1 . Scientists have discovered a new structure that allows lunge feeding whales, also called rorqual whales (长须鲸), to take in massive amounts of water without choking.

To capture prey (猎物), rorqual whales use a method called lunge feeding. They speed up, and take in a volume of water large enough to fill their entire bodies.

Scientists didn’t know how these whales avoided choking on prey—filled water and flooding their respiratory tracts (呼吸道) during a lunge feeding event. Now Dr. Gil and his colleagues have discovered a large structure that they’ve termed the “oral plug” —a structure never before described in any other animal—that they think makes lunge feeding possible.

Dr. Gil and his colleagues analyzed dead fin whales. By physically dissecting (解剖) the mass of muscle and tissue that plug the back of the whale’s mouth, the researchers determined that when the animal is at rest, the plug blocks off the whale’s pharynx (咽道), a tube-shaped structure that leads to both the respiratory and digestive tracts. When a whale lunges, the “oral plug” protects both tracts from being flooded by the water and the living creatures that the animal has taken in.

When the animal is ready to swallow its latest meal, the oral plug shifts upward to protect the upper respiratory tract. At the same time, the larynx (喉) closes up and shifts downward, blocking the lower respiratory tract. In other words, during swallowing, the pharynx only leads to the digestive tract.

“This fills in a blank that we didn’t even know really existed,” said Dr. Gil of the team’s findings. Ari Friedlaender, who studies whale feeding behaviors at the University of California but was not involved in this research, sees great value in filling in these anatomical blanks about whales.

“The more we can understand how they develop these means for being able to eat so much, the more we understand about what their abilities are, and how they function as part of marine ecosystems,” Dr. Friedlaender said.

1. Which words can best describe the lunge feeding method of rorqual whales?
①speedy       ②massive       ③precise

A．②③

B．①②

C．①③

D．①②③

2. What function does the “oral plug” have?

A．It just blocks off the two airways when the whale rests.

B．It just protects the upper airway when the whale swallows.

C．It just blocks the lower airway when the whale lunges.

D．It ensures that the meals and water just go into the pharynx.

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Dr. Friediaender shared his findings of whale feeding behavior with Dr. Gril.

B．Dr. Friedlaender praised the research for it further explains how marine ecosystems function.

C．Dr. Friedlaender will cooperate with Dr. Gil and his team for the future research.

D．Dr. Gil was probably surprised to find the existence of the “oral plug”.

4. What is Dr. Friedlaender’s attitude towards the new findings?

A．Negative.

B．Indifferent.

C．Cautious.

D．Positive.

5. Which is the best title for the passage?

A．Why do whales lunge for food?	B．Why don’t whales choke?
C．Why do whales have respiratory tracts?	D．Why are whales unique?

6 . This small but unexpected success can ______ for many other less fortunate cases.

A．assist

B．multiply

C．endure

D．compensate

7 . The greatest fear was that the human race could be ______by nuclear missiles just at the push of a button.

A．wiped out

B．given away

C．put up

D．taken off

8 . 假设你是晨光中学的学生李华，有幸代表滨海新区参加天津市中学生英语演讲比赛，题目为推荐家乡的一处旅游景点。请你写一篇演讲稿，内容包括：
1．该旅游景点的地理位置，特色，优势等；
2．你推荐该景点的原因；
3．欢迎游客前来参观游览。
参考景点：国家海洋博物馆(The National Maritime Museum)；航母主题公园(The Aircraft Carrier Theme Park)；塘沽外滩公园(Tanggu Bund Park)；大港湿地公园(Dagang Wetland Park)。
注意：(1)考生可以从以上景点中任选一处，也可以自选特色景点；
(2)词数不少于100词；
(3)可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
(4)开头及结束语已写好，不计入总词数。

Good morning, everyone. It’s my great pleasure to give a lecture here.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for listening.

9 . 阅读短文， 并按照题目要求用英语回答问题。

I have a big birthmark (胎记) on my face. But I don’t consider it a big problem. Instead, I think it’s something that makes me unique and memorable.

I especially admire a person called Joseph. He had a life which was full of hardships, from being sold as a slave by his brothers to being wrongfully accused and jailed in Egypt. And through it all, he kept his uniqueness, shared his talent and uplifted those around him. In my opinion, that he was able to rise to become an important official in Egypt was exactly because he could learn from his hardships and turn them into his advantages. They gave him the gifts of perseverance and bravery to stick to his faith and face any challenges that stood in his way.

Each of us has our struggles and pains in life, those things that we think hinder us from reaching greater heights. But what is important is that we know strength and beauty lie in the struggles, in overcoming hardships and in being open to people about your struggles.

When I meet someone, I try telling them, “The birthmark on my face makes me different, and would you mind my condition?” and with those few words, I show them that I have something special and I don’t avoid talking about it. Try that for yourself. Put the challenge up front so that you can put it aside from the start.

I hope this story of my struggle and the strength it has given me can add value to your life as well. We are on this journey of life together. With resilience and kindness, we can add light to our lives and the lives of those around us every day.

1. How does the author feel about his birthmark?(No more than 5 words)
________________________________________________________________________________________
2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?(No more than 8 words)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
3. What does the underlined word “hinder” in Paragraph 3 mean?(I word)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
4. Why does the author talk to people about his birthmark?(No more than 15 words)
_________________________________________________________________________________________
5. How does the author’s story inspire you? Please explain it in your own words.(No more than 25 words)
_________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Helen Uffner has dressed Broadway, Hollywood and TV shows for more than 40 years. But high-rise developers and Amazon distribution centers are making it impossible to store her extraordinary vintage (古董衫) collection.

Helen Uffner began her love with old clothes as a young teenager, troubling her father, who worried that people would think he could not afford proper clothes for his daughter. With the prospect of a career in period fashion lacking promise, she joined a management consultancy after college. But soon she decided to monetize (把……转换成货币) her passion.

Over the next 40 years, Helen Uffner established a celebrated business renting out vintage clothes. Initially, she ran the business out of her apartment. By the late 1990s, she moved to a 6.000-square-foot space in the clothing district.

Challenges began in 2006, when the landlord was selling the building and wanted her out. At the same time commercial rents were increasing sharply and the city’s clothing industry had all but disappeared. Eventually, in 2008, Helen Uffner Vintage Clothing moved to Long Island City.

The transition was not easy. But by 2018, Helen Uffner found herself in the same trouble. She ultimately settled into another space only to face the drama all over again —her current building is planned for being tom down to make room for the construction of a high-rise.

While COVID -19 has reduced the price of office leasing (租赁), vast warchouse space of the kind Helen Uffner needs is at a premium because of the demand coming from Amazon and other e-commerce sites.

Now in her 70s, Helen Uffner has found the prospect of moving for a fourth time especially tough. “I have been making the joke that the emperor has no clothes,” Helen Uffner said, “because who will actually dress him.”

1. What is Helen’s father’s attitude toward her passion for old clothes?

A．He feels nervous as her dream will cost a lot.

B．He feels disgraceful(丢脸的)to be a poor father.

C．He feels worried as people may think he couldn’t afford clothes for her.

D．He feels angry as it is a waste of time and money.

2. Why does Helen join a management consultancy after college?

A．To lay the foundation for the pursuit of her ultimate goal.

B．To monetize her passion for the clothing industry.

C．To avoid the possible bad career prospect.

D．To follow in the footsteps of her father.

3. What does the underlined phrase “at a premium” probably mean?

A．Beyond reach.	B．At a lowest point.
C．At the peak.	D．Under guarantee.

4. What does the joke made by Helen in the last paragraph mean?

A．Nobody cares the appearance as survival matters most today.

B．People are too shallow to admit their mistakes for pursuing money.

C．The art-related industry has been ignored in the urban development.

D．Her age kills her passion for the extraordinary vintage collection.

5. The passage can be probably taken from ______

A．A school newspaper.	B．A medical report.
C．A science journal.	D．A fashion magazine.