1 . WHAT ARE RIP CURRENTS?

Rip currents are like the rivers of the sea, transporting water near the shore back out into the ocean depths. The presence of these currents can be hidden by the wild movements of the surrounding waves. This means that as well as carrying seaweed and pieces of materials quickly out to sea, they can rapidly sweep away even the strongest swimmers. Around 80 percent of all lifeguard rescues are caused by powerful rip currents pulling a swimmer into danger.

If you find yourself being pulled out to sea by an unsuspected rip current, you should remain calm, focus on staying afloat and, if you can, swim parallel to the shore. Your instincts might tell you to swim towards land, as this is where you’re aiming to get to, but the current will be too strong to swim against. Instead, aim to move across the current and into slower flowing water next to it. A rip current may only pull you just past the breaking waves, but in some cases they can take you hundreds of metres offshore. The strength of currents can be hard to predict, so it’s safest to stay on lifeguarded beaches and not to swim if you see any indication of a rip current.

1. Understanding rip currents can help ______.

A．prevent you from swimming into danger	B．transport water out into the ocean depths
C．clear away seaweed and pieces of materials	D．warn lifeguards against rescue in rip currents

2. The illustration probably explains ______.

A．difference between various currents	B．two types of zones off shore
C．an ideal route to surf in safety	D．how rip currents form

3. Which region is the path of a rip current?

A．1000 metres off the shore beyond “HEAD”.	B．The channel through the gap in a sandbar.
C．The location where a red flag is erected.	D．Over the narrow stretch of a sandbar.

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.

The Lights of Aurora

On the night of 2 September1859, the dark sky over Europe and North America was suddenly full of light! The light did no come from the sun or the moon and it had a strange colour. The light moved across the sky,     1     (come) and going, like clouds in a strong wind in the United States, a man in Boston was using the telegraph to speak to a man in Portand 160km away. They both turned off the electricity for the telegraph, but     2     could still speak to each other for the next two hours. The electricity was coming from the light in the sky. How was this possible? And what was the light in the sky?

The light is called the aurora. Usually, you can see it only at the very north of the earth,     3     it is called aurora borealis or Northerm Lights, or at the very south, where it is the aurora australis or Southern Lights. But in 1859, something happened in the sun — a very large storm — and it moved the aurora across the middle of the earth. We do not think that his ever happened before 1859, and we know that it     4     (not happen) since then.

Why does the aurora happen? And why can we only see it at the top or bottom of the earth? The aurora is made by something     5     (call) the ‘solar wind’( wind from the sun). We cannot see this wind, or touch it. It is a wind of particles that travel away from the sun at the time at about 400 kilometers a second. Most of the particles never touch the earth. The earth has a kind of ‘wall’ around it that defends it     6     these particles. This wall is called the earth’s magnetic field, and it pushes the particles away on either side. But the earth's magnetic field has two “windows” in it: the magnetic north, and the magnetic south. At these places. the earth’s magnetic field turns down into the earth. And some of the particles from the solar wind come through these magnetic ‘windows’. These solar particles crash is to the particles that are already in our sky. And     7     this happens, we see the beautiful lines or clouds of light of the aurora.

Alaska is a good place     8     (see) the auurora borealis, and you can also go to places like Iceland, Siberia, the north of Greenland, Norway, Sweden, and Scotland to see the aurora australis, go to the south of Australia, Tasmania, or New Zealand.

People travel thousands of kilometers to see the aurora, and they can never be sure     9     it will happen. But     10     do see it says that they will never forget it.

3 . 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 Mystery is No Mystery

The area of ocean between Florida, Puerto Rico, and Bermuda, known as the Bermuda Triangle, is the source of much mystery. Over the centuries, reports of ships and planes disappearing     1     a trace have seized the public attention, leading the zone     2     (nickname) “The Devil’s Triangle.” Suggested causes for these mysterious disappearances range front supernatural powers to underwater alien bases. However, there is a more basic question to ask: Do more craft really disappear in the Bermuda Triangle than in any similarly trafficked area? The answer,     3     it turns out, is no.

The Bermuda Triangle covers a vast 700,000 square-kilometer swathe of ocean. Close to the equator(赤道)and near the United States, it is a particularly busy patch of sea with heavy traffic. According to Lloyd’s of London and the U. S. Coast Guard,     4     you were to compare the number of disappearances to the large quantity of ships and planes that have passed through the Bermuda Triangle, you would find that there     5     (be) nothing out of the ordinary about the area.

These days, new theories are being put forward, with a bit of scientific truth to them. Some have attributed Bermuda Triangle disappearances to explosive releases of methane (甲烷) gas,     6     (trap) as methane hydrate inside water molecules beneath the cold seabed of the deep ocean. Such blowouts could potentially release a giant amount of gas that could cause the sea to bubble like it was boiling, which could possibly sink ships because the resulting bubbles would be much     7     (thick) than the water on which large ships normally float. The gas could also rise into the sky,     8     (produce) a mixture of five to 15 percent methane which could explode on contact with the engine exhaust of a hot airplane.

The only problem with this theory is that scientists won’t be able to tell with much certainty if this is a factor       9     the ocean floor is mapped in greater detail. It remains to be seen     10     they will succeed in their attempt to clear up the Bermuda Triangle “mystery” this time around.

5 . Directions: Fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. attraction       B. waiting       C. mystery       D. unique             E. simply            F. originally G. stable            H. popularity       I. donating       J. searching       K. interfere

There’s a rarely-visited, dusty corner of the world where something magical happens. The place, which looks like Mars with its red rock landscape, is the Tatacoa Desert, in Colombia.

Tatacoa is located in the region of Huila, south of the country’s capital Bogotá. Although Tatacoa, with its protruding cacti and red rippled rocks, is called a desert, it is in fact a dry tropical forest. But the exciting, and very     1    , feature of this desert, is what happens above it, at night.

Thanks to its remote location — it’s almost 30 miles and an hour’s drive over bumpy winding roads to the nearest town — Tatacoa has no light pollution to     2     with the night sky.

Up to 88 constellations (星座) are visible on a clear night, as well as both hemispheres — something that happens nowhere else in the world.

The warm and dry climate helps with stargazing; a     3     atmosphere, which happens in dry spots or places of high elevation, decreases something called scintillation, which is when a star’s light rises and falls rapidly. It’s why stars twinkle, which looks beautiful but isn’t so great for astronomers.

Not only is Tatacoa a natural wonder, but the DIY observatory that’s run by a Colombian man named Javier Fernanda Rua Restrepo has become a star     4     too. In fact, this humble building attracts stargazers from all over the world, from China to Iceland to Australia. And Restrepo has also become well-known in astronomer circles, with a few scientists     5     their own telescopes to support the grassroots observatory.

The Colombian, who is     6     from Cali, fell in love with the stars thanks to his father’s interest in astronomy and science, and first visited Tatacoa in 1997, to try to see the Comet Hale-Bopp. He stayed for a couple of days before heading back to his hometown. But within a month, he returned to Tatacoa — and never left, camping out for weeks on end     7     for the night to come so that he could watch the stars.

At first Restrepo had worked at the Colombian government’s observatory, which he helped staff for 15 years. But after budget cuts meant he lost his job, he figured he would     8     build his own.

In 2015, Restrepo opened the doors to his observatory — Tatacoa Astronomia — with just one telescope. Now, as Colombia has grown in     9     as a tourist destination, hundreds flock to Restrepo’s star party, which he holds once a year in July.

Tatacoa Astronomia is only open on starry nights, and Restrepo remains the sole employee. But that doesn’t distract from the intimacy and the specialness of the place. The structure sits on a small patch of land that Restrepo bought himself, and is cordoned (隔离) off by tarpaulin (油布) to add an extra sense of     10     and intrigue (阴谋) for visitors.

“The stars… they put my life into its tiny perspective,” he says, “and they constantly remind me there are greater things out there.”

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。1.

A．Rich soil.

B．Enough water.

C．Some crops.

D．Little shade.

2.

A．Because it had a lot of trees.

B．Because it was always raining there.

C．Because it was located near a big city.

D．Because it had a wetland with water and rich soils.

3.

A．The history of Saudi Arabia.

B．The climate change in Saudi Arabia.

C．The development of civilization in AlUla.

D．The hunting techniques of the first people in AlUla.

7 . 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.

On Horseback Among the Eagle Hunters

A. bond        B. covered        C. outwardly        D. demanding       E. famed F. currently        G. deserted        H. traditionally        I. accessing        J. extent K. tending

Nine-year-old Dastan, the son of a Kazakh (哈萨克族) eagle hunter, rode his pony alongside mine, running effortlessly without a saddle (马鞍) and giggling at my attempts to show my pony some affection. Surrounding us was the vast,     1     landscape of the Altai Mountains of western Mongolia, with a dusting of snow heralding the arrival of winter.

I spent almost three years living and working in northern Iraq, where I     2     the country’s efforts to defeat the Islamic State (伊斯兰国). In October 2019, I began working on a personal photography project. My goal was to explore the relationships between animals and the people whose livelihoods depend on them. To start, I flew to western Mongolia to meet and photograph the iconic Kazakh hunters, horsemen and animal herders (牧人).

Deep in the Altai Mountains, the Kazakh people have for centuries developed a special     3     with golden eagles. Alankush, an eagle hunter, said he looks after his eagle “as if she were a baby.” The ancient custom of hunting with eagles on horseback is     4     passed down from father to son and is considered a great source of pride.

In recent generations, many Kazakh families have migrated from the countryside to the country’s urban areas. This is partly because of the difficulties in     5     health care, education, social services and employment opportunities. Among those who have stayed, the ancient practice has provided an additional source of income from the visitors who pay to see the     6     birds in action.

Training and caring for golden eagles is just one aspect of an animal herder’s life. Others include training young horses,     7     sheep, and butchering meat. The daily demands of a traditional herding family’s life can leave little time for additional education. In response to their physically     8     lifestyles, parents who work as herders often send their children to boarding schools. They hope that their children will secure a more comfortable future. Paradoxically, such parental ambitions may result in the eventual disappearance of a culture and way of life that has survived for generations.

    9    , documenting the traditional ways of life in western Mongolia stands in contrast to my time spent photographing scenes of conflict and suffering in Iraq. The two subjects, however, share a common theme: the human struggle not just to survive, but to build a better future for oneself and one’s family. Despite the differences in the surroundings and the     10     of the challenges faced by the people I met, I felt a connection with the Kazakh horsemen, through our mutual affection for horses.

8 . Why Go To London

The English writer Samuel Johnson famously _________, “When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life, because the city can provide wonderful experience.” More than two centuries_________ since Johnson’s era, but his words are still true. This is because life in London is nothing short of wonder, and travelers find that one visit isn’t enough to experience everything that this two-millennia-old city offers.

In London, when you walk into the opera house, you may find that Shakespeare’s works_________ by actors. While Londoners still praise the power of tea, they_________(make) room for some Starbucks here and there, and pressed juice too. In all, London’s culture is always aimed to what’s next. _________(discover) it all on one of London’s best tours.

1.

A．will say

B．said

C．saying

D．was said

2.

A．have passed

B．passed

C．had passed

D．passing

3.

A．perform

B．will perform

C．performed

D．are being performed

4.

A．make

B．will make

C．made

D．have made

5.

A．discover

B．will discover

C．discovered

D．discovering

9 . 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. adventure               B. carelessly       C. existence               D. exploit        E. inaccessible F. minimized        G. reflects        H. responsible        I. accounts   J. visible            K. wilderness

Antarctica is the highest, driest and coldest place on Earth. It is also the remotest, a fact which     1     for its unspoiled environment. It is widely described as the last     2     on our planet. The cold climate is     3     for maintaining the continent’s year-round ice fields. Even though Antarctica receives more sunlight than the equator(赤道), the temperatures are lower because the ice sheet     4     the heat back into space.

For centuries, Europeans wondered about the     5     of a South-Polar continent, but no one actually knew for certain Antarctica was there until 1820 when European explorers “discovered” it. Since then, men have gone to Antarctica in search of     6    . Testing their abilities, several teams of explorers set out in 1911 to be the first men to stand at the South Pole.

Once completely     7    , Antarctica has more recently been playing host to adventurers seeking for excitement, scientists interested in experimenting, and companies looking to     8     this wild area for profit.

Yet, Antarctica’s fragile and complicated eco-system is threatened by its human visitors. Damage to the environment occurs as people come looking for resources beneath the ice, or     9     leave their garbage behind. Currently, countries are working to ensure that the damage to Antarctica’s environment is     10    , and that Antarctica will remain an unspoiled place.

10 . Huizhou Architecture Comes to Life

Huizhou has a long history. When successful Huizhou businessmen got old,they often went back to their hometown and built houses to spend their remaining years.    1    Now, walking along the bluestone streets there,visitors can appreciate the distinctive Huizhou-style houses,featuring white walls,dark tiles (瓦片) and layered horse-head roofs, and feel like they are lost in a traditional Chinese ink painting.

Huizhou architecture, with its long tradition and great diversity, occupies an important place in Chinese architectural landscape, says Zhang Wangnan, director of the China Huizhou Culture Museum in Huangshan. Huizhou houses tend to be built on the natural places, since Huizhou is a mountainous area with few flat areas of land, according to Zhang. Moreover, daylight is valued in Huizhou houses, reflected in the building of open interior courtyards, allowing sunshine to enter the rooms. “Huizhou businessmen also believed that water symbolizes wealth.    2    It stands for keeping windfall profits,” says Zhang.

Huizhou is famous for its stone, wood and brick carvings, which are widely used to decorate local houses. “    3    In this way,they integrate their aesthetic (审美) values and emotions into the buildings,making them more beautiftul and educating their children through the meanings contained in the patterns,” says Zhang.

    4     “If you look at the outside of a Huizhou house, it seems simple, enclosed by walls, but the insides are open and broad, with complicated decorations. It is just like Huizhou people, who are often reserved toward strangers but friendly when you get to know them.” says Zhang. He also says that Ming houses differ from those of the QingDynasty in many aspects, for example, having fewer horse-head roofs and less complicated carvings.

A．When it rains, water falling on the roof soon flows to the courtyard.

B．Many of their houses are well-preserved today, especially in Xidi and Hongcun.

C．To talk about Huizhou culture, we must first understand Huizhou.

D．People carved beautiful patterns and historical stories on the walls, windows and wooden posts of their houses.

E．Features of Huizhou houses display the characteristics of local people.

F．Huizhou people have established many schools in the field of culture.