1 . 阅读下面短文，根据其内容写一篇60词左右的内容概要。

Now another American education icon may be disappearing: the hardbound (精装的) textbook. More and more school districts are replacing traditional textbooks with electronic ones. Electronic textbooks are usually accessed either through an online server or are downloaded to student laptops.

In North Texas, Plano and Irving schools are introducing e-books into a few classrooms, and Lancaster school officials also are considering them. But no local district appears to be going as far as Forney. The district most likely would be the first in the state to use e-books in every classroom for grades five to twelve.

Officials point out several reasons for turning to e-books. For one, they are easier to update. Thus the publishers are able to find ways to do online textbooks and they can go back and change information. Using e-books will better prepare students for college and the workplace.

Rapid district growth is another reason. The number of the students in the district is expected to double within five years. It's difficult to know textbook needs in advance and some students wait months for their books. But e-books can be uploaded onto a“blank” laptop in a few hours.

Cost may eventually be a deciding cause for choosing e-books, but there are no big savings yet. Even if they get it electronically, they still have to pay for the book because they're buying the instructional material. That may change as more and more districts move toward e-books.

Today's students have little trouble adjusting to laptops and e-books, said Connie Cooley, who has taught at the Academy of Irving ISD for five years. But she said it could worry teachers. "It's harder for people who are right around my age and older," said Ms. Cooley, 36. "I'm laptop-savvy, so I was ready for it, but those that aren't area little worrying."
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3 . “The Delta variant is the most able, fastest and fittest of the coronavirus variants,” said Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Program. And the USA’s top health officials said recently that the Delta variant is racing through the country and now is responsible for 83% of all USA cases. So what makes the variant so horrible？

The Delta variant was first identified in India in spring this year. In just a few months’ time，it has spread across the globe. Research from the United Kingdom shows that the Delta variant is highly contagious(传染的). It’s about 60% more easily passed from person to person than the Alpha version, which was first identified in the UK. While a single infected person might have spread older versions of the virus to two or three others, number—called the basic reproduction number—might be around six for Delta, meaning that, on average, each infected person spreads the virus to six others.

Early evidence suggests the Delta variant may cause more severe disease in people who are not vaccinated. In fact, it has raised the risk even higher, increasing the odds that an infected person would need to be hospitalized or could die from their infection by 50% compared to older variants, regardless of vaccination status.

Emerging evidence from England and Scotland, analyzed by Public Health England, also shows an increased risk for hospitalization with Delta. The Delta variant has about 15 different mutations(突变) compared with the original virus. Two of these mutations can help the virus escape the antibodies we make to fight it.

It has another mutation that is also getting researchers’ attention—known as P681R. This mutation appears to help the virus get into our cells. So it’s more likely to be in the right position to infect our cells if we come into contact with it.

P681R may also enhance the virus’ ability to unite cells together to be clumps(团块). These clumps of cells are called syncytia(合胞体). They turn into a big factory for making viruses. Scientists aren’t sure what these supersized syncytia mean exactly, but they have some theories. They may help the virus copy itself more rapidly. That may enhance the ability of the virus to transmit from person to person. At least one recent study from China supports this idea. That study tracked 167 people infected with the Delta variant back to a single case.

Scientists say that what we already know about the Delta variant makes vaccination more important than ever.

1. Compared to the Alpha variant, the Delta variant ________.

A．leads to more variants globally	B．appeared in the USA much earlier
C．spreads more easily and quickly	D．has caused more trouble in the UK

2. What does the underlined word “odds” probably mean？

A．significance	B．speed
C．probability	D．amount

3. What can be learned about P681R？

A．It helps kill infected cells.	B．It needs to be studied further.
C．It helps viruses survive antibodies.	D．It can cause more mutations.

4. What’s the main purpose of the text？

A．To give an explanation.	B．To open a discussion.
C．To make comparisons.	D．To promote a suggestion.

4 . 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。

A study by Cambridge University has found that extending classroom time may only give limited gains to pupils     1     lost learning during lockdowns. It indicated that, rather than adding extra classroom time, “schools may find     2     more productive to consider carefully the range and quality of activities provided.”

The analysis used five years of official data, collected from more than 2.800 schools in England,     3    (estimate)the likely impact of additional classroom instruction on academic progress. It found that even substantial increases in classroom teaching time would likely only lead     4     small improvements. For example, extending Year 11 pupils' classroom time by one hour per class, in English or maths, was associated with     5     increase of 0.12 and 0.18 in a school's "value-added" score. This increase was quite small, considering that most of the schools in the study had     6    (score)ranging between 994 and 1，006.

The study also     7    (investigate)the likely effect on disadvantaged pupils, whose education had been hardest hit by school closures. In keeping with the overall results，it found again that more of the same teaching was likely to do     8    (relative)little to improve academic outcomes.

A possible reason why extra instruction time may be ineffective is that it would increase the burden on both teachers and pupils     9    (prevent)them from being at their best, according to the study.

“A recovery agenda may be successful     10     it provides support and makes room for a wider range of learning,” Mr. Connolly said. In that sense，less instructional time could actually be more.

5 . When people find out my son Sam is a competitive mathlete，they usually ask if my husband and I are "math people". The answer is definitely not. But sometimes I ________I was a math person so I could help him or at least give him better advice.

Ninth grade was ________for Sam. He left the world of middle school math，where he was kind of a big fish，and started swimming with the high school kids. To ________a competition，he took multiple practice tests，which he didn't do as well as he had hoped. Ultimately，he was ________by a math camp he'd applied to. He looked somewhat depressed and ________，murmuring to me，"I just feel like the whole year has been a waste.

I may not know a lot about math，but I know how Sam feels. As a writer，how many days even months have I “________” writing the same scene over and over again？Writing a   ________sometimes feels like two steps forward，one step back. ________I gradually learn to face and accept the repetition in writing. Whatever the ________，enjoying the process is enough for me.

"You may currently be ________and frustrated with your failure，but it's not going to stay like this forever，that is，unless you don't accept or do nothing to change it，I said.

He seemed to have understood a little，but shrugged，I feel like everyone else did better than me. " I walked up to him and ________him on the shoulder affectionately. “It's normal that we can't ________the outcome and devoting time and energy to something with no guarantee of its success is risky and terrifying. "

I was trying to teach Sam something that had taken me a lifetime to learn：how to   ________difficulty，disappointment and rejection，how to commit yourself to something because it's worth your while，not because you're certain you'll ________. Advanced mathematics，a novel--maybe they are not that different   ________.

And you don't need to be a math person to know that.

1.

A．think

B．wish

C．claim

D．admit

2.

A．smooth

B．tough

C．fascinating

D．normal

3.

A．fight for

B．search for

C．prepare for

D．allow for

4.

A．accepted

B．rejected

C．convinced

D．estimated

5.

A．disappointed

B．bored

C．awkward

D．confused

6.

A．contributed

B．paid

C．employed

D．wasted

7.

A．poem

B．song

C．comment

D．novel

8.

A．Instead

B．But

C．Thus

D．And

9.

A．result

B．condition

C．benefit

D．expense

10.

A．insisting

B．attempting

C．struggling

D．proving

11.

A．shook

B．patted

C．struck

D．grasped

12.

A．control

B．offer

C．search

D．challenge

13.

A．give away

B．make up

C．push through

D．put out

14.

A．fail

B．occupy

C．change

D．succeed

15.

A．after all

B．in all

C．above all

D．of all

6 . Walmart has given up a five-year effort to introduce stock-checking robots to its stores. Staff, who evidently do the job better, can breathe a sigh of relief. The contrast is with the Norwegian oil industry, where remotely operated oil rigs (石油钻机) have frightened unions and last month set off a strike. Distant control of machinery is increasingly common in the collection of natural resources, reducing labor costs and improving safety in extreme environments.

Objectors are fighting a defending action. Ports show what lies ahead. Here, ship-to-shore remote-controlled gantry cranes (起重机) have replaced human labor from Felix Stowe to Melbourne. In mining, automation began in the middle of the last century. Unmanned mining rail carriages are now commonly used. The economy crisis of 2012-15 provided a stimulus to increase productivity and cut down costs-factors not lost on the oil industry. Rio Tinto last year completed the first public presentation of what it claims is the world's first fully autonomous, long-distance heavy-haul rail network.

Oil rigs have been on the automation march for most of the past decade. Remote control rooms can manage everything from drilling to mining. The safety advantage of having fewer people on rigs is obvious, especially during a pandemic. Benefits to the bottom line are just as clear. Equinor, the Statoil of Norway, says the move added more than $212m to earnings within a year of its rig going digital. The biggest savings come from shrunken payrolls. Robots are set to replace humans in a range of physically tough, repetitive jobs, from order picking in warehouses to lifting the old and weak.

Up to 800m jobs could be lost across industries to automation by 2030, McKinney Global Institute estimated in 2017. The UK's Office for National Statistics calculates 1.5 m English jobs are easily influenced by partial or full automation. It has even built an online program to tell workers how at risk they are. The victory of humans over robots at Walmart is likely to be a temporary one. Businesses that automate are still safer investments than ones that do not.

1. The example of Walmart in Para. 1 is intended to ________.

A．illustrate the victory of humans over robots

B．set the tune that robots cannot replace humans at work

C．show the difficulty of applying robots in the workplace

D．serve as an opposing example that introduces the topic

2. According to the passage, the advantages of automation in the oil industry include ________.
① improving workers' health status
② being able to cover all kinds of jobs
③ lowering the risk of spreading diseases
④ raising earnings by reducing wage costs

A．①②

B．①③

C．②④

D．③④

3. The author is most likely to agree that ________.

A．using robots to replace human workers is temporary

B．there is a promising future for automation in businesses

C．humans should be aware of the risk of uncontrollable machinery

D．it is a good idea for people to invest in the oil industry

4. What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Distant control of machinery is increasingly used to replace human.

B．Robots are relatively cheap compared to human workers.

C．Automation in industries becomes a trend with various benefits.

D．Robots will replace low level skill jobs in the future.

7 . 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 father is a hard-working and friendly man. He taught me to drive, play baseball and fish when I was young. However, one other thing my dad's good at was holding a grudge（怨恨）. For most of my teen years, he didn't speak to his younger brother, although they were at many family events together.

I was never sure why my dad was so angry with my uncle in the first place. They spent many festivals seated at opposite ends of the table. It was simply something that we all accepted at the time.

When I was nineteen, I got a call in my college dorm that my dad was having serious medical problems. My mom picked me up in the middle of the night so we could be there in time. However, my dad was arranged to transfer to a better hospital the next day. I couldn't fall asleep. I tossed and turned.

That morning, as my mom and I walked down the hallway of the hospital, we could see straight into my dad's room. A tall man wearing a stylish suit stood over my father's bed with his back to us. Casually, my mom remarked how nice it was for the doctor to come by to see my dad so early in the morning.

But through my misty eyes, something about the scene surprised me. The man with his back to us was standing very quietly. He was holding both of my dad's hands. It was definitely not a typical doctor's behavior. I stopped at the door of the room.

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。

I whispered softly to my mom, “That's not a doctor. ”

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The other miracle was my father's new relationship with his younger brother.

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8 . 2021 Teen Video Challenge!

Do you have a passion for reading or libraries?Do you want to share your video or performative skills with teens across the country? The Teen Video Challenge is for you!

The Teen Video Challenge is an annual video contest and is open to all teens（librarian and teacher support is encouraged）. The challenge is for teens to create a public services announcement-type video that shows their unique interpretation of the 2021 CSLP slogan “Tails and Tales". Videos are to be no longer than 60 seconds and should promote libraries and reading.                    

Videos will be accepted June 1 through August 6, 2021.

Video Criteria for Acceptance

All videos must：

·Be no longer than 60 seconds.

·Promote the idea of using public libraries and reading.

·Be designed for use at any library.

·Be appropriate for viewing by audiences of all ages.

·Adhere to copyright laws.

·Interpret the theme of animals, with the slogan of Tails and Tales.

·Video will be judged on the following criteria

·Creativity

·Message clarity and relevance

·Motivation and inspiration

·Overall impact

Winners and Prizes

CSLP will select five national winning videos; each of the winning teens/teen teams will receive $200.00. Each teen/teen team's public library will receive a prize worth $50.00 from CSLP. Winners will be announced in mid-October 2021. The winners will be required to submit model release forms for each person that appears in their videos. The winning videos will be posted on CSLP Website/You Tube Channel for public viewing and judging. Winners will be notified by email.

For more information about the 2021 Teen Video Challenge, please contact luke.Kralik @spreads.org.

1. What is the theme of the 2021 Teen Video Challenge related to?

A．Summer holidays.	B．Books and libraries.
C．Animals.	D．Public services.

2. What is the requirement of your video for the contest?

A．Encouraging people to read more in libraries.

B．Being designed for any use in libraries.

C．Having a slogan for your tales.

D．Lasting more than one minute.

3. How can we learn more information about the 2021 Teen Video Challenge?

A．By phone.	B．By letter.
C．By visiting the website.	D．By email.

10 . When comparing U.S. and Chinese schools,despite(尽管）many differences, one finds a number of unexpected similarities.

Students in both countries, in some ways, have much in common. This includes their experiences with popular culture like technology and social media, mutual care for the environment, and the fact that all were terribly influenced by COVID-19.

Students in both countries belong to what might be described as a“TikTok culture,”although this Chinese app is likely more popular in the U.S. than in China itself.The Chinese term kuaicanshi yule,which means fast-food type entertainment, is the better expression, one that conveys“snackable content”for often meme-oriented, fast moving fashion that compete for short attention spans. Whatever the app or device, students have been much influenced by technology, positively and negatively. In fact,Chinese students do face more controls from their schools about their use of social media, although many are good at finding ways to avoid them.

Furthermore, many students in both countries are attracted to similar styles, in both fashion and food, in music and film, with Chinese and American students often being similarly up-to-date on the latest hits, including television series.

Finally, what both have most in common is the strong wish to live a good life, be successful and secure. The U.S. and China approach these wishes in different ways educationally, but both could learn from each other. This is especially true given the fact that we all live in an increasingly globalized world, and must learn to work together to solve not only global problems like climate change and disease outbreaks, but unfortunate frictions between the U.S. and China. Indeed, with the last point in mind, a significant weakness in the educational systems of both countries is that neither really understands the other. This is not a new problem, but solving it needs serious attention.

1. What can we learn about the students in the U.S. and China from Paragraph 2?

A．They show no interest in traditional culture.

B．They have chances to experience social media.

C．They are satisfied with their living environment.

D．They were hardly influenced by COVID-19.

2. What do Chinese students face about using social media in school?

A．Rules to control.

B．Supports from parents.

C．Agreement from schools.

D．Risk to leave.

3. What do U.S.and Chinese students have in common?

A．Schools stop them from using social media.

B．They have little interest in television series.

C．They achieve their wishes educationally similarly.

D．They can't fully understand each other educationally.

4. Which of the following can be the best title?

A．U.S.and Chinese Schools

B．U.S.and Chinese Students

C．Similarities between U.S. and Chinese Students

D．Differences between U.S. and Chinese Schools