1 . Everyone wants to perform well at school. Add these tips to your life and you should be on your way to being a top student!
Taking notes is important. You don’t need to write down every single word your teacher says but write down what he or she writes on the blackboard, or any special fact you think you might need for a test.
Don’t skip school. You will be missing courses.
Keep a good attitude (态度) towards things. If you have an “ I don’t care about school or this class” attitude, then teachers will be less willing to help you with problems. The same goes for lazy attitude. Have a respectful attitude to the teacher and other students.
Always ask questions.
| A．Be prepared. |
| B．Write in your own words. |
| C．Staying organized will be helpful. |
| D．Pay attention to what the teacher says. |
| E．It is true that you could make up the work. |
| F．There is no shame (羞愧)in needing some help. |
| G．Try not to laugh when other students make mistakes. |
2 . In looking through your social media, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed pictures accompanied by texts. The pictures are likely made possible by a text-to-image program called DALL-E. For example, Twitter user posted a tweet with the text, “To be or not to be, rabbi holding avocado, marble sculpture.” Then a matching picture appears below.
The AI models come from Google’s Imagen software as well as OpenAI. a start-up backed by Microsoft. On its website, OpenAI calls DALL-E “a new Al system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.” But most of what’s happening in this area is coming from a relatively small group of people sharing their pictures. That’s because Google and OpenAI have not made the technology broadly available to the public.
The text-to-picture services identify the most important parts of a user’s text and then guess the best way to picture those terms. There’s generally a text box, a button to start the generation process and an area below to display images. To indicate the source. Google and OpenAI add watermarks in the bottom right comer of images from DALL-E and Imagen.
Engineers trained the models on various collections of words and pictures from the web. OpenAI recognizes the potential for harm that could come from a model. To avoid the risk, employees removed violent content from training data, and there are filters（筛选）stopping DALL-E from producing images if users submit（提交）violent or illegal content.
Boris Dayma, a developer from Texas spelled out the problems in an explanation of their software. Despite the risks, Dhariwal, a research scientist at OpenAI, said it could open up creative opportunities for individuals and could help with commercial applications for dressing up websites. Results should continue to improve over time.
| A．Beautifying pictures at users’ request. |
| B．Producing pictures from human words. |
| C．Changing pictures into vivid descriptions. |
| D．Providing pictures for users to choose from. |
| A．Its users’ rights. | B．Its operating conditions |
| C．Its working process. | D．Its company’s prospect. |
| A．All images come from a unified model. |
| B．The training data is selected beforehand. |
| C．Improper requests can’t be submitted. |
| D．Filters remove the unhealthy description. |
| A．Positive. | B．Objective. | C．Uncertain. | D．Worried. |
3 . Picture the scene: you’ve spent years working towards a very specific goal. You’ve put in countless hours of work and made many efforts along the way, but now that you’ve got there it doesn’t feel quite like you imagined. Instead of celebration, you feel emptiness, confusion and doubt.
Welcome to the anti-climax. The often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s biggest milestones. Many of us work tirelessly towards our goals. We may spend our lives dreaming of the day we get married, publish our first hook or buy our first home. However, oftentimes, when we achieve these things it doesn’t feel quite as expected. In fact, the achievement of these goals feels a bit of a letdown.
So why do we often experience an anti-climax with big goals, even though we’re happy to achieve them? “An anti-climax can be an unexpected by-product of a milestone achievement. Usually, the more significant the milestone, the greater the anti-climax may be. The intensity（强度）of an anti-climax often relies on what we expect of this achievement.” says Rachel Vora. a psychotherapist（心理治疗师）.“The journey to achieving a milestone can he exciting and tiring in addition to giving us a sense of purpose and focus. Therefore, when this disappears overnight. we can often feel lost and confused, in spite of feeling proud of our achievement.
When this happens it can contribute to a mixture of emotions. We often falsely believe that we’ll feel completely different afterwards or that our feelings of low self-worth will disappear, but this is rarely the case. “Clients（客户）often present to me with an extremely great sense of ‘is this it?’ and ‘what now?’.” says Vora. “These feelings of confusion and disappointment, if let ignored, have the potential to cause clients to be in low spirits, or even worse.”
1. Why does the author mention the examples in paragraph 2?| A．To present a fact. | B．To prove a rule. |
| C．To explain a term. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．Low self-worth. | B．High expectations. |
| C．Sense of purpose. | D．Unexpected achievements. |
| A．Amy felt empty before giving a speech. |
| B．Jack felt lost after his first novel came out. |
| C．Mary felt proud when she joined a ballet club. |
| D．Tom felt doubtful about taking further education. |
| A．How to hold back feelings. |
| B．How to improve self-worth. |
| C．Hon to identify the anti-climax. |
| D．How to deal with the anti-climax. |
4 . When water is cold, people will find it uncomfortable to swim. Wetsuits(潜水服）can help keep people warm.
The wetsuit doesn't have a long history. According to studies, the wetsuit only began during WWII when Italians started wearing wetsuits that were made of rubber. And it was widely believed in 1951, Hugh Bradner began working to improve the equipment.
Now there are many kinds of wetsuits. Contrary to what some may think, wetsuits do not work by keeping the diver(潜水员）dry; they are designed to let water into the suit. This thin layer of water is trapped（保存）between the diver and the suit. And it's allowed to move between the skin of the diver and the inside layer.
Wetsuits can also differ in thickness. They range from about 0. 5mm to 8mm in thickness. It's true that thicker wetsuits are more likely to affect your movement.
| A．But they're much better at giving you warmth. |
| B．As for the difference, wetsuits can differ in size. |
| C．The history of the wetsuit is an interesting story. |
| D．This led to the development of a kind of new wetsuit. |
| E．Many wetsuits are very light and easy to wear and take off. |
| F．As a result, the water gradually warms up to body temperature. |
| G．And they can provide protection from the sun and cuts from rocks. |
5 . As a college student in Boston, I formed the habit of buying used books. I enjoy the hunt, the good price and the unrecognized treasures. I find old textbooks, ex-bestsellers, and books on subjects I’ve never heard of and now must learn all about. I don’t search for rare books, first editions, or leather-bound editions but books that are worth reading.
Rereading, for me, is a pleasure during retirement. The theater and the concert hall become less appealing to me, along with crowds. Staying alone and reading books have become extremely important to me. Literature needs the flesh of experience to have its full effect. Different books offer me insights and ways of expressing that stuck in my mind as grains of sand in an oyster now shine like pearls. My taste in books improves with age.
While packing for a move, which occurs at intervals of five to seven years, I clear my shelves and pick my books. I abandon a few, later regret my decisions, and look for them again. Several years ago, I got rid of books related to my job-architecture. Some were design guides, reference books, product catalogs, and things that went out of date. Some were historical or centered on a period or an architect. These had given me many hours of pleasure. Will I ever open their covers again? Certainly. I held on to the red bulk of Sir Banister Fletcher’s A History of Architecture and books on Paris, Rome, and Boston.
I gave away drafting equipment and instruments. I threw out rolls and rolls of paper, and old drawings of projects completed long ago, some of which had even been damaged. This time, I stay put in a cottage that suits my status and I’ve moved on in spirit. No doubt I will acquire more used books and throw away more books as passions grow and fade, like feathers changing with the seasons.
1. What does the author consider most important when choosing used books？| A．Their appealing covers. | B．Their reasonable prices. |
| C．Their excellent content. | D．Their collection value. |
| A．He has a small circle of friends. | B．His attitude towards work changes. |
| C．His communication skills improve. | D．He has a deeper understanding of life and books. |
| A．To show some books are worth reading repeatedly. |
| B．To recommend Sir Banister Fletcher’s books. |
| C．To suggest we avoid making poor decisions. |
| D．To explain his love for architecture. |
| A．He will stop throwing away used books. |
| B．He likes updating his collection of used books. |
| C．He is bad at using advanced drafting equipment. |
| D．He enjoys leading an active life in the countryside. |
注意：写作词数应为80左右。
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7 . As more people move into their golden years, many families are welcoming their senior parents into their homes. While most seniors claim to prefer to age in their own homes, safety and health concerns don’t always make this possible.
If you are preparing to welcome a senior parent into your home, everyone will have an adjustment period. This type of move will have physical, emotional, and mental influences for the whole family. Here’re a few tips to help you open your heart and home to your senior parents.
You may be excited about having your senior parent move in, but that doesn’t mean they will share your enthusiasm. Being asked to move out of their own home can be very upsetting for your parents. So it’s important to be patient with them and allow them the time to adjust to their new environment.
It’s also important to give your parents a space of their own. Before you decide to bring a senior parent into your home, you need to consider if you have enough space for them.
Then, for adult children, offering a senior parent a safe home is a priority. Before moving, you will need to make some changes around your home to help your parents stay safe. For example, install grab bars in the bathroom, repair all stairways, add anti-slip mats to the kitchen and so on. And arm yourself with knowledge like First Aid courses.
In addition, your senior parent will be used to being in charge of their own home and is likely to feel like a bother as they begin to settle in your home. One effective way is to assign them a household responsibility. Ask your parents to look after the dog or cook a meal to make them feel like an active and important part of the family.
1. Who may be the intended readers of the text?| A．People moving into their golden years. |
| B．People having senior parents to take care of. |
| C．People wanting to age in their own homes. |
| D．Senior people having safety and health concerns. |
| A．Being patient with your parents. |
| B．Giving them enough space. |
| C．Making sure of their safety. |
| D．Assigning them a household responsibility. |
| A．To make them feel like a bother. |
| B．To make them think themselves useful. |
| C．To make them in charge of the family. |
| D．To encourage them to exercise actively. |
| A．Troubles to live with senior parents. |
| B．A good way to age for senior people. |
| C．Take your responsibility to adjust yourself. |
| D．Open your heart and home to your senior parents. |
8 . Europe is the perfect place for a holiday. Every corner of the continent is bursting with history, culture and sights. The countries are so very close to one another, and yet so completely different.
Sweden
Sweden is a brilliant destination for a campervan (露营车) holiday, with hundreds of well-appointed camping sites suitable for vehicles. Head north to Lapland in the Arctic Circle and you’ll find true wildernesses where you can truly get close to nature. Head here between June and mid-July and you’ll be able to take in the midnight sunshine. If you’re looking for great nightlife, head to Gothenburg, Stockholm or Malmo.
Germany
There are massive industrial cities, rolling plains, towering mountains, deep forests and long, sparkling rivers. It’s not just what’s to see that makes Germany so great, but the ease of seeing everything. All these wonderful locations are all linked by one of the world’s best road systems.
Scotland
Scotland has something for everyone: cities with rich nightlife, incredible scenery, wonderful lochs and medieval (中世纪的) castles. If you want to get away from it all, then the Highlands are one of the least populated areas in the whole of Europe. Hikers will love the Cairngorms – the largest national park in the UK.
Spain
Spain’s famous for its beach holidays, but it offers so much more than that. With a lovely climate, rich history, excellent architecture, delicious cuisine and friendly locals, Spain has long been a favoured destination for holiday.
1. What is the purpose of this text?| A．To explain why the attractions in Europe are world-famous. |
| B．To show the rich history and culture of the European countries. |
| C．To tell about the differences between the European countries. |
| D．To introduce some great European holiday destinations. |
| A．Beautiful scenery. | B．Midnight sunshine. |
| C．Medieval castles. | D．Great nightlife. |
| A．Sweden. | B．Germany. | C．Scotland. | D．Spain. |
9 . Scientists have discovered how plants manage to live alongside each other in places that are dark and shady. Plants in the deep darkness of a thick forest, where natural supplies are not very great in amount, won’t attempt to top their neighbors in growth as those in moderate (中度的) shade do. In deep shade conditions, it would be a waste of energy and harmful to survival because green shoots would never be able to top their larger neighbors in growth.
So how do plants prevent such growth in deep shade conditions? The secret lies in the clocks insides them, say scientists from the John Ines Centre and the University of Bristol.
They have discovered that when plants notice deep shade, this changes the expression of genes parts of the circadian clock (昼夜节律时钟) — the inner daily timer found in plants and other things. These clock parts perform an additional role in preventing plants from lengthening and overtopping neighbors.
The work identifies a previously unknown role of the circadian clock in controlling plant development and the findings may have possible effects on both natural plant populations and crops. Professor Antony Dodd of the John Innes Centre said, “The biological clock of plants plays a big part in their development and fitness. This work casts new light on a new role of the circadian clock in adapting plants to competition with other plants in their environments.” “It also gives us new insights into how plants adapt to very deep shade, where resources are very limited,” said Professor Kerry Franklin at the University of Bristol.
This work provides evidence for the firmness of the circadian clock in stressful environments, and information that may be useful in developing new generations of crops in a challenging climate.
1. What do plants normally do in moderate shade?| A．Struggle to preserve energy. | B．Compete for limited resources. |
| C．Try to outgrow their neighbors. | D．Depend on each other to survive. |
| A．By changing their gene expression. | B．By making them realize light change. |
| C．By helping them adapt to the darkness. | D．By controlling their growth in deep shade. |
| A．To share a new discovery about plants. | B．To introduce the role of the circadian clock. |
| C．To explain plants secret of living in forests. | D．To compare plants living in certain condition. |
| A．How plants face a challenging climate |
| B．Why plants respond to different shade levels |
| C．Why the circadian clock is vital to plants' growth |
| D．How plants become good neighbors in times of stress |
10 . It is not always easy to keep a conversation going in English. You might not be sure about what to say. Or maybe you are afraid that your pronunciation is not good. So how can we continue a conversation in English?
Listen and follow up
First, remember the importance of listening. Listen to the other person attentively, so that you can ask a follow-up question. For example, let’s say the other person tells you, “I just got back from a trip to Canada.”
How was the food there?
Avold simple “yes” or “no” questions
If you want to keep a conversation going, it’s a good idea to ask questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”. If the other person asks you a “yes” or “no” question, try to give a longer answer to help keep the conversation going.
For example, a friend might ask, “Hey, have you seen the new Star Wars movie?” You could just answer, “No, I haven’t.”
Do not worry about your pronunciation. If your pronunciation is a little different, the other person will still understand your message if you try speaking slowly and clearly. When you are traveling in an English-speaking country and have some free time, be brave and speak in English with someone who does not look too busy.
| A．Or, you could say more. |
| B．Be brave and practice often. |
| C．You can try the following ways. |
| D．Why did you choose the destination? |
| E．Then you may make a new friend. |
| F．Correct your pronunciation if possible. |
| G．You can continue with a question using where, what, why, or how. |
