1 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

China will establish a pilot free trade zone or FTZ in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region     1     (promote) high-quality development in the central and western regions, and better serve the Belt and Road Initiative, according to a guideline     2     (issue) by the State Council on Tuesday. The pilot FTZ will have three subzones in Urumqi, Kashgar and Khorgos,     3    covers a combined area of 179.66 square kilometers.

    4     (take) full advantage of its land and airports, the Urumqi subzone will strengthen the construction of a land port-based national logistics (物流) center. It will also become an important platform for exchanges and cooperation     5     neighboring countries in Central   Asia. Based on its advantageous location for international trade and logistics, the Kashgar subzone will grow     6     (it) export economy, placing emphasis on labor-intensive industries. Building on     7     strengths of cross-border cooperation, the Khorgos subzone will promote the development of cross-border logistics, tourism, and other modern service     8     (industry).

A high-quality FTZ with high standards     9     (establish) in three to five years, with a greater trade convenience,     10     (good) resource sharing, effective management, and the ability to drive the development of their surrounding areas.

2 . If you have a car, you most likely have been feeling pain at the pump. At the time of writing, a gallon of gas in Lafayette County costs $3.94, with the national average even higher at $4.24. These are the most expensive gas prices in history. The White House has regarded this rise in prices as “Putin’s Price Hike”, but how much is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine really to blame?

The White House’s claim could be believable if gas prices had not already been way above normal before Russian soldiers ever set foot in Ukraine. In fact, Biden told the Federal Trade Commission to investigate high gas prices back in November 2021, long before the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

For many Americans, gas prices are the limiting factor in how much food is on the dinner table, because nearly all goods need gas to be transported. Egg prices are up 13.1%, pork has risen 14.1% and chicken rose 10.3% over the past year. In February, as a result of the climbing gas prices and other factors, such as the supply chain crisis, the Consumer Price Index, which tracks average inflation (通胀), rose another 0.8%, which can have terrible impacts for low-income families. This was a trend before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and blaming it on Putin is shying away from the real problem of 40-year high inflation.

While Americans are struggling to pay for things that just a few years ago would be affordable, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg had a tone-deaf solution. If you cannot afford gas, just get an electric vehicle. Easy, right? An electric car costs tens of thousands of dollars, and when people cannot even afford a tank of gas, they will surely not be able to afford a brand new car.

President Biden has said he “can’t do much” about high gas prices and inflation, but that is not true. We do not need to rely on Russian oil to keep prices low. The answer is for President Biden to increase United States oil production to offset any lost oil imports from Russia.

1. What can we learn about the gas prices?

A．They remained normal before the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

B．They rose mainly because Russia decided to export less oil.

C．They climbed to the highest in history for uncertain reasons.

D．They went up suddenly because of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

2. What does the author think of Pete Buttigieg’s suggestion?

A．Reasonable.

B．Senseless.

C．Practical.

D．Funny.

3. Which can replace the underlined word “offset” in the last paragraph?

A．Give rise to.	B．Launch an attack on.
C．Get rid of.	D．Make up for.

4. Which serves as the best title for the passage?

A．Gas prices are Biden’s fault, not Putin’s

B．High gas prices hit Americans really hard

C．The truth behind an abnormal phenomenon

D．Time to take measures to keep gas prices down

5 . UK taxpayers will pay tens of millions of pounds towards the cost of the King’s coronation.     1    , including fans of the royals, who feel the expense particularly upset.

    2    , which has stood above 10% in March, down slightly from the month prior, but still far higher than in the United States and Europe.

    3    . They were rising at their fastest rate in more than 45 years in March as high input and labor costs have hurt domestic producers, and as a weaker pound has made imports more expensive.

The strain has pushed record numbers of people toward the UK’s legions of food banks providing free groceries as wages have failed to keep pace with inflation.

The Trussell Trust, which distributes groceries to about 1,200 food banks, said last week that its network had handed out nearly 3 million emergency food parcels in the year to the end of March.    4    , and a 37% rise on the previous 12-month period.

“We are experiencing an unprecedented rise in the number of people coming to the food bank.    5    .” Brian Thomas, chief executive at South Tyneside Foodbank, located in England’s northeast, said in a statement.

A．That’s a record for a single year

B．Food price rises show no signs of pulling back

C．Inflation in the UK has rocketed over the past year

D．The increasingly higher prices are beyond people’s expectations.

E．Food banks have finally removed those long-accumulated products.

F．But millions of people are struggling to make ends meet as prices rise

G．They are no longer able to balance a low income against rising living costs

7 . 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。

China is one of the few countries that can trace (追溯) its existence back over thousands of years down to 221 BC     1     it was united by the Qin Dynasty. Time and time again down the centuries civil wars or foreign invasions divided China into rival kingdoms,     2     after every period of war, China would always come into one united country.

Over history, the Chinese people created their language and their civilization.     3     (they) characters appeared in the Shang Dynasty around 2000 BC. Their     4     (invent), especially paper, printing, gunpowder and the compass,     5     (great) changed the fortunes of human beings. These innovations (创新) are key to     6     (understand) why China’s economy was among the largest in the world for 20 of the last 22 centuries, and why China in 1820 made up a third of global GDP, more     7     America, the UK and Europe combined.

The last 45 years have     8     (see) another astonishing rejuvenation (复兴). By releasing the genius of its people, China has achieved the     9     (big) and fastest economic growth the world has ever known. Under     10     leadership of the CPC, no less than 800 million people have lifted them out of poverty (贫困) in a nation that has a fifth of all humanity and a vast area almost as large as Europe.

8 . When you see the Lion of Judah you do not think “e-commerce”. Its lower decks (甲板) have 467 beds where passengers sleep when travelling up the Amazon River. But when the Amazon’s largest department store, Bemol, started delivering to customers in the rainforest, these three-decker passenger boats were its chosen means of transport.

Bemol sold fridges and televisions in the traditional way from its stores in Manaus until 2018, when one of the founders’ grandsons, Denis Minev, took over. He suspected there were hundreds of thousands of customers up and down the Amazon that Bemol wasn’t reaching and decided to go to them.

But delivering parcels in the rainforest is difficult and expensive. Consumers in far places either had to pay up to 30% of the product’s price for shipping and wait a month or longer for the postal service to deliver it or spend money and time on shopping trips to Manaus. Mr Minev made what sounded like an impossible promise: to deliver an order placed online within a week for not more than the “Manaus price”.                                                                                          

Mr Minev’s experience at a cooking-gas firm, also owned by his family, showed him how challenging the Amazon’s delivery could be. So rather than bu his own boats, risking crashes, fuel theft and high debt, Mr Minev oulsourced (外包) delivery to the brightly painted ships that carry people and provisions around the region.                                          

To encourage Amazonians to place their first online orders, Bemol set up Wi-Fi in every town where it launched e-commerce. Amazonians who lack savings or credit cards can use zero-interest loans starting at $26 to finance their purchases; 85% of Bemol’s online sales are paid for in this way. Bemol allows returns, but encourages customers to accept vouchers (代金券) instead. “The traditional e-commerce model without a physical presence doesn’t work in the Amazon,” says Mr Minev.

1. What does the underlined word “them” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The founders of Bemol.	B．Bemol’s stores in Manaus.
C．Customers along the Amazon.	D．Passengers on the Lion of Judah.

2. What promise did Mr Minev make to online consumers in far places?

A．They can obtain a discount of 30%.

B．They can return products within a month.

C．They can pay after receiving their ordered products.

D．They can enjoy market prices and a fast delivery service.

3. What does the last paragraph mainly talk about?

A．Bemol’s ways to increase online sales in the Amazon.

B．Difficulties of launching e-commerce in the Amazon.

C．The trend of placing online orders among Amazonians.

D．The influence of e-commerce on Amanianc

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．The rise of e-commerce	B．The challenge for Bemol
C．Department stores online	D．Parcels in the rainforest

9 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

TikTok, a hugely popular short-form video platform, shut down its Shop application in Indonesia after a ban     1     commerce on social media platforms, a blow to the app’s business in a major market.

TikTok Shop is one of the social network’s     2     (late) attempts to generate more profit.     3     (create) and brands can add a Shop button to their videos and live broadcasts,     4     (allow) users to buy products with a few taps without leaving the app.

The app itself was not banned in Indonesia. But people there could no longer buy or sell goods through TikTok or other social media platforms. The rules, which essentially require the separation of e-commerce and social media,     5     (mean) to protect local businessmen, prevent the market from     6     (affect) and stop the use of personal data for business purposes.

Some Indonesian businessmen who     7     (rely) on TikTok Shop said the new rules hurt their business. Dennies Soesanto, who sells bags and suitcases, said his profit on TikTok Shop was three times     8     of other e-commerce platforms. “Closing TikTok Shop is not saving the small and medium enterprises (企业),” he said, “    9     saving other e-commerce platforms.”

The ban in Indonesia, home to six million sellers on TikTok, could increase the pressure on TikTok Shop in the other countries     10     it operates.

10 . When talking about well-known products from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, the conversation often turns to mutton, fruits or nuts. What is less well known is that the fish raised in this vast region’s meltwaters are building up   ________ around the world.

In recent days, this ________ produce for an inland region has been making waves in the national seafood industry. Buyers around the world have been attracted there after the Fukushima water discharge ________ consumers to avoid fish coming from the Pacific Ocean.

Amid rising ________ in the global market about seafood safety, Xinjiang’s fishery industry has seized a unique opportunity. Buyers are looking for ________ after Japan started releasing treated wastewater into the Pacific Ocean last month. The first lots of this year’s crabs were fished from the waters in Altay, Xinjiang, earlier this week, receiving significant attention as their availability ________ that of crabs from Jiangsu—a more renowned crab-producing province in East China. This fact is shaking the latter’s long-standing status.

The development of Xinjiang’s aquafarming industry has been a striking example of notable leaps in China’s ecological management strategies. Annual reports say that Bosten Lake in Xinjing alone will have a substantial harvest ________ to exceed 4,000 tonnes of crabs by the end of this year. This impressive figure suggests that the province’s aquafarming industry is ________. The region is also experiencing a boom in other aquatic products ________ crab farming. South American white shrimp and salmon from Xinjiang are making ________ journeys from their native waters to dinner tables across China in less than a day.

The success of Xinjiang’s seafood industry has filled significant gap in the Chinese market, particularly after the government’s decision to ________ imports of Japanese seafood. The discharge of nuclear-contaminated water by Japan has fueled a ________ in seafood consumption, further increasing the demand for seafood from Xinjiang. Expert analysts in the aquatic industry predict that Xinjiang’s fishery products will attract more investment, potentially scaling up production capabilities to meet consumer demands.

Critical to Xinjiang’s aquaculture success story are the ecological reforms that have laid a solid foundation for it. The Chinese government’s mighty focus on the management and restoration of water bodies has ________ the development of an industry with potential. The transformation of

Xinjiang into a prosperous seafood production hub is not a (n) ________ incident but a product of joint nationwide ecological reforms.

The seafood not only provides ________ dinner choices for the locals in Xinjiang but also attracts growing interest nationwide and abroad. In Xinjiang, aquaculture has grown to be an industry and boosting local residents’ income.

1.

A．reputation

B．enthusiasm

C．knowledge

D．resistance

2.

A．unusual

B．wild

C．conventional

D．profitable

3.

A．begged

B．urged

C．enabled

D．ordered

4.

A．agreement

B．concern

C．curiosity

D．objection

5.

A．customers

B．marketers

C．alternatives

D．rivals

6.

A．resembles

B．overrates

C．offsets

D．outpaces

7.

A．guaranteed

B．doomed

C．allowed

D．projected

8.

A．on the rise

B．beyond description

C．under control

D．without consideration

9.

A．apart from

B．as a result of

C．in terms of

D．in spite of

10.

A．return

B．regular

C．brief

D．countryside

11.

A．keep up

B．call up

C．call off

D．put off

12.

A．risk

B．debate

C．shift

D．growth

13.

A．marked

B．restricted

C．fed

D．traced

14.

A．crucial

B．domestic

C．controversial

D．isolated

15.

A．appropriate

B．natural

C．diverse

D．obvious