1 . Omar Vazquez grew up in poverty on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula. He watched his single mother struggle to put food on the table, and today the memory inspires him to help those in need. When an invasive (入侵的) seaweed called sargassum showed up on Mexico’s Caribbean beaches, Omar looked past the matter of it all and saw an opportunity to help others.

Sargassum is not dangerous, but it has an unpleasant smell and can become so thick that it keeps people from entering the water. Mexico has experienced record-setting amounts of the seaweed in recent years, and it has made its way to Florida’s beaches as well. Experts say there could be as much as 100 tons of sargassum blocking Mexican shorelines in 2023.

With tourism dollars at risk, officials and locals alike were eager to remove the seaweed, but only Omar saw its true potential. The professional gardener organized a beach cleanup that provided jobs for about 300 local families, but he knew there was more to do. Since people’s attitude towards the seaweed reminded him of his own life experiences, he decided to become an agent (推动者) for change.

When sargassum started arriving, everyone was complaining. “I wanted to make something good out of something everyone saw as bad,” Omar explained.

In 2018, Omar found a way to turn sargassum into building blocks that he calls Sargablock. He creates these blocks by mixing 40% sargassum with other materials like clay, then putting them in a block-forming machine and baking them in the sun for days. The end result is an organic, sustainable, and ecologically friendly building material that experts say could last for 120 years.

To date, Omar’s company, Bluegreen Mexico, has used 700 tons of sargassum to build low-income housing for those in need. Omar said he would take on more projects, and donate more houses to single mothers like his own mom.

1. What can be learned from paragraph 1?

A．Omar’s family often assisted people in need.

B．Sargassum originated on the Caribbean beaches.

C．Omar’s experience in childhood has influenced him much.

D．Omar has met a lot of generous people since he was young.

2. How did most people react to the increasing sargassum?

A．They didn’t take it seriously.	B．They were anxious to clear it up.
C．They viewed it as new materials.	D．They were excited to see a grand scene.

3. Which words can best describe Omar?

A．Honest and ambitious.	B．Strong-willed and confident.
C．Quick-thinking and humorous.	D．Sympathetic and innovative.

4. What does the author mainly want to tell us through Omar’s success?

A．It’s never too old to learn.	B．Love shines every dark corner.
C．Solutions can be obtained from problems.	D．Heroes arise from humble beginnings.

2 . 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。

As the sun dipped below the horizon, casting a warm glow over the animal shelter, Sarah walked through the rows of cages until her eyes landed on a small, trembling dog huddled (蜷缩) in the corner. “I think I’ve found the one, ” Sarah whispered softly to herself as she looked into the dog’s sad eyes. This timid, abandoned dog had no idea that a journey of transformation with friendly people lay in store for him.

The shelter staff explained that the dog, named Buddy, had a difficult past and was very shy and scared. Sarah extended a hand, offering a soothing tone, “Hey sweetie, you must have a story to tell, but from now on, you’ve got a buddy in me. ”

Bringing Buddy home was just the beginning of their journey, which was rocky at first for him. Everything was strange and new, causing him to hide under furniture and startle at every sound. Therefore, Sarah provided a cozy bed, delicious meals, and most importantly, heaps of love and comfort.

Slowly but surely, he started to emerge from his shell, wagging his tail tentatively and gazing at Sarah with a glimmer of hope in his eyes. Under Sarah’s patient and loving guidance, Buddy flourished, even learning tricks and commands, and forming a deep bond with his new owner.

The journey of healing turned out to be a success. But Sarah had never expected it would bring about another one.

One day, while scrolling through social media, Sarah came across a heartwarming story about dogs being trained to assist children with autism (自闭症). Those children had social communication difficulties and had few facial expressions and gestures. Without hesitation, she inquired about the program and soon, Buddy was enrolled in training to become a certified therapy(治疗) dog. But she was unsure whether Buddy would be comfortable with the new challenge.

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。
Their first day at the therapy center was filled with uncertainty.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
As the weeks progressed, Sarah noticed a remarkable change both in the children and Buddy.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

3 . One sunny afternoon, Jack and I rode hard towards his house. The sun shone ________ on Jack’s black bicycle. You would never see his bike with ________ on it. As I bent over, I took a glimpse of Jack’s shining school ________. Jack was always neat and tidy, but his clothes were old and________. I often ________ if he owned anything else.

We turned into a street lined with small, old railway houses. Jack opened a gate and we went through it. I got off my bike and ________ it against the garage wall. It was a small, whitewashed house. The tiny area of lawn was neatly ________.

We went in by the back door. The kitchen had a cupboard, a small dining table with three chairs and an ancient cooker. Everything was ________ clean.

In Jack’s room, it had a bed, a one-door closet, and a table. Several books were ________ against the wall on one corner of the table, and on the other corner ________ a model steam engine. Jack demonstrated to me how the engine ________. I looked at Jack’s face and a broad smile spread over it.

Feeling ashamed, I reflected that I grew up in a________wealthy home. My closet was________with new and fashionable clothes. I had a state-of-the-art ten-speed racing bike. ________, I often did not appreciate what I had. I took it all for granted. By contrast, Jack had almost nothing, but he was happy and ________. Thank you, Jack, for unknowingly teaching me the value of being satisfied with what I’ve got.

1.

A．briefly

B．regularly

C．slowly

D．brightly

2.

A．dirt

B．decorations

C．passengers

D．damage

3.

A．coat

B．tie

C．shoes

D．hat

4.

A．generous

B．clean

C．worn

D．ugly

5.

A．meant

B．wondered

C．argued

D．knew

6.

A．protected

B．accepted

C．rested

D．covered

7.

A．drawn

B．crossed

C．waved

D．shaped

8.

A．nearly

B．spotlessly

C．naturally

D．severely

9.

A．spread

B．stored

C．placed

D．hidden

10.

A．lied

B．stood

C．set

D．put

11.

A．rose

B．admitted

C．flamed

D．worked

12.

A．relatively

B．humbly

C．traditionally

D．respectively

13.

A．stuffed

B．engaged

C．equipped

D．surrounded

14.

A．Therefore

B．Nevertheless

C．Otherwise

D．Subsequently

15.

A．energetic

B．modest

C．curious

D．content

4 . 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。

Tom could communicate well with other people through the computer or even on the phone, but when it came to making public presentations, he was hopeless. He was aware that people at conferences would count up the times he said such things as “what I really meant to say was” when he got nervous.

Tom was an expert in Reality Robotics Company. His boss had asked him to do something that he was absolutely scared about. The next month he would be presenting on behalf of his company, and there would be a lot of people, and his boss, who had never attended Tom’s presentations, wanted to impress the audience with the innovative work that the company was doing. Tom knew his boss’s respect for him would plummet (坠落) if he said that he could not do it. So, he worked like crazy on the task.

One day, he felt a great need to relax. He turned on the TV. He laughed, and smiled through the first show, making him feel a little better. But it was the second show that really got to him, where the ventriloquist (腹语术者) Arthur worked with his dummy (假人) . This really provided him with an inspiration for how he was going to make his much-feared presentation a success.

The next day, he organized a meeting of the people that had the skills he needed, and, of course, his boss. When he explained what he wanted to do, he could sense that everyone was with him on this plan. But a lot of work had to be done for the object of the plan to be completed.

It was the day of the presentation. Tom was somewhat nervous, but nowhere near to the extent that he usually was for just such a situation. And they had to get to their destination early, for what needed to be done had to be completed before the audience knew what was going on.

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。

Paragraph 1: The much-anticipated presentation started.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Paragraph 2: Tom walked onto the stage, looking exactly the same as the presenter.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . Are you ready to unlock your full career potential? Explore the details of each course below to find your right fit.

EliteOnline

Whether you’re exploring what to do next or you’ve already identified a role, this course is structured to help you take practical steps toward your career. It uses a design thinking approach to help people of any age and academic background. It consists of 5 career-oriented concepts, explained through videos, personal reflections, and exercises.

7 weeks:2-4 hours per week; self-paced

AUX

The course provides skill development for graduates as they prepare for their next career step. Participants will build skills to promote leadership, run a team, manage projects, apply teaching skills beyond the classroom, develop strategic communication skills and prepare successful job application materials.

·7 weeks:2-5 hours per week; instructor-led on a course schedule

BerkUX

This course provides tips and strategies for launching a successful music career as an artist. It covers developing your identity, leading a band, planning and recording your first independent record, building a brand, developing business partnerships, and understanding the business side of music production.

·4 weeks: 2-5 hours per week; self-paced

UXOnline

In this course, you will focus on the pathways to Internet security career success. You will determine your own incoming skills, talent, and deep interests to apply toward a meaningful exploration of 32 Digital Pathways of Cybersecurity. You will complete a self-assessment to determine the essential next steps.

·6 weeks:2-4 hours per week; self-paced

1. What is an advantage of EliteOnline?

A．It provides downloadable videos.	B．It offers the longest learning hours.
C．It focuses on trainings of design thinking.	D．It requires no specific academic background.

2. What do AUX and BerkUX have in common?

A．They allow a flexible learning pace.	B．They aim at specific professions.
C．They develop management skills.	D．They assess career potentials.

3. Which profession are participants in UXOnline most likely to pursue?

A．Network engineering.	B．Online teaching.
C．Career consulting.	D．Digital marketing.

6 . A new study involving nearly 50,000 people from four continents offers new insights into identifying the quantity of daily walking steps that will best improve adults’ health and longevity(长寿), and whether the ideal number of steps differs across people of different ages. The study represents an effort to develop an evidence-based public health message about the benefits of physical activity. The often-repeated 10,000-step-a-day saying grew out of a decades-old marketing activity for a Japanese pedometer(计步器), with no science to back it up.

Led by physical activity professor Amanda Paluch, an international group of scientists conducted an experiment among adults aged 18 and older. They grouped the nearly 50,000 participants into four comparative groups according to average steps per day. The lowest step group averaged 3,500 steps; the second, 5,800; the third, 7,800; and the fourth, 10,900 steps per day. Among the three higher active groups, there was a 40—53% lower risk of death, compared to the lowest step group.

More specifically, for adults 60 and older, the risk of early death leveled off at about 6,000—8,000 steps per day, meaning that more steps than that provided no additional benefit for longevity, while for adults younger than 60, about 8, 000—10,000 steps per day.

“So, what we saw was this continuing reduction in risk as the number of steps increases, until it levels off. Interestingly, the study found no definitive association with walking speed.” Paluch says.

The new study supports and expands findings from another study led by Paluch before, which found that walking at least 7,000 steps a day reduced middle-aged people’s risk of early death. “There’s a lot of evidence suggesting that moving even a little more is beneficial, particularly for those who are doing very little activity.” Paluch says. “More steps per day are better for your health.”

1. Why did the scientists carry out the new study?

A．To know about people’s health condition.

B．To explain the pedometer’s working principles.

C．To determine the best physical activity for people.

D．To provide a scientific guideline on daily walking.

2. What does the underlined phrase “leveled off” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Turned higher.

B．Became stable.

C．Fell sharply.

D．Changed rapidly.

3. What does the experiment find?

A．The old should walk as much as possible.

B．Young people usually walk more than the old.

C．The most beneficial steps differ by age groups.

D．Walking pace is the key to avoiding early death.

4. What does Paluch advise people doing little activity to do?

A．To walk more steps.	B．To control walking speed.
C．To limit walking distance.	D．To track the number of steps.

7 . —You rode a bike to work yesterday. Why didn’t you drive your car?
—Oh, it __________________ (repair) because of a flat tyre (爆胎). (所给词的适当形式填空)

8 . 根据课文内容填空

Could machines really develop human-like intelligence? And what would happen if they did? Would thinking machines work alongside humans or     1     the existence of humans? How would they be punished if they     2     crimes or even murdered humans? As we become more and more     3     on computers, some scientists are urging us to think about the dangers     4    by the advances in AI. Stephen Hawking, for example, warned, “The development of full artificial intelligence could     5    the end of the human race.

9 . 语法填空

Scientists have created plants that glow (发光) in the dark.     1     (hopeful), they will produce plants that can light up our lives. The scientists,     2     are from a university in the USA, hope their discovery could lead to plant lights     3    (replace)electric lights. Professor Michael Strano, lead author of the research, explained that his team wants to create sustainable (可持续的) light     4     (source) . He said, “The vision is to make a plant that will be used     5     a desk lamp-----a lamp that you don’t have to plug in (连接,通电). The light     6    (power) by the energy of the plant itself.”

The researchers     7     (get) the idea of lighting plants from fireflies. They examined the substance (物质) in fireflies that makes them glow. They put the substance into plants     8     (make) them glow. The scientists were able to make plants that glowed for nearly four hours. The research team tested the substance on     9     (leaf) of some vegetables. Professor Strano thinks plant lights will play     10     important part in our life. He said, “We think this is an idea whose time has come.”

10 . 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。

About 5,000 years ago, to escape the cold weather, the ancestors of the Liangzhu people settled around the Taihu region     1     they built a city, making     2     both the center of their culture and spiritual belief.

The Liangzhu ancient city was composed of the palace zone, the inner city and the outer city, and there     3     (exist) the City Wall serving as a boundary between the inner and the outer. It had nine gates, with one for pedestrians and the     4     (remain) eight water gates for travelers from the canal.

A complex multi-functional water management system was constructed on the northwest outskirts of the ancient city. Taking advantage of the natural terrain (地势), the system connected numerous valleys,     5     (adjust) river levels, dredging floods and providing security for the ancient city, its water transportation and daily water needs.

Jade (玉)     6     (refer) to as a significant material embodiment (具体化) of the Liangzhu Culture. There were different patterns and styles of jade, with abundant meanings     7     (symbolic) attached to them, such as distinguishing identities and showing social statuses.

In 1936, the remains of the Liangzhu ancient City were found     8     chance and the City was gradually brought to light. Now the unearthed ruins have gained the global     9     (recognize) and workers on the Liangzhu site are committed to combining modern technology with novel cultural creativity     10     (reconstruct) the ancient Liangzhu Culture.