2 . Feeling overwhelmed by your to-do list can certainly make you unhappy, but new research suggests that more free time might not be the magic medicine many of us dream it could be.

In a new study, researchers found that people with more free time generally had higher levels of subjective well-being, but only up to a point.

People who had up to two hours of free time a day generally reported they felt better than those who’d had less time. But people who had five or more hours of free time a day generally said they felt worse. So ultimately the free-time “sweet spot” might be two to three hours per day, the findings suggest.

Part of finding the “sweet spot” has to do with how people spend the extra time they have. The researchers conducted several smaller online experiments. In one they asked participants to imagine having 3½ to seven free hours per day. They were asked to imagine spending that time doing “productive” things (like exercising) or to imagine doing “unproductive” activities (like watching TV). Study participants believed their well-being would suffer if they had a lot of free time during the day, but only if they used it unproductively. In other words, how people use their free time matters.

Of course, what feels “productive” is up to you. If watching two hours of Real Housewives in your free time increases your happiness, you should do that. And even more traditionally productive or purposeful activities can be easy and fun. Engaging in a bit of low-key cardio, like walking, can help burn stress. Free-time activities like reading, cooking or gaming are also known to put people in a state of flow.

In cases when people do find themselves with huge amounts of free time, such as retirement or having left a job,” Sharif said, “our results suggest these individuals would benefit from spending their newfound time with purpose.”

1. According to the study, how many hours of free time brings the best feelings?

A．3 to 7 hours.

B．5 hours or more.

C．Up to 2 hours.

D．2 or 3 hours.

2. Which of the following may the author agree with?

A．The busier, the happier.

B．The more free time, the better.

C．Purposeful activities increase happiness.

D．Retirement makes people depressed and unhappy.

3. Which of the following can put people in a state of flow?

A．Getting stuck in silence.	B．Having a poor-quality sleep.
C．Struggling with a dull book.	D．Enjoying classic music.

4. What’s Sharif’s advice for retirees?

A．To make a new schedule.	B．To do more housework.
C．To watch more TV.	D．To find a new job.

5. Which section of a newspaper can we find this passage?

A．Stories.

B．Life.

C．Science.

D．Sports.

3 . A common claim states that a sheet of paper cannot be folded in half more than seven times. But is this true?

In 2002, Britney Gallivan, then a junior in high school in Pomona, California, folded a single piece of paper in half 12 times. She currently holds the Guinness World Record for the most times to fold a sheet of paper in half.

The prompt that led Gallivan to accomplish these feats was an extra-credit challenge in math class to fold anything in half 12 times. Her teacher asked the students to fold something thicker: a piece of paper.

Gallivan said “it was very frustrating, as I had many unsuccessful attempts at trying to fold different papers in half. I began to question if folding paper in half more than eight times could be impossible.” However, Gallivan recalled. “I knew I needed to understand what was limiting the folding progression.”

The equations that Gallivan came up with calculated how many times a sheet of paper could be folded. She found that in order to fold many times, a long thin sheet is needed — the more a sheet is folded, the thicker the resulting stack becomes, and once the stack becomes thicker than it is long, there is nothing left to fold. She ultimately set her record with a sheet of tissue paper she found online that was 4,000 feet (1,219 meters) — more than three-quarters of a mile, or over a kilometer — long, Guinness World Records noted.

“Working on the problem took a tremendous amount of time and effort,” Gallivan said. “As frustrating as it was at times, I learned an immense amount from the experience, which has been valuable to me throughout my life in more capacities than one would expect.”     

Since Gallivan set her record, others have made claims of folding a sheet of paper more than 12 times. Still, “I anticipate that my current record will be surpassed,” Gallivan said.

1. Which was commonly considered the most times that paper can be folded in half?

A．7.

B．8.

C．9.

D．12.

2. It is impossible to fold a paper in half more times when _____.

A．the stack is as thick as its length	B．the paper is neither long nor thin
C．the stack is thicker than its length	D．the paper is longer than its thickness

3. What can we learn about Gallivan’s attempts?

A．It’s risky.

B．It’s fruitless.

C．It’s meaningless.

D．It’s energy-consuming.

4. What does Gallivan think of her experience?

A．Worthwhile.

B．Unsuccessful.

C．Miserable.

D．Regretful.

5. What can we infer from the passage?

A．Gallivan’s record is impossible to break.

B．Folding paper in half is merely a math problem.

C．Folding things in half may not be limited to 12.

D．Folding paper 12 times is a required credit in maths class.

4 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

There was a state     1     (call) Zhou (周) in the Chinese history. One day, the king of Zhou asked his officials for advice on     2     (deal) with prisoners of war. An official said, “If you love someone, you     3     (suppose) to love even the crows on the roof of his house. The prisoners of war are enemies fighting     4     us. In my opinion, we’d better kill them all.”

But the king didn’t agree with him. “I think we should treat the prisoners of war     5     (different) by differing them into those     6     are guilty or not. The guilty ones will be sentenced to death in order to avoid future disasters.”

Then another one said, “Your majesty, I think all the prisoners should be set free and sent back home to work in the fields and support     7     (them) by their own labor.     8     , you should keep strictly the rules for reward and     9     (punish). The people are sure to believe in you if you govern our country by morals and laws.”

The king thought the official’s proposal was quite reasonable so he accepted and followed it. As a result,     10     domestic situation soon settled down and gradually the country became stronger.

6 . Putting more green space around a school may help students develop some mental abilities, a study suggests. Researchers tested students repeatedly over the course of a year on attentiveness (专注力)and working memory, which is the ability to keep something in mind temporarily for performing a task. On the whole, students whose schools were surrounded by more green space improved more than pupils from schools with less green space.

The study tracked more than 2,000 students in 36 primary schools in Barcelona, Spain. The pupils were in the second to fourth grades when the study began. Green space may help mental development by reducing air pollution from vehicles, according to an article by the researchers that included pollution data from the schools. It may also help by reducing noise and encouraging physical activity, researchers said.

Policy makers should know that “more green around the school is better for cognitive development and that they should make sure that kids can see and play in green areas,” one author Mark Nieuwenhuijsen said. “Existing urban schools should think about replacing concrete or other hard surfaces with green space,” he suggested, “and even a few trees may help.”

The researchers used satellite images to group schools according to how much green space appeared on the school grounds and within about 55 yards of the school property. Their analysis showed that differences in socio-economic factors between schools did not account for the study outcome.

Sally Augustin, a psychologist, said the results made sense to her. She said the results fit with previous findings that views of nature help children and adults lower stress and perform mental tasks better.

1. What does the text mainly tell us?

A．Green space makes schools more beautiful.

B．Schools are lack of green space for students.

C．Students’ mental abilities need to be improved.

D．Green space is good for students’ mental abilities.

2. What does the underlined word “tracked” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Moved.

B．Helped.

C．Followed.

D．Found.

3. What did Mark Nieuwenhuijsen suggest?

A．More trees should be planted for kids.

B．Noise should be cleared near the school.

C．Kids should be encouraged to play more sports.

D．Air pollution should be reduced from vehicles.

4. Why is Augustin mentioned in the text?

A．To show a different opinion.

B．To introduce another interesting study.

C．To present Augustin’s view about the study.

D．To make the findings of the study more convincing.

5. In which column of a website can we probably read the text?

A．Health.

B．Education.

C．Nature.

D．Technology.

8 . In this first year, the Nature Festival will be celebrating South Australian nature with over 100 events for various ages. It is full of creative ways to get you out and about enjoying all that nature has to offer.

Its 10-day program, starting from 25th September 2023, provides a wide range of both free and ticketed experiences. From “adventure” and “learning” experiences to “slowing down” and “helping out” experiences, there will be something for everyone. Here are just some of the events.

Build-a-Birdbox Workshop

Saturday 26th September @ 9 am

Explore the role of tree hollows and learn how to build a backyard bird box.

Byards Road Wetland Nature by Night

Tuesday 29th September @ 6 pm

Take your torch and discover, on a guided walk, the creatures that come out at night.

For the Love of Trees

Tuesday 29th September @ 12:30 pm

Hear Dr Palph Body share his understanding of artist Hans Heysen.

Grey-headed Flying-fox Bat Ramble

Tuesday 1st October @ 5:45pm

Walking with local bat experts and hear how the grey-headed flying-fox bat came to be in our city.

Coastal Dune Walk

Sunday 4th October @ 9:30am

Walk along the coastline and learn about the working being done at the dunes.

Port River Alive

Sunday 4th October @ 11 am

See a short film about who and what lives in the Port River.

The full Nature Festival program is available on the website https://www.naturefestival.org.au. If you’re interested in any of the experiences above, please register as soon as possible.

1. What do we know about the Nature Festival?

A．It lasts about half a month.

B．It welcomes visitors of all ages.

C．It requires visitors to pay for their tickets.

D．It is held to call on people to protect nature.

2. In which event will visitors be directed by guides?

A．Port River Alive.

B．Coastal Dune Walk.

C．Build-a-Birdbox Workshop.

D．Byards Road Wetland Nature by Night.

3. When can visitors appreciate the amazing work being done at the dunes?

A．On 1st October.	B．On 4th October.
C．On 29th September.	D．On 26th September.

4. How can we know the lives in the Port River?

A．By seeing a short film.	B．By exploring the role of tree.
C．By walking with local bat expert.	D．By taking a torch and discovering.

5. How can we get more details about the Nature Festival according to the text?

A．Buying a brochure.	B．Reading advertisements.
C．Searching online.	D．Booking a magazine.

9 . Winter is often quite cold, which often makes us stay indoors more instead of heading out to exercise. Worse still, there are many viruses(病毒) doing their best to make you sick. And sneezing, coughing and nose blowing make the rooms a habitat for viruses.     1    Touching a doorknob or shaking a hand may make you get sick. Although it may sound terrible, there are still some things you can do to avoid viruses. Here are several simple tips to stay healthy in winters.

Wash your hands. You pick up viruses everywhere and they live on your hands, so wash your hands and do it often.     2    . But if that’s not available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer (消毒杀菌剂).

    3    :Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with your hands. That’s one way viruses can get into your body.

Get the flu shot(疫苗).     4    , but getting the flu shot lowers your chances of getting the flu. For example, getting the flu shot last year resulted in a 34% lower risk of coming down with the flu.

Avoid sick people.     5     Viruses spread very easily through the air, so keep at least six feet between you and the sneezing, sniffling and coughing person.

A．It is easy for viruses to spread from person to person

B．Take care of your face

C．It’s not absolutely safe

D．Keep your hands away from your face

E．If someone around you is sick, then keep your distance

F．The best way is to use regular soap and water

G．Because there are always some unexpected things in life

10 . 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。

It was eight o’clock on a cold spring night. Our apartment was full of the artwork of an energeic five-year-old. The house was in a mess.

I was so tired that night. I had depended on a walking stick to go anywhere for seven weeks, recovering from an operation, and I couldn’t find a way to cheer myself up.

The phone rang - for the sixth time in less than an hour. I knew who it was. My mother had been suffering from dementia (痴呆). Though we visited her every few days, she believed that her daughters had not visited in months. She thought that her friend Jimmy never wanted to see her again, but he called her and visited weekly.

She had no idea that she had repeated the things she was about to say a million times today and a million times the day before. She had no idea that I had an operation, nor could she remember her own grandaughter’s name. She forgot most of her own past and she drifted in the present. Also, she was lonely.

This time I cast my anger at the easiest target: my mother, the very victim of this chance horror. “Mom!” I shouted. “We visited two days ago! You have to believe me, and even if you don’t, I cannot talk anymore! Everything is fine!”

Silence. Then: “I was only calling to say hi. Why are you shouting?!” she continued. “Do you have a minute?”

“No, Mom, I don’t. I can’t stand this!”

I sat on the couch, defeated. I was suddenly aware of all that my daughter was watching me shouting at my mother and losing my patience. I have failed at being a good example to my daughter.

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。

My daughter approached me, saying, “Can I talk to Grandma Ellie?”

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After many kissing noises, they eventually hung up.

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