1 . In the old-fashioned town of Willowbrook, two friends named Emma and Liam shared an intimate bond. They were inseparable and spent every moment together, laughing, exploring, and creating unforgettable memories.
One cold winter morning, as the first snowflakes gently fell from the sky, Emma woke up with a stuffy nose and a sore throat. She tried to brave it and get ready for school, but her body felt weak and achy. Unwillingly, she called Liam to let him know she couldn’t make it to school that day.
Liam was concerned when he heard the tiredness in Emma’s voice. “Don’t worry, Em. I’ll take care of everything at school for you,” he assured her. Feeling grateful for Liam’s understanding, Emma forced a smile and replied, “Thank you, Liam. You’re the best friend anyone could ask for.”
After school, Liam hurried to Emma’s house, carrying a meal he had prepared for her. He knocked on the door, and Emma’s mother welcomed him with a warm smile. “Oh, Liam, you’re such a thoughtful friend,” she said.
“I brought some soup and tea for Emma. I hope it will make her feel better,” Liam replied, some concern in his eyes. Entering Emma’s room, Liam found her curled up under a blanket, looking pale but relieved to see him. “Hey, I brought some comfort food to cheer you up,” he said, setting the food on her bedside table.
Emma’s eyes lit up, and she smiled weakly. “You didn’t have to, but thank you. This means the world to me,” she whispered. Sitting by her side, Liam kept her company, chatting softly and making her laugh despite her illness. The warmth of their friendship enveloped the room, bringing a feeling of comfort to Emma’s tired soul.
As Emma regained her strength, she realized just how lucky she was to have a friend like Liam. His unwavering presence and kindness had made her recovery easier and brighter. Their friendship grew stronger with each passing day, and from that moment on, they knew they would be there for each other through thick and thin.
1. What does the underlined word “intimate” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?| A．Satisfactory. | B．Informal. | C．Close. | D．Temporary. |
| A．It was too cold to go outside. | B．Liam failed to pick her up. |
| C．She was in a bad condition. | D．School was closed for the heavy snow. |
| A．Considerate and caring. | B．Brave but lazy. |
| C．Selfless and active. | D．Independent but stubborn. |
| A．Emma’s illness. | B．A precious friendship. |
| C．Liam’s company. | D．How to help a friend. |
My mother believed in using things up. Last year, our cornfield had a bad harvest because birds feasted on the crops. It was probably then that Mom’s frugality(节俭)became even more extraordinary. She began keeping everything that seemed useless in the attic(阁楼)—worn-out clothes, old sheets, broken umbrellas, and some other old items. Mom’s favorite saying was “waste not, want not”(俭以防匮). My brother Josh and I weren’t sure what that meant until the “Affair of the Scarecrow(稻草人)”, which, as it later became known, left a lasting impression on us.
The story began with a pretty hat that Mom received as a gift to protect her from the sun. However, Josh and I could see that Mom’s frugal nature and fashion sense were in battle. Mom really didn’t want to get rid of the hat—it was new and had a lot of use left in it—but neither could she stand wearing it. She tried to take off the fancy decorations, but they were stuck on tight. She’d have to find some other solution.
Josh and I watched as Mom headed upstairs to the attic with the hat. “Waste not, want not,” she called back down. We heard boxes being moved around. Moments later, Mom leaned out, holding a flour bag full of straw, and with a mysterious smile, she placed the hat on it.
“What is that for?” I asked, confused. “A scarecrow! ” Mom exclaimed. “But not a good one yet.It needs a strong body to stand firm in the field,” she said with a frown. “And it doesn’t look scary enough,” Josh remarked. I had to admit that Josh, though younger than I was, could sometimes be more imaginative. Josh and I turned to each other, searching for a good idea. Soon enough, Josh’s eyes lit up with inspiration.
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: “Come with me!” Josh called out.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: In the following days, the scarecrow stood proudly.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . There’s a new AI bot: ChatGPT, and you’d better pay attention, even if you aren’t into artificial intelligence. The tool is an AI chatbot system that OpenAI released in November 2022 to show off and test what a very large, powerful AI system can achieve.
ChatGPT remembers the thread of your dialogue, using previous questions and answers to inform its next responses. It derives its answers from huge volumes of information on the Internet. ChatGPT is built on top of the OpenAI GPT-3 family of large language models and is fine-tuned (a method of transfer learning) using both supervised and reinforcement learning (监督和强化学习).
You can ask ChatGPT anything, like explaining physics, asking for birthday party ideas and getting programming help. Perhaps it’s not smart enough to replace all humans yet, but it can be creative, and its answers can sound downright authoritative. A few days after its launch, more than 1 million people were trying out ChatGPT. UBS analyst Lloyd Walmsley estimated in February 2023 that ChatGPT reached 100 million monthly users in January, accomplishing in 2 months what took TikTok about 9 months and Instagram two and a half years.
ChatGPT is free to use at the moment because it is still in its research phase. But when too many people hop onto the server, it overloads and can’t process your request. It just means you should try visiting the site at a later time when fewer people are trying to access it. If you want to skip the wait and have reliable access, there is an option for you. As of Feb. 1, 2023, OpenAI has a ChatGPT pro plan, ChatGPT Plus, which allows users to have general access even during peak times. This service does come at a cost of $20/month.
However, ChatGPT can not replace Google. ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence robot that provides solutions to your questions, but Google is a search engine in which you can search for as much information as possible. ChatGPT has limited knowledge due to its programming but Google has unlimited knowledge which is updated every day.
1. What does paragraph 2 mainly tell us about ChatGPT?| A．Its working theory. | B．Its language model. |
| C．Its design inspiration. | D．Its development process. |
| A．To show the popularity of ChatGPT. |
| B．To stress the high cost of inventing ChatGPT. |
| C．To present the creativity of artificial intelligence. |
| D．To prove the necessity of developing tools for chatting online. |
| A．Guiding users to experience free services. |
| B．Giving users priority access during peak hours. |
| C．Allowing net surfers to skip advertisements. |
| D．Helping researchers detect the failure of the system. |
| A．It may provide replies unrelated to the questions. |
| B．It can only update information at a fixed time |
| C．It needs longer to provide solutions. |
| D．It operates based on limited data. |
4 . Beth Bonness talked into the mirror as her hairstylist cut her hair. Bonness was telling a funny story about a trip to Rome. Suddenly, the stylist started moving her hands around in the mirror. “Beth. Beth. Beth. Can you hear me? ” she said. Bonness asked her what was wrong. In her mind, the words were coming out of her mouth. But she could see in the mirror that her lips weren’t moving. She started seeing bursts of light in the sides of her vision (视野). Then suddenly, the sensations disappeared.
Tests indicated Bonness had a transient ischemic attack (短暂性脑缺血发作) (TlA). About a third of people who have a TIA go on to have a more serious stroke (中风) within a year.
Bonness said she was told it was a one-off incident, so she didn’t worry about future problems. Plus, only old people have strokes, she told herself. She was 49, healthy and fit. Even the doctors implied that she was too young to worry. But the same week, while having a meal with her family, she couldn’t speak clearly again.
Bonness went on disability for a few weeks, and returned to work full-time half a year later. In the beginning, she felt less confident about speaking. Later she threw herself into living as healthy as possible. In 2011, her doctor said she’d fully recovered. She stopped all stroke-related medication.
In 2014, Bonness retired. She ended up saving a historic craftsman-style home in her neighborhood by changing it into a small residential development. The process had so many twists and turns (意外的曲折变化) that Bonness began writing a book about her story.
Last year, she started sharing her writing. She also started a writing group for survivors of stroke and brain injury in the hope that they too might find the same insight (领悟) and comfort. “Maybe it’s about doing more talking and sharing,” she said. “Every experience you have, all that travels with you.”
1. What does paragraph 1 mainly tell us?| A．The reason for Bonness’ catching TIA. | B．The treatment course of Bonness’ TLA. |
| C．Bonness first experience of suffering TIA. | D．Bonness’ chat with her hairstylist about TIA. |
| A．It would harm her eyesight. | B．It was nothing to worry about. |
| C．It might be a deadly disease. | D．It needed further examination. |
| A．To buy her family a house. | B．To have an active retirement. |
| C．To record some events in her life. | D．To support a housing development. |
| A．She has traveled around the country. | B．She has gathered material for her book. |
| C．She has helped look after those with TIA. | D．She has encouraged survivors of TIA to write. |
1. What is the woman doing in the beginning?
| A．Parking her car. | B．Walking her dog. | C．Cutting the grass. |
| A．Very sorry. | B．Very excited. | C．A little unhappy. |
| A．Give the woman a bag. |
| B．Clean up the mess himself. |
| C．Let the woman go home to get a bag. |
1. When does the woman go to class?
| A．On Friday. | B．On Thursday. | C．On Wednesday. |
| A．Late at night. | B．At noon. | C．Early in the morning. |
7 . Hey! You have a hairless spot on the back of your head! " Mom’s alarmed cry hit me like a shock.
I tried to shrug it off. “It’ll grow back.” I worked to sound
At first, the loss was minimal.
As days went by, my hair started to fall faster and more.
We went to see a doctor, who diagnosed my condition as alopecia (脱发症) . He recommended an injection to try, which would be
I had to wear a wig to school every day, worried it might slip one day and that everything would
I came to realize that what had happened was not my fault, and not something I should feel
| A．mid | B．calm | C．upset | D．relieved |
| A．Checking | B．Polishing | C．Clearing | D．Covering |
| A．sense | B．chance | C．sign | D．way |
| A．wonder | B．panic | C．expand | D．relieve |
| A．Reaching | B．Shifting | C．Feeling | D．Running |
| A．delay | B．avoid | C．cease | D．keep |
| A．attached | B．connected | C．guided | D．applied |
| A．After all | B．Worse still | C．In brief | D．By contrast |
| A．motion | B．procedure | C．routine | D．mission |
| A．break out | B．draw to a close | C．fade away | D．come to light |
| A．reveal | B．restrict | C．distribute | D．highlight |
| A．Instead | B．Furthermore | C．Anyway | D．Thus |
| A．blow | B．credit | C．exception | D．miracle |
| A．proud | B．ashamed | C．fond | D．guilty |
| A．evaluation | B．introduction | C．acceptance | D．dependence |
1.说明问题;
2.提出建议。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80个左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Dear Adam,
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours Sincerely,
Li Hua
9 . Climbing, I once thought, was a very manly activity, but as I found my way into this activity, I came to see that something quite different happens on the rock.
Like wild swimming, rock climbing involves you into the landscape. On the rock, I am fully focused. Eyes pay close attention, ears are alert, and hands move across the surface. Unlike walking, where I could happily wander about absent-mindedly, in climbing, attentive observation is essential.
As an arts student studying English literature, I discovered a new type of reading from outdoor climbing. Going out on to the crags (悬崖), I saw how you could learn to read the rocks and develop a vocabulary of physical movements. Good climbers knew how to adjust their bodies on to the stone. Watching them, I wanted to possess that skillful “language”.
My progress happened when I worked for the Caingorms National Park Authority. Guiding my explorations into this strange new landscape was Nan Shepherd, a lady too. Unlike the goal-directed mindset of many mountaineers, she is not concerned with peaks or personal achievement. Shepherd sees the mountain as a total environment and she celebrates the Caingorms as a place alive with plants, rocks, animals and elements. Through her generous spirit and my own curiosity, I saw that rock climbing need not be a process of testing oneself against anything. Rather, the intensity of focus could develop a person into another way of being.
Spending so much time in high and stony places has transformed my view on the world and our place in it. I have come into physical contact with processes that go way beyond the everyday. Working with gravity, geology (地质学), rhythms of weather and deep time, I gain an actual relationship with the earth. This bond lies at the heart of my passion for rock climbing. I return to the rocks, because this is where I feel in contact with our land.
1. Why does the author like rock climbing?| A．It challenges her to compete with men. | B．It allows her a unique attitude toward rock. |
| C．It teaches her how to possess a new language. | D．It makes her feel connected wth the earth. |
| A．Balance. | B．Concentration. |
| C．Determination. | D．Perseverance |
| A．Climbing goes together with nature. | B．Every mountain top is within reach. |
| C．The best climber is the one having fun. | D．You can not achieve high unless you change. |
| A．Time. | B．Transformation. | C．The world. | D．My view. |
10 . Blind people have long desired for brightness, but scientists don’t have the technology. To bring that one step closer to reality, Zhiyong Fan, a materials scientist of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, developed a new artificial eye recently. The device, which is about as sensitive to light and has sharper vision and a faster reaction time than a real eyeball, may outperform human eyes.
The human eye owes its wide field of view and clear eyesight to the retina (视网膜) — an area at the back of the eyeball covered in light-detecting cells. The design for a new artificial eye is based on the structure of the human eye and uses a friendly light-sensitive material. At the back of the eyeball, an artificial retina is lined with Nan scale light sensors (纳米级光感器). Those sensors measure light that passes through the lens (晶状体) at the front of the eye. Wires attached to the back of the retina send signals from those sensors to the processor, similar to the way nerve networks connect the eyeball to the brain.
“In the future, we can use this to replace damaged human eyes,” says the lead designer. In theory, this artificial eye could see more clearly than the human eye, because the artificial retina contains about 460 million light sensors per square centimeter while a real retina has about 10 million light-detecting cells per square centimeter. Besides, the artificial eyeball records changes in lighting faster than human eyes can — within about 30 to 40 milliseconds, rather than 40 to 150 milliseconds. Although its 100-degree field of view isn’t as broad as the150 degrees a human eye can take in, the device can see as well as the human eye in poor light.
Hongrui Jiang, an electrical engineer at the University of Wisconsin, though, thinks engineers need a much more practical and efficient way to produce vast series of tiny wires on the back of the artificial eyeball to give it superhuman sight, which is super hard to achieve.
1. Why does Zhiyong Fan develop the artificial eye?| A．To replace people’s real eyeballs. | B．To gain a sharper vision. |
| C．To help the blind regain their eyesight. | D．To help normal eyes perform better. |
| A．The design of the artificial eye. | B．The structure of the human eye. |
| C．The advantages of the artificial eye. | D．The material used for the artificial eye. |
| A．They have the same structure. |
| B．The artificial eye may see more clearly. |
| C．The human eye sees better in weak light. |
| D．The artificial eye takes in a broader view. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Favorable. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Satisfied. |
