1 . Almost half a billion small, cheap electrical everyday items from headphones to handheld fans ended up in landfill in the UK in the past year, according to research.
The not-for-profit organization Material Focus, which conducted the research, said the scale of the issue was huge and they wanted to encourage more recycling.
More than half a billion cheaply priced electronic goods were bought in the UK in the past year alone - 16 per second. Material Focus findings showed that of these items, 471m were thrown away. This included 260m disposable vapes, 26m cables, 29m LED, solar and decorative lights, 9.8m USB sticks, and 4.8m miniature fans.
Scott Butler, executive director at Material Focus, described it as “fast tech“. He said, “People should think carefully about buying some of the more frivolous items in the first place.” He said the items people bought were often “cheap and small”, and that consumers may not realize they contain valuable materials that could be salvaged if recycled.
Small electricals can contain precious materials including copper, lithium and stainless steel. These components can be recycled and used in wind turbines, medical devices and electric vehicles. Material Focus said that while people were used to the idea of recycling larger electrical items such as fridges, lots of smaller devices were left unused in houses.
Butler said, “We want to get the message across that anything with a plug, battery or cable can be recycled and there’s somewhere near you to do it. The scale of the issue is huge, but there’s an easy solution-just as the trend for recycling and repurposing fashion has grown and grown, we want to encourage the nation to recycle fast tech, guilt-free and fuss-free.”
Material Focus said that when consumers bought a cheap item, they saw it as disposable. They estimate that UK citizens spent more than f2.8bn on these cheap products in the past year. The non-profit group described it as“the tip of the iceberg”when it comes to the growing issue of wasted electricals in the UK. More than 100,000 tonnes of waste electricals are thrown away every year, and there are 880m electrical items of all kinds lying unused in UK homes.
1. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?| A．The research was carried out by the authorities to encourage recycling |
| B．Cheaply priced electronic goods are easy to be thrown away around the world |
| C．Disposable vapes made up the majority of cheap electrical goods that ended up in landfill |
| D．British people are inclined to buy cheap electrical goods |
| A．Cheap items don’t deserve consumer’s careful use |
| B．Valuable materials can be found in these cheap and small electrical goods |
| C．Low-quality electrical goods are easy to be recycled |
| D．Consumers should stop buying these “fast tech”in the first place |
| A．They’d better recycle small devices as well as larger ones |
| B．They’d better set up somewhere near them to do the recycling |
| C．They’d better catch the trend of disposing small and cheap items |
| D．They’d better spread the idea of “fast tech” |
| A．Tons of small and cheap electrical items are thrown away |
| B．Lcgal efforts should be made to ban small electrical items |
| C．“Fast Tech”-the future generation |
| D．Recycling valuable materials from electronics is urgent |
2 . Nowhere is the interconnection of the natural world more evident than in the delicate balance of its ecosystems. These books examine the secret to that balance, making complex concepts accessible to readers just beginning their scientific journeys.
The ElephantBy Jenni Desmond.Illustration: by the author. 2018.
The caring nature,intelligence,and incredible size of African and Asian elephants shine through in Desmond’s magnificent presentation of these mammals. Her illustrations are showstoppers, and the text includes general characteristics and habits. Desmond’s writing,precise and inviting, calls attention to the elephant’s role as a keystone species in the ecosystem and humans’ roles in elephants’ declining numbers.
BeaversBy Rachel Poliquin. Illustration: by Nicholas John Frith. 2018.
This first in the Superpower Field Guide series, about the natural world’s resident superheroes, offers effervescent examinations of a beaver’s super characteristics. Poliquin explains in simple but exact language how these “wet land warriors” chew down trees,build dams and lodges,and most awesome of all, function as a keystone species to create entire new ecosystems.
The Wolves Are BackBy Jean Craighead George. Illustration: by Wendell Minor. 2008.
As George follows one wolf s growth from pup to adult, the emphasis is not as much on the wolves and their habits but on how their presence has changed the ecosystem of Yellowstone and returned its natural balance. Minor’s finely detailed illustrations feature spectacularly rendered animals in the foreground of the bold, western landscapes. Together the words and pictures make for a highly effective and enjoyable explanation of how the presence of one animal can profoundly affect an ecosystem.
1. Who illustrates the book The Elephant?| A．Jenni Desmond |
| B．Nicholas John Frith. |
| C．Rachel Poliquin. |
| D．Wendell Minor. |
| A．Poliquin describes beavers using complex language. |
| B．George does the research mainly on the wolves and their habits. |
| C．Desmond’s writing focuses on humans’ active roles in elephant conservation. |
| D．The species mentioned above are likely to influence the ecosystem. |
| A．A zoo guidebook. |
| B．An academic article: |
| C．A nature magazine. |
| D．A research report. |
More than 20 hours earlier, my friend Emma and I had stood at the entrance to the cave. We laughed and joked as I climbed down the steep mouth and she followed. Six of us had gone on that camping trip, but after a full day of exploring caves, the others had gone back to the campsite to eat. Emma and I decided to explore one more cave.
The mud of the cave floor was soft and sticky as we snaked our way through the tunnel. The air was damp and heavy. As the passage twisted through the earth, it became smaller. Then, suddenly, after a tight squeeze, I came into a larger room.
“Once you make it past this narrow spot you can almost stand,” I told Emma, as I stretched out my arms and legs and enjoyed the big space. “Alright, I’m almost th...” Emma’s sentence was cut short. I turned around. “Are you alright?” I asked. All I could see was her face, and her eyes were full of fear. “I don’t think so,” she said. “I’m stuck.”
Emma and I tried everything we could to free her. But it became apparent that we needed help. I took out my cell phone to call my other four friends, but there was no signal. I couldn’t go to seek help because Emma was stuck between me and the cave mouth. That was why we were so relieved when we heard voices behind us. A beam of light shot down the tunnel.
“What’s going on here?” rang a young man’s voice. “We need help,” I shouted. “She’s stuck.” “I’ve got two buddies with me,” he said. “They can go to find a park ranger (公园管理员), but I’ll stay here and see if I can help from this side.”
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式作答。
The next several hours were long and arduous (艰难的).
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Almost five hours after we had entered the cave, the rescue team arrived.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . The wheel is believed to be around 5,500 years old. The invention came about long after the advent of other, arguably more complex technologies, like boats, woven cloth, and agriculture. The invention of the wheel greatly speeded up the development of civilization by making it easier to trade. Towns and cities grew crowded, their populations sustained by the increased productivity of wheel-assisted farming.
However, the Aztecs, Incas, Maya, and Native Americans which were regarded as relatively advanced civilizations did not use the wheel until after the arrival of European colonists (殖民者) during the late 15th and early 16th centuries.
It had long been assumed that ancient Americans didn’t know how to make them. That turned out to be false. In 1880, as archaeologist Désiré Charnay unearthed the tomb of an Aztec child in Mexico City, he came across a small figurine (雕像) mounted on an even smaller set of wheels. Since then, other wheeled toys have been found across the country.
Current explanations of why the Aztecs, Incas, Maya, and Native Americans lacked wheels focus not on the knowledge of how to create them — which they clearly possessed — but on practicality. One major reason is that the continent lacks creatures strong enough to pull them. After all, horses and cows crossed the Atlantic along with the wheel itself.
Another important factor was geography. Yes, the Incas built roads, but those roads were mapped out over the hilly terrain (地形) of the Andes Mountains. They featured a structure of giant staircases in which there were top, middle, and bottom levels. So wheeled vehicles would not have been able to climb.
Ancient American societies might not have been built on wheels, but this in no way prevented them from teaching levels of complexity comparable to their European counterparts. They also built impressive architecture with rocks. How their builders managed to move those rocks without help from the wheel, nobody knows. But they did manage to do this. Of course, the absence of the wheel still shaped these societies in meaningful ways. For example, attempts to unite the different warring tribes repeatedly fell apart because of the amount of time it took to travel from one stronghold (据点) to another.
“When the wheel did finally show up in indigenous American societies, a lot of things changed. But the change occurred more slowly. Even though indigenous Americans could now use the wheel for transport, weaving, and pottery, this new and more efficient technology didn’t replace the familiar way of doing things overnight. Traditional techniques continue to be passed down from generation to generation, even to this day,” archaeologist Patrick Kirch said.
1. Why does the author write the first paragraph?| A．To stress the difficulty in inventing the wheel. |
| B．To describe the process of the invention of the wheel. |
| C．To explain the significance of the invention of the wheel. |
| D．To introduce the wide applications of the wheel in modern times. |
| A．They lacked tools for creating wheels. |
| B．They built roads with vertical structures. |
| C．They relied on animals for transportation. |
| D．They lacked the knowledge of producing wheels. |
| A．the complexity of ancient American societies |
| B．the frequency of wars in ancient American societies |
| C．the impressive architecture in ancient American societies |
| D．the unification of different tribes in ancient American societies |
| A．Easy but limited | B．Noticeable but harmful. |
| C．Welcome but fruitless. | D．Influential but gradual. |
5 . Twenty years ago, I was invited to join a poker game made up of all middle-aged men. That game became an essential part of my life and it evolved with the group. We used to start at 7 p. m. with wine and play until 2 a. m. Now there is no wine, and we quit before midnight. The smoke of cigarettes is long gone. The food is better—over two decades we’ve gone from chips to homemade vegetable salad. All of these win favor with my wife when I go to play poker.
When the pandemic (疫情) arrived, we switched to online games. We downloaded a poker app on our phones and looked at those nine boxes containing our heads on our computer screens. The app dealt with all nine players at the same time, so the online version was much faster. Despite the efficiency, the app presented problems. It took all our concentration to keep track, on multiple screens, of what was going on with the game. The conversation didn’t really happen. It felt like any online poker game, the kind played with strangers. So I hated this way of playing.
When we finally met each other for our live game after a two-year break, we were excited. However, at our poker game, we learned one of our guys died of cancer without telling any of us he was sick. Actually, we once found Bert looked a bit thin and a bit tired. Then he was gone. According to Robin Dunbar, an evolutionary psychologist at Oxford University, men are less likely to discuss their personal affairs and opinions directly and honestly. It’s the reason why men are more likely to have mental problems.
So friendships with women are the perfect complement to male friendships. I have a wife to confide in (向……透露秘密), and a few female friends I regularly meet for lunch. I’m just really glad to have both types of friendships. I can meet my female friends for a nice lunch and a glass of wine. Then head off to poker.
1. Why does the author’s wife support him in playing poker?| A．It can make the author more intelligent. | B．It can make the author more relaxed. |
| C．The author’s lifestyle becomes healthier. | D．The author’s social skills become better. |
| A．The process of playing was slow. | B．Players always faced technical problems. |
| C．Players seldom interacted with each other. | D．The game was often interrupted by strangers. |
| A．Men are less sociable. | B．Men are less open-minded. |
| C．Men are less emotional. | D．Men are less outspoken. |
| A．Confused. | B．Disappointed. | C．Upset. | D．Satisfied. |
One day, the school headmaster announced the arrival of a new literature teacher, Mrs Adams. “Class, tomorrow welcome her and behave well, as she previously worked in the army and is tough and strict,” she shared. Upon hearing she worked in the army, the whole class looked at each other in fear, except Ben.
The next day, Mrs. Adams entered the classroom looking friendly and was soft-spoken. “She looks like she couldn’t even hurt a fly,” Ben said.
Not angry with Ben, Mrs. Adams taught her lesson patiently so that everyone could understand what she was talking about. And she asked the class to prepare for their first test that would be given weeks later, which caused everyone to take notes and listen carefully, except Ben.
He wasn’t interested in the lesson. He thought literature was boring, and he refused to listen. Thus, when it was finally time for the test, Ben struggled to get any of the answers right.
During their next literature period, Mrs. Adams returned all the papers. Almost all received As while Ben received an F. “Do better next time, Ben,” Mrs. Adams called out. But Ben couldn’t accept it.
After Ben went home in time for dinner, his dad Patrick asked him about his test. Ben said that the new teacher was unfair, giving him his failing mark on purpose. Patrick doubted it. The next day, he secretly visited his son’s headmaster, and confirmed Ben was lying. Patrick left the school dissatisfied.
That evening, Ben discovered his dad had learned the truth about his test. “You didn’t put any effort into doing well in that test!” Ben was embarrassed (尴尬的). His face turned red and hot. He was angry. He wanted to take revenge (报复) on his new teacher.
The next day, he followed Mrs. Adams to her house after school. Angry with her for giving him a failing mark and embarrassing him before his father, Ben took a brick from the ground and threw it at her window. Hearing the noise of her window breaking, Mrs. Adams was shocked.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右;
2. 请按如下格式作答。
Frightened, Ben ran away towards home, trying to escape.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Then, following his dad, Ben left towards Mrs. Adam’s house to apologize.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________7 . At 95, Brigid Kavanagh finally realized her longtime dream. Yet, her path to having her words put into
Kavanagh’s sons
Kavanagh
The senior shared with the media that she’s always found it
While there are only a limited number of
| A．practice | B．use | C．print | D．effect |
| A．depend on | B．pointed out | C．shown off | D．focused on |
| A．allowed | B．helped | C．reminded | D．forced |
| A．agreed | B．needed | C．managed | D．happened |
| A．feared | B．forgot | C．refused | D．failed |
| A．excited | B．confused | C．prepared | D．determined |
| A．unusual | B．careless | C．concerned | D．finished |
| A．easy | B．wise | C．right | D．necessary |
| A．wasted | B．noticed | C．doubted | D．confirmed |
| A．thoughts | B．efforts | C．dreams | D．articles |
| A．success | B．performance | C．talent | D．point |
| A．friend | B．teacher | C．student | D．boss |
| A．believed | B．expected | C．experienced | D．imagined |
| A．copies | B．changes | C．services | D．chances |
| A．completely | B．eventually | C．widely | D．continuously |
8 . No FIFA World Cup would be complete without “psychic(通灵的)” animals predicting the winners, and Qatar 2022 was the same. A range of animals—big and small—have tried to predict the scoreline.
It all started with Paul, the ”psychic“ octopus(章鱼). He put TV experts to shame with an unbelievable group of correct World Cup winner predictions at the Aquarium Sea Life Center in Oberhausen, Germany. He correctly predicted eight World Cup matches at South Africa’s tournament in 2010, including Spain beating the Netherlands in the World Cup final.
Paul’s successor, Rubio the octopus, did not end well. It became a star in Japan for its 100%success in predicting group-stage matches, including Japan’s win against Colombia in the 2018 World Cup held in Russia. Rubio did not get the chance to make its prediction for the Round-of-16 after it was cut into pieces and turned into seafood.
Taiyo the otter had good news for Japanese fans at the 2022 World cup in Qatar, correctly predicting Japan’s group-stage win over Germany. From his home at the Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa in Japan, Taiyo was given three buckets(桶)to choose from—Japan(blue), draw (yellow)and Germany(red)—and did not hesitate about picking up his tiny football and placing his bet on Japan. He was widely praised online for his action.
And let’s not forget another star—Marcus, the “mystic pig”. In the 2018 World Cup, Marcus predicted a World Cup victory for England after selecting apples with the England flag on British morning television. However, Marcus’ fortune-telling record was shattered when England was knocked out in the semi-final.
Nelly the elephant from Serengeti Park in Hodenhagen, Germany, also meant business when she had a group of 30 out of 33 matches correct predictions in the 2006 World Cup, the 2010 World Cup and the 2012 Euro.
Camilla the ”mystic“ camel from Melton Mowbray in England did have good news for England, however. She correctly predicted the Three Lions’ group-stage win over Iran at the Qatar World Cup. Her owners said that their camel was ”never wrong“.
1. What can we learn about Rubio?| A．It ended up being eaten. | B．It missed the 2018 World Cup. |
| C．It performed much better than Paul. | D．It became famous after the Round-of-16. |
| A．It knew Japanese players well. | B．It could recognize many colors. |
| C．It was quick at decision-making. | D．It was good at catching a football. |
| A．Updated. | B．Shared. | C．Removed. | D．Broken. |
| A．He doesn’t give his opinion. | B．He is doubtful about them. |
| C．He thinks them interesting. | D．He is supportive to them. |
9 . Kabita Lohar lives in Pipriya village, a community located at the banks of the Mahakali River in Nepal. She is usually seen walking along the riverbank, carrying a blue box which contains equipment and chemicals to test the quality of water in the river. As Kabita carefully collects water samples (样本) from the river into her test-tube and observe the color of the water, she says, “Our rivers are getting polluted; we need to raise awareness and encourage the community to save our rivers.”
Kabita is one of the many citizen scientists trained by Oxfam. Around five years ago, Oxfam started working with the communities living in the riverbanks of the Mahakali River through a project called Transboundary Rivers of South Asia (TROSA). The project aims to give the riverside communities more access to and control over water resources. “We use this data to encourage effective measures and raise awareness about water pollution among the community members and local government,” says Kabita.
People used to believe that the water in at the Mahakali River contains something that is good for health, so it was a common practice to drink water directly from the river. But with the data on water pollution provided by citizen scientists like Kabita, they could raise awareness of the importance of not drinking water directly from the river.
Kabita says, “A few months ago, we spoke with our mayor (市长) about introducing measures to prevent the inflow of waste made by families and hotels into the river. Our mayor has stated that he will meet our demands. But we don’t just want promises; we want action, and we will keep following up until the promise becomes a reality.”
1. Why does Kabita walk along the bank?| A．To clean the riverbanks. | B．To collect experimental data. |
| C．To enjoy nature for relaxation. | D．To collect water from family use. |
| A．By showing them the truth. |
| B．By finding clean water for them. |
| C．By encouraging effective measures. |
| D．By stopping pouring waste into the river. |
| A．Energetic. | B．Confident. | C．Organized. | D．Determined. |
| A．Water pollution is serious in Nepal. |
| B．Science is helpful in reducing pollution. |
| C．A citizen scientist fights water pollution. |
| D．A youth makes a difference to her village. |
10 . Users of Google Gemini, the tech giant’s artificial-intelligence model, recently noticed that asking it to create images of Vikings, or German soldiers from 1943 produced surprising results: hardly any of the people depicted were white. Other image-generation tools have been criticized because they tend to show white men when asked for images of entrepreneurs or doctors. Google wanted Gemini to avoid this trap; instead, it fell into another one, depicting George Washington as black. Now attention has moved on to the chatbot’s text responses, which turned out to be just as surprising.
Gemini happily provided arguments in favor of positive action in higher education, but refused to provide arguments against. It declined to write a job ad for a fossil-fuel lobby group (游说团体), because fossil fuels are bad and lobby groups prioritize “the interests of corporations over public well-being”. Asked if Hamas is a terrorist organization, it replied that the conflict in Gaza is “complex”; asked if Elon Musk’s tweeting of memes had done more harm than Hitler, it said it was “difficult to say”. You do not have to be a critic to perceive its progressive bias.
Inadequate testing may be partly to blame. Google lags behind OpenAI, maker of the better-known ChatGPT. As it races to catch up, Google may have cut corners. Other chatbots have also had controversial launches. Releasing chatbots and letting users uncover odd behaviors, which can be swiftly addressed, lets firms move faster, provided they are prepared to weather (经受住) the potential risks and bad publicity, observes Eth an Mollick, a professor at Wharton Business School.
But Gemini has clearly been deliberately adjusted, or “fine-tuned”, to produce these responses. This raises questions about Google’s culture. Is the firm so financially secure, with vast profits from internet advertising, that it feels free to try its hand at social engineering? Do some employees think it has not just an opportunity, but a responsibility, to use its reach and power to promote a particular agenda? All eyes are now on Google’s boss, Sundar Pichai. He says Gemini is being fixed. But does Google need fixing too?
1. What do the words “this trap” underlined in the first paragraph refer to?| A．Having a racial bias. | B．Responding to wrong texts. |
| C．Criticizing political figures. | D．Going against historical facts. |
| A．Gemini’s refusal to make progress. | B．Gemini’s failure to give definite answers. |
| C．Gemini’s prejudice in text responses. | D．Gemini’s avoidance of political conflicts. |
| A．Creative. | B．Promising. | C．Illegal. | D．Controversial. |
| A．Its security is doubted. | B．It lacks financial support. |
| C．It needs further improvement. | D．Its employees are irresponsible. |
