1 . Over the years I’ve spent living in Beijing, I can
As my friends and I sat together in the ski lift chair, I finally felt for the first time that I had
As the ski lift reached its
My buddies had already started making their way down the hill, and I was about to join them but suddenly fear
Not wanting to become
By the day’s end, I had relearned what it
| A．cast | B．claim | C．account | D．count |
| A．unbelievable | B．unforgettable | C．incredible | D．horrible |
| A．truly | B．initially | C．eventually | D．simply |
| A．took in | B．took up | C．brought in | D．brought up |
| A．circumstance | B．departure | C．destination | D．peak |
| A．awkwardly | B．flexibly | C．slowly | D．eagerly |
| A．blamed | B．thought | C．regretted | D．sighed |
| A．Nevertheless | B．Therefore | C．Although | D．Furthermore |
| A．stably | B．gracefully | C．gently | D．tightly |
| A．gained | B．gathered | C．swelled | D．overwhelmed |
| A．pick out | B．pick up | C．take off | D．take up |
| A．attempted | B．proceeded | C．adapted | D．managed |
| A．panicked | B．ashamed | C．discouraged | D．distracted |
| A．brought | B．meant | C．made | D．took |
| A．impossible | B．terrific | C．upset | D．scary |
2 . Users have recently been drawn to TikTok’s AI image generator (生成器) as it creates drawings based on pictures. How does AI create drawings?
One of the most basic models that allow AI to generate drawings is the GANs (对抗生成网络). They are deep learning systems that can learn from training data and generate new data with the same characteristics.
GANs consist of two main parties-the generator and the discriminator (判别器). In terms of drawings, the generator tries to mimic (模仿) the style of a set of images, producing new data. The discriminator then makes decisions to see whether the new data qualifies. In this way, AI can generate new drawings.
Some generators can also produce images based on a simple description-sometimes just a few words. Launched in April, DALL. E2 went viral for its text-to-image function. The AI system goes through two training processes: learning to understand the text and matching the elements from different images to the text. After getting to know what the text is about, it matches a large number of relevant image pieces to the text. To make the match more precise, DALL. E2 was trained on 400 million images with text, collected directly from the internet.
Then, The CLIP model allows AI to encode (编码) the elements of both images and text. The next step is called diffusion (扩散) wich decodes (解码) the data into an image. In the end, the AI system can generate images based on text, as if creating art itself.
1. How do GANs help AI generate drawings?| A．By learning from a set of pictures. | B．By combining various photographs. |
| C．By directly copying a particular picture. | D．By selecting an image from a database. |
| A．Decide which image to mimic. | B．Add more details to new images. |
| C．Check the quality of new images. | D．Collect images from the internet. |
| A．It can translate images into text. | B．It was developed five years after GANs. |
| C．It was trained on 400 million images with text. | D．It creates images based on images with text. |
| A．To introduce the features of AI drawings. | B．To discuss whether AI can create true art. |
| C．To comment on some AI image generators. | D．To explain the technology behind AI drawing. |
3 . A spoonful of pickles(榨菜) can sometimes make a meal taste way better. Recently, a new type of pickle is being discussed: “digital pickled vegetables”. It refers to the videos people watch while eating. Many people think that the videos can make their food more appetizing.
The topic received more than 16 million clicks on Sina Weibo and about 100,000 people participated in the discussion. Instead of having meals with friends and family members, many young people in China are kept company by TV shows or short videos. Many believe that their food is tastier with the “digital pickles”.
Can this habit affect your diet? According to a research paper published in 2019, you may eat more unconsciously. The international research team asked 62 volunteers to follow different eating patterns on four different days. The patterns included eating while looking at the mobile phone, reading magazines and without distraction. After analyzing their diets, the team discovered that eating with a distraction increased caloric ingestion(卡路里摄入) by about 15 percent.
To explore the reason, the team also invited two groups of people: one group ate while listening to an audio clip about another person eating and the other listened to a clip that helped them imagine themselves eating. The results showed that the second group ate less since they were more focused on their meals. When we eat with the “digital pickles”, our attention can be distracted, which leads to eating more than expected.
This works not only for eating meals but other demanding tasks as well. A research project led by the University of Sussex, UK, pointed out that activities which require lots of attention trick many participants into overeating. The team invited 120 participants to do various tasks while providing them with drinks and snacks. “Our study suggests that if you’re eating or drinking while your attention is distracted by a highly engaging task, you’re less likely to be able to tell how full you feel,” one of the authors Martin Yeomans explained.
1. What do “digital pickles” refer to?| A．Anew type of vegetables. | B．Electronic products popular online. |
| C．Videos people watch while eating. | D．Digital games suitable for families. |
| A．The research was conducted in 2019. |
| B．62 people in total participated in the entire research. |
| C．It showed that eating with a distraction decreased caloric ingestion by 15 percent. |
| D．The group listening to a clip about another person eating ate more than the other group. |
| A．They are more focused on their meals. |
| B．They are distracted by “digital pickles”. |
| C．The food tastes better with “digital pickles”. |
| D．The “digital pickles” make them feel hungrier. |
| A．To give another case that causes overeating. |
| B．To describe the effects of “digital pickles”. |
| C．To explain how to judge you are full. |
| D．To present how to avoid being distracted. |
4 . Boasting a long history, China is home to many famous paintings, which are now in the hearts of more than a billion people.
Nymph of the Luo River-Gu Kaizhi
The legend has it that Cao Zhi fell in love with the governor’s daughter. However, she married his brother and the prince became upset. Later, he composed an emotional poem about the love between the goddess and common people. In the 4th century, Gu Kaizhi, a Chinese artist, was moved by the story and illustrated the poem.
Court Ladies Adorning Their Hair with Flowers—Zhou Fang
During the Tang Dynasty, the genre of “beautiful women painting” enjoyed popularity. Coming from a noble background, Zhou Fang created artworks in this genre. In his painting, the ladies stand as though they are fashion models, but one of them is entertaining herself by teasing a cute dog.
Along the River During the Qingming Festival—Zhang Zeduan
Zhang Zeduan depicted (描绘) the landscape in his work. However, instead of concentrating on the vastness of nature, he captured the daily life of the people of Bianjing, present-day Kaifeng. His work shows much about life in the Northern Song Dynasty.
A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains—Wang Ximeng
Not only did officials and scholars enjoy listening to music, but they also found pleasure in depicting nature. One such painter was Wang Ximeng. He was a prodigy. Wang Ximeng painted A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains when he was only seventeen years old. He died several years later, but he left one of the largest and most beautiful paintings in Chinese history.
1. Where do you think this passage is taken from?| A．A novel. | B．A travel brochure. |
| C．A magazine. | D．A book review. |
| A．Zhou Fang painted fashion models in his painting. |
| B．Nymph of the Luo River is a poem written by Gu Kaizhi. |
| C．Wang Ximeng created his masterpiece when he was at the age of seventy. |
| D．Zhang Zeduan described daily life of the people of Bianjing in his works. |
| A．Nymph of the Luo River——Gu Kaizhi. |
| B．A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains—Wang Ximeng. |
| C．Court Ladies Adorming Their Hair with Flowers—Zhou Fang. |
| D．Along the River During the Qingming Festival—Zhang Zeduan. |
5 . The idea of low material desire, low consumption and refusing to work, marry and have children, concluded as a “lying down” lifestyle, recently struck a chord with many young Chinese who are eager to take pause to breathe in this fast-paced and highly-competitive society.
Many millennials (千禧一代) and generation Zs complained to the Global Times that burdens, including work stress, family disputes and financial strains, have pushed them “against the wall”. They said they hate the “involution(内卷),” joking that they would rather give up some of what they have than get trapped in an endless competition against peers.
“Instead of always following the ‘virtues’ of struggle, endure and sacrifice to bear the stresses, they prefer a temporary lying down as catharsis (宣泄) and adjustment,” said a scholar. “It is no wonder that some young people, under the growing pressures from child-raising to paying the mortgage (按揭) today, would try to live in a simple way and leave the worries behind.”
Interestingly, the majority of millennials and Gen Zs reached by the Global Times, who claim to be big fans of the lying down philosophy, acknowledged that they only accept a temporary lying down as a short rest. It is true that with the great improvement of living conditions, some Chinese youth have partially lost the spirit of hardship and are not willing to bear too much hard work. But in fact, lying down is not entirely comfortable. Young people who lie down always feel guilty about their constant loss of morale (士气) far beyond their reach.
“Young people on campus have both aspirations and confusion about their future, but most of us have rejected setting ourselves up in chains to waste opportunities and challenges,” a postgraduate student told the Global Times. “It’s no use running away. I have to ‘stand up’ and face the reality sooner or later.”
1. What does the underlined phrase in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Warned. | B．Punished. | C．Amused. | D．Touched. |
| A．Improvements in living conditions. |
| B．Growing pressure from family and social life. |
| C．Increasing material possessions from families. |
| D．Temporary adjustment to failure in competitions. |
| A．Understanding. | B．Intolerant. | C．Supportive. | D．Unclear. |
| A．They never really drop their responsibilities. |
| B．They really enjoy the “lying down” lifestyle. |
| C．They find their dreams far beyond their reach. |
| D．They would rather escape than take challenges. |
Stop Asian Hate
During the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, New York City saw a sharp increase in harassment and violence against Asian people and communities, especially Asian elders. Discrimination on the basis of race, national origin, age, and disability, including having or
We all want to live in a world that is free from prejudice and
Since the pandemic, something has been made nasty in the media by comments from Donald Trump calling it “the China virus”, and ESEA people all over the world have found that their lives have been turned upside down. In the wake of the tragic deaths in the US and several studies
Working towards a world where no racism exists is always important to us, and will always be something
内容包括：
1. 摄影展的目的和主题。
2. 展出的时间及地点。
3. 具体要求。
注意：1. 词数 80 左右；
2. 可以适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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8 . In Billings, Montana, some healthcare experts are using 3D printers to make reusable plastic masks. What makes them special is that the masks are then fitted with pieces of surgical (外科的) masks which can be replaced when needed.
“The surgical masks are cut into smaller squares that can be filled into the plastic mask to serve as a filter (过滤器) ,”said Dusty Richardson, a surgeon at the Billings Clinic. “The filter can be used for a day and you can substitute it the next day, but I do wash it for the next use,” Richardson added. The plastic mask and filter can be cleaned with soap, bleach (a chemical that is used to make something become white) and other cleaning chemicals. Richardson believes healthcare workers can get six to ten uses out of a single surgical mask.
Richardson came up with a prototype (原型) of the mask and worked with surgeon Spencer Zaugg and Spencer’s son Colton to make the design become a reality. They’re all really into 3D printing and Colton has design experience and was able to adapt a pattern he found online.
“Spencer and Colton have four 3D printers,” Richardson said. “They have created at least 15 masks so far.” Public schools in Billings are closed because of COVID-19, but some teachers went back into their classrooms on Monday to start printing out masks on their schools’ 3D printer. It takes a few hours to print a single mask.
Richardson said the files and instructions are posted online so anyone can make the masks on their own 3D printer. “I got a text from someone who printed one out in Scotland and is even working on it overseas,” Richardson said.
They’ve already made one huge improvement to their design. A company called HiTech Filters heard about the project and said that they could mass-produce filters using hospital-grade high-efficiency material quickly without wasting precious surgical masks.
“We’re just trying to help people here,” Richardson said. “We want healthcare providers and patients to be safe.”
1. What is the biggest feature of the reusable plastic mask?| A．It is in the shape of a square. |
| B．It is made of natural harmless chemicals. |
| C．It contains surgical mask pieces serving as filters. |
| D．It can be cleaned with some chemicals other than soap. |
| A．produce | B．remove | C．purchase | D．replace |
| A．It receives negative comments online. |
| B．It is easy to make and has attracted much attention. |
| C．Its production instructions are kept secret. |
| D．Its application is considered impractical by others. |
| A．responsible | B．courageous | C．independent | D．arrogant |
9 . The environmental practices of big businesses are shaped by a fundamental fact that offends our sense of justice. A business may maximize the amount of money it makes by damaging the environment and hurting people. When government regulation is effective, and the public is environmentally aware, environmentally clean big businesses may out-compete dirty ones, but the reverse is likely to be true if government regulation is ineffective and the public doesn’t care.
It is easy to blame a business for helping itself by hurting other people. But blaming alone is unlikely to produce change. It ignores the fact that businesses are not charities but profit-making companies, and they are under obligation to maximize profits for shareholders by legal means.
Our blaming of businesses also ignores the ultimate responsibility of the public for creating the conditions that let a business profit through destructive environmental policies. In the long run, it is the public, either directly or through its politicians, that has the power to make such destructive policies unprofitable and illegal, and to make sustainable environmental policies profitable.
The public can do that by accusing businesses of harming them. The public may also make their opinion felt by choosing to buy sustainably harvested products; by preferring their governments to award valuable contracts to businesses with a good environmental track record; and by pressing their governments to pass and enforce laws and regulations requiring good environmental practices.
In turn, big businesses can exert powerful pressure on any suppliers that might ignore public or government pressure. For instance, after the US public became concerned about the spread of a disease, transmitted to humans through infected meat, the US government introduced rules demanding that the meat industry abandon practices associated with the risk of the disease spreading. But the meat packers refused to follow these, claiming that they would be too expensive to obey. However, when a fast-food company made the same demands after customer purchases of its hamburgers dropped, the meat industry followed immediately. The public’s task is therefore to identify which links in the supply chain are sensitive to public pressure.
Some readers may be disappointed or outraged that I place the ultimate responsibility for business practices harming the public on the public itself. I also believe that the public must accept the necessity for higher prices for products to cover the added costs of sound environmental practices. My views may seem to ignore the belief that businesses should act in accordance with moral principles even if this leads to a reduction in their profits. But I think we have to recognize that, throughout human history, government regulation has arisen precisely because it was found that not only did moral principles need to be made explicit, they also needed to be enforced.
My conclusion is not a moralistic one about who is right or wrong, admirable or selfish. I believe that changes in public attitudes are essential for changes in businesses’ environmental practices.
1. The main idea of Paragraph 3 is that environmental damage__________.| A．is the result of ignorance of the public |
| B．requires political action if it is to be stopped |
| C．can be prevented by the action of ordinary people |
| D．can only be stopped by educating business leaders |
| A．reduce their own individual impact on the environment |
| B．learn more about the impact of business on the environment |
| C．raise awareness of the effects of specific environmental disasters |
| D．influence the environmental policies of businesses and governments |
| A．Meat packers stopped supplying hamburgers to fast-food chains. |
| B．Meat packers persuaded the government to reduce their expenses. |
| C．A fast-food company forced their meat suppliers to follow the law. |
| D．A fast-food company encouraged the government to introduce regulations. |
| A．Will the world survive the threat caused by big businesses? |
| B．How can big businesses be encouraged to be less driven by profit? |
| C．What environmental dangers are caused by the greed of businesses? |
| D．Are big businesses to blame for the damage they cause to the environment? |
I needed to do something in my community (社区) in order to complete the community service hours required to graduate from high school. Some of my friends had signed up to spend time at a soup kitchen, so I did, too. It seemed like a good thing to do.
I thought that we would just be passing out dinners to those in need, but I found out we would be doing everything from preparing to serving the dinner. We began preparing the food, from mixing salad dressing to separating frozen meat. Much still needed to be done before dinner was served, but already outside the building many homeless people were gathering. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that we opened the doors and began serving dinner.
As the line of people came toward me, I got a little scared. I’d come face to face with the homeless: How should I act? How would they treat me? Would they hate me for having more than they did? While some of the people looked very friendly, some of them looked so dangerous. I didn’t have too much time to worry about it. I was assigned (分配) to serve the salad with the lady next to me. She smiled at me and said if I needed help, she’d be right there, which I found quite comforting.
I had never seen so many people wanting food. They were of all ages and nationalities. Most of them wore clothes that were torn and dirty. Some looked like they had tally given up on life, while others seemed to be making the best of the situation, smiling and joking. Some were better off than others, but they all needed a good meal and a warm place to eat. It saddened me to think of how many people there were who didn’t have a place to call home and the only food they got came from a soup kitchen.
注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语；
3. 续写部分分为两段，每段的开头语已为你写好；
4. 续写完成后，请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。
Paragraph 1:
As they came in my direction, I put on my brightest and happiest smile.
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Paragraph 2:
I was so happy that I had earned my service hours in this way.
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