1 . The Sahara is the world’s largest and most magic desert, but knowledge about it is surprisingly limited. Even estimates of when it formed vary widely, from more than five million years ago to mere thousands. Now, however, geographers studying wind-carried Saharan dust on the Canary Islands have come closer to settling this: it is, they report, close to five million years old.

One reason for the uncertainty over the Sahara’s age is that researchers use different methods to estimate it. These include studying desert dust found in sediment (沉积物) under the Atlantic Ocean, analyzing sandstone and modeling the ancient climate. To help settle the uncertainty, Daniel, geographer of the U.S. Geological Survey, and his workmates looked at sediment on Spain’s Canary Islands. They found evidence of Saharan dust. The dust appeared in ancient soil layers (层), whose age they assessed on the basis of fossils (化石) found in the same layers — and that age agreed with the earlier ocean’s sediment studies. The researchers reported their findings in November in Palaeogeography.

“The conclusion of the study is very good,” says Zhongshi Zhang, a climate modeler at the University of Bergen in Norway, who was not involved in the work. “Because the dust found on the islands is distinct from the ocean’s record,” Zhang adds, “it helps to build the case for a five-million-year age.”

The Sahara is the biggest source of wind-carried dust in the world — and that dust’s journey does not end in the Canary Islands, which lie just off the western coast of Africa. It continues onto places such as the Amazon rain forest in South America, Daniel notes. Amazon soils are poor in nutrients, and he says the new results help to show how rich dust from Africa could have been supporting the South American region’s incredible biodiversity for millions of years — adding to the Amazon’s own origin story.

1. How did Daniel settle the formation time of the Sahara?

A．By modeling the ancient climate in Spain’s islands.

B．By studying the desert dust under the Atlantic Ocean.

C．By assessing the age of the dust in ancient soil layers.

D．By analyzing the wind-carried sandstone in the Sahara.

2. What is the underlined words “their findings” in the paragraph 2 refer to?

A．The appearance of the dust.	B．The formation of two layers.
C．The age of the Saharan dust.	D．The agreement of two layers.

3. What contributes to the biodiversity of the South America?

A．The Saharan dust.	B．The Amazon soils.
C．The Amazon rain forest.	D．The Coastal waters.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．The Study of the Sahara.	B．The Birth of the Sahara.
C．The Source of the Sahara.	D．The Effect of the Sahara.

2 . In the summer of 1965, Tété-Michel Kpomassie became the first African to explore Greenland. He was 24 on the day that he stepped onto the port at Qagortoq, on Greenland’s southern coast. But his arctic journey had actually begun some seven years earlier.

Kpomassie’s amazing life story starts with a bit of chance and a book. He was a teenager when he bought a book about Greenland in Togo. Immediately, the topic attracted him, and he knew that he must go there.

He traveled along the west coast of Africa, eventually crossing into Europe. There, he stayed for some time before leaving for Greenland. “I took my time to step out,” he recalled. “When I arrived, everyone stopped talking; all were staring. They didn’t know if I was a real person or wearing a mask. Children hid behind their mothers. Some cried, believing I was a spirit from the mountains.”

Kpomassie found his true home in Greenland’s northern reaches, where the Inuit culture that he’d read in a book as a boy was very much alive. Over the next 18 months, Greenland’s first African learned to ski, ice fish and hunt, and adapted himself quickly to the new environment.

He returned to Togo in late 1966 and adapted the journal he’d kept into a book. Kpomassie then went on to give lectures about his experience in halls and classrooms throughout Africa and Europe. And he settled down in Paris and raised a family, returning to Greenland on three occasions in that time. His book An Africa in Greenland was first published in France and has since been translated into eight languages.

“All the while I knew where I ultimately needed to end up,” he said. Now approaching 81 years old, Kpomassie is packing up his apartment and heading back to northern Greenland, where he intends to live out his final years.

1. When did Kpomassie begin his first journey to Greenland?

A．In the 1940s.	B．In the 1950s.
C．In the 1960s.	D．In the 1970s.

2. What can we infer about people from Para.3?

A．They were unfriendly to strangers.

B．They didn’t meet a black man before.

C．They taught Kpomassie eight languages.

D．They were unwilling to let Kpomassie go.

3. Which of the following can best describe Kpomassie?

A．Strong and determined.

B．Brave and hardworking.

C．Kind and ambitious.

D．Adventurous and adaptable.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．The unusual experience of an adventurer.

B．The opportunities of returning to Greenland.

C．The great effect Kpomassie has on literature.

D．The meaning of starting an amazing adventure.

3 . 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。

One morning Jack woke up with an aching arm. He touched it carefully with one finger. Ow! That really hurt! He climbed out of bed and put on his dressing gown(睡袍), very, very carefully. Then he went downstairs.

Mum was in the kitchen, searching for cornflakes(玉米片)in the cupboard.

“We’re out of cornflakes again,” she said, not looking round.

“Mum,” Jack began, “I think there’s something wrong with my…”

But at that moment, Lucy, Jack’s twin sister, came into the kitchen.

“Mum,” she cried, “I’m very, very ill! Very ill indeed! My stomach hurts really, really bad! I am far too sick to go to school!”

Mum was worried. She felt Lucy’s forehead. “You do feel hot. But you were fine yesterday.”

“I’m not fine now,” said Lucy. “Please, Mum. Can I go back to bed?”

Lucy didn’t even want breakfast. Jack tried to tell Mum about his arm. But Mum was too worried about Lucy.

“Please just get dressed, Jack, or you will be late for school!”

Mum stayed home to look after Lucy. Dad gave Jack a lift to school, and Jack tried to explain about his arm. “I was playing football yesterday and I hit my arm and it still hurts,” he said.

“Probably just a bruise(瘀伤),” said Dad. “I hope Lucy is better soon. She looked a bit feverish to me.”

It’s always about Lucy, thought Jack crossly.

At school, Jack had to be very careful of his arm. He had to keep it really still. Luckily he could still write with his other hand. At home, Mum was looking after Lucy. She put her back to bed and brought her a glass of warm water. She read her a story.

“How do you feel now?” she asked. “Would you like to try a little breakfast?”

“I can’t eat a thing,” said Lucy.

Mum was worried. It wasn’t like Lucy not to eat anything. She bent down to pick Lucy’s teddy bear off the floor. As she did so, she caught sight of something under the bed.

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。

A huge pile of candy wrappers(包装纸)! And an empty box!

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mrs Smailes, the headteacher, came running to meet them. ”I think you need to go straight to hospital. Jack is there!"

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . 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 one year ago, 24-year-old Alex Wong found himself struggling with his mental health. With     1     (anxious), he couldn’t fall asleep, especially at night.

“I would hole up in my room during the day and stay awake all night because I didn’t want to interact     2     others and let them see me at my worst,” says Wong.

It was during this time that Wong     3     (feel)that he needed to find purpose and meaning in his life, so he signed up to volunteer with ImpactHK, a charity that     4     (primary)helps homeless people.

Wong took part in the group’s “kindness walks,”     5     (walk)through Tsim Sha Tsui to hand out food and other essential     6     (item)to homeless people. Today, he volunteers     7     (lead)these walks once or twice a week.

“Doing this work makes me feel grateful for everything I have. My homeless friends may be down on     8     (they)luck and have nothing, yet they’re content, and they’ve helped me understand that I can be happy too, even when things aren’t going my way. I’ve also developed strong bonds with my fellow volunteers, many of     9     I’ve become close friends with.”

Wong says that he’s in     10     better emotional space these days. “Helping my homeless friends has given my days new meaning and purpose and made me realize how good life can be.”

5 . It’s been said the power is in your hands to become anything you want to become. For Dewitt resident Jerome Schafer, that’s _______! Schafer is a builder by trade, but his other _______ is letting his hands dance across a piano keyboard.

For the last six years, Schafer has been _______ the residents of Clinton County’s Gunnisonville Meadows Assisted Living Center to _______ some of the “classics,” as he calls them. “I’m playing a lot of songs. I _______ many years to the 30s, 40s and like that,” he said.

Joe Smith is a _______ listener. “He plays here every Wednesday. I wouldn’t miss it,” Smith said. “He _______ about 10:30 in the morning and plays until 11:30.” Anita Iocco says listening to Schafer play is the _______ of her week. “I wouldn’t miss it. I always _______ of being here,” she said.

Schafer has been playing music since he was 14 years old, and 80 years later, he is still playing. He says he hasn’t had any formal __________ lessons and doesn’t read music.

His granddaughter, Nicole Yabs, drives him to and from the __________ concert. Yabs says Wednesdays with her __________ are her favorite part of the week. “I don’t think a lot of people __________ the time that they spend with their grandparents, but I know that I __________ value that,” she said.

Schafer says he’ll keep playing as long as he can. “I __________ seeing the people enjoying it, so that’s enough for me,” he said.

1.

A．true

B．fantastic

C．initial

D．ideal

2.

A．career

B．quality

C．talent

D．budget

3.

A．treating

B．visiting

C．leading

D．following

4.

A．teach

B．learn

C．read

D．play

5.

A．go back

B．put on

C．take off

D．look forward

6.

A．choosy

B．sympathetic

C．professional

D．regular

7.

A．sings

B．comes

C．waits

D．rests

8.

A．application

B．preparation

C．highlight

D．responsibility

9.

A．lose control

B．take a note

C．keep track

D．make a point

10.

A．piano

B．tennis

C．cooking

D．trade

11.

A．classical

B．evening

C．weekly

D．closing

12.

A．mother

B．grandmother

C．father

D．grandfather

13.

A．appreciate

B．waste

C．keep

D．need

14.

A．properly

B．definitely

C．easily

D．secretly

15.

A．avoid

B．admit

C．enjoy

D．remember

6 . Life as a student means that you have to face and handle different types of challenges. Many young people place high demands on themselves and their academic performance, which can lead to feeling stressed.

    1     A study has shown that positive stress strengthens the immune system, enhances memory, and improves decision-making skills. In the short term, stress is an effective and positive reaction in the body.     2     For this reason, it’s important to find a balance between studying and resting.

When stressed, it’s easy to opt out of physical activities to save on study time, but it’s precisely during stressful periods that it’s essential to take care of your body and move as much as possible. Try walking or cycling to school, or getting off the bus some distance from the school and walking the last bit.     3    

Trying to catch up with more of your studies by sleeping less is not a good idea. The consequence is that you quickly lose in efficiency and energy, and then the studies take longer instead.     4     Sleep is needed for the body and brain to rest, recover and process new knowledge.

    5     Since the brain is unable to maintain full focus for long periods, it’s good to take micro-breaks every hour, stand up and stretch for a few minutes. We often want to complete our assignments as soon as possible, perhaps with the idea of rewarding ourselves with rest later, but we need to turn this around.

If, as a student, you begin to notice symptoms(症状)of stress, find ways to manage it.

A．Stress is a natural reaction in the body.

B．School plays an important role in a student’s life.

C．As students, we need to get between 7-9 hours of sleep per night.

D．Another thing that helps is moments of rest during the school day.

E．But if it continues to exist for a long period, it can be directly harmful.

F．Being physically active will significantly increase your stress resistance.

G．Learning different techniques to relax can have a positive effect on your health.

7 . Scientists have invented ways to ”read“ words directly from brains. Brain implants(植入物)can translate internal speech into external signals, permitting communication from people with diseases that steal their ability to talk or type. New results from studies provide additional evidence of the extraordinary potential that brain implants have for restoring lost communication.

Some people who need help communicating can currently use devices that require small movements, such as eye gaze changes. Those tasks aren’t possible for everyone. So the new studies targeted internal speech, which requires a person to do nothing more than think. ”Our device predicts internal speech directly, allowing the patient to just focus on saying a word inside their head and transform it into text,“ says neuroscientist Sarah Wandelt. ”Internal speech could be simpler than requiring the patient to spell out words or mouth them.“

Neural(神经系统的)signals associated with words are detected by electrodes(电极)implanted in the brain. The signals can then be translated into text, which can be made audible(听得见的)by computer programs that generate speech. Electrodes picked up nerve cell signals in the posterior parietal cortex, a brain area involved in speech and hand movements. A brain implant there might eventually be used to control devices that can perform tasks usually done by a hand too, Wandelt says.

The system allowed Pancho, who hadn’t been able to speak for more than 15 years after a car accident, to produce around seven words per minute. That’s faster than the roughly five words per minute his current communication device can make, but much slower than normal speech, typically about 150 words a minute.

To be useful, the current techniques will need to get faster and more accurate. “ These are still early days for the technologies, ” Wandelt says. “Progress will be possible only with the help of people who volunteer for the studies. The field will continue to benefit from the incredible people who participate in clinical trials.”

1. What function is expected of the brain implants?

A．To control body movements.	B．To detect certain brain diseases.
C．To assist communication.	D．To translate foreign languages.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly tell us about the system?

A．Its working principle.	B．Its technical limitation.
C．Its clinical significance.	D．Its potential application.

3. What can we infer about the system from the last paragraph?

A．It has got as fast as normal speech.

B．It has not been put in clinical trials.

C．It is more accurate than current techniques.

D．It is not of much practical use at present.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To describe a trial.	B．To introduce a device.
C．To advertise a product.	D．To explain a concept.

8 . A report issued on the eve of the first major U.N. conference on water in more than 45 years says 26% of the world’s population doesn’t have access to safe drinking water and 46% lacks access to basic sanitation (卫生). The U. N. World Water Development Report 2023, released Tuesday, painted an unpleasant picture of the huge gap that needs to be filled to meet U.N. goals to ensure all the 8 billion people have access to clean water and sanitation by 2030.

According to the report, water use has been increasing globally by roughly 1% per year over the last 40 years and is expected to grow at a similar rate through to 2050, mainly driven by population growth in urban areas.

With agriculture using 70% of all water globally, Richard Connor, editor in chief of the report, said, irrigation (灌溉) for crops has to be more efficient. As a direct result of climate change, an increase in intensity or frequency of droughts and “heat extremes” can be expected in most regions. On average, “10% of the global population lives in countries with high or critical water stress” — and up to 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month a year, said the report.

As for water pollution, Connor said, the biggest source of pollution is untreated wastewater. “Globally, 80% of wastewater is released to the environment without any treatment,” he said, “and in many developing countries it’s pretty much 99%.”

These issues will be discussed during the three-day U. N. Water Conference opening Wednesday. There are 171 countries, including over 100 ministers, on the speakers list along with more than 20 organizations. The meeting will also include five “interactive dialogues” and dozens of side events.

1. How many people lack safe drinking water according to the report?

A．About 0.8 billion.	B．About 2 billion.
C．About 3. 6 billion.	D．About 6 billion.

2. What does the report say about water use?

A．It has been increasing steadily every year.

B．It contributes to environmental pollution.

C．It is highly efficient in agricultural irrigation.

D．It is stressful for 3.5 billion people throughout the year.

3. What does the report mainly focus on according to the text?

A．Comparing opinions.	B．Analyzing causes.
C．Introducing policies.	D．Offering solutions.

4. What can we learn about water shortage from the last paragraph?

A．It has caused regional conflicts.	B．It will be eased in most countries.
C．It has attracted worldwide attention.	D．It can be managed by treating wastewater.

9 . In Tennessee, you will find a “secret society” that consists of 9 women who call themselves “The 9 Nanas.” Its mission is simple — to spread happiness by performing random acts of kindness for those in need. The Nanas have been together since childhood. Several of them were raised by MaMaw and PaPaw, a couple that were always doing good for the community.

One day when the 9 Nanas got together, they started recollecting the old days with MaMaw and PaPaw. They fondly recalled how MaMaw Ruth used to bake and send pound cakes to families who had recently lost someone. The “sisters” wanted to do good for their community too. So, the “secret society” of “The 9 Nanas” was born.

The ladies kept their ears open as they ran their daily work. Whenever they heard of someone in need, they’d step in to help. A package would be sent, which would always include one of MaMaw Ruth’s pound cakes and a note that said “Somebody loves you.”

Believe it or not, the group operated in secret for 30 years! But by then, the husbands had started to get suspicious. So the 9 Nanas gathered the husbands and spilled the beans. Their husbands wanted in on the fun. That’s when the operation was taken to the next level!

Now, over 5 years since the husbands uncovered their wives’ secret, the 9 Nanas are still going strong. They said, “Not everyone is as lucky as we were to have MaMaw and PaPaw to take care of them. So this is our way of giving back. We want to make sure that happiness happens.”

1. What is the task of the “secret society”?

A．To uncover secrets.	B．To search for lost family members.
C．To spread happiness.	D．To attend kids for working parents.

2. What inspired the 9 Nanas to start the “secret society”?

A．A thank-you note.	B．Their similar interests.
C．A special package.	D．Their common memories.

3. Which of the following best explains ”spilled the beans“ underlined in paragraph 4?

A．Told the truth.	B．Shared snacks.
C．Asked for help.	D．Made promises.

4. Which of the following best describes the 9 Nanas?

A．Practical and polite.	B．Humble and humorous.
C．Caring and devoted.	D．Outgoing and disciplined.

10 . Even if you only have one day to spare, these stretches of sand guarantee a relaxing getaway. Start planning your next day by the shore with this list of the best East Coast attractions.

Block Island, Rhode Island

Down the rocky, scenic Mohegan Bluffs, Block Island is known for its 17 miles of beaches. Baby Beach features shallow, gentle surf for kids to play in, and Fred Benson Town Beach offers a bathhouse, rental chairs, and umbrellas. Visitors can take a boat to Block Island from Point Judith and Newport.

Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

Drive along New Hampshire’s 18-mile coast until you reach Hampton Beach, a broad stretch of sand overlooking the Atlantic Ocean that’s considered one of the cleanest beaches in the country. The attractions include a market with shops, eateries and games; a marine (海洋的) life discovery center; and a historical society.

Ocean City, Maryland

Choose Ocean City for your next beach vacation if you want a lot of options: You’ll find 10 miles of beaches, a 3-mile boardwalk, a load of restaurants, and tons of shops. There are many pet-friendly hotels, though dogs are only welcome on the beach in the colder months between October 1 and April 30. Horseback riding on part of the beach is allowed in the offseason as well (November to March).

Canaveral National Seashore, Florida

Canaveral National Seashore attracts space fans and nature lovers alike thanks to its closeness to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex and its 24 miles of beach habitat. Kids can enjoy a free Junior Ranger activity book while visiting this island.

1. Which activity can people do on Hampton Beach?

A．Go horseback riding.	B．Enjoy a boat travel.
C．Learn more about space.	D．Visit a local market.

2. What do we know about Ocean City?

A．It has pet-friendly hotels.	B．It is the cleanest beach.
C．It has a marine life center.	D．It is located in Florida.

3. Which of the following has the longest beach?

A．Block Island.	B．Hampton Beach.
C．Ocean City.	D．Canaveral National Seashore.