1 . As vast fields surrounding Beijing and Shanghai transformed into towering skyscrapers, and old bicycles gave way to motor vehicles, the essence of music communication remained unchanged over these shifts.

“I’ll never forget that I’ve never seen so many bicycles in my life,” Philadelphia Orchestra violinist Davyd Booth said, recalling his first tour in China 50 years ago. “Everyone rode a bicycle. There were literally hundreds, thousands.”   

This month, 14 musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra, including Booth, are returning to China, with performances scheduled in Beijing, Tianjin, Suzhou and Shanghai. The tour marks the 50th anniversary(周年纪念日) of their first visit in the 1970s, celebrating the unique friendship between China and the United States. Over the years, the orchestra(管弦乐团) has strengthened connections across China, with concerts and residencies that facilitate meaningful people-to-people interactions.

Booth said the 1973 tour was his first international trip with the orchestra. He considered himself lucky to have been part of the tour. He had just auditioned(试演) and got accepted into the orchestra that year. His official start date was scheduled after the orchestra’s return from China, but Booth received a call from the personnel manager informing him that someone had fallen ill. He then took the place and went to China.

“I was incredibly thrilled! Then, after I hung up, I realized I didn’t even have a passport,” Booth said. However, he got his passport and visa in just three days, thanks to the strong support from both countries. With his violin in tow, Booth joined the team on the 15-hour flight to China.

In addition to some regular compositions, the Philadelphia Orchestra also played the Yellow River Concerto, one of the most popular piano concertos in China even today. The Philadelphia Orchestra cooperated on this ensemble (合奏) with a Chinese pianist, marking the earliest ties between the US and China in music.

After the concert, the team was hanging around on the streets, Booth said. It was a fun experience even though people did not know how to talk to locals because of language barriers, he said. “You can communicate a lot by smiling, and it worked out very, very well,” he added.

1. What is the passage generally about?

A．US artists will give live performances.	B．Booth recalled his first visit to China.
C．Great changes have occurred in China.	D．China and the US are living in peace.

2. What do you know from paragraph 3?

A．The orchestra is popular in America.	B．Music performances happen a lot in China.
C．Music communication remains active.	D．Booth has come to China for the 50th time.

3. Booth meant that his getting the chance to come to China in 1973 was just a(an)______.

A．magic

B．mistake

C．luxury

D．accident

4. What is the role music plays based on the passage?

A．It serves to build bridge.	B．It stimulates people’s interest.
C．It contributes to equality.	D．It removes barriers to harmony.

2 . A fully automated process, including a brand-new artificial intelligence(Al)tool, has successfully detected, identified(确认)and categorized its first supernova(超新星). Developed by an international organization led by Northwestern University, the new system automates the entire search for new supernovae across the night sky—effectively removing humans from the process. Not only does this rapidly speed up the process of analyzing and categorizing new supernova candidates(候选), but it also bypasses human errors.

The team reported to the astronomical community the launch and success of the new tool．called the Bright Transient Survey Bot(BTSbot), this week. In the past six years, humans have spent an estimated total of 2,200 hours checking and categorizing supernova candidates. With the new tool now officially online, researchers can redirect this precious time toward other responsibilities in order to speed up the discovery.

To detect and analyze supernovae, humans currently work hand in hand with robotic systems. First, robotic telescopes repeatedly image the same sections of the night sky, searching for new sources that were not present in previous images. Then, when these telescopes detect something new, humans take over. The researchers developed the BTSbot to cut out these human middlemen.

To test the BTSbot, the researchers looked to a newly discovered supernova candidate called SN2023tyk. The ZTF, a robotic observatory that images the night sky in a search for supernovae, first detected the source on Oct. 3. Examining ZTF’s data in real time, BTSbot found SN2023tyk on Oct.5. After determining that the candidate was a Type la supernova, the automated system publicly shared the discovery with the astronomical community on Oet.7.       

In the first days of running BTSbot, Northwestern’s Nabeel Rehemtulla, who co-led the technology development, felt a mix of nervousness and excitement. “The beauty of it is that, once everything is turned on and working properly, we don’t actually do anything. We go to sleep at night, and, in the morning, we see that BTSbot and these other AIs firmly do their jobs,” he said.

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

A．Causes.

B．Avoids.

C．Reduces.

D．Contains.

2. What can we say about the research on supernovae in the past six years?

A．It is simple.	B．It is automatic.
C．It is meaningless.	D．It is time-consuming.

3. What is the final step for the BTSbot to complete the test?

A．Detecting the supernova.	B．Sharing the supernova.
C．Identifying the supernova.	D．Categorizing the supernova.

4. What can we infer from Rehemtulla’s words?

A．He hasn’t had a good sleep for a long time.

B．Running BTSbot requires a lot of manpower.

C．Researchers benefit greatly from the BTSbot.

D．He has no confidence in the success of the test.

3 . Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has long worked to make her city less dependent on cars. She wanted to see more people using bicycles to get around. Over a number of years, the city government set limits on cars and increased the amount of bike paths from 200 kilometers to over 1,000 kilometers.

This year, Parisians are not complaining about too much automobile traffic. Instead, they say there are too many bikes. “Now, it’s really like a bike traffic jam(阻塞),” Thibault Quere, a spokesperson for France’s Federation of Bicycle Users, said. ”It’s kind of a good difficulty to have, especially when we think about what Paris used to be.”

Some famous roads along the River Seine are completely closed to cars. Now you see people riding bikes, running and walking with their families along the river. In another part of Paris, a bike path on Sebastopol Boulevard is one of the busiest in Europe, after opening in 2019. In one week in early September, it reached a record high of 124,000 riders.

The city will host the Summer Olympics in 2024 and plans to add more bike paths by then. Paris wants to reduce its pollution by half during the games, even as visitors from around the world will be in the city for the event. Organizers say all of the competition sites will be reachable by bike through a 60-kilometer network of bike paths.

The change to Paris, however, has not been easy. With more people using bikes, more people are making mistakes. Some of them are new to cycling and disobey traffic rules. But the environment may be improving. Cycling is good exercise and helps reduce pollution, which is still a problem for the large city. The French government blames atmospheric pollution for 48,000 early deaths in the country each year.

Hidalgo was re-elected in 2020 and plans to keep making what she calls a “Paris that breathes”. Her newest five-year bike plan includes over $250 million for more bike paths and bike parking. The new budget is an increase of over $100 million from her first five-year plan.

1. What can be learned from the second paragraph?

A．Hidalgo’s effort has paid off.	B．Parisians prefer to travel by car.
C．Parisians find it difficult to ride bikes.	D．Quere disagrees with Hidalgo.

2. Why does the author mention the data in paragraph 3?

A．To compare the famous roads in France.

B．To praise people enjoying riding bicycles.

C．To stress the importance of France in Europe.

D．To show how busy a cycle path is in Paris.

3. What do the organizers probably wish visitors to do during the Summer Olympics in 2024?

A．Tour local bike shops.	B．Ride to competition sites.
C．Promote the sights in France.	D．Support the athletes around the world.

4. Which word can best describe Anne Hidalgo?

A．Friendly.

B．Helpful.

C．Determined.

D．Honest.

4 . Four Unmissable Cultural Attractions in Cambridge

Set on the east bank of the River Cam, Cambridge is surely one of England’s most traditional and famous cities, where there is a world-famous university and great writers, thinkers and scholars. It comes as no surprise that this age-old centre of learning is home to a variety of splendid museums.

Fitzwilliam Museum

The Fitzwilliam, a museum at the University of Cambridge, houses about half a million artworks worldwide. Highlights include masterpieces by Titian and Canaletto, Anglo-Saxon jewelry (珠宝), and a wide range of priceless china, to name just a few. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Polar Museum

This small museum is based in the university’s Scott Polar Research Institute, set up by a surviving member of Robert Falcon Scott’s Terra Nova Expedition (探险) to Antarctica. It’s packed with all manner of objects relating to polar exploration; sleeping bags, Inuit artworks and expedition diaries. The museum is open from Wednesdays to Saturdays; check the latest times before visiting.

Museum of Zoology

Celebrate the diversity of animal life at this university museum, which has some of the best natural history collections in the world. It’s home to a variety of impressive exhibits, from an almost-70-foot fin whale to an African elephant. The specimens (标本) on display cover the whole animal kingdom. It is open from Tuesdays to Sundays.

Centre for Computing History

With a focus on the social and cultural impact of technology, this museum explores the incredible advances made in computing over the past few decades, as well as during the earlier days of the Information Age. It’s a great day out with children, with mobile phones, calculators, game players and old-fashioned computers all on show. The museum is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

1. What will you enjoy in Fitzwilliam Museum?

A．Valuable artworks.	B．Expedition diaries.
C．Animal specimens.	D．Old-fashioned computers.

2. When can you visit Polar Museum?

A．On Monday.

B．On Tuesday.

C．On Friday.

D．On Sunday.

3. Which museum should you go to if you are interested in mobile phones?

A．Polar Museum.	B．Museum of Zoology.
C．Fitzwilliam Museum.	D．Centre for Computing History.

5 . “Are you ready for our walk?” Grandma asked the usual question every Friday evening. “Of course, we are!” We ________ excitedly. Growing up, my sisters and I always knew Grandma had heart problems and couldn’t do anything hard, but we did know she would do anything to spend more with us.

One day, we were told that Grandma only had 2% heart ________. Her heart was ________, but she found out that there was a way to live longer: a surgery.

The ________ of the surgery was rough for our family, as we woke up bright and early to ________to the hospital. That car ride left me with worried thoughts ________ through my mind: Will Grandma be okay? Will we ever take another walk?

When we arrived at the hospital, we knew exactly where to go, as we had been there many times before. After________ those familiar doors up the stairs, my mom and I walked up to the nurses’ desk and asked for Grandma.

“Oh, Mary?” A nurse answered. “She’s one of the nicest ________ we had.” Then she ________ us to the waiting room and told us that only two of us were permitted to go into the ward (病房) to say goodbye to Grandma before she went in for surgery.

When my turn came, I________ the chance. I ran forward and gave her the biggest hug with tearful eyes. Grandma, holding me tightly in her arms, said, “I know there’s a chance I won’t ________ it, but I love you forever.” I comforted her, “Don’t worry, honey. We are all waiting for you here.” Then she was ________, leaving us waiting and praying anxiously.

Finally, after the longest morning of my life, the doctor entered the waiting room smiling. “Mary is out of surgery. You’re allowed to visit her as long as you’re ________.” he said. ________swept over my body and tears began rolling down my face. Thank goodness, I had grandma back! Once we walked into the room, there lay Grandma, looking peaceful yet painful with so many tubes ________ to her. I felt so shocked but so happy.

1.

A．shouted

B．explained

C．argued

D．complained

2.

A．function

B．part

C．effect

D．condition

3.

A．reducing

B．failing

C．beating

D．pounding

4.

A．afternoon

B．dusk

C．dawn

D．evening

5.

A．jog

B．run

C．drive

D．leave

6.

A．escaping

B．racing

C．coming

D．echoing

7.

A．going through

B．walking around

C．coming across

D．getting across

8.

A．celebrities

B．geniuses

C．heroes

D．patients

9.

A．directed

B．delivered

C．exposed

D．submitted

10.

A．paid for

B．competed for

C．jumped at

D．passed up

11.

A．make

B．get

C．gain

D．commit

12.

A．put away

B．turned away

C．thrown away

D．wheeled away

13.

A．still

B．quiet

C．adorable

D．available

14.

A．Panic

B．Grief

C．Relief

D．Anger

15.

A．tied

B．added

C．attached

D．glued

6 . There is no doubt that when you receive a compliment, you feel good and when you receive a criticism, you feel upset and want to refuse it.

You shouldn’t be surprised by your reaction to the negative comment, as it’s human’s survival mechanism to avoid being criticized. Clearly, we don’t want to be seen as failures, so we’d rather shut our eyes and cover our ears than have to take any criticisms from others.

Imagine you’re learning to play the guitar, and you have just done your first public performance. Your teacher says, “You did well,” which may not be as useful in helping you improve your performance skills as “Your timing needs some work.” So I believe that criticisms are better than compliments.

No one would argue that healthy nutrition is a bad thing. However, too much food or drink — no matter how healthy they may be — can make us ill. Too many compliments take us away from our original enthusiasm of enjoying an activity. We start doing the activity only for the sake of receiving self-satisfying praise. Without the expectation of praise, our enthusiasm to complete things begins to be lost.

Launched in 2010, Microsoft KIN only lasted on the market for 48 days. It was very obvious that most 15 to 30-year-olds preferred Androids, BlackBerrys and iPhones to the Microsoft KIN. If criticism and feedback from the target group had been received while the phone was in development, Microsoft KIN could have avoided the huge embarrassment and its final failure.

Just to be clear, I’m talking about constructive criticism, which I like to think of as “healthy criticism”. The right kind of criticism is honest feedback that will benefit you. Feedback forces you to reconsider your actions and the way you work. If you use constructive criticism wisely, it can guide you away from bad practices, giving you support and courage to move forward to be a better person in the future.

1. What can we learn about compliment and criticism in Paragraph 1?

A．People’s response to them.	B．People’s ways to express them.
C．People’s understanding of them.	D．People’s different opinions on them.

2. How would people be when receiving too many compliments?

A．More annoyed.

B．More satisfied.

C．Less worried.

D．Less interested.

3. How can healthy criticism be helpful according to the last paragraph?

A．To encourage growth.	B．To develop intelligence.
C．To avoid embarrassment.	D．To reduce enthusiasm.

4. What is a suitable title for the passage?

A．Criticisms are better than compliments.

B．Constructive criticism contributes to better future.

C．Honest feedback comes from healthy criticism.

D．Enough enthusiasm is vital for further development.

7 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

I grew up in southeastern Michigan. I was a fan of Detroit Tigers, a famous baseball team, as a young boy.

My childhood dream was to be like my hero, Al Kaline, and someday play for the Tigers. My Dad would take me to Tiger Stadium several times a year and my hero Al Kaline would never let me down. We never attended a game that he didn’t get at least one hit.

I was crazy about baseball. If there was a game in my high school, I was never absent. I kept practising so that I could achieve my dream of playing for the Tigers, and I was doing well at each level of play. Later, I got a chance to sign up for a strong American Legion baseball program. There I met our coach, Bob Ohm, who knew a lot of baseball and taught each of us the basics as well as more advanced baseball skills. With Bob Ohm’s help and my hard work, I had set new records in many baseball championships.

My dream to be like my hero seemed to draw near. One summer, I went up to play the final season in Marinette. There were scouts who came to find the best players. This was it! My big chance!

Well, as the game progressed I hit the ball very well getting five hits in the game. Unfortunately, I also made four mistakes. The final mistake actually drew laughter from the crowd.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

After the game, I knew my dream of playing professional baseball was lost.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Today, I teach baseball in a high school.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

8 . Researchers at the University of Arizona have been studying the effects of green light therapy on those suffering from migraine (偏头痛). In September, they completed their first clinical study and the results are very encouraging. They found that green light therapy is extremely beneficial to those who suffer from headaches. It not only reduces the intensity of the pain, but it also decreases its frequency by 60 percent, significantly improving patients’ quality of life.

According to the Migraine Research Foundation, migraine is the third most common illness in the world, affecting one billion worldwide, including men, women, and children. Additionally, it is the sixth most disabling illness in the world and more than 90 percent of the sufferers are unable to carry on with their normal activities during their sufferings. And when it is actually treated, medication overuse can lead to episodic (偶尔发生的) migraine turning chronic (慢性的).

According to Science Daily, the recent clinical study included 29 patients who suffer from episodic or chronic migraine. They have tried but failed in several traditional therapies including Botox injections and oral medications. In the study, participants spent two hours at home each day staring at a green-light LED. They did this for ten weeks, reporting the number and intensity of headaches they had.

Dr. Patwardhan, co-author of the study, said that the green light discharged by the LED greatly helps those who do not want to take medicine as well as those who do not respond to medications. “The beauty of this approach is the lack of associated side effects,” Patwardhan explained. But that’s not all. The participants also reported significant improvements in sleep quality and in the ability to perform everyday normal activities such as exercise and work. And none of them reported any side effects.

As the study reveals, green light treatment might be an unprecedented (前所未有的) alternative for migraine sufferers.

1. What can we learn from the research?

A．Migraine sufferers unable to live a normal life makes up about 60%.

B．Episodic migraine can be treated more easily than chronic migraine.

C．Headaches can be relieved by green light.

D．Migraine most frequently happens to adults.

2. What were the 29 participants asked to do in the study?

A．Take some traditional medicine daily for ten weeks.

B．Use a green-light LED the whole night at home for ten days.

C．Receive an injection each day for two months.

D．Look at the green light for two hours per day for 70 days.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “discharged” in Paragraph 4 ?

A．lit up

B．put out

C．taken in

D．sent out

4. What was Patwardhan’s attitude to the new treatment?

A．He thought it had side effects.

B．He agreed it was of great benefit.

C．He worried it might affect sleep.

D．He wondered if it hurt eyes.

9 . Finding a California condor in the wild would be the most unusual treat. perhaps even more unusual than finding a wolf in Yellowstone National Park. In fact, the wolf was what opened my eyes to the fact that humans could bring an animal back to the place where it had disappeared.

In 1987, there were only 27 California condors left, none of which were in the wild, only in captive breeding programs, It was those breeding programs that contributed to their population rise, enough that by 1991 some of them could be freed into the wild.

Still, the hope of seeing a California condor, which remains an endangered species, is very low, let alone getting a photo of one. California condor population dropped mostly due to human factors, such as poaching and living areas destruction-these are challenges California condors still face today.

Although this is just a bird’s-eye view of the challenges California condors face and there are many others, it is part of why the opportunity to work with the US Fish and Wildlife Service team and their partners helping their recovery is so special to me as a photographer. I am not only able to photograph the birds in their wild living areas, but also understand and record how difficult the work is of those people on the front lines of the protection.

I am grateful for the work of the team, and my hope is that California condor population will continue to rise allowing future generations an opportunity I never had when I first got here-to look to the sky and see one flying around.

1. What helped the increase of the California condor population in 1987?

A．Rules for hunters.	B．Captive breeding programs.
C．The improved natural environment.	D．The enlargement of wild living areas.

2. What does the author say about taking photos of a California condor in the wild?

A．It is difficult.

B．It is easy.

C．It is boring.

D．It is dangerous.

3. What did the author do when working with the US Fish and Wildlife Service team?

A．He guided ways for them.	B．He made records by photos.
C．He helped the birds to recover.	D．He rebuilt the birds’ living areas.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．New Way, New Hope	B．Wolves and California Condors
C．A Photo of a California Condor	D．The California Condor’s Coming Back

10 . A lot of people find it difficult to do exercise regularly, even though they know it’s good for their physical and mental (身心上的) health. Yet keeping on a workout routine doesn’t necessarily go to the gym or run around your neighborhood. Gardening is a great example of a popular hobby that can be used as a workout.

Nashville resident Tom Adkinson, 72, is on board with the idea of gardening to stay fit. He has three gardens, which he uses primarily to grow tomatoes, sweet banana peppers and okra. Like traditional exercise, Adkinson does a lot of preparation before gardening, and then he spends hours watering and weeding (除草) all three gardens, involving bending and stretching, which he compares to performing garden yoga.

“It is wise of Adkinson to do so. Even though gardening may not appear difficult, using the body in new ways can make you hurt if you don’t warm up beforehand,” said Zeller, who teaches at the Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cape May County in New Jersey.

Working in your garden just two hours a week could improve your mood. And the communal gardening, which is done by a number of people as a group in communities and schools, provides social benefits that can reduce stress and help fight against loneliness and even dementia according to studies.

“With all these benefits, gardening for fitness will be a trend (趋势) in the coming year,” announced Mandal, CEO of the fitness coaching app Future, “Our users at Future have already been asking their coaches to add gardening and landscaping activities into their routines because it’s easy to get and fit into their lifestyle.”

1. What do the underlined words “on board with” mean in paragraph 2?

A．In support of.	B．At the risk of.
C．Under the control of.	D．In opposition to.

2. What did Zeller probably suggest doing before gardening?

A．Having a good rest.

B．Getting enough water ready.

C．Doing warm-up exercise.

D．Preparing tools for weeding.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．Tips for gardening.

B．The benefits of gardening.

C．The process of garden management.

D．The difference between personal and group gardening.

4. Which activity may be added to the app Future according to Mandal?

A．Running.

B．Yoga.

C．Gardening.

D．Walking.