Birthdays were a huge deal at my workplace. Co-workers went above and beyond to shower the person of honor with food, decorations, affirmations, love and, yes, embarrassment on their special day. As one who preferred to go unnoticed and felt embarrassed at being the center of attention, I was horrified to walk in on my birthday to see my desk decorated with glittery streamers, and a hot pink sash (饰带) with the words, “Kneel! I’m the Birthday Princess”. I was forced to wear for the duration of the day.
Although embarrassed by the display, I felt extremely loved. I thoroughly enjoyed the pleasant flowers and delicious chocolate cake my co-workers gave me.
Several months after my birthday celebration, our office welcomed Laura, a new member, to the team. Hired as our office manager’s assistant, Laura was also tasked with establishing a human resources department. Possessing an ambitious vision and receiving trust from our manager, she immediately made major changes — which were not well received. Gradually, Laura became the centre of gossip (闲言碎语).
When Laura’s spring birthday neared, it was evident that no one wanted to celebrate. I understood why no one wanted to go all-out in celebrating Laura’s birthday, but it bothered me nevertheless. As an extremely shy and introverted (内向的) individual, being left out or ignored was nothing foreign to me, and it pained me to think of the deliberate effort to ignore her birthday. Although she drove me crazy, too, I knew her time in our office had not been easy.
Stopping by our local grocery store, I selected some rosy-pink tulips and a birthday card in which I wrote a heartfelt note highlighting some of Laura’s qualities I admired, such as her ambitious spirit, creativity, and strong inner drive. Arriving an hour early to work the morning of her birthday, I transformed her corner of the office just like what my co-workers did for my birthday.
注意：
1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I watched Laura spot her decorated work area when she arrived.
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The friendship between Laura and me began since the lunch and continued to grow over the years.
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2 . How to motivate (激励) a lazy teenager
Here’s how to give the teenagers the motivation they need without nagging (唠叨) them.
A teenager needs between 8-10 hours of sleep every night but most only get about 6.5-7.5 hours of sleep per night. So when a teenager is forced out of bed at 7 am or 8 am to go to school, their natural sleep cycle is thrown off and they will likely appear lazy, unmotivated, all symptoms (症状) of lack of sleep.
It is recommended that teenagers spend no more than two hours a day sitting in front of a small screen and get 60 minutes’ exercise a day.
It’s important for teenagers to help with tasks and learn responsibility.
Teenagers might not act like they need it or want it.
| A．Set a sleep schedule |
| B．Understand their thoughts |
| C．Be sure that teenagers can do homework alone |
| D．Set a plan with teenagers for the daily housework they would prefer to do |
| E．However, they need to know that adults love them, care for them and respect them |
| F．Make sure the teenager goes to bed on time and gets eight hours of sleep a night |
| G．Make screen time a reward by ensuring teenagers finish their homework or tasks first |
3 . It was a September day. Today was the first day of high school for a freshman, Kayla. Kayla had always been a bit of a shy kid, but she had always
As she walked down the hallways, Kayla couldn’t help but feel
It wasn’t long before Kayla’s determination was put to the
Kayla’s classmates began to notice how
From that day on, Kayla
| A．feared | B．loved | C．missed | D．forgot |
| A．bored | B．excited | C．worried | D．interested |
| A．difficulties | B．honours | C．reasons | D．dangers |
| A．use | B．side | C．trouble | D．test |
| A．simple | B．challenging | C．suitable | D．amazing |
| A．part | B．share | C．best | D．duty |
| A．teach | B．doubt | C．enjoy | D．believe |
| A．great | B．strange | C．confusing | D．secret |
| A．fast | B．bravely | C．fluently | D．hard |
| A．flash | B．news | C．support | D．service |
| A．manage | B．find | C．fill | D．waste |
| A．thinking about | B．getting through | C．giving up | D．asking for |
| A．freedom | B．creation | C．success | D．trust |
| A．realized | B．argued | C．stressed | D．recommended |
| A．families | B．customers | C．teammates | D．classmates |
4 . India’s robotic spacecraft landed on the moon undamagedly on August 23, 2023, a historic achievement for the country’s growing space program.
The Chandrayaan-3 mission is the first ever to touch down at the lunar south pole. Many nations and private companies have set their sights on the region because of its ice, thought to be buried in the polar craters. The natural resources are coveted because they could supply drinking water, air, and rocket fuel for future missions, ushering a new era in spaceflight.
The success also means India has been one of countries who have landed a spacecraft on the moon. The victory comes four years after India’s previous mission, Chandrayaan-2, crashed.
An Indian official, who watched the live stream from Johannesburg, South Africa, said, “On this joyous occasion, I would like to address all the people of the world: India’s successful moon mission is not just India’s alone. This success belongs to all humanity.”
About 60 years have passed since the first unpiloted (无人驾驶的) moon landings, but touching down is still demanding. The moon’s atmosphere is very thin, providing virtually no drag to slow a spacecraft down as it approaches the ground. Furthermore, there are no GPS systems on the moon to help guide a craft to its landing spot. Engineers have to make up for these shortcomings from about 239,000 miles away.
Over the past four years, private companies and other nations have tried and failed. But perhaps now there’s more hope.
The Indian official said, “I’m confident that all countries in the world including those from the global south are capable of achieving such a success. We can all aspire (渴望) to the moon and beyond.”
1. What does the underlined word “coveted” in paragraph 2 mean?| A．Desired. | B．Legal. | C．Tough. | D．Balanced. |
| A．It was connected by Chandrayaan-3. |
| B．It landed on the south surface of the moon. |
| C．It was the first to touch down at the south pole. |
| D．It fell and broke when carrying out space mission. |
| A．The unfamiliar preens for scientists. |
| B．The materials used to make the spaceship. |
| C．The shortage of previous successful cases. |
| D．The limitation of the moon’s atmosphere and technology. |
| A．Indifferent. | B．Positive. | C．Objective. | D．Doubtful. |
The “relaxing and inspiration” area set up in a library at Guangdong University of Finance & Economics has unexpectedly become
According to the library staff, the university
The library director, Wang Zhongzheng, explains that the main purpose of setting up this special zone is to provide students with a place
The area is equipped
Wang Zhongzheng believes that the popularity of the “relaxing and inspiration” area demonstrates a positive and simple way for young people to cope with stress, which is worthy of
6 . As a parent, you want your kids to do their best in school. You already know plenty of sleep, healthy food and some school supplies are necessary. However, what else do children need to be successful without a professional homework helper?
Keep it ordered.
Break projects down.
Many children get stressed out when they have big assignments due.
Avoid delaying tasks.
One mistake students usually make is postponing unpleasant work and deliberately looking for distraction. Teach your children that the workload isn’t going to get smaller if they wait longer.
There are a growing number of online references and homework resources. Not only will your children be better prepared for class the next day, but they’ll also learn a valuable lesson about how to research and find information online. From them you can also find ideas for educational activities that you can do with your children.
| A．Get help online. |
| B．Focus on homework. |
| C．Online applications are becoming more and more popular. |
| D．Here are some tips from educators and professionals for helping your children with it — both at home and school campus. |
| E．Organization is the key to success, because it can maximize efficiency. |
| F．Teach them to break larger projects into smaller pieces. |
| G．Instead, it will only become larger and seem more difficult to get started. |
7 . China’s second national botanical (植物学的) garden, South China National Botanical Garden, was set up in Guangzhou on July 11th, 2022.
With a total of 319 hectares of core functional area planned, the new national botanical garden was built based on South China Botanical Garden. It spans Guangzhou and Zhaoqing, two cities in Guangdong Province.
The South China National Botanical Garden aims to strengthen the conservation, scientific research and knowledge broadcasting of tropical (热带的) and subtropical (亚热带的) plants. The garden has three research centers, two national-level field stations and three key laboratories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. There are 17, 168 protected plants, 643 rare and endangered plants, and 337 national key wild protected plants in the garden at present.
The garden will participate in plant diversity protection both in China and the world and achieve the conservation goal of 20, 000 species. Meanwhile, it aims to play a world-leading role in collection and storage of living plants, among which 6, 000 species are economic plants.
Besides, 95 percent of rare and endangered plants in South China will be effectively protected, thus to provide plant resources for green development.
China is one of the countries in the world with the richest biodiversity, having more than 37, 000 known species of higher plants, accounting for about one tenth of the world’s total.
The South China National Botanical Garden, together with the national botanical garden in Beijing, has formed a system of collection and complete the retention of wild plant groups, which is helpful to maintain the country’s plant diversity.
1. What can be inferred about South China National Botanical Garden?| A．It is well equipped. | B．It only offers service for research. |
| C．It has become a popular scenic spot. | D．It is the largest national botanical garden. |
| A．They are dying out sharply. |
| B．Most of them will be protected well. |
| C．They will be used to improve economic development. |
| D．Most of them are transplanted to botanical gardens. |
| A．Development. | B．Comparison. | C．Preservation. | D．Improvement. |
| A．A Garden For Collecting And Studying Plants |
| B．A Novel Way To Strengthen Plant Conservation |
| C．China’s Various Environmental Protection |
| D．China’s Second National Botanical Garden |
8 . Every year, as many as 50, 000 elephants in Africa are killed illegally for their tusks (象牙). Now scientists have improved DNA methods that allow them to match up elephant tusks, and help track down criminals that are selling them.
Even though it’s against the law, African elephants have long been killed by criminals for their tusks. Other people, called “traffickers”, buy the tusks and transport them out of the country on a ship. The traffickers re-sell the tusks for even more money, usually in Asia. Elephant tusks can sell for about $1, 000 a kilogram.
In the past, it was hard to catch the criminals. Usually by the time the dead animals were found, the illegal hunters had been far away. And when traffickers were caught with elephant tusks, it was impossible to say where the tusks came from. Traffickers usually hide them in tricky ways inside shipments of other products. That means that only about 10% of tusks from illegally killed elephants are ever found.
Several years ago, scientists led by Dr. Samuel Wasser figured out a new way to solve the problem. Using elephant waste, they built a list of the DNA of almost all elephants in Africa.
Now when elephant tusks are found on a ship in another country, DNA tests can show where they came from. This information can trigger quick action in the country where the animals were killed. It can also help the police discover patterns in the ways the illegal hunters and traffickers work.
Dr. Wasser is hopeful that the method of using DNA information from elephants to track illegally killed wildlife will soon be adopted to help protect other kinds of animals and break up more criminal groups.
1. Why do scientists use DNA information from elephants?| A．To improve the health of elephant tusks. |
| B．To keep track of the illegal dealers. |
| C．To protect elephants against natural disasters. |
| D．To research into elephants’ habits. |
| A．The way they are transported. |
| B．The lack of tracking technology. |
| C．The difficulty in catching criminals. |
| D．The various tricks of illegal hunters. |
| A．start with | B．result from | C．hold back | D．lead to |
| A．It can make all criminals have nowhere to hide. |
| B．It can scare away potential illegal hunters. |
| C．It can be widely used in wildlife protection. |
| D．It can make elephant tusk sales unprofitable. |
9 . When romantic partners argue over things like finances, jealousy, or other interpersonal issues, they tend to employ their current feelings as fuel for a heated argument. But thinking about the future helps overcome relationship conflicts, according to a University of Waterloo study just published online in Social Psychological and Personality Science. Alex Huynh, a doctoral candidate in psychology is the lead author of the study, which he published with Igor Grossmann from the University of Waterloo, and Daniel Yang from Yale University.
Previous research has shown that third-perspective reasoning can be a positive strategy for reconciliation (调解) of interpersonal struggles. Huynh and his collaborators investigated whether similar benefit can be induced by simply thinking about the future. Study participants were instructed to reflect on a recent conflict with a romantic partner or a close friend. One group of participants were then asked to describe how they would feel about the conflict one year in the future, while another group was asked to describe how they feel in the present.
The team examined participants’ written responses through a text-analysis program for their use of pronouns — such as I, me, she, he. These choices of pronouns were used to capture participants’ focus on the feelings and behaviour of those involved in the conflict. Written responses were also examined for forgiveness and reinterpreting the conflict more positively, both of which implied the participants’ use of reasoning strategies.
The researchers found that envisioning future relationship affected both participants’ focus on their feelings, and their reasoning strategies. As a result, participants reported more positivity about their relationship altogether, especially when study participants extended their thinking about the relationship a year into the future.
“Our study demonstrates that adopting a future-oriented perspective in the context of a relationship conflict — reflecting on how one might feel a year from now — may be a valuable coping tool for one’s psychological happiness and relationship well-being,” said Huynh.
1. What do romantic partners do in face of most disagreements?| A．They lose faith in their future. | B．They focus on their present feelings. |
| C．They look forward to a fierce conflict. | D．They care more about financial problems. |
| A．Caused. | B．Explained. |
| C．Reduced. | D．Improved. |
| A．All the study participants described how they felt both in the present and in the future. |
| B．Study participants described their recent relationship with their romantic partners or friends. |
| C．A text-analysis program was employed to examine participants’ use of negative words. |
| D．The reasoning strategies in participants’ written responses were well worthy of note. |
| A．You have a year to solve your interpersonal problems! |
| B．Thinking about future is essential for relationship maintenance! |
| C．Your current feelings are the real cause of your heated arguments! |
| D．Beneficial reasoning is a positive strategy for reconciliation! |
10 . Thinking about the past week, did any of you forget where you put your phone? Did you have a word stuck on the tip of your tongue? You couldn’t remember the name of the movie a friend recommended? What is going on here? Is your memory failing?
It’s not.
The other has something to do with stimulus(刺激物). For example, the tip of the tongue is one of the most common experiences of memory failure.
So when you walk into a room and suddenly don’t know why you’re there, you’re not going crazy or getting Alzheimer’s disease, and your memory isn’t terrible. Go back to the room you were in before you landed in this one and imagine the clues that were there.
| A．One necessary factor is attention. |
| B．It’s doing exactly what it's supposed to do. |
| C．These imperfections are simply the factory settings. |
| D．Our brains tend to remember what is meaningful and forget what isn’t. |
| E．You’re trying to come up with a word, but you cannot find it in your memory. |
| F．It will instantly deliver what you were completely confused about a moment ago. |
| G．Memory is amazing and is essential for the functioning of almost everything we do. |
