3 . It’s the day of the big race. You’ve got your running shoes on and your starting number pinned to your tank top (背心装). You’ve trained for weeks for this marathon, but have you shortchanged yourself by not having a cup of coffee?

Studies about coffee can be tricky. One week scientists find that coffee is bad for us, while the next week they announce it provides benefits. When it comes to coffee’s star ingredient—caffeine, the results are much clearer in relation to athletes: Caffeine improves performance. It is one of the few legal performance enhancers in the world. In studies, athletes who consumed caffeine before a race were able to go faster, last longer and recover more quickly than those who didn’t.

Researchers have found that caffeine causes muscles to use fat as fuel, rather than glycogen (糖原) stored in the muscles, which increases strength. Caffeine also cheers up muscles by releasing calcium stored within, which aids speed and endurance. And it affects how hard you think you’re working, so that you can run longer and harder without feeling exhausted.

You don’t even need much caffeine to get the results. Scientists estimate that between 1 and 2 milligrams of caffeine per kilogram of body weight will do the trick. More isn’t better. It’s possible to perform worse when you consume more than 9 milligrams per kilogram.

Caffeine can have detrimental side effects in people not used to it, most notably headaches. It is also discouraged for those with heart conditions or high blood pressure. In some runners, coffee and other caffeinated products can result in diarrhea (腹泻). For these reasons, it’s probably best not to drink your first cup of coffee the morning of a marathon. Instead, see how your body reacts during your training.

1. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．How researchers made the finding.	B．How caffeine in coffee helps runners.
C．Why coffee is important to runners.	D．Why researchers carried out the research.

2. What does the underlined word “detrimental” in Paragraph 5 probably mean?

A．Beneficial.

B．Unnoticeable.

C．Efficient.

D．Harmful.

3. What is the author’s advice concerning consuming coffee?

A．Test its effect in training.	B．Take more before a race.
C．Take some after a race.	D．Never take any before a race.

4. Where is the text most likely from?

A．A notebook.

B．A diary.

C．A magazine.

D．A travel guide.

5 . 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 wife and I were at a wonderful birthday celebration yesterday for a dear family friend, and the party was filled with many friendly faces, some of whom I had not seen for a while.

Among those faces was a man, who is now an accomplished and highly-regarded lawyer. I interacted with him in a professional sense about 20 years ago. At that time, he and I worked closely together over a period of about six months. We spent some time together, and I got to ask him lots of questions during that time. I don’t think about that time of my life often anymore, but every time I do, I think of him fondly. He was smart, competitive and a great guy.

When we ran into each other yesterday, it became a wonderful opportunity to catch up with the old days. We spoke a lot about the life 20 years ago. We also talked about kids, family and updates on professional pursuits... all the usual stuff. After seeing him, the memories of that time came back vividly. At that time, we were working together on the preparation for a case he was going to handle. We had many conversations about how to prepare for the case. And how he and I got through the difficult period came to my mind immediately.

On the way back home from the party, I thought about the many conversations we had. And then I remembered that he had sent me a book that he said was very important to him but unfortunately, I placed it in the basement without reading. So when I got home, I went into the basement, where I kept all sorts of things from my life.

注意：(1)续写词数应为150个左右；(2)请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

And thankfully, I was able to find the book.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Immediately, I found his address and drove to his home.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . 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。

Silk was invented in China in 3000 BC. It was well integrated into the Chinese economy during the Han Dynasty,     1     plain silks and products of peasant households were used as the main form of tax paid to the government. Fancy silk clothes were worn by the wealthy     2     symbols of status from the Han Dynasty on.

Women played     3     major role in the production of this vital product. In many households, the laborious task of raising the silkworms (蚕) originally     4    (restrict) to women.

Producing silk is a     5    (relative) lengthy process and demands constant close attention. The worms need a certain degree of     6    (warm) to survive. Sometimes the tiny eggs were sewn into little cotton bags and worn beneath the clothes. When hatched (孵出), they might be placed in shallow baskets or on shelves in the house     7     fed fresh mulberry leaves night and day. When they became cocoons (茧), dipping them into hot water to loosen the tightly woven filaments (细丝) and then     8    (wind) these filaments onto a spool (线轴)     9    (produce) the silk threads woven into cloth were also     10    (woman) work. Today, silk factories still mainly employ women for these tasks.

7 . Most people believe that pencils are made from lead, but this isn’t quite true. They’re actually made of a mineral called graphite (石墨).

    1     During the late Middle Ages, in a village called Borrowdale, in England, a group of locals saw a few uprooted trees.     2     On e of them had the idea that this dark substance could be used to mark sheep so owners could record and track them. This discovery by those curious locals paved the way for the modern pencils.

You may wonder why solid graphite can leave its color behind.     3     Graphite is made of carbon layers. When we use it as a pencil, the carbon from the pencil rubs off and gets deposited(沉淀) onto the fibers of the paper. These deposited pieces stick to the fibers of the paper and firmly remain there.

    4     You could stain your clothes and make your hands dirty. Later, people came up with some ideas. For example, in the late eighteenth century, an officer in Napoleon’s army designed the wooden pencils we see today. He roasted a mixture of water, clay and graphite at about 1,900 °F. After this mixture cooled down, he put it within a long wooden covering. This is how the wooden pencil came into being.

When you want to remove your writing, you need to turn to an eraser. The functioning of an eraser is based on a common principle. Erasing happens because of the friction that develops between the eraser material and the paper. When you rub an eraser on the paper, the resulting friction can produce heat, which helps the eraser become sticky, stickier than the paper.     5    

A．Over the years, graphite’s uses have changed a lot.

B．Dealing with graphite directly can cause a great mess.

C．This feature is due to the physical quality of graphite.

D．When the quantity of clay is increased, the pencil becomes harder.

E．After further investigation, they found strange dark matter underneath.

F．Therefore, it attracts the graphite substances from the pencil onto itself.

G．The story of the discovery of graphite for use as a pencil is quite interesting.

8 . Philo Taylor Farnsworth invented the current system of television transmission (传输) and reception in 1928, and it was considered one of the great scientific inventions of the 20th century. It was remarkable because the young inventor had just celebrated his 22nd birthday.

Farnsworth had desired to be an inventor since the age of six. Farnsworth was just 14 when he had the idea of television. On August 26, 1930, about a decade after first having the idea that was the basis of his invention, he received the patent (专利) on the electronic television system. By the end of his life, he had held more than 300 patents.

Farnsworth wasn’t the first person to dream up television, but he was the first person to find a way to make it work without a mechanical aspect. The biggest problem that inventors faced was how to transmit image data. Farnsworth’s central innovation was to imagine a way of doing it that relied on electronic technology alone, and so wouldn’t be slowed down by the abilities of a mechanical image-transmitting system.

Farnsworth dreamed up his idea while he was driving a horse-drawn harrow (耙) on the family’s new farm in Idaho. As he was plowing (犁) a potato field in straight, parallel (平行的) lines, he saw television. He imagined a system that would break an image into horizontal (水平的) lines and put those lines back together into a picture at the other end. In 1927, Philo and his wife Elma watched as he made the first transmission: A horizontal line was transmitted to a receiver in the next room. Two years after that first transmission, Farnsworth sent an image of Elma and her brother, making her the first woman on TV.

Farnsworth thought his invention had realistic prospects. “If we were able to see people in other countries and learn about our differences, why would there be any misunderstandings?” he asked. “War would be a thing of the past.”

1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage ?

A．Farnsworth had the idea of inventing the television since he was six.

B．Elma and her brother were on TV together in 1929.

C．Farnsworth was the first person to dream up television.

D．The first television invented by Farnsworth appeared in 1930.

2. What was the biggest challenge Farnsworth faced when developing the system of television?

A．How to recognize the picture.

B．How to make the picture clearer.

C．How to transmit image data using electronic technology.

D．How to improve the abilities of the mechanical image-transmitting system.

3. Which of the following can best describe Farnsworth’s process of inventing the system of television?

A．Practice makes perfect.	B．Failure is the mother of success.
C．Nature is an endless source of inspiration.	D．Actions speak louder than words.

4. What did Farnsworth think of his invention?

A．It inspired people to live a comfortable life.

B．It helped clear up misunderstandings between people in different countries.

C．It enabled people to understand wars deeply.

D．It encouraged us to be curious about the outside world.

9 . Life Book

There is no greater gift that you can give to the next generations of your family than your story. How? By sharing your story in the form of a private autobiography (自传).

Life Book, providing a full range of services, will unlock thoughts and memories, bringing them together in a way that will be enjoyable, stimulating and deeply rewarding, and create your own autobiography, 200 pages plus 60 of your own photos.

Your book in 3 simple steps

★ Relive memories and stories

Your personal interviewer will be skilled in the art of listening. Over 12 meetings, he or she will learn your story, helping you recall memories in an enjoyable and stimulating way.

★ Finish the manuscript (初稿), complete with photos

Every minute of your conversations with our interviewer is recorded and then shared with your devoted writer. He or she will work with you to finish a manuscript you are happy with.

★ Share your life story with loved ones

When the manuscript is done, it’s time for the final stage of producing your book. Soon,10 copies of a beautifully bound, hardback book will be delivered directly to you and the family members you’ve chosen to receive a “first edition”. Then enjoy the excitement and pride of sharing your very own personal autobiography with your family, now and forever.

Remember and be remembered

My hope is that my grandchildren and the next generation will get some of the values that are important to me. It is the best gift I could have given to my family.

—Jerrie Rudd-Breen

My children and grandchildren were amazed when I presented them with the books. My eldest so n then immediately read his copy from cover to cover.

—Harry Gow

Start your storytelling journey and preserve your legacy into your very own private autobiography! It’s easy to get started; call today on 08009992280.

1. What service does Life Book provide?

A．Recalling memories in an enjoying way.	B．Choose a great gift for one’s family.
C．Improve one’s thinking ability.	D．Write a book about one’s life.

2. Which of the following will you do in the second step?

A．Pick out sixty photos.	B．Rewrite your manuscript.
C．Meet your interviewer for the last time.	D．Record your conversations with your writer.

3. What’s the purpose of the “Remember and be remembered” part?

A．To call for comments.	B．To promote some writers.
C．To share some good stories.	D．To attract customers to Life Book.

10 . Steve Davies, a 23-year-old board designer in Wales, is developing a surfboard made from mycelia (菌丝体) instead of plastic.

A 2022 report showed that more than 400, 000 boards are made each year. The global market for surfboards reached $2.2 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $3.2 billion by 2027. But about 80% of boards are made from plastic, which can take hundreds of years to break down. This will be a serious problem for the environment as the market grows.

“And even when it does break down, it can go into fish’s ecosystem (生态系统), which means that humans will end up eating this plastic,” Davies said.

Davies made his first surfboard in 2020, but the experience showed him many harmful materials were produced in making each board. During his final year at university, he started looking into mycelia and making his beloved sport more environment-friendly.

“My family owns a farm with horses, so I was quickly able to collect substrate material (基料) in the form of horse bedding, to allow the mycelia to grow in,” Davies explained. “This gave me an idea to start a surfboard business—growing surfboards on a farm near the beach and using waste materials from that very same farm, reducing the transport of materials, and therefore reducing carbon (碳) given out into the environment.”

“In the right conditions, we will grow a mycelium board in around 21 days,” Davies said. “The dream would be to make it the new standard. Connecting with nature would be the new design rules and that would be really cool. We’re using the sea and we should give back to the sea.”

1. What do the numbers in Paragraph 2 mainly show?

A．Going surfing costs a lot of money.	B．Surfing is popular with young people.
C．Designing surfboards is a good business.	D．Making eco-friendly surfboards is necessary.

2. Why does Davies mention “fish’s ecosystem”?

A．To explain a rule.	B．To present a reason.
C．To make a comparison.	D．To share an experience.

3. What is Paragraph 5 mainly about?

A．Why Davies loved to design surfboards.

B．What made Davies’ surfboard business possible.

C．Why Davies wanted to study mycelia at university.

D．How Davies collected substrate material to make surfboards.

4. What can we learn from Davies’ words in the last paragraph?

A．He supports environment-friendly products.	B．He hopes to succeed in selling surfboards.
C．He loves to get designing ideas from sea.	D．He dreams of creating cooler surfboards.