1 . Four Art Study Abroad Programs in 2024

Whether you love art history, dance, photography, writing, or beyond, here are the top art programs to attend in 2024.

The 6-week Gap Year Course in Italy | Art History Abroad
Program length: 6 weeks in summer
Price: $10,000

If you’re interested in studying artists, criticism, and painting techniques during periods like the Renaissance and styles like baroque, Romanesque, and modern art, then this program is for you. It prides itself on not simply teaching art but also culture and an appreciation of beauty.

Creative Internships (实习) in Australia with ABI | ArtBound Initiative
Program length: 1 month
Price: $3,250

If you’ve ever had an interest in pursuing a career in the creative industry, consider an internship opportunity with ArtBound Initiative. Interns can work in exciting overseas locations while getting one-on-one career coaching from professionals.

The Irish Arts and Culture Program | Irish Gap Year
Program length: 1 semester
Price: $17,000

Explore your own areas of interest as you work side by side with local Irish artists, photographers, writers, and musicians, learning about Ireland’s rich cultural and artistic heritage. Your hands-on experience goes hand in hand with day trips to galleries, museums, and castles, and at the end, you’ll have the opportunity to exhibit your works at the Le Cheile Art Expo.

Creative Semester in France | Berridge Programs
Program length: 1 semester
Price: $16,500

Whether you’re a complete beginner or an experienced performer or artist, your interests and talents will be nurtured by industry professionals. During your time here, you will work on improving your skills which will end with a feature film or creative performance.

1. Where should you go to obtain career guidance according to the text?

A．France.

B．Australia.

C．Italy.

D．Ireland.

2. Which program enables participants to display their works?

A．The 6-week Gap Year Course in Italy.

B．Creative Internships in Australia with ABI.

C．The Irish Arts and Culture Program.

D．Creative Semester in France.

3. How much should an artist pay to improve his performing skills?

A．$3,250.

B．$10,000.

C．$16,500.

D．$17,000.

2 . In the northernmost edge of Colombia sits the coastal town of Acandí. Access to the town is only by water or air; there is no road that leads there. The residents there are faced with the struggles of balancing livelihoods while protecting biodiversity.

In the past, traditional community fishing methods, passed down by the elders, focused on the reasonable fishing and management of resources. However, the introduction of large-scale trawling vessels(拖网渔船) decades ago gradually depleted the area’s fishing resources, leading to damage to marine(海洋的) life seriously.

Jesús Antonio Julio Cuestas, who serves in the region’s conservation and management of marine resources, stresses the bad impact of these developments and calls for new fishing techniques. “Fishing and conservation co-exist as long as we have good management practices and reasonable use of our fishing resources,” says Cuestas. He and other officials actively monitor fishing activities in Acandí. Each morning, they visit the fish markets to gather data on fishery resources—including prices and sizes—to monitor the state of the local fishing industry.

Along with Cuestas, the fishers work to reduce their impact on the marine ecosystem. By changing fishing methods and adopting new practices, they aim for a more balanced approach to fishing. “This year the local fishermen have not used the trawl net s that were causing the death of the leatherback sea turtles,” explains Cuestas proudly. Changes include the efforts of boats to protect the seagrass that serves as feeding grounds for marine life and an end to fishers throwing net s where turtles lay their eggs.

This marine reserve in Acandí, Cuestas believes, is their greatest treasure. He attaches great importance to working together with local residents to improve the quality of life while preserving the marine ecosystem. By doing so, he imagines a picture where individuals from the fishing community can pursue various careers, such as engineers or lawyers, proudly stating that they are the products of the fishing tradition in Acandí.

1. What does the underlined word “depleted” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Reused.	B．Restored.
C．Explored.	D．Reduced.

2. Why does Julio Cuestas call for new fishing techniques?

A．To cut down on the costs of fishing.

B．To improve the income of local residents.

C．To promote the well-being of marine wildlife.

D．To spread traditional community fishing methods.

3. What is paragraph 4 mainly about?

A．The aim of the changes to fishing methods.

B．The efforts to preserve marine ecosystem.

C．The results the trawl net s have brought about.

D．The impact of fishers on the local environment.

4. What is Julio Cuestas’s attitude towards Acandí’s future?

A．Confident.	B．Uncaring.
C．Concerned.	D．Doubtful.

3 . People tend to use trees for papermaking. But maybe electronics (电子) engineers are missing out on something here. “It turns out that two major building blocks of wood have a lot of electrical qualities,” says Magnus Berggren, a professor at Linköping University.

His team has been working to make parts for electronics from the forest. Right now, they’re focusing on two materials of trees. The first material is cellulose, which can make energy. Lignin, the second material, can store that energy, just as a battery does. The team has found when pressed, cellulose can produce electricity.

Some device must then store the electricity until it’s needed. Batteries can do this. But batteries aren’t very green. They have harmful materials. That’s where lignin comes in.

Batteries cause electrons to flow from one place to another, which can produce electricity. In a typical battery, one material must give electrons. The other must accept them. Lignin can do both. A weak acid (酸) encourages lignin to produce electrons. “With a metal wire (金属线) to guide those electrons, you’ll have electricity,” says Berggren.

Berggren’s team use this quality to create its new lignin-based battery. Typical batteries use a metal wire as a path to guide the flow of electrons into or out of the device. But since Berggren wants to make a battery of the forest, he looks for a natural way. Once again, he turns to cellulose.

This natural material can serve as a wire-like path for electrons. To make it work well, Berggren lines them with another chemical known as PEDOT, which isn’t from a tree. But when PEDOT is added to cellulose, they can conduct electricity like a wire. “With a weak acid, now you have a battery,” Berggren says. “And two of its three materials come from the forest.”

Berggren can imagine one day having mobile phone batteries made largely from forest products. Tree-based electronics might also be useful in lighting.

1. What is cellulose used to do in the study?

A．Act as a weak acid.	B．Collect rainwater.
C．Produce electricity.	D．Make quality paper.

2. Which best describes the new battery?

A．Well-received.

B．Eco-friendly.

C．Harmful.

D．Heavy.

3. What can we expect of tree-based electronics?

A．They may change farming practices.	B．They might save a lot of wood.
C．They would serve the elderly.	D．They could light the rooms.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．A Green Way to Make and Store Energy	B．An Attempt to Raise Power Production
C．Practical Suggestions on Planting Trees	D．Recent Advances in Mobile Phones

4 . I had been saying goodbye to my mom for ten years. That was how ______ she had breast cancer. At first, there was the fear that she would die. But as she ______ series of treatments, life took ______ a new normal. But cancer is an unrelenting (冷酷无情的) foe. It was a journey from ______ to hope again and again, and only painkillers could keep her ______ . At 66, my mom was dying, but we could do nothing. I ______ praying for God to heal her but rather to take her. I learned that dying is the ______ healing. How brokenhearted when a patient or family is ______ a death.

My mother showed me how to fight her foe with knowledge, humor and ______ . And when the time came, she showed me how to die with grace, dignity, humor and wisdom. ______ , while it is hard to escape from the ______ , I want to anticipate the joy of the day when all the pain and hurt of this world will be over. One day, I will die and ______ those I love. One day, those I love will die as well. I don’t want it to envelop me to the point where I cannot enjoy life and make ______ that will last not only in this life, but hopefully into the next.

In those ten years watching my mother die, I learned that we cannot ______ avoid grief in this life. But we can seek out and remind ourselves to anticipate the joy, no matter how ______ things are.

We cannot cure the world of sorrows, but we can choose to live in joy.

1.

A．soon

B．long

C．often

D．many

2.

A．survived

B．suffered

C．sustained

D．strengthened

3.

A．in

B．out

C．on

D．up

4.

A．decrease

B．demand

C．despair

D．desire

5.

A．comfortable

B．suitable

C．bearable

D．adjustable

6.

A．stopped

B．suggested

C．sought

D．searched

7.

A．unacceptable

B．unintentional

C．ultimate

D．unselfish

8.

A．experiencing

B．explaining

C．exploring

D．expecting

9.

A．drugs

B．exercises

C．strength

D．faith

10.

A．Instead

B．So

C．However

D．Moreover

11.

A．sorry

B．sorrow

C．scene

D．sob

12.

A．leave

B．abandon

C．forget

D．remember

13.

A．progress

B．memories

C．fortunes

D．influence

14.

A．initially

B．similarly

C．totally

D．gradually

15.

A．optimistic

B．cruel

C．positive

D．bad

5 .

Antarctica Desert	Antarctica is a continent (大陆) of ice. There is hardly any rain in Antarctica, so the Antarctic Desert becomes the driest desert in the world. It is also the world’s largest desert by area.
Sahara Desert	The Sahara Desert is the hottest of all the deserts on the earth. It covers most parts of North Africa and is similar in size to the land area of the USA. The word “sahara” in Arabic means “desert”.
Arabian Desert	The Arabian Desert is in Asia on the Arabian peninsula. It covers almost the entire Arabian Peninsula. The sand here has a red-orange color and the surface of the Arabian Desert is covered mainly by sand hills, some gravel plains( 砾石平原) and rocky plains.
Mojave Desert	The Mojave Desert is in the USA. It is the driest desert on the North American continent. Death Valley, one of the hottest areas in the world, is in the Mojave Desert. Mojave comes from the Spanish word for “beside the water”.

1. Which is the driest desert in the world?

A．The Arabian Desert.	B．The Sahara Desert.
C．The Antarctica Desert.	D．The Mojave Desert.

2. What is the Sahara?

A．It is the hottest desert in the world.

B．It is the largest desert in the world.

C．It is the coldest desert in the world.

D．It is the driest desert on the North American continent.

3. What color is the sand in the Arabian Desert?

A．Red.

B．Orange.

C．Red-yellow.

D．Red-orange.

6 . 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。

Flames in kilns (窑) around China    1     (burn) since the Xia and Shang dynasties. Along the way, porcelain (瓷器) was born.

Porcelain is made by heating raw materials, often a mix between China stone     2     clay, in a kiln at a temperature as high as 1,200 degree Celsius. Temperature is key    3     making porcelain. Going through the fire of reinvention at a high temperature bestows (给予) porcelain with greater strength and a feast of colors.

Celadon produced in Longquan, Zhejiang province, a technique passed down for more than 1,600 years,    4     (be) a typical example of caftsmen’s pursuit of the perfect green glint (闪耀). It takes 72 steps    5     (produce) Longquan celadon’s jade-like green. Plum green and light green, or tianqing, are two colors of the best quality.

Porcelain has also been a carrier for cultural exchanges. Along with China’s silk and tea, porcelain was one of the commodities    6     (trade) worldwide. As it travelled around the globe through the ancient Maritime Silk Road, porcelain enjoyed great    7     (popular) among royal families and upper classes in Europe.

Porcelain began as a practical utensil and    8     (grow) into pieces of art. Even when shattered (打碎) into pieces and buried deep in mud,    9     (culture) values attached to porcelain would never dissipate.

As a memory    10     can be felt with both hands, porcelain is touchable history.

7 . 学校将开设更多课外活动，假如你是李华，请代表班级向学生会主席David写信，推荐一项团体运动，并给出理由。内容包括：
1.推荐项目；
2.推荐理由。
注意:1.词数80字左右，可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。参考词汇: extra-curricular activities。
2.开头已给出，不计入总字数。请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear David,

I’m Li hua, from Class 2 Grade Three.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours,

Li Hua

8 . It is no secret that China has an amazingly rich history and culture. My first exposure (接触) to Chinese culture came totally by chance. One day, I entered my grandfather’s personal library and took a book named Tao Te Ching from one of the shelves. As an 8-year-old, the book’s content completely confused me, but it provided me with an early connection to a beautiful and great philosophical (哲学的) tradition that still influences me today.

Around this time, I also came across several cartoons heavily inspired by traditional Chinese culture and martial arts such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat. Both cartoons describe beautiful landscapes and buildings similar to those found in classical Chinese paintings. This further developed my love of the rich and beautiful culture.

At school I began studying Chinese. My interest in the language developed early on, combining my love of travelling with my love of meeting new people. Later on, my interest in the language developed into exploring widespread Chinese culture. I wanted to challenge myself in a totally new linguistic (语言的) landscape and listen to the lives and stories of others in their own language. I have been lucky enough to have lived in China for around three years. I loved every second I spent there and there is never a shortage of things to see and do, people to meet, and foods to enjoy.

It is safe to say that my journey to studying Chinese has only just begun and these first steps are only a drop in the ocean of lifelong learning, but as the Chinese philosopher Laozi says, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

1. How does the author like the book Tao Te Ching?

A．It encourages him to go to the library.

B．It improves his behavior and habits.

C．It has a long lasting influence on him.

D．It makes him know Chinese society better.

2. What makes the author more interested in Chinese culture?

A．Watching some cartoons.	B．Admiring Chinese paintings.
C．Living abroad for long.	D．Cooking Chinese food.

3. What can we learn from paragraph 3?

A．Chinese culture differs greatly from others’.

B．Travelling takes up much of the author’s time.

C．It’s easy for the author to get on well with others.

D．The author learns languages in real surroundings.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．My Grandpa’s Influence on Me	B．My Exploration of Chinese Culture
C．My Travel Experience in China	D．My Exposure to TaoTe Ching

9 . On Oct. 11, hundreds of runners competed in a cross-country race in Minnesota. Melanie Bailey should have _________ the course earlier than she did. Her _________ came because she was carrying a _________ across the finish line.

As reported by a local newspaper, Bailey was more than two-thirds of the way through her _________ when a runner in front of her began crying in pain. She _________ to help her fellow runner, Danielle Lenoue. Bailey took her arm to see if she could walk forward with _________. She couldn’t. Bailey then _________ to let Lenoue climb onto her back and carried her all the way to the finish line, then another 300 feet to where Lenoue could get _________ attention.

Once there, Lenoue was _________ and later taken to a hospital, where she learned that she had serious injuries in one of her knees. She would have struggled with extreme __________ to make it to that aid checkpoint without Bailey’s help.

As for Bailey, she is more __________ about why her act is considered a big __________. “She was just crying. I couldn’t __________ her,” Bailey told the reporter. “I feel like I was just doing the right thing.”

Although the two young women were strangers before the __________, they’ve since become friends. Neither won the race, but the __________ of human kindness won the day.

1.

A．designed

B．followed

C．changed

D．finished

2.

A．delay

B．chance

C．trouble

D．excuse

3.

A．judge

B．volunteer

C．classmate

D．competitor

4.

A．race

B．school

C．town

D．training

5.

A．agreed

B．returned

C．stopped

D．promised

6.

A．courage

B．aid

C．patience

D．advice

7.

A．went away

B．stood up

C．stepped aside

D．bent down

8.

A．medical

B．public

C．constant

D．equal

9.

A．interrupted

B．assessed

C．identified

D．appreciated

10.

A．hunger

B．pain

C．cold

D．tiredness

11.

A．worried

B．ashamed

C．confused

D．discouraged

12.

A．game

B．problem

C．lesson

D．deal

13.

A．leave

B．cure

C．bother

D．understand

14.

A．ride

B．test

C．meet

D．show

15.

A．secret

B．display

C．benefit

D．exchange

10 . Personal Forgiveness

Taking responsibility for mistakes is a positive step, but don’t beat yourself up about them. To err (犯错) is human.     1     You can use the following writing exercise to help you do this.

In a journal or on a piece of paper, put the heading “Personal strengths.”     2     Are you caring? Creative? Generous? A good listener? Fun to be around? They don’t have to be world-changing, just aspects of your personality that you’re proud of.

At the top of a second page, put the heading “Acts of kindness.” On this one, list all the positive things you’ve done for others. It might be the time when you helped a friend with their homework, when you did the ironing without being asked, or when you baked cookies after the family had had a tiring day.     3    

You could ask a friend or family member to help add to your list.     4     That way, you could exchange thoughts on what makes each of you special and the aspects of your personality that shine through. In fact, don’t wait until you’ve made a mistake to try this — it’s a great way to boost self-confidence at any time.

It’s something of a cliché (陈词滥调) that most people learn not from their successes but their mistakes. The thing is, it’s true.     5     We’ re all changing and learning all the time and mistakes are a positive way to develop and grow.

A．A little self-forgiveness also goes a long way.

B．Now list all the characteristics you like about yourself.

C．They might even like to have a go at doing the exercise.

D．It’s just as important to show yourself some forgiveness.

E．It doesn’t mean you have to ignore what’s happened or forget it.

F．Whatever it is, no matter how small it might seem, write it down.

G．Whatever the mistake, remember it isn’t a fixed aspect of your personality.