1 . California is speeding up the launch of its robotaxi. Cars without drivers are already becoming a common sight on San Francisco’s winding and foggy streets with a lot of hills. But they’ve been limited in their areas and time of operation, and in some cases have had human safety monitors on board. Last week, California officials voted to remove most restrictions for the two leading self-driving car companies, Waymo and Cruise, letting them charge for rides anywhere in the city 24/7. It’s a critical moment for the industry, which has grown to more than 40 companies reaching millions of miles on public roads every year.

If this is the future, it’s still a tough nut in progress. One San Francisco driverless vehicle rolled into an active fire scene and prevented firefighters from carrying out their work. Others have stopped dead in the middle of traffic. There were 93 reported traffic incidents involving robotaxis in March alone. California regulators shouldn’t be giving robotaxis a free pass. Driverless cars could make a difference to the city streets the way gas-powered automobiles did a century ago. The objection to driverless cars has been similar, too. In San Francisco, one activist group has begun coning self-driving taxis—placing a simple orange cone (圆锥体) on the metal cover of the engine, which seems to “paralyze” an autonomous vehicle.

“I wanted to love robotaxis,” said Elaine Moore in the Financial Times. “Eliminating human error would undoubtedly make roads safer. But then came the time I hailed a Cruise car. A few minutes into the journey, the car suddenly changed course, extending the estimated time to arrival for no reason. Then the car just stopped. We tried to exit but the doors remained locked. Although it was only for a few seconds, it still made me pause before I hopped in another robotaxi anytime soon.”

“These horror stories remain the exception,” said Benjamin Schneider in the MIT Technology Review. “Over the past few years, Cruise and Waymo have added up to over a million driverless miles without accidents in major American cities.” At certain times in San Francisco, he estimated that 1 in 10 cars on the road has no driver behind the wheel. He was amazed that so few people are aware of how quickly this industry is advancing, or have considered the near-term labor and transportation impacts. Like it or not, robotaxis are here.

1. What does “this” refer to in the second paragraph?

A．Restrictions will be cancelled for the self-driving cars.

B．Francisco’ streets will be upgraded by California regulators.

C．Robotaxis will be in full wings in California around the clock.

D．Millions of miles on public roads will be monitored every year.

2. Why has one activist group begun coning self-driving taxis?

A．To fight against the San Francisco government.

B．To make the robotaxis unable to function properly.

C．To push for technological progress in driverless cars.

D．To imitate what gas-powered automobiles did a century ago.

3. What is Benjamin Schneider’s attitude towards robotaxis?

A．Favorable.

B．Unclear.

C．Skeptical.

D．Opposed.

4. What’s the best title of the passage?

A．Robotaxis: a perfect replacement of gas cars

B．Robotaxis: an immediate launch of driverless cars

C．Robotaxis: an advanced technology around the world

D．Robotaxis: a tough issue of transportation in America

2 . 阅读下面句子，在空白处选择方框内短语并用其适当形式填空。

rise to       lie in       shoot up       smooth out       guard against

1. Regular exercise can help ________ heart disease.
2. Their kids ________ in height since I last saw them.
3. It was a tough race, but Jean ________ the challenge and won our respect.
4. Opportunity ________ each challenge for those who have a positive mind.
5. Close friendships can get us ________ the rocky road that all of us are meant to travel.

3 . Do you have some habits like emotional (情绪的) eating or spending money to reduce stress?     1     Here we are coming to discuss some habit-breaking strategies (策略).

We first take an example. When you are in a movie theater with hot dogs, the movie theater is the invitation, and hot dog’s buying and eating are the behaviors.

The habit-breaking choices are: One, tell yourself “no hot dog” each time; two, avoid going to the movies at all; or three, exchange the hot dog with a new movie snack that you can afford or achieve your nutritional goals. The key to this strategy is to make sure that the new habit is similarly attractive.     2    

Not every habit-breaking strategy works for every habit. For example, maybe you want to eat a piece of oil cake in the break room when you arrive at school.     3     Maybe, you might as well try to develop a new habit of eating healthier breakfast food at the same time, instead.

    4     The only way habit-breaking works is to use the strategy repeatedly. A 2009 study of 96 people in the European Journal of Social Psychology showed that individuals took between 18 and 254 days to form a habit.

Finally, success isn’t perfection with habit breaking. Habit should be thought of as a continuum (连续体). Things become more or less habitual.     5     And you’ll know you’re making progress when you feel less influenced by the habit, not when it is gone.

A．Instead of erasing a habit, you need to reduce its impact.

B．Whichever strategy you choose, the key is to do it over and over.

C．A low-fat cookie or an after-work walk are more believable changes.

D．The way to break a habit depends on the behavior you want to prevent.

E．The behaviors are performed automatically in response to an invitation.

F．They can have negative effects in the long term and often need to be broken.

G．It won’t work to refuse the invitation, because you can’t stop going to class.

4 . Melanie Guttmann, co-founder of LG, a German climate (气候) group, once spent six days in prison after being arrested during a public gathering against “new normal”. She tells me that she just wanted to have a peaceful life, spend some time with the people she loved and start a family. But finally, she says, she’d be willing to be in prison even longer if it might make a difference. “I started to realize that no matter whether I’m in prison or not, I will never have those things.”

I have been turning over her words for what happened later. Vermont experienced storms last week, causing floods and resulting in deaths. An extreme heat brought the number of people in one Phoenix emergency room to levels never seen since the COVID-19 pandemic. The ocean water around the Florida Keys reached a temperature of over 90°F, seriously endangering coral reefs.

Many well-meant statesmen mention what’s happening as “new normal”. It’s meant, of course, to point out the long-term effects of putting large amounts of greenhouse gases into air. But the phrase of “new normal”, to me, also has the suggestion that now, at least, is “normal,” as if we’ve been riding a lift of global (全球的) temperature rise, and just arrived at the top floor. “It surely is hot up here at the new normal, but good thing is that it won’t get any worse.”

Unfortunately, though, it will. The changes we are experiencing are only quickening. Each new season is a baseline from which things will get stranger still. There’ll be yet more heat domes, storms, and flooding, coming at a faster and faster speed. By 2050, the world could be dealing with 1.2 billion climate refugees (难民) escaping for their lives.

One thing from Guttmann’s words is clear: However bad things are now, they’re set to get a whole lot worse. We need to have the awareness that there is no “new normal” where we can stop to catch our breath. And, if we don’t do something, things will get worse.

1. Why is Guttmann’s story mentioned?

A．To explore what is behind the story.

B．To describe what life holds in the future.

C．To explain the cause of her being in prison.

D．To experience her feeling of disappointment.

2. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us?

A．The climate disasters.	B．The storm.
C．The extreme heat.	D．The high water temperature.

3. Which view concerning “new normal” will cause an argument?

A．The statesmen propose “new normal” with a good purpose.

B．“New normal” alarms the long-term impact of climate change

C．Things about global temperature at “new normal” won’t be worse.

D．What Guttmann wants will probably come to nothing at such a “new normal”.

4. What is the author’s attitude toward Guttmann’s concern?

A．Unclear.

B．Supportive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Negative.

5 . Scientists at Rice University in Houston, Texas have developed a fabric-based (基于织物的) wearable tool that “hits” users’ wrists (腕关节) with pressurized air, silently guiding them to their finishing point. The study, put out on August 29 in the magazine Device, showed that users could correctly read which direction the tool was telling them to go since the wearable uses air instead of electronics, it can be built lighter than present designs.

The wearables may benefit people with hearing loss, and experts such as doctors, pilots, and soldiers who are crowded with signs and sounds.

But while tools that produce signs or sounds are prevalent in everyday life, tools that use touch-based signs are still uncommon.

To get over this difficulty, the Rice University researchers developed a light, comfortable wearable tool from fabric materials that can be worn on a user’s arm. The team tested the tool by measuring forces applied to the user as a function of pressure and the shape of the wearable.

“Every person has a differently shaped arm, a different feeling of what ‘feels good’ in terms of the forces applied and the timing of the forces, and different abilities in responding to the type of touch-based signs we sent,” said Barclay Jumet the lead author of the study. “Fortunately, our fabric-based wearable tool is easily tailorable (可定制的) and adjustable (可调节的) to a series of body types and sizes.”

After testing the performance of the touch-based wearable tool in a lab-based study, the researchers set out to see how well these tools could guide users in a real-world situation. “We were amazed that the user was able to find his way around the streets of Houston and later follow 50 meters long on an open field with 100% exactness in receiving and reading touch-based signs,” said Daniel Preston, the co-author of the study,

“Further development will seek to improve the ability to pass on even more difficult signs that are easily and naturally noticed by the user,” said Preston.

1. Why are the wearable tools lighter?

A．The wrist requires lighter tools.	B．The fabric of the tool is light.
C．They use air to “hit” users’ wrists.	D．It is in response to the call from scientists.

2. What does the underlined word “prevalent” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Alarming.

B．Pleasing.

C．Clear.

D．Common.

3. How can the problem of different body types and sizes be solved?

A．By carrying out more studies.	B．By developing high-quality fabric.
C．By tailoring and adjusting the tool.	D．By sending exact touch-based signs.

4. What is paragraph 6 mainly about?

A．The cause of testing the tool in real life.

B．The test of the tool’s real-life performance.

C．The perfection of the touch-based wearable tool.

D．The necessity of stepping from the lab to the real world.

6 . Part-Time Jobs That Actually Pay Well

A job that requires 40 hours per week doesn’t work for everyone. Today, more people are choosing part-time work for different reasons. Some feel, burned out with a traditional work schedule. Others are taking care of children or other loved ones. Some simply can’t find the right full-time job.

Ahead, get to know some part-time jobs that pay well and are ready for you now.

1. Exercise Trainer

Hourly rate: $19.57

Exercise Trainers work with individuals or groups to develop their strength, fitness, and related skills. They can work with different ages and teach classes of all levels at gyms (健身房), camps, community centers, and other places.

2. Speech Doctor

Hourly rate: $38.01

Speech doctors help both children and adults with communication problems. Some speech doctors work in schools. Others work in hospitals, assisted living centers, etc. On the bright side, the number of speech doctor roles is expected to grow 21% until 2031.

3. Software Developer

Hourly rate: $52.41

Unlike programmers, software developers focus more on creative ideas and problem-solving skills. And BLS projects developer jobs will grow 25% through 2031. A developer can work from far away and part time.

4. Mental Health Adviser

Hourly rate: $23.33

Mental health advisers help treat people with behavioral disorders, or mental health conditions, such as anxiety. They can work in many different settings. The number of mental health advisers is expected to grow 22% through 2031, according to BLS.

1. Why are more people choosing part-time jobs?

A．They dislike full-time jobs.	B．They make enough money.
C．They hate traditional work.	D．They care for their loved ones.

2. Which of the following is the lowest-paid job per hour?

A．Exercise Trainer.	B．Speech Doctor.
C．Software Developer.	D．Mental Health Adviser.

3. What is special about Software Developer?

A．They can develop programs.	B．They can choose to telework.
C．They can solve many problems.	D．They can improve mental health.

7 . 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。

Shadow play (皮影戏),     1     folk drama active in China for over 2,000 years, is also known     2     “shadow puppet” or “lamp shadow play”, in which people perform stories by using puppet shadows on lighted hide or paperboard.

The production procedures (程序) of shadow puppets usually go through the following     3     (step): leather selection, leather making, painting, engraving, color application, sweating and ironing, binding and synthesis. Each step must be     4     (care).

Born in the times when there was neither movie nor TV, shadow play has always been on the way of development,     5     (reach) its best days in the Qing Dynasty with it seen all around China. In 2006, shadow play was listed in China’s first national intangible cultural heritage list (非遗目录) Since then, it     6     (win) many awards at home and abroad, which is of positive     7     (important) to the inheritance of shadow play.

Shadow play is among the first Chinese drama arts     8     (spread) abroad. Quite a few foreign friends spoke     9     (high) of it—“I love the modeling of shadow puppets because they have a special styling.”, “I fail to understand what people are singing, but I still find it quite interesting.”, and such like that.

As for shadow play in our traditional culture, we can’t let the drama left to us be lost     10     let it be handed down.

8 . Paul Calderbank was homeless and was in need of help. It could have been so easy for him to take all the money from a ________ he had found. He, however, decided to do the right thing because his honesty of doing the right thing was far more important than ________. But Paul didn’t just go out of his way to ________ the wallet to the police. He made sure it ended up in the right ________—its owner, Daisy Owen.

After a fun night out with friends, Daisy couldn’t find her wallet. She did everything she could think of and finally ________, thinking someone had likely found it and stolen its ________. Actually she would be blessed (赐福) by Paul’s ________!

Paul spent two days searching for Daisy when he ran into one of Daisy’s friends. The friend ________ message Daisy. “I am so happy and ________ him. He is now living: in a hostel (临时收容所), yet took no money out of it,” said Daisy. But then she read the ________ Paul put in the wallet about wanting to do the right thing. All of a sudden Daisy knew what she ________ to do in return. She started a Go-Fund-Me page explaining that Paul found her lost wallet and his current ________ situation. She was determined to put a roof over his head. She was hoping to ________ $1,500. To her great surprise, she received over $5,000 to help Paul get a(n) ________.

It’s easy to imagine the worst of people. But each one of us can make a difference, just like Paul did, by displaying ________ in us.

1.

A．bin

B．wallet

C．bowl

D．car

2.

A．hiding

B．sharing

C．tricking

D．stealing

3.

A．hand in

B．pull out

C．pick up

D．leave behind

4.

A．forms

B．arms

C．hands

D．conditions

5.

A．cheered up

B．gave up

C．slowed down

D．backed down

6.

A．photos

B．tickets

C．materials

D．contents

7.

A．plans

B．efforts

C．feelings

D．characters

8.

A．immediately

B．suddenly

C．unhurriedly

D．continuously

9.

A．believe

B．remember

C．thank

D．understand

10.

A．bill

B．note

C．invitation

D．proposal

11.

A．agreed

B．promised

C．happened

D．needed

12.

A．homeless

B．awkward

C．unusual

D．surprising

13.

A．borrow

B．donate

C．make

D．raise

14.

A．page

B．account

C．flat

D．job

15.

A．kindness

B．courage

C．pride

D．strength

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Who usually reads the morning announcements?

A．Timmy.

B．Mr. McKinney.

C．Principal Johnson.

2. When is the deadline for handing in the homework?

A．May 20th.

B．Next Wednesday.

C．One month from today.

3. For what does the speaker apologize?

A．The library hours.

B．The homework.

C．The computers.

4. What will take place on Saturday afternoon?

A．A softball game.

B．A basketball game.

C．A baseball game.

10 .
1. How to become a good student? I think it can_________ the following aspects.
2. Two robbers _________ her home, held a knife to her throat and stole her savings.
3. She helped me solve the problem I had been _________ for weeks.
4. Jenny _________ when she got the first place in the singing competition.
5. The government _________ reducing poverty and has made remarkable progress.