1 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in each blank with a proper word chosen from the box. Each word can be used only once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. accompanied       B. allowed       C. feasibly       D. fueled E. intensity       F. option       G. prompting       H. routine I. surgically       J. underlying       K. varied

Brain Signals for Lasting Pain

Brain signals that reveal how much pain a person is in have been discovered by scientists who say the work is a step towards new treatments for people living with lasting pain.

It is the first time researchers have decoded the brain activity     1     patients’ lasting pain. That has raised the hope that brain stimulation treatment already used for Parkinson’s and major depression can help those running out of any other     2    . “We’ve learned that lasting pain can be tracked and predicted in the real world,” said Prasad Shirvalkar, lead researcher on the project at the University of California.

Lasting pain affects nearly 28 million adults in the UK alone, and the causes are     3    . ranging from cancer to back problems. That being the case, lasting pain has     4     a rise in taking powerful painkillers. But no medical treatments work well for the condition,     5     experts to call for a complete rethink in how health services handle patients with lasting pain.

For the latest study, Shirvalkar and his colleagues     6     implanted electrodes(电极) into four patients with lasting pain hard to deal with after the loss of legs. The devices     7     the patients to record activity and collect data in two brain regions— the ACC and the OFC—at the press of one button on a remote handset. Several times a day, the volunteers were asked to complete short surveys on the     8     of pain, meaning how strong the pain was, and then record their brain activity. These scientists, armed with the survey responses and brain recordings, found they could use computers to predict a person’s pain based on the electrical signals in their OFC. “We found very different brain activity     9     severe pain and have developed an objective biomarker for that kind of pain,” said Shirvalkar. The finding may explain, at least in part, why     10     painkillers are less effective for lasting pain. “The hope is that we can use the information to develop personalized brain stimulation treatment for the most severe forms of pain.”

2 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

Remote Work Slows Senior Housing Market Recovery

With the rise of remote work, the market for senior housing has met with problems in its recovery. Only a few old people choose to live in senior-living communities     1     the growing senior population and the cancelation of COVID-19 restrictions once making family visits difficult.     2     this trend suggests is that people’s shift to remote work contributes to the slow rebound of the senior housing market. That is, remote work is keeping many older Americans from moving into senior-living communities once warmly     3     (welcome).

When more adults began working remotely during the pandemic (流行病), they were able to check in on aging parents easily — they     4     take care of their parents’ issues on short notice.

Experts have been analyzing the phenomenon in different ways. Some found that the greater flexibility to care for parents     5     (mean) people’s delay in sending aged parents to expensive senior-housing accommodations. Therefore, markets with high levels of people working from home usually have lower senior-housing occupancy rates. Others said remote work might have some effect but also pointed to different factors. For instance, many seniors think that their family wallets are getting thinner, making some of them reluctant     6     (send) to senior-living communities.

The age at which people enter senior housing is also increasing,     7     serves as another sign that shows people are choosing to delay transitioning. The rising cost of senior living weighs heavily on that decision. The CPI (consumer-price index) for nursing homes and adult day services rose 4.5% last May compared with     8     in May, 2022.

Still, many senior-housing operators are optimistic. When     9     (illustrate) their point, they showed an increase in the number of people turning 80 years old over the following years and the actual wealth they have collected. Moreover, they find remote work arrangements are decreasing in some parts of the country,     10     employees there have seen their lowered productivity while working from home.

3 . Welcome to Muir Woods! This rare ancient forest is a kingdom of coast redwoods, many over 600 years old.

How to get here?

People using personal vehicles must have reservations before arriving at the park. (Details at www.gomuirwoods.com.)

Muir Woods National Monument is open daily, 8 a. m. to sunset. Stop by Visitor Center to get trails (路线) and program information, and to take in exhibits.

What’s your path?

Enjoy a walk on the paved Redwood Creek Trail (also called Main Trail). Choose short, medium, or long loops (环线). Other trails go deep into Muir Woods and Mount Tamalpais State Park.(Refer to the map of Muir Woods on the right for details.)

Ready to explore more?

Muir Woods is part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which includes Marin Headlands, Alcatraz, the Presidio, and Ocean Beach. Download the app at www.nps.gov/goga.

Stay safe and protect your park.

Wi-Fi and cell service are not available. ·Watch for poisonous plants and falling branches. ·Do not feed or disturb animals. ·Fishing is prohibited in the park. ·Do not mark or remove trees, flowers, or other natural features. ·Go to the park website for more safety tips and regulations.

Accessibility

We make a great effort to make facilities, services, and programs accessible to all. For information, go to Visitor Center, ask a ranger, call, or check our website.

More Information

Muir Woods National Monument www.nps.gov/muwo Mill Valley, CA 94941-2696

1. Muir Woods will probably attract ________.
①redwood lovers       ②hunting lovers       ③fishing lovers       ④hiking lovers

A．①②

B．③④

C．①④

D．②③

2. What can be learned from the passage?

A．Muir woods is surrounded by highland and ocean beaches.

B．Visitors can read electronic maps using Wi-Fi in Muir Woods.

C．Visitors are advised to call Visitor Center for safety tips and regulations.

D．Reservations should be made if visitors drive private cars to Muir Woods.

3. According to the map of Muir Woods, ________.

A．Bridge 4 is the farthest from the parking lots of all bridges

B．Mill Valley is located on the southwest side of Muir Beach

C．Bootjack Trail can lead one to Visitor Center from Bridge 3

D．food and gifts can be bought on various sites in Muir Woods

5 . 捐赠者的慷慨不是理所当然的，我们应该对他们表示诚挚的感激之情。(gratitude) (汉译英)

6 . 玛丽被困在电梯里好几个小时后，终于得救了。(stick) (汉译英)

7 . Mars is no stranger to life. Seven U. S. spacecraft have successfully landed there, and all of them took microbes to the planet’s surface(though the bugs probably did not survive for long). Yet the world’s space agencies continue to maintain strict spacecraft sterilization (消毒) procedures in the hope of minimizing the spread of Earth life beyond our planet. For decades this idea — known as planetary protection—is widespread. Now, some scientists say, these procedures are preventing the search for life beyond Earth by raising costs and preventing innovative missions-without meaningful benefits.

Of all missions to Mars to date, only the Vikings, the first trip to the Red Planet, were intended to test for life. Spacecraft that went later did not have that ability. But a future mission will, and the protectionist thinking goes, a spacecraft might not be able to distinguish between a life form native to Mars and one with origins on Earth. In July 2013 astrobiologists Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Alberto Fairen argued against this in Nature Geoscience.

“If Earth life can thrive on Mars, they almost certainly already do,” the authors write. “If they cannot, the transfer of Earth life to Mars should be of no concern, as it would simply not survive.”

With clear evidence of a water y history and some signs of water present, Mars could be where we find life in our solar system. And with the development of Curiosity’s precise landing system, we can finally reach the mysterious parts of the planet. But it’s these areas that require a craft sterilization process.

In the 1970s Vikings 1 and 2 revealed what seemed like a dead planet, so planetary-protection requirements were relaxed. Now, with more knowledge of Mars’ environment, missions set to visit areas with evidence of flowing water below the surface have to meet the strict-and more costly- Vikings standards.

Finally, there’s the philosophical problem of what responsibility, if any, we have to other planets and any life we leave there. The truth is we’re never going to be able to fully protect Mars if we intend to explore it. And spreading is simply what life does.

“If we want to survive for a long time, we have to expand beyond Earth,” Schulze-Makuch says. “There’s no other way.”

1. Strict spacecraft sterilization procedures are meant to ______.

A．decrease the costs of space exploration

B．help the search for life forms beyond Earth

C．contribute to innovative missions in the universe

D．prevent Earth life being transferred to other planets

2. Planetary-protection requirements were relaxed in the 1970s because ______.

A．there was no preclse landing system

B．Mars was considered to be a lifeless planet

C．the mysterious parts of Mars remained unknown

D．flowing water was found below the surface of Mars

3. Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Alberto Fairen are most likely to agree that ______

A．Mars is now on the edge of being destroyed

B．human beings are too ambitious to expand beyond Earth

C．there is no need to worry about bringing Earth life to Mars

D．we need to be responsible for keeping Mars what it is like now

4. Schulze-Makuch takes a(n)______attitude towards planetary protection.

A．optimistic

B．relaxed

C．debatable

D．negative

8 . I was in seat 10F next to the emergency exit. A few minutes after take-off there was a loud explosion. Everybody gasped (倒抽气) and there were a few screams. Then, surprisingly, it went very quiet — everyone was assessing the situation.

It soon became obvious we weren’t going back to LaGuardia Airport and that we were heading for the water. I started thinking this was it. Then I heard the announcement, ‘This is the captain, brace for impact,’ and everything suddenly got clear. I had to stop thinking about death, and instead, about what I should do once the pilot landed in the water. ‘You sat in this seat,’ I thought, ‘you’ve got to get this door open.’

At about 300 feet (91.5 meters), I started reading the instructions. There were six steps, and I had just read them two or three times when we hit the water. It felt like the worst car crash you could imagine. Fortunately, I’d just read the instructions and managed to get the door open. The wing was sinking lower and lower. I walked out onto it and walked as far along as I could to make room for other people. It was freezing, and nobody had a jacket. Some people were underwater to their waists.

It felt like half an hour before we saw the first ferry, though it could have been only five or ten minutes. I was fourth onto the ferry, and I started helping people onto the boat. To our relief, everyone had survived the crash.

I got through the whole incident by taking it one step at a time: get the door open, throw the door out, figure out if you’re sinking. I just kept on doing that until I reached solid ground. Only then did I go into the men’s room and cry for a few minutes.

1. After hearing a loud explosion, what did passengers, including the writer, do?

A．They put on life jackets as instructed.

B．They tried to figure what had happened.

C．They couldn’t help shouting for help on end.

D．They asked the pilot to fly to LaGuardia Airport.

2. What did the writer think helped him open the emergency exit successfully?

A．He sat by the emergency exit.	B．He had an experienced neighbor.
C．He was once taught how to open it.	D．He read and understood the instructions.

3. Which of the following words best describes the writer?

A．Humorous.

B．Aggressive.

C．Organized.

D．Expressive.

4. Which of the following statements is true of the air crash?

A．No one got killed in it.	B．It happened at the end of the trip.
C．The pilot managed to land the plane safely.	D．A ferry came to the rescue the moment it happened.

9 . Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.

A. authorities   B. conflicts   C. increasingly   D. infected E. invisibly F. oddly G. outbreaks   H. present   I. subjected   J. suspected   K. unexpected

Deadly virus approaches tigers

India’s most important tiger conservation body is to investigate growing concern that Asia’s wild tigers are     1     to a deadly new disease.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority is to fun d a study of Canine Distemper Virus(CDV) in six of the most important areas for the species, which could confirm a problem that a few experts have     2    for a number of years.

There have been     3    of CDV in wild tigers in other areas. According to Dr Dale Miquelle of the Wildlife Conservation Society, quite a few tigers were either killed or seriously affected by a disease that was probably CDV in 2010. And the Sikhote-Alin Biosphere Reserve has also reported a(n)     4     decline in tiger numbers.

CDV may also exist in the tiger population in Sumatra, where animals have been reported to be behaving     5    and losing their fear of humans.

Dr John Lewis of the British charity Wildlife Vets International is helping the Sumatran    6    to fight the risk by training local vets in what he calls “the world’s first tiger- disease monitoring program”.

Lewis also believes that the way CDV changes tigers’ behavior could be a factor where tiger- human     7    are an issue. This could be true of the Sundarbans, a large area shared by India and Bangladesh where man-eating is spreading.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that tigers are     8    with CDV. In 2004, it killed 1,000 lions in the Serengeti in Tanzania, and as wildlife reserves are    9    surrounded by people with dogs, the problem is only likely to get worse.

But as Miquelle told BBC Wildlife, “Very few people were aware of the potential threat, let alone looking for it, even if it is     10    in the system. But at least now they are.”

10 . Directions: After reading the passage below, fill in the blanks to make the passage coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.

App-solutely amazing!

Nick D’Aloisio got his first laptop when he was nine. He started designing apps when he was 12 and at 15, he launched an iPhone app     1     (call) ‘Summly’. It was an app     2     summarized stories in the news, and it was downloaded by nearly a million people. Last month, an Internet giant     3     (buy) his app for $30 million.

“The moment when I’m proudest for     4     has been seeing these tweets coming through from teenagers, saying ‘You’ve inspired me.’ I’m so excited about that,” says Nick. His mother says she was never worried about the amount of time he was spending on the computer, “because he would always show us what he was doing. I remember him     5     (create) 3D models on his computer as a 10-year-old.”

Nick isn’t a stereotypical computer nerd.     6     is he arrogant or self-centred, which you might expect of a boy who     7     (describe) as a ‘genius’ since 12 years old. He is polite, likeable, enthusiastic and self-aware. He enjoys the humanities, cricket and rugby. He doesn’t want to work in computer programming. He’s more interested in product design.

What is he going to do with the money from his app? One thing he’d like to do is     8     (invest ) in small companies. “That’s what is exciting, and if you are lucky to have a bit of money, you can take those risks. That’s what I would do if I was going to spend it.”

When asked     9     Summly can do, he says that, “It helps publishers reach out to a younger audience.” He feels that young people are interested in the news, but they don’t want to spend time reading long stories if they’re not relevant to their lives.     10     Summly, one can quickly find out whether a story might be interesting.