1 . 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。

Whenever you have to write a paper, a letter, or any other document for work or school, you probably head toward the computer. Now, most people reach for     1     (keyboard) faster than they pick up pens. In a Scottish primary school, however, Mr. Norman Lewis is taking a different approach. He feels that neat handwriting     2     (be) still an important skill, so he has his students write not only by hand but also     3     old fashioned fountain pens.

Fountain pens     4     (use) in schools long ago and have been regaining popularity lately because they are refillable. Today, a writer     5     (simple) throws an empty pen away and gets     6     new one.

So far, Mr. Lewis is pleased with the results of his experiment. He reports that his students are taking more care with their work, and their self-confidence has improved as well. He is happy with the     7     (improve) he sees in his students’ writing     8     in his own writing. He knows that computers are here     9     (stay) and that they will not disappear. However, he believes that the practice with fountain pens helps students to focus, to write faster, and they can feel proud of     10     (they).

2 . ChatGPT, a new chatbot model developed by US-based AI research laboratory OpenAI, has quickly become a hit globally due to its advanced conversational capabilities,

It can write emails, computer codes, even academic papers and poems, and has passed a number of tests within seconds. Academicians worldwide are discussing whether AI should be used in education. Some universities have banned it. The New York City’s Department of Education, for example, banned the chatbot from its public school devices and networks, with some people warning that it could encourage more students to cheat, especially in exams.

Many more welcome this app, claiming that, like most technological advances and groundbreaking innovations in history, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for the development of higher education.

Embracing AI as early as possible is advisable. Higher education institutions should make preparations for including AI in their syllabus (教学大纲). They can start by offering related courses, because by understanding how it works, they can make better use of it. Besides, students with good knowledge of AI are more competitive when it comes to getting a good job, as an increasing number of jobs are being done by computer programmes-some in cooperation with humans, AI-powered education technologies can be adopted to make the learning experience more suitable for each student based on his or her strengths and weaknesses. As for professors, AI can free them from doing some dull tasks so they can concentrate on teaching and interacting with students.

Since we cannot avoid ChatGPT and other AI-powered applications from entering the field of higher education, we should make collective efforts to ensure they have a positive impact on society and the future of education Despite AI helping make learning much more interesting and enjoyable, humans need to work very hard to win the race with technology.

1. Why do some higher education institutions forbid ChatGPT?

A．ChatGPT can write emails and computer codes quickly.

B．Some professors might not perform their duties properly.

C．Students would have conversations with each other via it.

D．Students might seek help from it in completing the exams.

2. What is the author’s attitude towards AI applications in education?

A．Fearful.

B．Disapproving.

C．Supportive.

D．Uncertain.

3. How can AI benefit students of higher education?

A．It offers students an increasing number of jobs.

B．It personalizes students’ learning experience.

C．It equips students with competitive skills to cooperate with humans.

D．It handles uninteresting tasks so students can better focus on learning.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．We should guard against AI apps.

B．AI will be more widely used in education.

C．The future of education relies on AI apps.

D．Humans will be left behind by technology.

3 . Joao Carlos Martins is a famous pianist and conductor. However, his career has been ________ and his life has taken him in many different ________.

As a teenager Martins began to perform in concerts. But in his late twenties, he had to ________ after badly breaking his arm. It was really a terrible time. He couldn’t look at a piano or ________ listen to music. ________, he decided to become the manager of a boxer, who won the world championship later. This ________ Martins to take up the piano and practise much harder. Six years later, he gave his first concert at the Carnegie Hall, which was the most ________ moment of his life. He performed in concerts for years before he had to quit because of the unbearable ________ in his hands caused by too much ________.

Martins, in his forties, became a politician. However, he couldn’t stand this ________, so once again, he went back to the piano. All was going well until something unexpected ________ while leaving a concert. He ________ a serious brain injury and lost all the movement in his right hand. Again, with great ________ he played just with his left hand. Years later he lost the use of the left hand and ________ himself a conductor. Now, in his late seventies, Martins is still taking ________ to work and has conducted over a thousand concerts.

1.

A．smooth

B．tough

C．flexible

D．interesting

2.

A．cultures

B．forms

C．directions

D．levels

3.

A．give up

B．set out

C．turn up

D．hold out

4.

A．still

B．just

C．ever

D．even

5.

A．Generally

B．Ultimately

C．Occasionally

D．Naturally

6.

A．forced

B．promised

C．motivated

D．forbade

7.

A．realistic

B．emotiona1

C．struggling

D．striking

8.

A．pain

B．cuts

C．tension

D．sensitivities

9.

A．conducting

B．playing

C．instruction

D．competition

10.

A．career

B．popularity

C．condition

D．behavior

11.

A．existed

B．remained

C．occurred

D．continued

12.

A．found

B．suffered

C．cured

D．nursed

13.

A．patience

B．care

C．pleasure

D．determination

14.

A．fancied

B．considered

C．made

D．chose

15.

A．measures

B．chances

C．courage

D．trouble

4 . The Mustard Seed Project is getting closer to one of its initiatives-building affordable senior housing on the Key Peninsula, Washington.

The Nonprofit carries out the project so that people don’t have to leave the Key Peninsula as they age and have home care needs. “We hope to build in Key Center, a good, central location for our community. Our vision is to have a campus with a cafe and meeting spaces, 10 independent living cottages that have one or two bedrooms with laundry, housekeeping and one meal a day provided, and then assisted living for 30 residents,” said board president Sara Thompson. “We want this to be a place that draws the entire community in, rather than a setting that sets elders aside in an isolated environment.”

More than a year ago, a longtime supporter of the organization made a major gift to undertake a long-desired study to understand both the needs of the community and the financial feasibility (可行性) for senior housing. As a result, The Mustard Seed Project had a meeting in November at the Key Peninsula Civic Center to explain the results of the study and to plan for the next steps.

“We’ll be applying for a predevelopment loan to do all the necessary planning,”The Mustard Seed Project Executive Director Edie Morgan said. “We’re aware of affordable loans for the assisted living section of the project, and can get standard financing for the other buildings. But there will be a funding gap, and we expect to need to raise nearly $3 million to make this happen. I believe we can do it.”

The entire project, once the project manager is identified, is expected to take about two years.

1. Why is the organization building affordable senior housing?

A．To offer free assistance to seniors.

B．To create job opportunities for residents.

C．To provide access to aging in place.

D．To improve facilities for the community.

2. What do we learn about the organization from Paragraph 3?

A．It holds meetings regularly.

B．It prepares holiday gifts for elders.

C．It adapts to sponsors’ needs.

D．It takes the housing project seriously.

3. What is Morgan mainly talking about?

A．Sources of funds.

B．Application for loans.

C．Costs for construction.

D．Distribution of donations.

4. Why is the text written?

A．To attract more visitors.

B．To introduce an organization.

C．To report on a project.

D．To entertain the seniors.

5 . 后来他的“海水稻”愿景也成为了现实，并有望在中国开辟近100万平方公里的盐碱地用于水稻生产。
His later ________________ for “seawater rice” also became a ____________, and potentially opened up nearly one million square kilometers of ____________ land in China for rice production.

6 . How to Start a Conversation with Strangers

Introduce Yourself

It’s not necessary to be clever when you introduce yourself. Simply focus on being genuine and sincere. When you approach the other person to start the conversation, give him a warm smile and clearly state your name.     1     Remember to speak at a regular pace, taking care not to speak too quickly or slowly, so that the other person will have no difficulty understanding you.

Begin the Conversation

    2    A comment about the weather or a current event may be most appropriate. Avoid beginning the conversation with anything too personal, as this may make the other person feel uncomfortable to continue the conversation. After you make your opening comments, give the person enough time to respond. Show a sincere interest in the thoughts she expresses about the subject.

Continue the Conversation

If you are building a rapport(关系), feel free to move on to a bit more personal topics to continue the conversation.    3    Open­ended questions — those that can’t be answered by a simple “yes” or “no” — help to keep a conversation going.

    4    

When you have run out of things to say or need to move on to do something else, prepare your exit strategy. You may say that you need to use the bathroom or catch up with someone else. Let the other person know how much you enjoyed talking to her.     5    

A．End the Conversation.

B．Bring up a general topic to begin the conversation.

C．This will help keep the conversation flowing freely.

D．If appropriate, make plans to talk again at a later date.

E．Your conversational partner will feel valued and appreciated.

F．Explain who you are and why you want to have the conversation.

G．You may want to ask about his favourite hobby, his career, his classes or upcoming events.

7 . The development of China’s space program was first suggested in 1956 by the father of Chinese rocket science, Qian Xuesen (1911-2009). As a result of extensive preparation and planning, the Shenzhou crewed program began in 1992, and the first Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, went into space in 2003. Chang’e-1, a lunar orbiter was launched in 2007, while Tiangong-1, an experimental crewed space station was launched in 2011.

In 2019, Chang’e-4 made a soft landing on the far side of the moon. It was mankind’s first successful soft landing on the far side of the moon. A “soft” landing is one where the spacecraft lands in a controlled way, and gets no damage. Twelve hours later, the small Yutu-2 rover12 was released. To understand why Chang’e-4’s soft landing was such an achievement, consider the difficulty of any space mission, especially one to the far side of the moon. While the far side of the moon is often called the dark side of the moon, it is not really dark.

The main problem with landing on the far side of the moon is communication. There is no clear line of sight between the far side of the moon and the Earth. This normally makes radio communication with spacecraft on the far side of the moon impossible. Chinese engineers came up with a unique solution. Before Chang’e-4’s mission (任务), they sent the Queqiao communications satellite into space. When engineers needed to communicate with Chang’e-4 and Yutu-2, they could send radio messages to Queqiao. The messages would then be sent from the satellite down to the Lander and rover. This allowed for contact between Earth and the far side of the moon.

One of the experiments of Chang’e-4’s mission was designed to test a closed ecological (生态的) system that could be extremely important for long-term space missions: The plants produce food and oxygen for the fruit flies, while the fruit flies produce carbon dioxide for the plants. This experiment worked for nine days, but it had to be stopped when the temperatures dropped below -52°C.

1. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．The first Chinese astronaut, Yang Liwei, went into space in 2007.

B．Qian Xuesen is considered the father of the Chinese space program.

C．The development of space program in China started in ancient times.

D．The Chinese space program has been advancing with preparation and planning.

2. Why was Chang’e-4’s landing on the moon such an achievement?

A．Because Chang’e-4 landed on the moon successfully.

B．Because Chang’e-4 made a soft landing on the dark side of the moon.

C．Because man had never landed on the moon with the difficulty of space mission.

D．Because it was the first time that humans had landed on the moon without any damage.

3. Why was the ecological experiment on Chang’e-4 stopped?

A．It got too dark to continue.

B．The Lander no longer had power.

C．It got too cold for the experiment to work.

D．There was not enough oxygen on the moon.

4. Where is this passage probably from?

A．A story book	B．A textbook
C．A science fiction	D．A magazine

8 . 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。

A Respectable Watermelon Expert

China     1    (be) the largest producer and consumer of watermelons in the world since 2018. And Wu Mingzhu, 92 years old now, is the unsung hero who has helped make this possible. It’s fair    2    (say) that about 80 percent of the watermelons served at people’s dining tables every day are the result of great efforts made by Wu and her team over more than 60 years.

Admitted to Southwest Agricultural College in Chongqing in the late 1940s, Wu is an alumnus (校友) of Yuan Longping, the “father of hybrid rice”. After two years of application failures, Wu succeeded in     3    (realize)her dream of starting her career in Xinjiang in 1955. Since then, she has put     4    (she)to growing sweet melons.

Wu’s efforts to grow quality melons began paying off in 1973,     5    she set up an off-season growing base in Hainan. Going and returning between Xinjiang and Hainan     6    (frequent) for many years, Wu developed more than 20,000 of China’s new seed     7    (kind) through off-season growing.

Wu’s contribution has won her many praises. She became     8    member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering in 1999 and an honorary citizen of Sanya in 2004. In addition, growers call her the “Queen of Melons”.

Now suffering from Alzheimer’s (阿尔兹海默) disease, Wu is often     9    (able)to recognize her former colleagues or even her family members. However, the memory of her melon work     10    (remain) in her mind.

9 . Have you ever got a lot done only to find that you were not any closer to your main objective (目标)? What I’m talking about is spending too much of your time doing things you think are important but really aren’t.

I remember doing a lot of little useless things in my days as a sales person. The main key to becoming good at sales is to spend the majority of your time selling.     1     But what did I spend my time doing? I organized my desk, filed papers, made contact sheets, set appointments with non-decision makers, learn more sales skills, etc.     2    

    3     The problem is that many people get into the habit of taking busy action, things that just keep you busy instead of bringing you closer to your goals.

    4     First, you need to figure out the two or three things that are the most important to your achievement. Then, schedule out your time so that you are spending at least 70% of your time dealing with those things. Anything that isn’t part of those important things should be pushed to the end of the day or not be worked on at all if possible.

Being able to focus your actions on doing the few things that make the biggest impact on obtaining your end result is a skill.     5     Your goals will be achieved faster and your life will improve greatly. Continue wasting your time on doing a lot of things that don’t matter and you’ll probably be where you are now a year from today and that’s a regret you can do without.

A．So what should you do about this?

B．That’s something a second grader could figure out.

C．Yet keeping focused is often easier said than done.

D．It’s as important to work smart as it is to work hard.

E．Needless to say, I failed at being a sales person.

F．Once mastered, it will put you ahead of the majority of people.

G．One of the keys to success that you probably already know is to take action.

10 . Perhaps you’ve stopped doing what you want because you’re afraid of what others think of you. You feel that you must do what they expect and that you must meet their expectations, otherwise you’ll lose their approval.     1     Then, you’ll be able to do what you want freely.

Think about yourself, about what you really like and are interested in. You must lead your life independently.       2     However, you might feel afraid to do it because you’ ve always done everything to gain the approval of others. You need to get out of that zone, move to new places, and explore your full potential.

By surrounding yourself with people who think like you, you’ll realize that you don’t feel judged. Then, you’ll start doing what you really want.     3     Your new friends will integrate into your life and you’ll also keep your genuine friends. On the other hand, those who are always ready to see the negative and question what you’ re trying to do will drift away.

To overcome your fear of what others think and of their non-approval, you should start talking about your plans, For instance, you might want to tell a handful of friends about your wishes and dreams.     4     You’ll feel confident in yourself and you’ll be able to go on your new path without any fear.

It’s unavoidable that not everything will be plain sailing, and you’ll find obstacles along your way.     5     People in your environment often don’t understand what you do no matter how much you explain it, so ignore them.

A．There is no need to think about what you want.

B．You don’t have to change your circle of friends.

C．Your life belongs to you, as well as your actions.

D．By talking to them, you’ll be able to organize your plans and ideas.

E．If this is the case, it’s time to start working on your self-esteem (自尊).

F．You must do what you want without being affected by what others think.

G．However, you must trust in yourself and seek the necessary strength to move forward.