1 . National Geographic Film Concert: Secrets of the Whales

This month, the Jack Singer Concert Hall will invite audiences into the underwater world of legendary photographer Brian Skerry and producer James Cameron in National Geographic Film Concert: Secrets of the Whales on May 26-28. With none other than Jann Arden, celebrated musician, actor and author, as a guest commentator guiding audiences into the complex and fascinating families, culture, and play that reveal the secret lives of whales, the whole experience is brought to life by a full orchestra (管弦乐队) and world-class conductor Anthony Parnther.

Called “visually appealing” by The New York Times, this concert presentation brings the most powerful moments of the Emmy-winning Disney+ series together, transporting audiences into the lives of five different whale families as they adapt to ecological changes to their habitats.

“Secrets of the Whales was the most ambitious project of my career as a photographer. If we could see the ocean and our planet through the lens (镜头) of the culture of another species, that could change our view of the natural world and our relation to it,” says Skerry. “Those connections, the communities and the cultures the whales share all mirror human culture, but sometimes we forget about that.”

Brian Skerry has spent nearly four decades exploring and documenting the world’s oceans. He spent more than three years in 24 locations shooting footage for the four-part series Secrets of the Whales. Now, with the most powerful moments selected, the documentary has been edited for this live, two-hour concert performance. Projected on a high-definition screen, the rich filmography and sweeping score is brought to life by a 40-piece orchestra. Join Arts Commons Presents for this worldwide event, in the Jack Singer Concert Hall al Arts Commons. Get your tickets today at artscommons.ca/whales.

1. What will Jann Arden act as in the film concert?

A．Explainer.

B．Musician.

C．Conductor.

D．Director.

2. What is the project aimed at?

A．Advertising the concert.	B．Researching human culture.
C．Protecting animals’ habitats.	D．Understanding nature better.

3. How long did Skerry spend filming the documentary?

A．Two hours.	B．Four days.
C．Over three years.	D．About four decades.

2 . When 1 was 8, my family moved into our brand-new home. My parents had _________ it to our own particular needs and interests, including built-in bookshelves to house their hundreds of books and a large, bright sunroom to _________ all the plants my garden-loving father planned to grow. Unfortunately, a few months later, a heart attack _________ his life.

My mother, who never had green fingers, Gilled our sunroom with low-light plants like ferns (蕨类植物), which consistently _________ . Instead of giving up, she experimented over years and eventually got better through _________ and error.

She never _________ said she wanted to become a better _________ as a way to keep my dad’s memory alive, but I knew the sight of the plants could call to mind their happy time. It was a _________ to her that at least part of the room always had plants growing in it.

Then, last year, Mom experienced a series of falls that _________ her in hospital. As I was thoroughly __________ with tending her while raising kids and working, I felt exhausted to the point of __________ . Magically, I always got recharged when __________ her plants, especially her enormous ferns—now at home in a more appropriate __________ spot.

Mom may not be with us much longer, for her health has __________ significantly. It’s my __________ to develop a green thumb—nursing her plants is a future source of comfort that we could be always together.

1.

A．repaired

B．maintained

C．tailored

D．built

2.

A．hide

B．shelter

C．rescue

D．produce

3.

A．claimed

B．affected

C．threatened

D．wasted

4.

A．grew

B．burned

C．flowered

D．disappeared

5.

A．wisdom

B．control

C．knowledge

D．trial

6.

A．calmly

B．cheerfully

C．accurately

D．specifically

7.

A．nurse

B．gardener

C．cook

D．doctor

8.

A．reward

B．promise

C．comfort

D．habit

9.

A．landed

B．attacked

C．enabled

D．involved

10.

A．disappointed

B．associated

C．bored

D．consumed

11.

A．collapse

B．emptiness

C．panic

D．loneliness

12.

A．shouting at

B．caring for

C．cleaning away

D．cutting down

13.

A．warm

B．sunny

C．shady

D．cold

14.

A．advanced

B．stabilized

C．changed

D．declined

15.

A．privilege

B．decision

C．turn

D．future

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。

“This is enough! I cannot stand it anymore!” My owner’s mother shouted at the top of her lungs. “Wolfie has to go! Have a dog that’s so big and eats so much! I cannot stand him urinating (小便) all over the house instead of in the small basin at his kennel (狗窝)!”

“But…” My owner cried.

“No buts, Bob!” His mother shouted. Her cold tone indicated she meant business.

Now think back on your most depressing moment. Then multiply that feeling of depression by a hundred. That was how I felt at that time. I would be separated from my beloved owner, Bob. This was the end and I had no one to blame but myself.

Lowering his head in sadness, Bob dragged himself towards his room and slowly closed the door. With a click, he locked it. I went back to my kennel and lay inside. I sighed deeply, tears welling up in my eyes. Soon, I would have no owner and I would have to find shelter, food and water by myself. Poor me.

After a while, I heard footsteps that were becoming louder by the second. I raised my head and saw Bob walking towards me with a leash (皮带) in his left hand.

“We are going to the market,” Bob told me as he tied one end of the leash around my neck.

A walk would make me feel better. I followed Bob and his mother to the market. Soon, we reached the long road that we had to cross to get to the market. After waiting for ages, the traffic light finally turned green. While crossing the road, Bob walked slowly as he seemed about leaving me. We were soon falling behind his mother.

From the comer of my eye, I saw something moving closer and closer at great speed. It was a red car speeding towards Bob’s mother! Bob also saw it but his mother was unaware of the danger approaching her! I caught a glance of the look of horror on Bob’s face. He had turned white in horror.

注意:
1. 续写词数应该为150个左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

I needed to do something!

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

She looked down at me, feeling touched.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . In today’s fast-paced world, where screen time is a fact of life, the thought of taking your kids to an art gallery — and them actually enjoying the experience — might seem a thankless and impossible challenge.     1     Surely a child won’t have the patience to stare at something outside the screen.

In fact, art galleries serve as invaluable educational and instructional resources. They invite young viewers to interpret and connect with the artwork on a personal level. This exposure not only broadens their artistic horizons but also encourages them to appreciate different ways of seeing the world. So art galleries are packed with nutrition for mind, heart, and soul. But many kids are picky eaters, and take galleries as appetising as yesterday’s porridge (粥).     2    

Allow your children to fit in on their own terms. Who said that walking around a gallery bad to be slow and methodical, stopping to look at every picture?     3     If they want to head straight for a certain display, it’s no big deal. If something catches their eye on the other side of the room, far away from the Picasso or Constable in the spotlight, that’s absolutely fine.

While it might sound like I’m not being an art enthusiast, the particular work of art is simply not important. What really matters is that children build a connection with art.     4     Involve older children, either with or without a reward, in simple quizzes such as, “Who can guess the artist?” or, ”Who can identify the period it was made?”

    5     Ask questions such as, “What exhibit did you find most exciting or boring?” or, “How did that painting make you feel?” and discuss your different impressions of the same works. As an added bonus, it will deepen the connection between you and your children. By taking this approach, art is no longer dull but something alive and relevant to young people, and even a rewarding and fascinating pursuit that will last a lifetime.

A．You can make it into a game.

B．How can they find enjoyment?

C．It always enhances their interest.

D．Instead, let them control the pace.

E．Talk to children in the language of emotions as this also works.

F．Limiting your visit to 45 minutes is perfect for stopping boredom.

G．After all, galleries are for quiet reflection and observation, right?

5 . The color blue is very rare in nature, with fewer than one in 10 plants sporting the common human favorite. To present this color, they have to perform tricks to make themselves blue to the human eyes. In some lowers like bluebells, it primarily occurs when naturally occurring pigments (色素) are mixed the way you can mix different paints to change the color.

For blueberries, the blue comes on the naturally produced thin layer of wax (蜡) on their skin, which often serves as a self-cleaning coating or for added protection in the plant kingdom. “The blue of most fruits is in their pigmented juices. That isn’t the case with blueberries,” says Rox Middleton, co-author of a study published in Science Advances.

In the study, Middleton and his team examined the wax of a blueberry using an electron microscope. They found that the layer of wax is composed of tiny structures that work by scattering (散射) blue and UV light from the sun, while absorbing most of other colors of light. The arrangement makes the berries appear blue to humans and blue-UV to birds and other species that can see UV light, despite not having blue pigments in the waxy skin itself.

To look closer, they removed the outer wax and reshaped it on a black card. They created a new blue-UV coating and removed a very thin substance that creates color called a colorant from the skin. “The colorants scatter blue and UV, letting the other colors pass through without absorption,” says Middleton. “That’s why it’s so important that there are dark pigments underneath to ‘mop up’ the rest of the light. If there was a bright pigment or white scattering material underneath, that light would come through, and the color would look mixed or washed out.”

The study does show that nature has developed a “really neat trick” in the form of a very thin layer for an important colorant. Reproducing this colorant in the lab could make a way for new methods of creating pigments.

1. How do bluebells present blue to humans?

A．By blocking natural light.	B．By combining the pigments.
C．By changing the outer colour.	D．By producing various paints.

2. What did Middleton’s team discover about the wax layer on blueberries?

A．Its colorful pigments.	B．Its internal mechanism.
C．Its chemical changes.	D．Its unique components.

3. Which of the following can replace the underlined phrase “mop up” in paragraph 4?

A．Mix.

B．Reflect.

C．Recognize.

D．Absorb.

4. What is a suitable title for the text?

A．The Science Behind Plant Colors	B．The Invisible Pigments Of Blueberries
C．Technically, Blueberries Aren’t Blue	D．Indeed, Color Blue Is Human Favorite

7 . In recent years, much of my life as a consumer has shifted to what I like to call background spending as I`ve subscribed to more apps and streaming platforms.

While this explosion of subscriptions was sold to me on the idea that it would make my life more convenient, there was a certain sticker shock I felt upon discovering how much I was spending without realizing each month—after I’d already spent it, of course. You see, the thing about background spending is that it tends to happen, well, in the background without your full attention. And there lies the point.

“Hand over your credit card details and let us take care of the rest,” these companies promise us. But by agreeing to this trade, we’ve become passive consumers who are allowing the balance of capital to tilt(倾斜)away from us. It’s understandable why this model of subscription service is so inviting for businesses. Subscriptions offer the promise of “selling once and earning forever.” And while subscription services have been around for decades, more customers have been willing to sign up thanks to the popularization of smartphones. But while these subscriptions promise ease and happiness, not all of us are satisfied.

Last year, C+R Research asked 1,000 people to estimate how much they pay for their subscriptions before having them figure out this spending. They found the average monthly spend was more than 2.5 times of that people guessed.

If we’re going to rebalance the wheels of capital just a little, we could support a recently proposed rule from the Federal Trade Commission(FTC). In March, the agency suggested a “click to cancel” item that would require companies to make it just as easy to end a subscription as to sign up for one. Additionally, businesses would need to remind subscribers annually about their membership before these are automatically renewed.

If all that doesn’t work, I have another idea: an app designed to keep track of your various subscriptions and background spending. Oh wait, those already exist— for a reoccurring fee, of course.

1. What does subscribing to more apps bring about to the author?

A．Data leak.	B．Overloaded phones.
C．Cost increase.	D．Unwilling purchases.

2. What can we learn about the subscription service from paragraph 3?

A．It is business friendly.	B．It guarantees customer satisfaction.
C．It is specially customized.	D．It encourages reasonable consumption.

3. What does FTC advise businesses to do?

A．Text sign-up reminders.	B．Lower subscription spending.
C．Set automatic renewal mode.	D．Simplify canceling procedures.

4. How does the author feel about background spending?

A．Powerless.

B．Dismissive.

C．Appreciative.

D．Tolerant.

9 . 阅读下而短文, 在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Anyone visiting Tibet and exploring its culture would visit the temples to view the colorful and educational Tibetan Thangka (唐卡) paintings. They are traditionally painted on either cotton or silk, with     1     (loose) woven cotton being the most common. The paintings usually show religious scenes, as indicated by their name, Thangka,     2     (mean) “recorded message” in Tibetan.

The Tibetan Thangka is     3     art form that originated in Nepal and was brought to Tibet later. The Thangka paintings were developed over the centuries from the early murals (壁画) that can be seen in     4     is titled “Library Caves”, such as the Ajanta Caves in India and the Mogao Caves in China.

The Mogao Caves were previously a storage place of many Tibetan paintings on cloth, including the earliest surviving Thangka dated to be from around 780-848 AD     5     the region was under Tibetan rule. Historians note that between the 14th and 15th century, Tibetan paintings     6     (integrate) many elements from the Chinese murals.

The Thangka painting is not a flat creation but consists of a painted picture panel, over which a fabric is mounted, and then over which     7     (lay) a cover, usually silk. It is the nature of     8     (delicate) that makes Thangkas prefer dry places     9     (prevent) the quality of the silk from being affected by wetness. When they are not in use, they remain rolled up, with coverings on the back and front to protect the painting.     10     (keep) in this way helps Thangkas last for a very long time.