1 . Intrigued by Maya civilization from a very young age, 15-year-old Canadian William Gadoury thought he had made an incredible discovery from his study of ancient star charts. Through comparison, he found that the locations of the 117 known Maya cities correspond to the positions of the stars. Based on this, he believed he had spotted an unknown Maya city buried deep in the jungle.     1    

It isn’t difficult to see why. Extending south from parts of what we now know as Mexico into Central America, Maya civilization has been surrounded by mystery since its rediscovery in the 19th century. The Maya built impressive palaces and temples, including their representative step pyramids. What is most extraordinary about these complex structures is how they were built without the use of wheels, metal tools or even animal power. The Maya’s understanding of mathematics and astronomy was also quite amazing.     2    

The fact that Maya society was technologically primitive makes its achievements all the more incredible and mysterious.     3     By 700 AD, Maya civilization was at its peak. Yet, within just a couple of generations, it began to mysteriously decline. The cities were left to be taken back by the jungle. When Europeans arrived in Central America in the early 16th century to claim its riches, the remaining Maya people were living in small settlements.

Why Maya civilization collapsed remains a mystery. Was it a natural disaster? A deadly disease? Conflicts between cities? Or was it a combination of several different factors?     4     They had turned wetlands into fields for growing grains, and had dug huge canal systems. As their population expanded, yet more land was needed for agriculture and more trees for construction. By changing the landscape in this way, it is possible that the Maya people unknowingly reduced their ability to deal with natural disasters.

Whatever the reasons, Maya civilization largely disappeared within the deep jungle. Its once—great cities fell into ruin, leaving various mysteries for later people to solve.

A．Research suggests that those natural disasters may have led to the decline of the Maya.

B．But the greatest mystery of all is what caused the Maya to abandon most of their great cities.

C．It turned out that the lucky boy hit the jackpot and the Maya city was eventually brought to light.

D．Some research seems to indicate that the Maya people themselves may have played a part in their downfall.

E．Although his theory has been dismissed by scholars, it shows how powerful the secrets of Ancient Maya civilization are among people.

F．They applied this understanding to the Maya calendar, which was accurate to within 30 seconds per year.

2 . No Guts, No Glory? The Fear and Attraction of Risky Winter Sports

Once I went flying off the side of a mountain on skis. Certainly, I didn’t mean to. Before I _________ the ground, there was a surprising amount of time for reflection—and more on the long painful journey down to the ambulance.

The Winter Olympics are here, and I’ll be astonished with my heart in my mouth, watching ski-jumping and people hurtling downhill at _________ speed one way and another. But why are we so attracted to doing, watching and glamorizing dangerous activity? Is it really the thrill (兴奋) of the adrenaline (肾上腺素) rush? I hate that part when I take a big risk of any kind.

It _________ out I’m not the only one. The popular “thrill-seeker” explanation put forward by Marvin Zuckerman and others that sensation seeking is a basic personality trait has been strongly _________. Thrill-seeking is common in the young, especially young males. Many pay a high _________ for it. But our relationship with fear, courage and risk-taking is _________.

Eric Brymer and Robert Schweitzer asked people who had been doing an extreme sport for many years, to reflect   _________ on the experience. For these people, it wasn’t that they didn’t feel fear, or that they were attracted to the feeling of fear. They saw fear as an important tool to _________ danger—and working through it was a transformative experience. Part of the reward was the sense of one-ness with nature that lay beyond the _________.

For me, reading what the research participants said was __________ and there was a lot that was easy to relate to. __________, it seemed as though they believed they were only taking on risks over which they could prevail (战胜). Presumably, many of the people who are severely injured thought so too. I wonder if many who draw the short __________ regret it?

I have an almost total lack of mastery of winter sports. The contrast between my enthusiasm and lack of skill   __________ the somewhat spectacular accident at the start of this post. But just what kind of risks are we talking about with winter sports more commonly? For example, Brian Chaze and Patrick McDonald gathered published data on head injuries in winter sports. They advocated __________ use for sledding and skating as well. Children who hurt their heads sledding need hospitalization twice as much as for head injuries in other sports. Helmets aren’t used much, though.

Perhaps the best __________ from watching the winter Olympians is not the glamour of their risk-taking, but the way they rock those helmets.

1.

A．left

B．hit

C．flew

D．lost

2.

A．short-lived

B．mind-numbing

C．break-neck

D．long-drawn-out

3.

A．turns

B．hangs

C．takes

D．bursts

4.

A．applauded

B．prohibited

C．recommended

D．challenged

5.

A．interest

B．respect

C．priority

D．price

6.

A．simple

B．straightforward

C．complicated

D．close

7.

A．swiftly

B．deeply

C．intensely

D．temporarily

8.

A．identify

B．dread

C．treasure

D．conduct

9.

A．experience

B．society

C．fear

D．environment

10.

A．enlightening

B．distressing

C．entertaining

D．confusing

11.

A．Hence

B．Furthermore

C．Rather

D．However

12.

A．scene

B．picture

C．odds

D．straw

13.

A．stands for

B．accounts for

C．checks out

D．points out

14.

A．belt

B．helmet

C．protection

D．blade

15.

A．take-away

B．carry-out

C．take-off

D．try-out

3 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. celebrated       B. ideals       C. currently       D. enlarged E. formerly       F. incomparable       G. laid       H. referred I. restored       J. scale        K. seat

If you only had an afternoon to experience London on a grand     1    , the Houses of Parliament, also called Palace of Westminster would be a wise place to start. The     2     of the bicameral (两院制的) Parliament including the House of Commons and the House of Lords, is located on the left bank of the River Thames in the borough of Westminster, London.

A royal palace was said to have existed at the site under the Danish king of England Canute. The building, however, spoken of by William Fitzstephen as a(n) “    3     structure,” was built for Edward the Confessor in the 11th century and     4     by William I (the Conqueror). In 1512 the palace suffered greatly from fire and thereafter ceased to be used as a royal residence. A fire in 1834 destroyed the whole palace except the historic Westminster Hall, the Jewel Tower, the cloisters, and the crypt of St. Stephen’s Chapel.

Sir Charles Barry, assisted by A.W.N. Pugin, designed the present buildings in the Gothic Revival style. Construction was begun in 1837, the cornerstone was     5     in 1840, and work was finished in 1860. The Commons Chamber was burned out in one of the numerous air raids that targeted London during World War II, but it was     6     and reopened in 1950. The House of Lords is an ornate chamber 97 feet in length; the Commons is 70 feet long. The southwestern Victoria Tower is 336 feet high. The Elizabeth Tower,     7     St. Stephen’s Tower, about 320 feet in height, contains the famous tower clock Big Ben. Along with Westminster Abbey and St, Margaret’s Church, the Houses of Parliament were named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987, as symbols of spiritual and democratic     8    .

The Palace is one of the centers of political life in the United Kingdom; “Westminster” has become a metaphor for the UK Parliament and the British Government. The Elizabeth Tower, in particular, often     9     to by the name of its main bell, Big Ben, has become an iconic landmark of London and of the United Kingdom in general, one of the most     10     tourist attractions in the city, and a symbol of parliamentary democracy.

4 . Directions: Read the following three passages. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Cutting air pollution is on the agenda of all countries nowadays. In the efforts to build low-pollution cities, there are some traps city planners must avoid falling into.

Many countries intend to accomplish the switch to electric cars in the next two decades. In Canada, the government is planning to initiate policies for promoting the use of electric cars: a financial subsidy(补助)on purchase, low-interest rates on loans, etc. However, simply switching to electric cars doesn’t mean pollution-free cities. Emissions at different levels will still be caused when the electricity to run them is generated. Also, brakes, tyres and other components all create airborne particles(大气细颗粒物)pollution as they wear out.

A number of city planners are counting on the car-sharing system to be a great contributor to the reduction of emissions. According to the Economist, car-sharing is fashionable and trendy, but, when it comes to cutting emissions, “unreliable actually”. To make sure the cars come in handy and are always in good condition whenever and wherever a use needs to hit the road, more frequent road trips need to be made by lorries to transport these cars to the right parking spots and to auto repair centers for maintenance, causing extra emissions.

Across the cities around the world, as more people move to city centres, while young people especially are opting for other means of travel, researchers have recently made an inference that motor vehicle use in urban areas has already reached its peak and will decline. City planners need to catch up with this trend, instead of laying new roads to deal with traffic jams. As users of London’s orbital M25 motorway will know, new roads rapidly fill with more traffic. In the US, studies have shown that building new roads can simply multiply the traffic, taking us back to the starting point.

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5 . For the decade between the end of the financial crisis and the coronavirus pandemic, the ride-hailing app Uber boomed. The company’s business model relied on the flexibility of the rapidly-growing gig economy(零工经济), and its sky-high valuation directly represented its dominant market position.     1    .

Now its sufferings illustrate how those trends are shifting again. After almost a decade of being able to rely on cheap and swift Ubers to get around, city residents must get used to a new experience. A shortfall of British drivers got so bad that the chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi met with unions to recruit new workers on a visit to London.

There are some factors accounting for this shortage. During lock-downs few were taking trips, but with the reopening, and the urge to mingle(社交往来)again, came a sudden bounce-back(反弹). Uber said that demand in London had risen by about a fifth in 2021 and even more in smaller UK cities.     2    .

The flexibility and casual working arrangements that once so benefited the company now work in reverse in times of labour shortage.     3    . Uber has been forced to raise charges in London and offers a bonus if drivers can recruit others.

In the past two years, the price of an Uber has increased by 92 percent, according to Rakuten Intelligence. Higher prices are likely to be here to stay.     4    . Perhaps, then, Uber will demonstrate just how abnormal the decade between the end of the financial crisis and the arrival of the pandemic really was. The era of cheap Ubers may be at an end.

A．Workers have little, or no, loyalty to the company and can switch between different apps depending on which offers the better, or closer, ride

B．The government is now racking its brain to figure out ways to help support Uber to get through this difficult time.

C．The prospect of this huge industry cannot be underestimated.

D．In the meantime, thousands of drivers had found other jobs; even while economies were locked down drivers were still needed for takeaway and online shopping deliveries.

E．The question is what happens when more normal circumstances return.

F．It even sparked the word “Uberisation” to describe how its example helped transform industries, jobs and society.

6 . How can the train operators possibly justify yet another increase to rail passenger fares? It has become a grimly reliable annual ritual: every January the cost of travelling by train rises, imposing a significant extra burden on those who have no option but to use the rail network to get to work or otherwise. This year’s rise, an average of 2.7 percent, may be a little bit lower than last year’s, but it is still well above the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation(通货膨胀).

Successive governments have permitted such increases on the grounds that the cost of investing in and running the rail network should be borne by those who use it, rather than the general taxpayer. Why, the argument goes, should a car-driving pensioner from Lincolnshire have to subsidise(补贴)the daily commute(通勤)of a rail traveller from Surrey? Equally, there is a sense that the sufferings of commuters in the South East, have received too much attention compared to those who must endure the relatively poor infrastructure of the Midlands and the North.

However, over the past 12 months, those commuters have also experienced some of the worst rail strikes in years. It is all very well train operators boasting about the improvements they are making to the network, but passengers should be able to expect a basic level of service for the substantial sums they are now paying to travel. The responsibility for the latest wave of strikes rests on the unions. However, there is a strong case that those who have been worst affected by industrial action should receive compensation for the disruption they have suffered.

The Government has promised to change the law to introduce a minimum service requirement so that, even when strikes occur, services can continue to operate. This should form part of a wider package of measures to address the long-running problems on Britain’s railways. Yes, more investment is needed, but passengers will not be willing to pay more indefinitely if they must also endure cramped, unreliable services, along with regular chaos when timetables are changed, or planned maintenance is managed incompetently. The threat of nationalisation may have been seen off for now, but it will return with a revenge if the justified anger of passengers is not addressed in short order.

1. The author holds that this year’s increase in rail passengers fares ________.

A．creates extra burden on taxpayers.

B．has kept pace with inflation.

C．is beyond the expectation of commuters

D．remains an unreasonable practice.

2. According to the passage, which of the following is right?

A．Compensations are to be given to the commuters affected by the strikes.

B．A minimum service requirement will be likely to settle the railway problems.

C．In terms of service, there is a conflict between train operator’s claim and the reality.

D．Train operators have suffered huge losses owing to the strikes.

3. If unable to calm down passengers, the railways may have to face ________.

A．the loss of investment.	B．the collapse of operations.
C．a reduction of revenue(收入)	D．a change of ownership.

4. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Who Are to Blame for the Ever-rising Fares?

B．Rail Strikes Need to Be Stopped

C．Enhance Railway Service, Ease Passenger Anger

D．Ever-rising Fares Are Unreasonable

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8 . Which Way Home, a documentary by Rebecca Cammisa, charts the journeys to Mexican and Central American children who leave their home countries to come to the United States riding on top of a train they call “La Bestia” (the beast). All of the children dream of a better life for themselves and their families. Some of them hope to reunite with family members in the U. S. Others have dreams of going to school or getting a job so they can send money back home.

Kevin

Fourteen-year-old Kevin is from Honduras. A seemingly happy-go-lucky guy, Kevin is the group’s ring leader, telling jokes, making leaps across car roofs, and providing some comic relief in the film. Kevin has a strong sense of duty to his family. His mother, Lupe, tells him to buy a house for them in the U. S., so she can escape Kevin’s violent stepfather. He plans to head to Manhattan once he crosses the border, but during the filming he is taken off of the train by American border agents who send him back to Honduras. Without hesitation, Kevin leaves Honduras again and jumps on the train. Throughout his journey, Kevin encounters violence and brutality that should never be a part of childhood.

Juan Carlos

Juan Carlos is a 13-year-old from Guatemala. When we meet him, we learn that his father abandoned the family years ago and moved to America for a better life, leaving Juan Carlos’s mother, Esmeralda, to care for several children on her own. His younger brother, Francisco, made it into the U. S. a month earlier and now lives with their grandmother in Los Angeles. Juan Carlos feels responsible for providing for his mother and his other family members and decides he must do something to help support them. With the weight of the world on his shoulders, he writes a letter telling Esmeralda that he, too, is leaving for the U. S.

Olga

Olga is the only female migrant featured in the film. She is nine years old and travelling with her friend, Freddy, who is also nine. They are being taken to the U. S. illegally. Both are headed for Minnesota, where Olga hopes to reunite with her mother, and Freddy hopes to find his father. During the making of the documentary, the film crew loses track of Olga and Freddy, and we never find out what becomes of them.

The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Feature-Length Documentary. Director Rebecca Camissa said her goal for the film was to create public awareness of child migration, and to “promote a dialogue that leads to creating humane immigration policy reform in the United States

1. Which of the following is true of Which Way Home?

A．It is adapted from a book which tells stories about three child migrants.

B．It won an Academy Award for its theme that corresponds to the reality.

C．It aims to make viewers conscious of the phenomenon of child migration.

D．Its director has managed to create humane immigration policy reform

2. While the documentary was being made, the crew lost touch with ________.

A．Kevin and Juan Carlos	B．Juan Carlos and Olga
C．Juan Carlos and Freddy	D．Olga and Freedy

3. What can be learned from the passage about Kevin and Juan Carlos?

A．Both of them felt responsible for their families

B．Neither of them managed to get to the United States

C．Neither of them had any relative in the United States

D．Both of them were found on the way to their destinations

9 . 选词填空

A. convinced     B. probably       C. generalize     D. distinguish       E. attached       F. prominent     G. notorious       H. narrowed       I. readily        J. households       K. displays

Cats are     1     for their indifference to humans: Almost any owner will testify to how     2     these animals ignore us when we call them. But according to a study published Thursday in Scientific Reports, domestic cats do recognize their own names - even if they walk away when they hear them.

Atsuko Saito, a behavioral scientist at the University of Tokyo, previously showed that cats can recognize their owners’ voices. In her latest study she     3     this down, investigating whether they respond to hearing their names. The study included 78 cats from Japanese     4     and a ”cat cafe.“ (Such cafes, where patrons can interact with felines, are popular in Tokyo and have started to catch on in London and New York.)

During their experiments Saito and her colleagues used what behavioral psychologists call the habituation-dishabituation method. This involves repeatedly exposing a subject to a stimulus (in this case a spoken word) until the subject no longer     5     any reaction. Then the subject is presented with a test stimulus ( in this case, its name), and researchers observe whether it reacts. This step helps rule out responses to random stimuli.

For the new study, the scientists first had cat owners repeatedly say four words that were similar to their cats’ names, until the cats habituated to those words. Next the owners said the actual names, and the researchers looked at whether individual cats (when living among other cats) appeared able to distinguish their monikers. The cats had more pronounced responses to their own names - moving their ears, heads or tails, or meowing - than to similar words or other cats’ names.

Then the researchers had people unfamiliar to the cats speak the names, to test whether the cats still recognized them. Although their responses were less     6     than when their owners called them, they still appeared to recognize their names after being habituated to other words.

”This new study clearly shows that many cats react to their own names when spoken by their owners,“ says biologist John Bradshaw, who studies human-animal interactions at the University of Bristol’s Anthrozoology Institute and was not involved in the new study. But Bradshaw says he is less     7     cats can recognize their names when spoken by someone unfamiliar. ” I think that it’s entirely possible that some cats are able to     8     between one human voice and another, but I’d like to see more trials before I’d say that the evidence is compelling,“ he says.

Saito says she thinks feline pets learn to recognize their names because of what is in it for them. ”I think cats associated their names with some rewards or punishments,“ she says - adding that she thinks it is unlikely the cats understand their names are     9     to them. ”There is no evidence that cats have the ability to recognize themselves, like us,“ she explains. ”So, the recognition about their name is different from ours.“ Still, she says, it may be possible to teach cats to recognize other words. Whether that could allow humans to train cats to respond to commands - as dogs readily do -- is another matter.

”Cats are just as good as dogs at learning,“ Bradshaw says. ”They’re just not as keen to show their owners what they’ve learned.“ Most cat owners would     10     agree.

10 . Directions: Read the following three passages. Summarize the main idea and the main point(s) of the passage in no more than 60 words. Use your own words as far as possible.

Are Competitive Game Harmful to Children?

There is a cry of rage, and a tennis racket crashes to the ground. Jake, age 7, has just lost another match and is now in tears beside the court. His sister Sally, just one year older, looks at her mother and rolls her eyes: it is hard to enjoy when this keeps happening. It is not an unusual situation, and it is one reason why many people argue that competition is bad for children. However, the truth is that competitive games are a valuable preparation for life.

Games with winners and losers given children the chance to experience life’s ups and downs. Take Jake, for example: even though is unhappy now, he will probably be smiling and laughing with his sister in a few minutes, just like the last time this happened. Gradually, he will learn that the world does not end when you lose a game. Eventually, he may even be able to lose with a smile on his face. This is an important lesson. Not everything in life goes the way you would like, and it is important to know how to handle disappointment when it occurs.

Children who participate in competitive games develop qualities that will allow them to succeed in the complex world of adult life. For example, one of the missions of the Youth Olympic Games is to inspire young people to adopt the Olympic values, which include striving, determination, and optimism. Competition creates the desire to do better. Children have to learn to succeed in a competitive atmosphere in order to take advantage of opportunities in the future. Although it is possible to win by chance occasionally, people who win and keep winning work very hard to achieve their success.

Of course, there are parents who argue that children of Jake’s age are too young to handle the pain of losing. But whether we like it or not, adult life is very competitive, and keeping children away from competition does them more harm than good.

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