, I felt the most like myself. It made me _________. There was nothing that could keep me away from my passion (热情), until high school.

Every student wanted to be in the choir during high school. I chose show choir (dancing and singing). The other day I took part in the audition (试唱) held by the high school choir director. The audition went like this, introduction, song of choice and range check—“ding”—the director played a note on the piano which I had to match. I felt that I had done a(an) _________job. Weeks passed and the list of who had made it into show choir was _________.

“Have you seen the list? I got in!” one of my friends said.

“No,” I replied looking on the web page for the _________.

I scrolled down, not my name, oh congratulations, I thought as I was looking through the show choir list. I found my _________.

“Alice H.—alternate (替补).”

An alternate? Was my audition that _________? After I saw this, my confidence _________. I had no passion for the show choir. I was torn from something that I thought made me different from others.

A year passed, I was at a restaurant that also held karaoke to the customers. My parents begged me to go up and __________. I said no the first time, no the second time, finally I got enough __________to go up. It took me back to the moment I was auditioning for choir. The people eating __________for me, clapping their hands. I realized, I did not get into one program but that did not mean that I had to give up all __________. The lesson I learned was if you are turned down or do not get the outcome you want, and it is something you’re in love with, don’t __________up. I never did try out for show choir again but I knew I had taken back my passion. For the future I know that I won’t always get the outcome I want, __________I will continue to work just as hard.

1.

A．quiet

B．kind

C．clever

D．brave

2.

A．Dance

B．Music

C．Sports

D．Drawing

3.

A．happy

B．sorry

C．useful

D．nervous

4.

A．new

B．extra

C．amazing

D．boring

5.

A．discussed

B．kept

C．written

D．posted

6.

A．results

B．idea

C．plans

D．letter

7.

A．class

B．name

C．form

D．age

8.

A．easy

B．great

C．hard

D．bad

9.

A．helped

B．developed

C．disappeared

D．returned

10.

A．learn

B．speak

C．sing

D．listen

11.

A．spirit

B．energy

C．trust

D．courage

12.

A．cheered

B．waited

C．paid

D．called

13.

A．money

B．hope

C．time

D．work

14.

A．make

B．show

C．give

D．break

15.

A．so

B．but

C．or

D．for

5 . 随着社会的发展, 网上购物成为一种新型的购物方式。请根据下表提示, 谈谈网上购物的利与弊。
要求：
1. 语句流畅, 书写规范。
2. 包含提示内容, 并可适当发挥。
3. 词数 100 左右, 首句已给出, 不计入总词数。
4. 文中不能出现人名、地名等真实信息。

Advantages	Disadvantages
方便（convenient）；24 小时营业； 不用排队。	看不见物品；容易受到欺骗（be cheated）； 不能享受和朋友一起购物的乐趣。

Shopping online is quite popular in our daily life now.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . There are many international organizations which work to save and protect endangered species（物种）and natural environment. If you would like more information about any of the organizations listed below, you can write to the addresses given.

1. If you want to learn more about the organizations, you can ________.

A．call them	B．write them a letter
C．visit them	D．send them an e-mail

2. BirdLife International is an organization aiming to ________.

A．reduce pollution	B．defend rainforests
C．protect ocean animals	D．save endangered birds

3. If you oppose nuclear power, you can join ________.

A．Friends of the Earth	B．World Wide Fund For Nature
C．Greenpeace	D．BirdLife International

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Environmental Protection Organizations

B．Global Traffic Problems

C．Endangered Animals

D．Natural Beauty

7 . People today are not unfamiliar with term such as "going eco-friendly" and "sustainable lifestyle". However, there exists a group of sceptics（怀疑论者）who believe that going eco-friendly is merely a fad（一时的风尚）. I disagree with this viewpoint, Going eco-friendly is not merely a fad and it does, in fact, change the beliefs and attitudes of people.

The long-term presence of environmental organisations shows the efforts that people have made towards going eco-friendly. Organisations such as World Wildlife Fund advocate people to go eco-friendly. The high involvement of the organisations and the participants is thus a strong indicator that going eco-friendly is not merely a fad but a trend that can last decades.

Another strong indicator is the emergence of sustainable products in many industries, such as organic produce and electric vehicles. The consumer demand, coupled with eco-conscious（环保意识的）businesses, is behind the sharp increase in such products. This shows a shift in the beliefs and attitudes of people towards adopting a sustainable lifestyle. Thus, it seems quite certain that going eco-friendly is not merely a fad.

While some people who broadcast their eco-friendly practices are criticised for just hoping to project an eco-conscious image, there are a number of celebrities who have been practising the zero-waste lifestyle for years. For those who do so for years, and not mere days or months, it is indeed a commitment that can only come with a true change in beliefs and attitudes towards caring for the earth.

The call to save the earth looks set to stay. With the development of technology and the appearance of many platforms advocating going green, people are more willing to change their beliefs and attitudes when they can learn about and appreciate the positive impact of the work of different environmental organisations and individuals. It is hoped that these effects will go a long way in ensuring that our planet will remain a suitable place to live in.

1. Why does the author mention World Wildlife Fund?

A．To appreciate its environmental efforts.

B．To encourage people to go eco-friendly.

C．To evidence the universal recognition of going green.

D．To highlight the difficulty in changing people's attitudes.

2. What does the underlined word "emergence" mean in paragraph 3?

A．Sudden disappearance.	B．Sharp increase.
C．Gradual development.	D．Limited application.

3. What does the author expect of technology development?

A．It may discourage people from sustainable lifestyle.

B．It may boost the business of organic produce.

C．It will be used to project an eco-conscious image.

D．It will promote environmental awareness.

4. What is the author's purpose in writing this text?

A．To prove going eco-friendly a lasting trend.

B．To popularize the eco-friendly products.

C．To offer strategies to go eco-friendly.

D．To advertise for eco-friendly platforms.

8 . Following the Famous Silk Roads

The Silk Roads were a network of ancient trade routes that extended from East Asia all the way to the Mediterranean. A key section of the Silk Roads is the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor（走廊）, which stretches over a distance of around 5,000 kilometres through China, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, covering a total of 8,700 kilometres of trade routes. The three countries jointly pursued an application for UNESCO World Heritage (遗产) status which contained detailed research on the 33 sites along the corridor. This made history as the first successful multinational World Heritage application.

The starting point of the corridor and the entire Silk Roads network is Xi’an, in Shanxi Province. Further west on the Silk Roads, the geography gradually changes from wild deserts to high, snow-capped mountains to vast grasslands as the routes pass through the Tianshan Mountains and emerge in the valleys of Central Asia. Although the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor of the Silk Roads ends here, the network continues westwards until it reaches the Mediterranean.

The corridor began to develop in the 2nd century. Assigned by the emperor, the ambassador Zhang Qian journeyed from Chang’an to Central Asia, seeking to build bridges between the Han Dynasty and the Western Regions. Following Zhang’s efforts, trade routes took shape and relationships were strengthened between the major powers of the time, with the routes network reaching as far as the Roman Empire.

Economic activities along the routes network were not limited to trade in silk. They contributed many other items to the marketplace of goods. The routes were busy with camels carrying loads of goods and businessmen selling everything imaginable. China’s exports included silk, porcelain, ironware and tea, while horses, jewellery, spices and grapes were all imported over vast distances from the West.

In addition to trade exchange, the network served as a bridge for cultural exchange which shaped the evolution of science, art, technology and many other areas in societies along the network. Astronomy and mathematics were introduced to China from India and Arabia; important Chinese inventions such as papermaking and printing were brought to the West.

All of these activities contributed to a great age of expansion as trade and cultural exchanges gave people access to new goods, knowledge and ideas. These routes connected Eastern and Western civilizations, which achieved a shared development. The addition of the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor to the UNESCO World Heritage List is a milestone in recognition of the Silk Roads as a crucial part of humanity’s common heritage.

1. The key section of the Silk Roads is________.

A．the Mediterranean	B．Xi’an, in Shanxi Province
C．Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan	D．the Chang’an-Tianshan corridor

2. The underlined word “stretches” in Paragraph 1 is close in meaning to________.

A．stands

B．spreads

C．moves

D．flies

3. Zhang Qian travelled from Chang’an to Central Asia to________.

A．export silk, porcelain, ironware and tea

B．purchase horses, jewellery, spices and grapes

C．seek help from the most powerful western countries

D．build bridges between his country and other countries

4. What was the role of the Silk Roads according to the passage?

A．It helped to change the wild deserts to grasslands.

B．It was recognized by the UNESCO as China’s heritage.

C．It speeded up the development of the countries involved.

D．It started a trade competition between countries along the way.