1 . Henry, Like Always

Lenn Bailey, illustrated by Mika Song

When his teacher upsets the regular class routine by placing an unexpected class parade during the period usually set aside for Share Time, Henry is having none of it. While there’s been a marked increase in books featuring kids on the autism spectrum, few have been early readers and fewer still are as funny as this one. It’s a masterpiece in conveying an understanding of a deep frustration that you might not necessarily feel yourself.

—Rakiesha Chase-Jackson, project manager, Member Partnership

Mascot

Charles Waters and Traci Sorell

This multiple-viewpoint novel reflects opinions of those with anti-racism. The conversation, which begins in the classroom, tests the tweens and their relationships. Respectively Black and Cherokee co-authors interweave differences of identity and impact with noteworthy attention to socioeconomic. Their engaging, accessible narrative invites readers to reflect on the controversy.

—Cynthia Leitich Smith, author of Harvest House and author-curator of Heart drum All the Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me

Patrick Bringley

The book is for grown-ups: a peek behind the curtain at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. That’s where, after his brother died from cancer, Patrick Bringley quit his job and put on a blue uniform to become a guard. He writes that he just wanted to stand still for a while, but ended up staying for 10 years studying the Masters, pondering the mummies, and thinking about life, art, and beauty. It was so impressive that I actually planned a trip to The Met!

—Samantha Balaban, producer, Weekend Edition

Artificial: A Love Story

Amy Kurzweil

In Artificial: A Love Story, New Yorker cartoonist Amy Kurzweil describes how she and her father, a futurist, technologist and inventor Ray Kurzweil, harness the power of artificial intelligence to connect with the grandfather she never knew. Fred Kurzweil was a talented conductor and pianist from Vienna who fled the Nazis in 1938 to begin a new life in the USA. Through words and detailed pen and ink drawings, this smart and spiritual memoir demonstrates the relationship between technology and humanity.

—Chloe Veltman, correspondent, Culture Desk

1. Who are probably interested in the book Henry, Like Always?

A．Art lovers.

B．Music fans.

C．Schoolchildren.

D．Athletes.

2. Which book is completed by two writers according to the text?

A．Henry, Like Always.	B．Mascot.
C．All the Beauty in the World.	D．Artificial: A Love Story.

3. Why does Chloe Veltman recommend the book Artificial: A Love Story?

A．Because it pictures the happy life of some musicians.

B．Because it conveys the amazing dream of those futurists.

C．Because it is a cartoon with the theme of the family love.

D．Because it shows the links between technology and reality.

2 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Who is the speaker talking to?

A．Freshmen.

B．Librarians.

C．Teachers.

2. What is scheduled in the first week?

A．A tour.

B．Some training.

C．Some talks.

3. What do we know about the library computers?

A．They are connected to printers.

B．Not all of them are available to students.

C．They have access to the Internet all the time.

4. Who can help to find things in the library?

A．The Section Manager.

B．The Cataloguing Assistant.

C．The Training Supervisor.

3 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. Who is the woman?

A．A dormitory assistant.	B．An immigration official.
C．An air hostess.

2. Which line is for the residents?

A．The line on the man’s right.

B．The line on the woman’s left.

C．The line on the woman’s right.

3. How long will the man study in the UK?

A．For a few months.

B．For about a year.

C．For about two years.

4. How will the man pay for his living costs and tuition fees?

A．His father has paid in advance.

B．He has paid with his scholarship.

C．He will pay after his settlement.

4 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What kind of painting did the woman prefer at first?

A．The one that has beautiful colors.

B．The one that looks quite peaceful.

C．The one that is simple but great.

2. Where will the forest painting look great according to the man?

A．In the bedroom.

B．In the dining room.

C．In the living room.

3. What will the speakers buy?

A．The forest painting.

B．The sunset painting.

C．The mountain painting.

5 . Productivity can be a struggle for many of us. Overflowing email inboxes, housework, social obligations, it can be easy to feel at a loss.     1    . Write them down, do the tasks and cross them off-simple!

    2     Firstly, they help to drown out the chaos and anxiety that come with having never-ending tasks. By writing everything down, we don’t have to rely on our memory.     3    . Secondly, lists provide structure and guidance, giving us a plan to follow. And finally, lists serve as proof of what we have achieved, which can help boost our sense of accomplishment and motivation.

Another possible reason our brains love lists is something called the “Zeigarnik effect”. This is the name psychologists use for when we remember things we need to do better than things we have already completed.     4    . The experiment began with a warm-up task, though it was stopped half-way through, and only some people were allowed to make plans to finish it. The researchers found that the group permitted to plan had reduced anxiety and performed better in the second task. The problem was that the others still had the warm-up task stuck in their active memory-an unticked list of tasks.     5    

All in all, it seems that lists are a valuable tool for staying on top of life!

A．And we can instead focus on the task at hand

B．Keep the list near the phone for easy reference

C．There are three key reasons why lists are beneficial

D．We do not fully understand how the brain is organized

E．So, once we tick something off our list, our brains forget it and we can relax

F．However, one simple tool that helps us stay on top of everything is the to-do list

G．Researchers tested the interference of the “Zeigarnik effect“ on a group of people

6 . Time is running out for coral reefs as the climate gets hotter. So scientists are searching the globe for corals that are better at enduring heat, Now, new research shows how those “super corals” can survive: less roommate drama.

Reefs depend on a crucial partnership between the corals and the algae (海藻) that live in the corals’ tissue, The algae make food for the corals using sunlight and in exchange, get a nice spot to live. But when oceans heat up, that relationship goes bad, and the corals kick the algae out, Without their roommates, corals can die, turning a ghostly white, bleached (白化) color.

Still, some corals seem to resist bleaching better than others, A new study shows that those corals depend on algae that are better at tolerating heat. Researchers hope that pinpointing these abilities will help develop new conservation tools to preserve the world’s reefs as temperatures rise. About 1/4 of all marine life rely on coral reefs in some way, along with half 1 billion people around the world also depend on reefs for their food and livelihoods.

“Heat stress can kill a lot of corals really fast,” says Kate Quigley, a research scientist at James Cook University and the Minderoo Foundation in Australia. “I hope that nature does have some mechanisms to get us through the next few years while we get our act together.”

While the hope is that those algae could also aid in reef conservation in the future, researcher Patrick Buerger says it’s likely that it wouldn’t help all coral species. And even the toughest corals can only endure so much. Currently, the world is on track for just under 3degrees Celsius of warming by 2100, a level that would wipe out nearly all coral reefs.

“The action has to be on climate change,” he says. “This is a short-term solution that might buy some time for corals to adapt. But the main focus has to be on climate. There’s not a silver bullet to the problem.”

1. What is the feature of super corals?

A．Sun-loving.

B．Long-living.

C．Good-looking.

D．Heat-bearing.

2. What can algae get from the corals?

A．Habitat.

B．Food.

C．Sunlight.

D．Friendship.

3. What do the figures in paragraph 3 indicate?

A．The population of marine life.	B．The importance of coral reefs.
C．The seriousness of global warming.	D．The living conditions of coral reefs.

4. What does Patrick think of using heat-resistant algae in reef conservation?

A．It is useless

B．It is the last hope.

C．It is temporary.

D．It is the silver bullet.

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。

Shuang Jiang, or Frost’s Descent, is the last term of autumn, marking the transition from autumn to winter. Literally, Shuang Jiang refers to the time     1     frost starts to descend in China due to cold weather. In the north, with large fields     2     (do) for the season, farmers can take a break. But in the south, farmers are still busy taking sweet potatoes home before they     3     (destroy) by the coming frost. They must also protect the winter wheat and rape (油菜)     4     major pests and diseases. It is said that Frost’s Descent is the best time to adjust to a nourishing (滋补的) diet and lifestyle. Besides putting on     5     (many) clothes to keep warm, people also eat various fruits to keep healthy. Persimmon (柿子) is the favorite fruit in many areas, which not only wards off the cold,    6     strengthens the muscles and bones.

    7    (additional), honey, jelly fungus (木耳) and sesame (芝麻) are believed to help provide the necessary nutrition for the human body. For protein, chicken or mutton soup is advised to be included in the diet. With golden maple     8     (leaf) turning to red, people often go hiking in nature and enjoy the scenery during this period of time. In the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, people celebrate the Frost’s Descent Festival by     9     (offer) fruits and desserts in addition to dancing and singing folk songs on the day of Frost’s Descent in honor of Cen Yuyin, a heroine who     10     (fight) against foreign aggression in the Ming Dynasty.

8 . I turned on the radio and heard a woman describe her father’s final days in a hospice (临终安养院). ________, his end was a warming memory because of the hospice volunteers who ________the pain of strangers. In her sadness, she had ________ humanity at its best. I suddenly realised that I wanted to be where life matters most, which is when it is ________. I wanted to be one of those hospice volunteers.

I Googled hospices and ________ to one hospice seeking a volunteer to write the life stories of patients in its day center. Within a month, their ________ took my breath away. I was listening to the strangers giving an ________ of their loves and their losses, the memories that had never been shared and regrets that had ________ been expressed.

I began to see life differently. Everything I ________ the school run, the weekly shop seemed a gift to those no longer able to experience it. The details that the patients recalled of their past were so ________ , though so small. I saw people ________ , too. Instead of the unknown faces of ________ in the street, I saw leading characters of untold stories and the quiet heroism of ordinary life.

Six months later, my father fell ill and died ten days later. His sickness was sudden, but the hospice had ________ me. It was my encounters with patients and their relatives that enabled me to accept my father’s diagnosis without ________ .

These days, I try to see the world from the perspective of those I briefly knew and cherish chores and routines as a gift. And I want to take back into the outside world that sense of life stripped back to its ________ , where what ultimately matters is love.

1.

A．Naturally

B．Immediately

C．Unluckily

D．Luckily

2.

A．shared

B．cleared

C．ignored

D．paused

3.

A．tested

B．grasped

C．encountered

D．developed

4.

A．rising

B．fading

C．disappearing

D．ending

5.

A．turned

B．referred

C．applied

D．adapted

6.

A．interest

B．trust

C．determination

D．devotion

7.

A．apology

B．account

C．assessment

D．agreement

8.

A．never

B．almost

C．always

D．sometimes

9.

A．took for granted

B．kept in mind

C．brought to life

D．put up with

10.

A．meaningless

B．enormous

C．precious

D．confusing

11.

A．reasonably

B．correctly

C．objectively

D．differently

12.

A．patients

B．volunteers

C．strangers

D．neighbors

13.

A．informed

B．recalled

C．dismissed

D．prepared

14.

A．joy

B．peace

C．excitement

D．terror

15.

A．nature

B．start

C．goal

D．mission

9 . Of the top 10 most expensive rail construction projects starting in 2022, five are located in Asia. Here are 4 expensive railways in China.

Nantong-Ningbo High-Speed Railway: CNY108.9bn

The project aims to reduce the travel time between the cities of Nantong and Ningbo. It involves the construction of a 309. 8 km railway line with a design speed of 350km/h with 10 railway stations. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

Xiong’an-Xinzhou High-Speed Railway: CNY57.2bn

The project aims to build a high-speed railway to provide smooth and faster traffic, cutting travel time between the two cities. It involves the construction of a 342 km high-speed railway line with a design speed of 350km/h with 13 stations. The project will be developed in two sections. Construction work is expected to be completed by March 2027, after breaking ground in October 2022.

Shanghai-Nanjing-Hefei High-Speed Railway:CNY157.9bn

It is a high-speed rail line from Shanghai to Nanjing and Hefei in China. The project aims to expand the railway network and reduce traffic, travel time and distance in the region. The project involves the construction of a 553. 76 km high-speed rail line with a design speed of 350km/h with16 stations. It is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2028.

Beijing-Xiong’an-Shangqiu High-Speed Railway: CNY101bn

It is a high-speed railway line from Fengtai in Beijing to Xiong’an in Hebei to Shangqiu in Henan. The project’s aim is to reduce travel time and distance between Fengtai in Beijing, Xiong’an in Hebei, and Shangqiu in Henan. The project involves the construction of a 638 km high-speed railway line with a design speed of 350km/h with 16 stations. Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2027.

1. Which is the shortest railway to be constructed of the four?

A．Nantong-Ningbo High-Speed Railway.

B．Xiong’an-Xinzhou High-Speed Railway.

C．Shanghai-Nanjing Hefei High-Speed Railway.

D．Beijing-Xiong’an-Shangqiu High-Speed Railway.

2. What is special about Xiong’an-Xinzhou High-Speed Railway?

A．It has the highest design speed.

B．It demands the least investment.

C．It aims to reduce the travel time.

D．It goes past Chongqing and Shangqiu.

3. What do the last two railways have in common?

A．They both have 16 stations.

B．They both construct in two sections.

C．They both include underground lines.

D．They are expected to be completed by 2027.

10 . 假设你是李华，你所在的城市近年来面临着严重的环境问题，包括空气污染、水污染和生态失衡。你打算写一封信给当地政府，提出你的关切并提供一些建议，希望政府能够采取积极措施来改善环境状况，促进可持续发展。
写作内容包括：
1, 简要介绍环境问题的现状和影响；
2. 表达你的关切和担忧；
3. 提供一些具体的建议，如提高环保意识、鼓励绿色出行、加强废物分类等；
4, 呼吁政府采取积极措施，保护环境，为下一代创造更好的生活环境。
注意：词数要求80-120词。
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