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。

Stamp collecting has recently emerged as a fresh and innovative approach for young people to document their travels. Instead of     1     (mere) taking photos with famous landmarks,     2     (enthusiast) of this new trend eagerly explore every corner of various attractions, museums, and shops during their journeys in search     3     various stamps. They imprint the stamps, usually with single or multicolored pictures of the scenic spots or images of famous people on postcards or in travel journals, thus     4     (create) a unique memory of their travels. Free or paid, each stamp serves as a representation of the visitor’s     5     (present) at that specific location, becoming a     6     (cherish) part of their memories.

Shi Junchu, 29, from Yunnan province, came across stamp collecting three years ago while traveling in Wuhan, Hubei province. She found it to be a better way of commemorating her travels    7     purchasing souvenirs (纪念品), so she carries a specially prepared notebook for collecting stamps whenever she travels.

“Stamp collecting has added more meaning to my travels. Turning the pages of those notebooks     8     (feel) somewhat like looking at photos. I can recall     9     happened back then just by turning to a page the delicious food I had, and the fun experiences I enjoyed, she said.

She currently operates a private museum in Kunming. Since last October, she has also introduced stamp-collecting services     10    (encourage) more visitors to explore the museum.

2 . 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

Yangko, a rural Chinese folk dance with a history     1     (date) back thousands of years, originates from farming life in ancient times. The dance relates to sacrifices to the farmland god when people prayed for a good harvest. As time passed, the     2     (origin) dance developed, taking in various artistic forms and skills, including opera, acrobatics and martial arts, and eventually turned into the type of Yangko     3     is seen today.

    4     (preserve) this Chinese folk culture, it was included in the inaugural(首批的)items of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006. It is     5     (common) performed in northern China during festivals, especially for Chinese New Year and the Lantern Festival. Performances or competitions     6     (organize) in towns and villages to express people’s joy and their hope for a better life.

Yangko employs drumming, Suona, dancing and singing. Content is based     7     folk stories and legends. Costumes are richly-colored and opera-styled, enabling     8     (character) to be easily identified. During a performance, the actors will dance and sing, following lively rhythms. Highly skilled and interesting acts such as stilt(高跷)walking     9     carrying a wedding sedan chair(花轿)are also included. As a part of traditional Chinese culture, Yangko     10     (concentrate) the group consciousness of the Chinese people, and has outstanding historical and cultural value.

3 . Despite an ever-higher bar to grab the attention of students in large lecture hall, Tatiana Erukhimova, who teaches physics at Texas A&M University, has managed to get her students, as well as future generations, excited about the science.

Known as “Dr. Tatiana”, the professor performs physics tricks with boundless energy and enthusiasm in her videos. A range of everyday objects are used in her experiments, from pingpong balls and toilet paper to marshmallows, bicycle wheels and hair dryers. Videos of her dramatic demonstrations have received hundreds of millions of views across social media platforms.

However, things aren’t always easy. When she first started teaching college freshman classes two decades ago, she also struggled to grab the attention of her students. “I did not grab their attention on the first day-that was my mistake.” she says. “I missed this opportunity to bond with them from the very beginning, and then it took me a while to find my voice.”

By the second semester, she found her footing, adjusting her approach to get her students engaged. The key, she says, has been to make herself approachable and her instruction personal. And, of course, add showy demonstrations. “These demonstrations often help students to connect these abstract concepts with real life.” she says.

Physics department head Grigory Rogachev says Erukhimova’s work has helped bring visibility to the department, with about 2. 5 million subscribers on its department’s YouTube page, which has translated to a boost in research funds and physics major applicants.

As a leader in a STEM field in which women are underrepresented, she’s become a role model for some. Afiya Dhanani attended Texas A&M University after seeing Erukhimova’s videos online. “Watching Dr. Tatiana do the experiments online, especially since she was a female leader. Was more inspiring for me to even go into physics.” Dhanani said in an interview with CBS Mornings. That’s all Erakhimova says she can hope for -making physics less forbidding and more exciting.

1. What does Erukhimova’s online videos feature?

A．Rare materials.	B．Energetic presentation.
C．Plain demonstration.	D．Professional explanation.

2. Which saying explains Erukhimova’s initial failure to grab students’ attention 20 years ago?

A．All that glitters is not gold.

B．Sharp tools make good work.

C．First impressions are make or break.

D．A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit.

3. How does Erukhimova’s work contribute to the physics department?

A．It leads more students to change their majors.

B．It makes more people to know about the department.

C．It helps the department translate more research papers.

D．It attracts more physics professors to join the department.

4. Which word best describes Erukhimova as a leader in a STEM field?

A．Inspirational.

B．Underestimated.

C．Cooperative.

D．Ambitious.

4 . In January when wildfires came within a kilometer of her home, Jessica Miles found herself reflecting on the bravery of firefighters in the Port Macquarie area.

Jessica said the tires had been frightening. “There were helicopters (直升机) flying around our house and smoke everywhere,” she said. Over a family dinner, the 12-year-old girl raised the idea of building a sculpture to honor the men and women on the wildfire front line and was greeted with support.

With artwork from the Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail on their doorstep, Jessica’s mother suggested she contact the organizers of the trail with her idea. In a message to Hello Koalas through a Facebook post. Jessica wrote: “I’ve recently thought of an idea as Australia has been facing disaster lately... The firefighters have risked their life and time to protect us. In recognition of their bravery, I wanted so share an idea I had about making a koala (考拉) in honor of the firefighters and to spread hope to Australia.”

Hello Koalas director Margret Meagher said while she had thought about creating a sculpture to honor Australia’s selfless and heroic firefighters in the past, Jessica’s message made her more determined than ever to make it happen. Having been involved in the Rural Fire Service (RFS), Ms. Meacher was also personally touched by summer’s wildfires: “So I really wanted to celebrate the local men and women who fought bravely to protect our community and to recognize all firefighters in Australia.” Ms. Meagher said.

Jessica, who is passionate about the environment and animals said she had been excited to receive such a positive response to her idea including her suggestion “it could have the RFS badge (章) painted on the koala or it could have a fireman’s jacket.” The new sculpture, Frankie Firefighter, created by artist Kim Staples, was unveiled (揭幕) this week and features both Jessica’s ideas.

1. What did Jessica’s mother advise her to do?

A．Send greetings to firefighters.	B．Put her artwork on their doorstep.
C．Build a sculpture to honor firefighters.	D．Seek help from Hello Koalas to apply her idea.

2. What finally drove Ms. Meagher to create a firefighter sculpture?

A．Firefighters heroic stories.	B．Her involvement in RFS.
C．Jessica’s Facebook post.	D．Her own past thoughts.

3. What do we know about the sculpture Frankie Firefighter?

A．It wears a badge donated by a fireman.	B．It draws inspiration from Kim Staples.
C．It is contrary to Jessica’s expectations.	D．It is a koala in a fireman’s jacket.

5 . More than 30 year and S10 billion later, the James Webb Space Telescope finally left Earth. The observatory was lifted skyward by an Ariane rocket from the Kourou spaceport in French Guiana. Is flight to orbit lasted just under half an hour, with a signal confirming a successful outcome picked p by a ground antenna(天线)at Malindi in Kenya.

Webb, named after one of the architects of the Apollo Moon landings, is the successor to the Hubble telescope. Engineers working with the US, European and Canadian space agencies have built the new observatory to be 100 times more powerful.

Webb’s launch is only the start of what will be a complex series of initial activities over the next six months. The telescope is being put on a path to an observing station some 1.5 million km beyond the Earth. In the course of travelling to this location, webb will have to unpack itself from the folded shape it adopted at launch.

This won’t be easy, said NASA administrator Bill Nelson: “We have to realize there are still countless things that have to work and they have to work perfectly. But we know that in great reward, there is great risk. And that’s what this business is all about. And that’s why we dare to explore.”

At the core of the new facility’s capabilities is its 6.5 m-wide golden mirror. This is almost three times wider than the primary reflector on Hubble. The enlarged optics(光学器件), combined with   four super-sensitive instruments, should enable astronomers to look deeper into space—and thus further back in time—than ever before.

A key target of Webb will be the pioneer stars that ended the darkness theorized to have dominated the whole universe shortly after the Big Bang more than 13.5 billion years ago. It was the nuclear reactions in these objects that would have created the first heavy atoms(原子)essential for life. Another goal for Webb will be to explore the atmospheres of distant planets. This will help researchers work out whether these worlds are in any way habitable.

1. What can we learn about the new space telescope?

A．An antenna helped it go into orbit.

B．It was named after a landscape architect.

C．It is a project of international cooperation.

D．It has reached its observing station.

2. What is Bill’s attitude towards the project?

A．Disapproving.	B．Supportive
C．Fearful.	D．Uncertain.

3. Why can Webb look further back in time than Hubble?

A．It is fitted with a more powerful engine.

B．It is capable of changing shapes.

C．It has a primary reflector.

D．It has a much bigger mirror

4. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Suggestions for astronomers.	B．Origins of the universe.
C．Webb’s limitations	D．Webb’s functions.

6 . Theatre shows for you

The Drifters Girl

Location: Garrick Theatre

Time: May 4, 2022-Jan. 26, 2023

Beverley Knight is back in the West End and she’s found an unlikely vehicle for her talents-anew musical about an all-male singing group The Drifters. The Drifters Girl centres on the woman behind the band, Faye Treadwell, who was the first African-American female music manager and helped push the group to be a hit over three decades.

Love’s Labour’s Lost

Location: Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Time: May 16 - Dec. 30, 2022

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) has won applause for its production of Shakespeare’s lighthearted and funny play Love’s Labour’s Lost. With songs by Michael Friedman and directed by Kenneth Branagh, Love’s Labour’s Lost is about young love, with an unexpected ending.

Lost Origin

Location: Almeida Theatre

Time: May 21 - Dec. 4, 2022

This immersive (沉浸式) theatre show from Factory 42 and the Almeida Theatre is hard to entirely understand without actually seeing it. As an exploration of what the future of the performance might be, lost Origin sees audiences tasked with solving a mystery (奥秘) inside a dark web marketplace.

Samskara

Location: Fortune Theatre

Time: May 8-Nov. 26, 2022

Combining physical theatre, hip-hop dance with text, Samshara is a new play written and directed by Lanre Malaolu that describes the lives of four generations of African-Americans, trying to make their way in a world that tells them they must be strong.

1. Where can you enjoy a show on New Year’s Day?

A．Fortune Theatre.	B．Garrick Theatre.
C．Royal Shakespeare Theatre.	D．Almeida Theatre.

2. What do we know about Love’s Labour’s Lost?

A．It’s about Shakespeare’s life.	B．It’s directed by Michael Friedman.
C．It’s likely to be a comedy.	D．It will be shown in the RSC.

3. Which show is about the history of some individuals` struggle?

A．Samskara.	B．Love’s Labour’s Lost.
C．The Drifters Girl.	D．Lost Origin.

7 . Nature can be unforgiving, especially when it comes to the animal world. As such, squirrels need every advantage they can get in order to protect themselves from a variety of predators that may want to make them their next meal. Squirrels pay incredibly close attention to their surroundings, and they pick up alarm calls from other nearby animals in reference to nearby predators. Now, a new study reveals that squirrels also listen to nearby birds’ conversations to make sure there is no threat close by.

Researchers from Oberlin University say that if the talk from birds is relaxing and normal, the squirrel knows it is not in immediate danger. The authors said that squirrels were listening to bird conversations and sounds to assess their safety, so in order to test their theory they observed the behavior of 54 wild Eastern gray squirrels scattered across various parks and areas in Ohio.

First, a threat was shown by playing a record of a red-tailed hawk(鹰), an animal known to hunt and eat both squirrels and other smaller birds. Then, researchers played one of two different recordings; one recording was of many songbirds chattering among one another happily, and the other was with no bird noises. After playing these recordings, each squirrel’s behavior was monitored for three minutes.

As expected, after hearing the initial record, all the squirrels displayed defensive attitudes, such as running away, looking around, or freezing their movements. Interestingly, the squirrels that heard the happy sounds of songbirds returned back to a normal, relaxed state much faster than the other group that heard the quiet sounds.

The study’s authors say that this indicates squirrels use the sounds of nearby animals to ensure their own safety. This allows the squirrel to either get back to what they were doing in a faster manner, or prepare for potential threats more efficiently.

“Perhaps in some circumstances, cues of safety could be as important as cues of danger,” the study reads. The study is published in the scientific journal PLOS ONE.

1. What does the underlined word “predators” mean in the first paragraph?

A．Animals that hunt squirrels as food.

B．Animals that make friends with squirrels.

C．Animals that hunt squirrels and birds at night.

D．Animals that steal the food from the squirrels’ nests.

2. What will the squirrels do after hearing the sound of a red-tailed hawk?

A．They will stay and freeze.

B．They will behave normally.

C．They will keep on their guard.

D．They will look around and run away.

3. How did the researchers get the result?

A．By studying the different data.

B．By listing the different figures.

C．By comparing the different responses.

D．By playing different games with the squirrels.

4. What is the best title for the passage?

A．Three interesting experiments.

B．Squirrels listen to birds to stay safe.

C．Judging danger from nearby sounds.

D．Squirrels can record the dangerous sound.

8 . Ecofriendly replacement products for single-use plastics are appearing everywhere. But have you heard of edible (可食性的) straws? Now EQUO, a new eco-friendly company in Vietnam has come up with a natural edible solution to plastic or paper straws.

The edible straws are completely plastic free, nontoxic, chemical free, and 100 percent biodegradable according to a company press release.

“It’s well known that plastic straws are harmful to the environment. Most of the 500 million used every day in America end up in oceans where they pollute water and harm marine life. Currently over eight billion straws pollute the world’s beaches,” said Marina Tran-Vu in the press release. “Although there are some plastic and paper straw alternatives on the market, most are environmentally harmful, and we were also unsatisfied with the quality and lasting of paper straws.”

All of the materials are locally from regions that support sustainable farming according to the company’s website and they struggle to have zero-net influence by” using the power of mother nature”. The name of the company was created by combining “ECO” — meaning environmentally friendly — with “STATUS QUO” — meaning the existent state. EQU stands for creating products that have minimal influence on the environment. The company was first shown on Kickstarter on May 18 and hit their funding goal in only 30 days.

Many countries are banning single-use plastics. The EU banned 10 single-use plastic products including straws that will take effect in 2021. Other items that will no longer be made of plastic include cutlery (餐具), and balloon sticks. These 10 items make up a large percentage of ocean waste that harms marine life.

So do your part, use biodegradable cutlery — you can carry your own , edible straws, and reusable water or coffee cups. These small items can contribute to reducing plastic waste.

1. What is the third paragraph mainly about?

A．The popularity of plastic straws.

B．The harm of plastic straws.

C．The pollution of beaches.

D．The necessity of change.

2. What does ECO stand for?

A．It means the original aim.

B．It means the existent state.

C．It means how to create products.

D．It means being good for the environment.

3. What can we expect in Europe after 2021?

A．Plastic straws will be forbidden.

B．Edible straws will be sold cheaply.

C．Ocean waste can be rid completely.

D．Single-use plastic products will disappear.

4. Which word best describes the author’s attitude to biodegradable cutlery?

A．Skeptical.

B．Objective.

C．Tolerant.

D．Approving.

9 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入一个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

It is believed that Chinese knotting, also known as zhongguojie, originated for recording information and exchanging messages     1     writing was invented. Over the past thousands of years, knots     2     (play) an important part in the life of Chinese.    3     (initial), Chinese knots acted as good -luck charms to drive away evil spirits. Today, Chinese knots are widely used to decorate homes during festivities.

A major characteristic of Chinese knots is that they are often tied from a single continuous length of string. The knots are commonly named     4     the shape it takes. Chinese knots are created in a     5     (various) of colors such as gold, green, blue, or black, though the most commonly used color is red,    6     symbolizes good luck and prosperity.

Crafting the Chinese knot is a three-step process     7     (involve) tying knots, tightening them and adding the finishing touches. The knots     8     (pull) tightly together and are strong enough to be used for binding or wrapping, making them very practical.

Today, most of such knots are often mass manufactured in factories. Skilled knot artists weave complex knots that you might see     9     (sell) as souvenirs that you can take back with you. If you have time, why not try your hand at it? Perhaps these age-old charms can add     10     touch of good luck to your daily life?

10 . 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。

The Chinese zodiac, also known as Sheng Xiao or Shu Xiang, is a     1     (repeat) circle of 12 years. Each year     2     (represent) by an animal. Chinese New Year 2024 is a year of the Loong.

Chinese Zodiac Loong is the     3     (five) of the 12 zodiac animals, following the Rot, Ox, Tiger and Rabbit. People born in the year of the Loong — an animal no one knows if it existed in real world—are enveloped in mystery, and very charming.

Back in the pre-Qin period over 2,200 years ago, there was already the Chinese zodiac signs theory. So it is     4     (reason) that Chinese Zodiac years are in agreement with the beginning of Chinese Lunar New Year. If you have an idea of Lunar Calendar, you will know     5     Chinese zodiac year often starts from late January and ends in middle February of the next year.

Therefore, to see what your Chinese zodiac animal is,     6     to confirm whether you are a Loong, you need to change your Gregorian calendar birthday to Lunar Calendar of the year you were born. For example, if you were born     7     February 16, 1988 (a year of the Loong), the Lunar New Year’s Eve, which was very close to Loong year, but you are a Rabbit.

    8     is also worth mentioning is that if two people were born in the different Loong years, they may have very different     9     (personality), and horoscope, due to the Five Elements, which are Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. Each element     10     (come) in a 60-year cycle.