1 . Birders get nervous when they see landscapes covered in wind turbines (涡轮机). When the wind gets going, their blades (叶片) can turn around at well over 200km per hour. It is easy to imagine careless birds getting cut into pieces and wind turbines do indeed kill at least some birds. But a new analysis of American data suggests the numbers are negligible, and have little impact on bird populations.

Erik Katovich, an economist at the University of Geneva, made use of the Christmas BirdCount, a citizen-science project run by the National Audubon Society. Volunteers count birds they spot over Christmas, and the society gathers the numbers. He assumed, reasonably, that if wind turbines harmed bird populations, the numbers seen in the Christmas Bird Count would drop in places where new turbines had been built. Combining bird population and species maps with the locations and construction dates of all wind turbines, he found building turbines had no noticeable effect on bird populations.

Instead of limiting his analysis to wind power alone, he also examined oil-and-gas extraction (开采), which has boomed in America over the past couple of decades. Comparing bird populations to the locations of new gas wells revealed an average 15% drop in bird numbers when new wells were drilled, probably due to a combination of noise, air pollution and the disturbance of rivers and ponds that many birds rely upon. When drilling happened in migration centers, feeding grounds or breeding locations, bird numbers instead dropped by 25%.

Wind power, in other words, not only produces far less planet-heating carbon dioxide and methane than do fossil fuels. It appears to be significantly less damaging to wildlife, too. Yet that is not the impression you would get from reading the news. Dr Katovich found 173 stories in major American news media reporting the supposed negative effects that wind turbines had on birds in 2020, compared with only 46 stories discussing the effects of oil-and-gas wells.

1. What does the underlined word“negligible”in paragraph 1 mean?

A．Insignificant.

B．Inaccurate.

C．Inconsistent.

D．Indefinite.

2. What is Dr Katovich's conclusion based on?

A．Previous studies.	B．Relevant data.
C．Reasonable prediction.	D．Experiment results.

3. What message does paragraph 3 mainly try to convey?

A．Oil-and-gas extraction has expanded in America.

B．Birds are heavily dependent on rivers and ponds.

C．Many factors lead to the decline of bird populations.

D．Well drilling poses a serious threat to birds' survival.

4. Which of the following may Dr Katovich agree with?

A．Wind turbines could share the sky with wildlife.

B．More evidence is needed to confirm the finding.

C．Wind power will be substituted for fossil fuels.

D．Wind turbines deserve wider media coverage.

2 . A few days before my high school ended, I was sitting in my English class. My classmates were talking about who would be the first person to shed tears at _________ . Then, everyone looked at me, and I began to ________ right then and there. I am not an emotional person,but the _________ of leaving this place hit me hard. I never knew how much this building and the people in it ________ to me, until my last days.

High school isn’t for everyone, but there is something for everyone in high school. You just have to ______ out what your“thing”is. I ______ found my “thing” in high school and that was Student Government. For once I had a(n) ________ . I served as the representative of my class, and it gave me a ________ to convey not only my own, but my classmates'_______ to teachers and our school.

But there were a lot of times when I felt ______ . I sat in the classroom looking at the clock, ______ for the end of school day. I ______ the days until summer like it was my job. But now I ______ I could take back all of those moments.

My biggest ________ to anyone still in high school is to make your school a place where you want to go. High school goes by very quickly. You only get one chance to be a high schooler, so take ________ of it.

1.

A．school

B．graduation

C．break

D．random

2.

A．cry

B．lie

C．sing

D．sigh

3.

A．proposal

B．option

C．possibility

D．thought

4.

A．meant

B．replied

C．reacted

D．faded

5.

A．bring

B．figure

C．cross

D．carry

6.

A．anxiously

B．bravely

C．luckily

D．initially

7.

A．organization

B．impression

C．voice

D．discovery

8.

A．benefit

B．chance

C．challenge

D．purpose

9.

A．objectives

B．principles

C．concerns

D．updates

10.

A．disturbed

B．sheltered

C．alarmed

D．inspired

11.

A．applauding

B．searching

C．fighting

D．longing

12.

A．counted down

B．went through

C．set aside

D．put off

13.

A．promise

B．assume

C．pray

D．realize

14.

A．support

B．advice

C．rule

D．warning

15.

A．account

B．notice

C．control

D．advantage

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。

I remember that I was worn out when I got home that afternoon. I'd had to be at the theatre for the audition (试演) at nine that morning, and then I'd been waiting around for about three hours before the director finally saw me. I performed my song and almost at once he told me I could go home. “I am very sorry,”he said,“but your voice isn't quite right for the part.”It had been a similar story at all the auditions that I'd done over the past few weeks.

It had been my dream for years to be in a famous musical like The Sound of Music or Mamma Mia, so I'd taken lessons in singing and dancing, and had come to the city to try and get a part in a show. I'd been really pleased when I'd managed to set up no fewer than ten auditions, but so far all of them had gone the same way. As I arrived back that afternoon at the little apartment where I rented a room, I really wondered whether I should bother going to the eleventh the next morning. It was a show I'd have loved to be in — but really, what was the point? Someone I knew had told me about a job at a local coffee shop, and had said that if I called in for a quick chat at ten the next day, I'd almost certainly get the job. It meant missing the audition, but right now, it seemed like a much more sensible thing to do.

I always sing when I need to cheer myself up, and because there was no one else in the apartment, I slipped off my shoes, went and stood in front of the mirror and started singing.Quite quickly I found myself belting out (大声唱) one of my favourite songs, Bridge over Troubled Water. As I finished the song, I suddenly heard applause. I looked around the room thinking that my roommate had perhaps slipped in without me noticing — but there was nobody. Then I went over to the open window of the apartment, and saw an elderly woman standing on the far side of the pavement below, looking up at me.

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:

She reached her arms up towards me with a great smile on her face.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

The next day I went to the eleventh audition.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

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。

Shoushan Stone was first discovered in Shoushan, Fuzhou. For centuries, craftsmen have been carving stones primarily     1     (mine) from the Shoushan village. The stones are carved     2     figures, animals and many other artworks.

The Charm of Shoushan Stone,     3     ongoing exhibition at the National Art Museum of China,     4     (gather) antique and modern objects which introduce the tradition of stone carving in Fujian. It offers a visual introduction to both the fine quality of Shoushan Stone and the superb skills required     5     (process) it. On show at the exhibition are seals(印章) made from excellent examples of the stone,     6     were sought after among the literati (文人墨客) of the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are also mini sculptures which show craftsmen's different     7     (approach) to carving Shoushan Stone based on its rich color schemes: a red and yellow stone that is suitable for sculpting mountains, flowers and fruits, a black one for trees and stones     8     a grey one for clouds.

So far, Shoushan Stone,     9     (official) named “ China National Stone”,    10     (become) a symbol of elegance, dignity and wisdom, which is worthy of collection.

5 . People have always believed that nature is good for health and happiness. According to scientific studies, being in nature makes people less stressed. In a recent experiment in Japan, one group of people were asked to walk through a forest while another group had to walk through a busy city.     1    . However, researchers found that after the walks, the people who had walked in the forest had better moods, less anxiety and even lower blood pressure. So the experiment showed that it was being in nature that helped people feel less stressed, not just the walk.

Gregory Bratman from Stanford University in the United States found in experiments that a walk in nature could have important cognitive (认知) benefits, improving a person’s memory and creativity.     2    . Teachers find that when children are enjoying the natural world, their awareness and creativity are improved, along with their reasoning and observational skills.

Why does being in nature bring so many benefits for us?     3    , so we have an instinctive (本能的) love for it. Even just looking out of the window at a beautiful tree can help us feel less stressed.

Scientists also think that being in nature helps our brain recover from a lot of activities that we usually do during the day such as working on math problems or using our cell phone.     4     — putting all our attention into one thing, which can make us feel tired. But when we are outside, we use undirected attention. We see an interesting cloud or a beautiful flower, and our attention moves quickly and easily from one thing to another. So being in nature gives our brains the chance to rest.

    5    . For many of us, nature is something we can enjoy just by walking out of our door. So enjoy the nature around you!

A．The walks were equally long and hard

B．Regular workouts are surprisingly helpful

C．One idea is that human beings come from nature

D．Nature’s benefits have been scientifically confirmed

E．In these activities, we use a lot of directed attention

F．Being in nature increases people’s mental health as well

G．We can see this in schools where outdoor learning has been introduced

6 . Americans love their automobiles. So long, it seems, as they don’t run on batteries. A survey published in July by the Pew Research Centre found that less than two-fifths of them would consider buying an electric vehicle (EV). Despite expanding charging networks and more EV models to choose from, that is a slightly lower share than the year before.

The biggest block to EV enthusiasm in America is price. The average EV there sells for $52,000, estimates Cox Automotive, a consultancy. That is not a world away from the $48,000 that Americans typically pay for a petrol vehicle. But total costs of ownership, which combine the sales price and running costs for five years, vary more widely. At $65,000, the typical EV is $9,000 more expensive to own than a petrol car (owing to factors like pricey home chargers, dearer insurance and, compared with Europe and China, inexpensive petrol).

All this leaves America’s car industry circling a roundabout. Consumers’ unwillingness to pay for expensive EVs is forcing carmakers to take action to shift stock (库存). Tesla has cut its prices several times in the past year. Carmakers are offering average discounts of almost 10% on their EVs, more than twice as generous as for petrol cars. But this is making it even harder for the companies to make money from battery power. Continued losses in turn may make car firms lose appetite to invest in a broader electric offering that would appeal to buyers.

American carmakers are still hoping they can escape this vicious (恶性的) circle. They are mostly postponing their American EV investments rather than pulling the plug on them. And from January the EV tax credits (免税) will also be available at the point of sale, making it less burdensome for buyers to take advantage of them. All this could eventually generate profits for car firms. Eventually may, though, come a bit later than hoped.

1. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The lack of diversity of EVs.

B．The uncertain prospect of EVs.

C．The barrier to the purchase of EVs.

D．The urgency of price reduction on EVs.

2. How do carmakers deal with the depressed EV industry?

A．Issuing EV tax credits policy.

B．Offering better discounts on EVs.

C．Cutting down the cost of production.

D．Investing in a wider electric offering.

3. What is the carmakers’ attitude towards the future of EV industry?

A．Dissatisfied.

B．Dismissive.

C．Cautious.

D．Casual.

4. What may be the best title of the text?

A．Is America’s EV Revolution Suspending?

B．Do Electric Vehicles Outweigh Petrol Cars?

C．EV Revolution Is Promoting Energy Transition

D．EV Is Gradually Dominating America’s Car Industry

7 . Would you take a trip if you couldn’t use your cellphone? A new tour company called Off the Grid is asking travellers to put their cellphones away and not even use them for photos. The company founder, Zach Beattie, is developing his business, using money he saved from a tech job at a mapping company. He’s hired guides for every trip but will help lead the first few himself.

The first trip is to Lisbon, Portugal, in July. It takes 7 to 10 days, with small groups of up to 16 people. Prices range from $1,500 to $1,650, including accommodations, meals and ground transportation. The plan includes at least three excursions (远足) and two social events, with an emphasis on unique experiences over bucket-list sightseeing. The tour also includes surfing lessons, yoga on the beach, a day of sailing and dinner with a local family.

“When you’re somewhere new, there’s a lot to see and a lot of cool and interesting people to meet,” Beattie said. “Your phone can distract (使分心) you.” The phone ban won’t be enforced quite as strictly as it seems at first glance. “We want it to be voluntary,” he said. “We’re not collecting phones and throwing them in a locked trunk. It’s held by you, but put in your pocket, and you state your intentions for the week, whether that’s checking your social media once or twice a day or a total blackout.”

Tour-goers also get a “dumbphone” without Internet access that’s loaded with numbers for group leaders and other participants, both for emergencies and to promote socializing. Participants may bring regular cameras, but Beattie is hiring a photographer for each tour so there will be plenty of photos to remember the trip. Once the trip is over, participants will have access to those photos for use in social media posts.

1. What can be learned about Zach Beattie?

A．He set up his business at his own expense.

B．He is always guiding every trip personally.

C．He forbids tourists to take along cellphones.

D．He used to earn his living in a tour company.

2. What do we know about the Lisbon trip?

A．The trip features sightseeing.

B．Participants live in homestays.

C．Air ticket is covered in the cost.

D．Tourists experience water sports.

3. What does Zach Beattie expect the participants to do?

A．Lock their phones in a trunk.

B．Post their photos on social media.

C．Free themselves from their phones.

D．Shift their focus onto dumbphones.

4. What can tour-goers do with the dumbphone?

A．Take photos.	B．Access the Internet.
C．Record the trip.	D．Contact group members.

8 . 36 hours of art course

with the New Arts Club — London

A good chance to learn under famous artist Oksana Leadbitter, and her New Arts Club.

Run according to your timetable, this part-time course is 36⁺ hours of painting that is fit for anyone from beginners to more experienced painters. You must sign up for no less than 36 hours, for which you need to pay $356.33.

All art materials are provided, including paints, brushes and more. All you need to do is bring yourself, and a wish to learn and meet new people. Oksana will guide you through a series of painting styles and skills, showing how a painting is done and offering frequent support to you. She gives special attention to the easiest ways of achieving the effects you want. She has her own style of teaching that allows people to make progress in a short period of time.

You will not need to attend every class. The course works on a by-hour basis, meaning you can use your hours as slowly or quickly as you wish.

Come and join us every Thursday at a spare room of the beautiful St Sofia Cathedral in Bayswater, London.

Courses:

10:00-12:00: Adult class

12:00-15:00: Children’s class

19:00-22:00: Adult evening class

The courses will begin on 15th May, 2024. Feel free to take part and say hello.

If you want more information, e-mail: newartsclublondon@gmail.com.

Should special situations arise, the organizers would keep the right to cancel any of the events, resulting in the refund (退款) of cancelled remaining classes.

1. What is a requirement for learners of the course?

A．Sticking to the schedule.

B．Having prior experience.

C．Registering for at least 36 hours.

D．Bringing along painting materials.

2. What is attractive about Oksana’s teaching?

A．Providing painting brushes.

B．Teaching in efficient ways.

C．Centering around practicing.

D．Offering one-to-one instruction.

3. What do we know about the course?

A．It runs for two days a week.

B．It is refunded for cancellation.

C．It is intended for adult learners.

D．It costs a learner over $10 per hour.

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What does Camber’s Park highlight?

A．Exciting rides.

B．Zero entrance fee.

C．Educational experience.

2. When was the park built?

A．In 1980.

B．In 1997.

C．In 2004.

3. Which ride needs extra money?

A．River Adventure.

B．Swoop Slide.

C．Jungle Jim Rollercoaster.

4. What is a requirement for Jungle Jim Rollercoaster riders?

A．Reaching a certain age.

B．Fastening safety belts.

C．Wearing long trousers.

10 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. How will the woman deal with the problem on the front page?

A．Make the letters larger.

B．Delete the pool design.

C．Leave the page blank.

2. On which page will the woman add a picture?

A．Page 2.

B．Page 4.

C．Page 5.

3. What color was the print of the prices at first?

A．Black.

B．Red.

C．Blue.