1 . Earlier this year, I moved into a suburb of Atlanta. I decided to _________ the area on foot. On my walks, as I admired the range of residential _________, I also admired another type of house: Little Free Libraries. I’d seen them all over Atlanta and _________ it’d be fun to build my own, but when I looked at the website’s official map, it turned out there were already a handful nearby. _________, I decided to seek each of them out.

I’ve since found six sites of these free book _________. Without them, I would never have been able to “meet” people in my community. I quickly _________ my neighbors’ reading tastes, sorting through their small boxes of books. Each library is unique and shows the _________ of the person who built it, with _________ colors and designs. These Little Free Libraries are also the perfect way to _________ conversations with strangers.

Since the pandemic began, Little Free Libraries have become a lifeline for many. They don’t __________ social distancing and everything is on an honor system. People __________ a book in exchange and some libraries have even become __________ food pantries (食品储藏柜) for people in need. In all the __________ they’ve taken on, these libraries have brought people together in a sense, especially when it feels like everything is trying to __________ us. Beyond conversation starters and personality __________, Little Free Libraries find common ground — a precious thing, pandemic or not.

1.

A．explore

B．search

C．measure

D．clean

2.

A．district

B．setting

C．development

D．architecture

3.

A．promised

B．explained

C．thought

D．proved

4.

A．Secretly

B．Fortunately

C．Naturally

D．Cautiously

5.

A．exchanges

B．giveaways

C．reservations

D．publications

6.

A．corrected

B．learned

C．improved

D．satisfied

7.

A．appearance

B．expression

C．health

D．personality

8.

A．standard

B．ordinary

C．varying

D．new

9.

A．go on with

B．strike up

C．break in on

D．act out

10.

A．require

B．permit

C．deserve

D．guarantee

11.

A．leave

B．order

C．edit

D．write

12.

A．fancy

B．traditional

C．private

D．temporary

13.

A．subjects

B．burdens

C．forms

D．risks

14.

A．inform

B．persuade

C．surprise

D．divide

15.

A．balancers

B．indicators

C．testers

D．separators

2 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

The Beijing Daxing International Airport is located 46 kilometers directly south of Tian’anmen Square in Beijing. It looks     1     a phoenix (凤凰), and is in the list of Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the Guardian (《卫报》). From 2015 to 2019, it     2     (take) only four years for this great project     3     (complete) ,     4     demonstrates the amazing “Chinese speed”.

The airport covers an area of about 150 square kilometers,     5     the terminal building (候机楼) alone covering 780,000 square meters, equivalent to 100 standard football fields. It is worth     6     (mention) that the clever design takes passengers     7     (little) than eight minutes to walk to any gate from the center of the terminal.

The airport is also an “intelligent airport”, with thousands of intelligent devices and tens of thousands of sensors. The airport     8     (inform) center is run with cutting-edge technologies including cloud computing and 5G, contributing to passenger comfort and     9     (convenient).

With the help of face check-in, self-service check-in, mobile phone query luggage location... in Beijing Daxing International Airport, you can feel the new travel experience     10     (bring) by high technology. More Chinese miracles are happening in this land.

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the main reason for people to go back to school?

A．They want to learn new knowledge.

B．They want to experience school life again.

C．They are not satisfied with their present careers.

2. What challenge will older students face?

A．Having to quit their present jobs.

B．Studying together with teenagers.

C．Spending a lot of money and energy.

3. How do most people balance their work and study?

A．They take night classes.

B．They have fewer classes.

C．They don’t study after class.

4 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. When did Julie leave for Mexico?

A．In June.

B．In July.

C．In August.

2. What did Julie like best about Mexico?

A．The food.

B．The people.

C．The events.

3. Which language does Tom speak besides English?

A．Spanish.

B．French.

C．Chinese.

4. Why doesn’t Tom leave his country now?

A．He doesn’t have a passport.

B．He doesn’t know where to travel.

C．He can’t afford to visit other countries.

5 . Why did the man start to learn a musical instrument?

A．He had a music class at school.

B．He wanted to start a new hobby.

C．He was asked to do it by his parents.

6 . Millions of us may lose sleep as most states switch to DST, Daylight Saving Time (夏令时) and put the clocks forward by one hour. The time change brings darker mornings and extends light in the evening.

Some policymakers want to make DST permanent to avoid the disturbance of constant switches. Marco Rubio, a government officer, says the formality of changing our clocks twice a year makes no sense. He points to the potential economic benefits DST brings. The key argument is that more light in the evening can stimulate people to go out and that translates into more people shopping in convenience stores for everything from water to sports drinks. Thus, there is a boom in spending.

However, the health impacts have been more complicated to figure out. DST increases evening exposure to light, which can make it harder to fall asleep at night. So in recent years, the time change has been reported to be linked to an increase in atrial fibrillation, a type of heart disease, perhaps due to the sleep disorder. Besides, evidences have linked the transition to an increase in attention problems and mood disorders.

“I am very surprised,” says Jay Chudow, a cardiologist. “It’s just a one-hour change, but this shows how sensitive our bodies maybe to internal clock (生物钟) interruption.” Actually humans’ internal clock is closely linked to the rising and setting of the sun. He emphasizes that restoring permanent Year-Round Standard Time (YRST) is the best option for our health and well-being, for the natural daily cycle of light and darkness is really the most powerful timing reminder that we have to match our body clock with.

So it seems there’s a divide between what’s likely best for our health and what may be good for the economy. Due to the economic burden and tight budget, it is not hard to guess which one will be given higher priority among policymakers this year.

1. What benefit does DST bring?

A．Boosting consumption.	B．Lengthening daytime.
C．Avoiding constant switches.	D．Brightening the mornings.

2. What does the underlined word “transition” in Paragraph 3 mean?

A．Impact.

B．Exposure.

C．Disorder.

D．Change.

3. What does Jay think of DST?

A．It helps restore energy.	B．It raises health concerns.
C．It is a timing reminder.	D．It matches humans’ body clock.

4. What will the policymakers probably do this year?

A．Choose DST.	B．Adopt YRST.
C．Tighten the economy.	D．Increase funds on healthcare.

7 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Terracotta Warriors exhibition opens in Spain

The Archaeological Museum of Alicante opened on Tuesday     1     unique exhibition of China’s renowned Terracotta Warriors, known as the “    2     (eight) Wonder of the World.”

The exhibition     3     (title) “The Legend of China’s Qin and Han Dynasties” and open to public between Wednesday and January 28, 2024, showcases more than 120pieces from nine Chinese museums.

The exhibition is divided into three galleries     4     showcase the history of the unification of China by Emperor Qin Shi Huang, his tomb, and the     5     (mystery) Terracotta Warriors. The museum uses advanced technology to create an immersive exhibition space     6     (use) light, music, and scent.

Curator of the exhibition Marcos Martinon-Torres, an archaeologist and professor at the University of Cambridge, said the exhibition would provide an “unforgettable experience” for thousands of visitors.

The exhibition is part of a series of activities intended     7     the China-Spain Year of Culture and Tourism. Apart from the 10 life-size Terracotta Warriors and horses, it also features gold and silver, bronze, pottery, and jade cultural relics.

At the opening ceremony on Tuesday, Carlos Mazon, president of Alicante provincial council, called the exhibition “a     8     (history) moment.” He said his province “will become a cultural center in Europe in the next ten months,     9     it is the first time that the Chinese Terracotta Warriors     10     (exhibit) abroad since the (COVID-19)pandemic.”

8 . 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。

My middle child, Jake, was smart and good-looking, but he always sees the cup of life as half empty. Every day when he came home from school, Jake would list everything bad that happened that day!

On his ninth birthday, we saved enough money to take the family to Disneyland for two days. His dad and I didn’t make much then, so it cost a considerable amount, but we felt Jake’s birthday was worth it. After doing Disneyland to death (玩够了), we returned to our hotel room, all exhausted. And I asked the birthday boy, “Did you have fun today, Jake?”

All my fault-finding son could say to me was “Pirates (海盗) of the Caribbean was closed!” “Jake Marshall,” I was clearly unable to contain my anger, “we stood in line for an hour and a half to see The Haunted Mansion. We rode Space Mountain three times. We spent two days playing in the park, and all you can say is, Pirates of the Caribbean was closed?” Clearly, something had to be done about his negative attitude and I was going to be the one to do it!

I was determined to help him. I read every article and bought every book. With the help of great resources, I found my son had the tendency to see the worst in every situation. My research told me that people with negativity have an emotional need for order and sensitivity. That meant I needed to listen to my son’s daily pessimistic reports. My usual reaction was to try to talk Jake out of his negativity, but that wouldn’t satisfy his need for sensitivity, so I had to let him finish his complaints and ask what good things happened. Then I needed to wait until he could tell me. This would help Jake realize that good things really were happening to him.

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；
One day Jake came home from school and complained as usual.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From then on, Jake came to understand the power of seeing good points.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . Students at an elementary school in California, with the help of their art teacher, created a telephone hotline that people can call to get _________ advice from kids during difficult times. In just days, the hotline began getting thousands of calls an hour.

Jessica Martin, who teaches art at West Side School in Healdsburg, California, _________ her students just might have the magic words needed to bring _________ to people in these difficult times. “To hear the pure _________ from kids is extremely comforting,” she says.

The project was called “PepToc”. Actually, they called it “Pep Talk” (鼓励话语) first.. But when Ms. Martin’s 6-year-old son drew an advertisement for the hotline and _________ it “PepToc”, they _________ they liked that even better.

The hotline is _________ in English and Spanish. It offers the happy voices of _________ of different ages sharing positive messages. For example, by pressing 3, you can _________ a group of kindergartners saying together, “You can do it! Keep trying! Don’t give up!” Pressing 4 __________ the sounds of children giggling and laughing—a sound certain to bring a __________ to anyone’s face. Pressing 1 __________ ideas for people who are “feeling mad, frustrated, or __________ ” Helpful suggestions include “punch your pillow”, or “go get a cookie”. Pressing2 results in “words of __________ and life advice”. This includes messages like “The __________ is a better place with you in it.”

1.

A．reasonable

B．rare

C．mysterious

D．cheerful

2.

A．thought

B．complained

C．declared

D．insisted

3.

A．wealth

B．attention

C．calm

D．luck

4.

A．comment

B．joy

C．praise

D．mind

5.

A．pronounced

B．typed

C．spelled

D．drew

6.

A．decided

B．learned

C．changed

D．assumed

7.

A．spoken

B．memorable

C．popular

D．available

8.

A．callers

B．children

C．artists

D．operators

9.

A．witness

B．suggest

C．catch

D．hear

10.

A．generates

B．records

C．analyzes

D．breaks

11.

A．mark

B．wrinkle

C．smile

D．tear

12.

A．brings up

B．laughs at

C．gives away

D．turn to

13.

A．distracted

B．content

C．peaceful

D．nervous

14.

A．management

B．encouragement

C．judgement

D．argument

15.

A．hotline

B．world

C．school

D．street

10 . My son’s seventh birthday is approaching, so conversation at my house has naturally turned to organizing his party.

For his sixth birthday, we booked the local trampoline(蹦床) park. This worked out well. But the whole event cost us hundreds of pounds. This year, I’m trying to convince him that the dinosaur-themed park down the road offers just as much fun—and you don’t even need to wear special socks! This will be cheaper, because we aren’t required to hire a space—we can simply buy tickets for his mates.

But I still keep pondering over one thing—party bags. Why should a bunch of seven-year-olds, who have already been treated to a day out and a mountain of sugar, also be handed a bag full of pound-shop gifts for simply bothering to show up?

Party bags are an environmental disaster. I reckon my son attends 20 parties per year, and at each party there are 20 kids in attendance, which means 400 plastic bags in total. Within these 400 bags are perhaps 800 plastic toys, almost all of which fall apart on the journey home and then get binned instantly. The waste is shocking, and I don’t want to be part of it.

I know there are some party bag alternatives: one couple I know covered a table with Mr. Men books and got the kids to choose one each. At another party, I saw the hosts fill a bucket with soft toys and crumpled newspaper, and do a lucky dip (抽奖). Admirable efforts.

Even if that is a nice try, and even if the contents in the party bags don’t fall apart, so what? Will our guests think more highly of our child because of the party bags from our party? Will my child’s ability to make and keep friends be improved?

Well, the tradition for kid’s party bags ends with me, and it ends here, and it ends now. Who’s with me?

1. Why does the author recommend the dinosaur-themed park?

A．Because it’s more enjoyable.	B．Because it provides socks.
C．Because it can reduce cost.	D．Because it offers free tickets.

2. What may be put in party bags?

A．Gifts brought by guests.	B．Gifts prepared by hosts.
C．Gifts distributed by parks.	D．Gift a donated by charities.

3. What is the author’s attitude towards party bags?

A．Intolerant.

B．Objective.

C．Favorable.

D．In different.

4. What do the underlined words “get binned” mean in paragraph 4?

A．Be recycled.

B．Be repaired.

C．Be thrown away.

D．Be given away.