1 . 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。

Are you afraid of getting old?     1     we get past the age of 25, many of us immediately feel the urge to stop the signs of ageing — especially the visible ones. Men and women are now using topical “anti-ageing” creams, spa treatments and medical procedures     2     (oppose) many of them.

    3     these methods can somewhat affect the way you look, ageing is an internal process. A new study has found exactly when during your lifetime this process peaks.

A group scientists based out of the Stanford University School of Medicine have discovered that     4     being a smooth, continuous process, ageing surges forward at three distinct stages of life: first, at the age of 34, then at age 60, and finally at 78.

The study, published in Nature Medicine,     5     (reveal) that scientists can not only predict your age by studying the proteome (protein levels in the blood) but also determine which organs are ageing faster than the others, and which age-related diseases your body is     6     (likely) to develop. The study measured plasma proteins (血浆蛋白) collected from 4,263 adults between the ages of 18-95 years and studied the changes in the proteome that occurred with age.

Their ultimate goal was to understand how to identify the changes associated with cardiovascular issues and age-related discases like Alzheimer’s     7     therapeutic treatments can be devised to oppose their attack while there’s still time.

Dr Tony Wyss-Coray, one of the leading members of the study, told Stanford Medicine News Center, “We’ve known for a long time that     8     (measure) certain proteins can give you information about a person’s health status — lipoproteins (脂蛋白) for cardiovascular (心血管的) health, for example. But it hasn’t been appreciated that so many different proteins’ levels — roughly a third of all the ones we looked at — change markedly with advancing age.”

This difference between the chronological (按时间计算的) and physiological (生理的) age, according to the scientists’ “plasma-protein clock”, showed that a lot of people in the study seemed younger than they actually are. What’s more, the study also confirmed that men and women, though equally     9     (represent) in the study, age differently.

Does this mean medicafions and lifestyle methods, with further research, can also be devised to help     10     ages too rapidly and is at risk of contracting age-related diseases like hypertension and Alzheimer’s? You never know.

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

More than 25 years ago, a train took Saroo Brierley, a 4-year-old boy, a thousand miles across the country to a totally strange city. There, he     1     (bring) up by an Australian family and flew to Tasmania, Australia with them.

    2     he writes in his new book, A Long Way Home, Brierley couldn’t help but wonder about his hometown back in India. He remembered landmarks, but since he didn’t know his town’s name, finding a small neighborhood in a vast country     3     (prove) to be impossible.

Then he found a digital mapping program. He spent years     4     (search) for his hometown in the program’s satellite pictures. In 2011, he came across     5     familiar. He studied it and realized he was looking at a town’s central business district     6     a bird’s-eye view. He thought “On the right-hand side you should see the three-platform train station”— and there it was. “And on the left-hand side you should see a big fountain” — and there it was. Everything just started to match.

When he stood in front of the house     7     he grew up as a child, he saw a lady standing in the entrance. “There’s something about me,” he thought — and it took him a few seconds but he finally remembered     8     she used to look like.

In an interview Brierley says, “My mother looked so much     9     (short) than I remembered. But she came forth and walked forward, and I walked forward, and my feelings and tears and the chemical in my brain, you know, it was like a nuclear fusion (核聚变). I just didn’t know what to say,     10     I never thought seeing my mother would ever come true. And here I am, standing in front of her.”

4 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

The TERM “killjoy parents” has been trending on Chinese social media platforms as many young pcople complain that their parents would rather criticize than praise them for their accomplishments. One poster, for example, remarked that his parents said his high score in math wasn't good enough     1     several other students had scored higher.     2     complained that, after     3     (accept) into a “second-tier” university, the response he got for his father was “Congratulations. You got admitted to a garbage university.”

It’s a terrible feeling to have someone “burst your bubble” when you think they should be sharing your joy. And your parents, after all, are probably the people with     4     you most want to share the best moments in your life. But why do some parents seem to be so hard     5     (please)?

I think a lot of it has to do with Chinese society. Parents know that life     6     be full of hardship and dificulties, and they want their children to be “hardened” to these realities. Another reason can probably be found deep in Chinese culture.

When I asked a Chinese friend why Chinese parents don’t praise their children, he said it’s because they don't want to bring their children bad luck. He told me the story of two women sitting in a park and watching their children play. One of the mothers said to the other, “Your boy is so handsome and healthy.” That other mother replied, “No, he’s very ugly and he’s a very sickly child.” The mother, my friend explained, didn't want her son praised in case the “gods” heard and punished him. It's an old superstition (迷信), but it does have some basis in fact.

American parents, at the other extreme, are taught to ever criticize their children because it may hurt their feelings—their self-esteem. Instead, they     7     (tell) to always praise their children, even for failure. Psychologists now believe this is a bad idea. According to one study, too much praise can result in negative effects.     8     kids with low self-esteem felt even worse about themselves, kids with high self-esteem became narcissistic or self-centered. Moreover, children who got too much praise were     9     (likely) to take risks, were unable to deal with failure and tended to give up when faced with challenges.

Stacey and Toby aren’t the only people to be welcoming Mariella’s app. It’s now got thousands of users, and she’s working long days to balance it with her A-level studies. The time difference from New York to her school in Rugby, Warwickshire, means she sets her alarm for 5am.

    10     (have) “killjoy parents” may not be enjoyable, but it’s important to recognize that their seemingly critical nature doesn't negate the love they have for you. In their hearts, they genuinely share in your joy.

8 . 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。

18th Birthday in China

In China many people celebrate their 18th birthday as an important one because that suggests coming of age, which is    1     term used to describe the transition between childhood and adulthood. It marks the beginning     2     a young person is expected to have the related rights and responsibilities of adulthood.

In ancient China, the coming-of-age ceremony was an important ritual for a child that was going to set foot     3     the grown-up world. It dates back to the Zhou Dynasty and bas a history of over 2,000 years. According to the records in Liji, boys would participate in a capping ceremony when they     4     (be) 20, and girls a hair-pinning ceremony at the age of 15.

After the ceremony, they were considered adults and     5     get married. According to the book, human beings are human because of all the rituals and polite behaviors. But polite behaviors won’t start     6     people are properly dressed, so during these ceremonies, boys and girls would ritualistically put on carefully-prepared hats and hair accessories (发饰) to show that they are formally dressed for the adulthood.

Section B

10 . Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Convenience vs Health: the Takeaway Dilemma (纠结)

Feeling hungry? If you’re feeling so, what’s the easiest way to satisfy your hunger? Many of us will reach     1     a takeaway menu and order some delicious, but possibly unhealthy food. And our increasingly busy lives add to our need to buy ready-made food.

Eating options are endless, and new technology means we can feed our cravings at the push of a button. Takeaway delivery apps make     2     (order) food quick and convenient, and during the recent coronavirus crisis, it provided a lifeline to those     3     (stick) at home with nothing to cook or who lacked the skills to prepare a meal for     4    . It is estimated that in the UK alone, people cat three million takeaway meals a day, and the three biggest delivery apps together offer a choice of 100 cuisines from 60,000 restaurants. Amelia Brophy, Head of UK Data Products at YouGov, told the BBC that “its research suggests that the frequency of takeaways ordered     5     (expect) to increase in the future.”

    6     is no wonder that we are tempted     7     (skip) the grocery shopping, bypass the kitchen, and tuck into something     8     someone else has prepared. But ordering a deep crust pizza, a spicy curry or a box of noodles,     9     come at a price both financially and to our health. Eating too much processed and unhealthy fast food bas some effect on obesity and the risk of developing certain metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. A few years ago, The BBC Good Food Nation Survey found that most people ate fast food on average two days per week. But, in the 16 to 20-year-old category, one in six ate fast food at least twice a day.

Of course, reducing salt, sugar and fat is one way to make takeaway food healthier, as well as offering smaller portion sizes. But     10     (good) advice you might want to take away from this Takeaway English is to find a recipe book and try making your own nutritious meal. And if you haven’t got time, try ordering a healthier alternative from the menu.