1 . Nowadays, many of us are working long hours at home, so more than ever, we are in need of a pet to help relieve anxiety and provide company for the lonely days.     1     There are simply too many benefits to list, so we've gathered only our top reasons.

    2     Working long hours from home can never be a nice thing. Without all the human contact we would normally get in the office, we can often find ourselves feeling lonely and isolated. However, with a pet at home we're likely to feel much better.

A call to head outdoors. For those who have an animal that enjoys going outdoors, pets can serve as a great reminder of heading outdoors to get some fresh air.     3     However, often owners will return from their walks feeling calmer, more relaxed and more energized. Whatever the weather, getting outside is beneficial to us.

Caring for something else. Often, when we feel loneliness or anxiety, we tend to be focusing inwards, to our own worries and self-doubts.     4     Therefore, it's advisable to invest time in our pet's well-being by giving them the best care we can.

Motivation (动力) and routine. Pets are a source of motivation for their owners simply because they rely on us so heavily. Without a pet, we'll find it hard to keep our daily routine while working at home.     5    . But when we have a pet to look after, we have to get up early and be ready for the day ahead. This is going to benefit both the pet and ourselves.

A．An end to loneliness.

B．A time killer in daily life.

C．We tend to skip meals or sleep late.

D．Pets often walk here and there and make our house dirty.

E．The positive effects a pet can have on our mental health are amazing.

F．The task of heading out for a walk on a rainy day may not seem attractive.

G．Directing our attention to the outside world helps relieve those negative feelings.

2 . Mars is a neighboring planet in our solar system. Scientists study Mars because it could hold clues that could help us learn more about life on Earth. For decades, scientists have used robot technology to better understand Mars. In December 2020, scientists introduced a group of robots named Mars Dogs at a yearly meeting.

The Mars Dog is a four-legged robot created by the company Boston Dynamics. It, along with other similar robots, can move around in ways the wheeled rovers（探测器） that explored the planet never could. Traditional Mars rovers are limited mostly to flat surfaces. However, many scientifically interesting Martian regions are only reachable by crossing very rough（崎岖的）ground or going below ground. Walking Mars Dogs are well-suited for such challenges-even if they fall down, they can get back up again. These robots can also explore underground by walking around rocks and lowering themselves into caves. They are even capable of selecting which path to take. While they do this, they collect measurements to build a map of what they sec.

A Mars Dog would also be about 12 times lighter than current rovers. It would be able to travel much faster, reaching normal walking speeds of 5 kilometers per hour during tests. Compare that to the Curiosity rover that is currently exploring Mars. Curiosity rolls along the Martian surface at about 0.14 kilometers per hour.

Before going to Mars, the team members are testing the robot. They even take the robot to outdoor locations similar to Martian landscapes. Those tests show that the robots, without any help, can walk around rocks and map deep caves. "These behaviors could one day enable significant scientific missions to take place on the Martian surface and subsurface," the scientists said at the yearly meeting.

1. What is the text mainly about?

A．Ways robot dogs walk on the Martian surface.

B．Robot dogs newly created for Mars exploration.

C．Differences between the Mars Dog and Curiosity.

D．Studies of Mars with the help of robot technology.

2. What advantage do Mars Dogs have according to paragraph 2?

A．They are much lighter.	B．They travel much faster.
C．They are better at seeking shelter.	D．They move around more flexibly.

3. What is scientists’ attitude to the future of Mars Dogs?

A．Satisfied.

B．Doubtful.

C．Hopeful.

D．Alarmed.

3 . You’ve got mail…and it’s a postcard

Paulo Magalhaes, a 34-year-old Portuguese computer engineer, loves to open his mailbox and find a brightly colored picture of Rome’s Colosseum. Or Africa’s Victoria Falls. Or China’s Great Wall.     1    

“I often send postcards to family and friends.” he says to China Daily, “but you can imagine that after a while, you never receive as many as you send, and you realize that not everyone is into it.     2    ” Seeking other like-minded souls, however, Paulo started looking in a somewhat unlikely place: online. Many would say the Internet is a place for people who have given up on the traditional postal service, but Paulo’s hunch(直觉)paid off.

Today his hobby has developed into the website postcrossing.com, a social network that has grown to 575,217 registered users in 214 countries and regions since he started it 10 years ago.     3    Running the website has almost turned into a full-time job.

Language is certainly a barrier for many people. For postcrossing to work worldwide, a common communication language is needed so that everyone can understand each other. As cool as it may be to receive a postcard written in Chinese, the concept doesn’t work if one doesn’t understand it.     4     So a common language is required and in postcrossing that’s English since it’s widely spoken.

“Many people in China have limited exposure to English.     5     That said, we know of many postcrossing members, including Chinese, who have actually improved their English skills through their use of postcrossing,” Paulo says.

A．And that’s totally fine.

B．That makes it extra hard to learn and practice it.

C．He likes to think of sending postcards as a family-friendly hobby.

D．Many love to make a connection with someone from across the world.

E．On August 5, the number of postcards exchanged by members topped 31 million.

F．Similarly, if you speak only Chinese, receiving a card in Swedish takes part of the fun away.

G．In short, he loves postcards, and the excitement of getting a hand-written note from someone far away.

4 . 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。

A MOTHER’S DAY SURPRISE

The twins were filled with excitement as they thought of the surprise they were planning for Mother’s Day. How pleased and proud Mother would be when they brought her breakfast in bed. They planned to make French toast and chicken porridge. They had watched their mother in the kitchen. There was nothing to it. Jenna and Jeff knew exactly what to do.

The big day came at last. The alarm rang at 6 a.m. The pair went down the stairs quietly to the kitchen. They decided to boil the porridge first. They put some rice into a pot of water and left it to boil while they made the French toast. Jeff broke two eggs into a plate and added in some milk. Jenna found the bread and put two slices into the egg mixture. Next, Jeff turned on the second stove burner to heat up the frying pan. Everything was going smoothly until Jeff started frying the bread. The pan was too hot and the bread turned black within seconds. Jenna threw the burnt piece into the   sink and put in the other slice of bread. This time, she turned down the fire so it cooked nicely.

Then Jeff noticed steam shooting out of the pot and the lid starting to shake. The next minute, the porridge boiled over and put out the fire. Jenna panicked. Thankfully, Jeff stayed calm and turned off the gas quickly. But the stove was a mess now. Jenna told Jeff to clean it up so they could continue to cook the rest of the porridge. But Jeff’s hand touched the hot burner and he gave a cry of pain. Jenna made him put his hand in cold water. Then she caught the smell of burning. Oh dear! The piece of bread in the pan had turned black as well.

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。

As the twins looked around them in disappointment, their father appeared.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The twins carried the breakfast upstairs and woke their mother up.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5 . If you are always successful, you may not learn much.     1     Scientists have found that being wrong 15 percent of the time is the secret to learning new things. Although nobody likes to fail, scientists have long suspected that people learnt better when they were challenged to learn something just outside of their existing knowledge.

Make a task too hard and participants will give up without learning any new skills, but if it is too easy, they will also not pick up anything useful.     2     To find out where the “sweet spot” lies, researchers at the University of Arizona conducted a series of machine-learning experiments in which they taught computers simple tasks, such as picking whether a number was odd (奇数的) or even (偶数的).     3    

The scientists have named it “The 85 percent rule” and say it could help teachers adapt their classes to the right level. If the teachers give really easy examples, you get 100 percent right all the time.     4     If they give really hard examples, you still won’t learn anything new. Only when you are at this “sweet spot” can you get the most information from each particular example.

    5     You shouldn’t be disappointed if you aren’t 100% right all the time. If you are taking classes that are too easy, then you aren’t probably getting as much out of a class as someone who’s struggling but managing to keep up.

A．Accept challenges bravely.

B．Then there’s nothing left to learn.

C．The more difficult the task, the better.

D．In this way, you can maximize your learning.

E．But that “sweet spot” has always been unknown.

F．Some studies have shown that failure is not a bad thing.

G．They found that when the error rate was 15 percent, the computers learnt fastest.

6 . A four-year-old boy who was crazy about collecting rubbish has finally fulfilled his dream of being a cleaner. Riley McCourt has admired the local rubbish collectors for ages, spending his days picking up waste on his street and wheeling bins (垃圾桶) to the side of the road to help out his neighbors. He loves cleaning and binning waste. His favorite chore is to empty the rubbish from the chip shop his mum runs. Two weeks ago, however, a disaster struck: Riley accidentally knocked over one of the bins and was accused of causing trouble.

Someone posted in the local Facebook group that Riley had put rubbish in the street, clearly unaware of his love for keeping the streets clean. Thankfully his innocence was quickly proven, and his local council decided to make his dreams come true by allowing him to work alongside the cleaners for a day.

Riley joined the waste collection crew on Wednesday, chatting with the team, helping with the recycling, and riding in the waste collection vehicles. He even got his own jacket. Riley's mum, Toni McCourt, said, “He loves the bins and trucks.” Riley's favorite day is definitely bin day. He goes round collecting the rubbish up on the street. The cleaners all know him when they spot him. He goes outside as soon as he sees them come round. He helps his neighbors put their bins out for collection.

Riley clearly made a good impression during his first day on the job, as community services manager Jane Carrol said she was very pleased with his enthusiasm for the role. Jane said, “Riley is clearly a keen recycler and who knows, when he is older I'm sure he would make an excellent member of the team here. It was a pleasure for the team to show him around the vehicles.”

1. What is Riley's dream?

A．To prove his innocence.

B．To collect much rubbish.

C．To work as a real cleaner.

D．To work in his mother's shop.

2. What happened to Riley two weeks ago?

A．He was wronged by someone.

B．He was knocked over by a bin.

C．He had an accident in the shop.

D．He forgot to empty the rubbish.

3. What do people do on bin day?

A．People go out to celebrate it.

B．The cleaners collect the bins.

C．People help Riley collect rubbish.

D．The cleaners collect rubbish in the bins.

4. How does Jane Carrol think about Riley's action?

A．It is dangerous to do so on the street.

B．It is good for the community to follow him.

C．It is worthwhile to give Riley high remarks.

D．It is unnecessary for such a little boy to do so.

7 . The smart clothes industry is targeting specific health conditions. Diabetic (糖尿病的) foot is a major health issue today. The loss of mobility and independence that some with diabetes face, as well as health care—associated costs, is alarming.

Now, Siren Care, a medical device company, has developed an injury-monitoring sock that could help people with diabetes prevent loss of feet. Early discovery is critical in this process. Since skin inflammation (炎症) is accompanied by a rise in temperature, studies show that home monitoring of foot skin temperature could make a big difference.

What is so special about Siren's product is that the sensors are incorporated into the fabric of the socks. The sensor is connected to a PCB battery. whose lifetime is two months if used daily. The socks are only on when users wear them; they go into sleep mode when off. All data from the socks is sent to the Siren app, so the user can monitor the condition of his or her feet in real—time. The application gives foot health scores and, when necessary, reminds the user to adjust activity and/or see a health care professional.

Ran Ma, the company's CEO, says. “Equipped with the novel technology, users can adjust their activity by self-monitoring their skin temperature. But the sock is not a device for illness diagnosis. The user still needs to see a doctor, who can then say exactly what the illness is or the cause of the problem.”

The socks are machine washable and don't need to be charged. Every six months, the user gets a new box with seven pairs of socks to replace the used ones. For customers, the cost is $ 30 per month. This might signal that this technology is becoming more accessible when compared to the price of similar smart clothing. Siren presented their product at this year's CES event in Las Vegas and announced that they were planning to start shipping their socks this summer. And the company is already planning future applications that will go beyond diabetes care.

1. What's the main function of the socks?

A．Protecting foot skin.

B．Improving patients' mobility.

C．Monitoring skin temperature.

D．Speeding the recovery of injuries.

2. When will the socks start to work?

A．When they are worn.

B．When users do activities.

C．When users use the Siren app.

D．When they are connected to the battery.

3. What does the underlined word “diagnosis" in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Treatment.

B．Prevention.

C．Identification.

D．Research,

4. What can we learn about Siren from the last paragraph?

A．It charges $ 30 for each pair of socks.

B．It has developed other smart clothing.

C．It has started the trend of smart clothing.

D．It provides users with new socks periodically.

8 . Most people suffer some degree of anxiety when preparing for a test. This can range from a mild nervous feeling to a full panic attack.     1     Fortunately, you can reduce anxiety with effective studying.

Leave yourself reasonable time for studying. Waiting until the night before a test to start studying is likely to increase your anxiety.     2     With several days to prepare, you'll feel more relaxed because you have plenty of time to learn the material.

    3     You'll start to panic if you can't find that one page of notes in a pile of books. To avoid this problem, arrange all your schoolwork in order of priority. You can find everything quickly and spend the maximum amount of time studying.

Treat the exam rationally (理智地). While under stress, it is very easy to worry about the very worst of the situation that is unlikely to happen.    4     If you have been doing well in exams, it is likely you will do well on this particular test. If you do not do well, it is not the end of life as you know it.

Despite all the efforts to reduce anxiety, you should understand that sometimes anxiety can be a positive motivator.     5     If you're anxious, sometimes it's because there's something you really need to take care of, and you have to figure out how you're going to do that.

A．Every emotion has a reason.

B．Anxiety is easy to deal with.

C．Keep all of your materials organized.

D．You need to adjust the way you view problems.

E．However, this is helpful when you face an exam,

F．Whatever your level of anxiety, it's vital to learn to reduce it.

G．Instead of waiting. start studying as soon as a test is scheduled.

9 . Do you think of yourself as a creative person? Many people have this common assumption that creativity is an inborn talent; only a special group of people are born creative, and everyone else just unfortunately doesn't have that special ability. But, this is far from the truth! At the end of the day, creativity is a skill. It's not some natural born talent that some have over others. What this means is that creativity is a skill that can be practiced and improved upon systematically by applying your strongest learning styles.

Let me break another misconception about creativity, which is that it's only used to create completely “new” or “original” things. Again, this is far from the truth. Because everything, including works of art, doesn't come from nothing. Everything originates from some sort of inspiration which is provided by something that already exists. This means that creativity gives birth to new meaning or value by connecting things together.

From this angle, you can see a lot of creativity in action. In technology, Apple combines traditional computers with design and aesthetics to create new ways to use digital products. In music, a musician may be inspired by various styles of music, instruments and rhythms to create an entirely new type of song. These are about connecting different ideas, finding common ground among the differences, and creating new ideas out of them.

The fact is that everyone is born with a creative ability. Creativity, at its heart, is being able to see things in a way that others can't. It's a skill that helps you find new angles to create new possibilities and solutions to different problems. So, if you encounter different challenges and problems that need solving on a regular basis, then creativity is an invaluable skill to have.

1. What can we infer from the first paragraph?

A．Creativity is hard to develop.

B．Creativity is an important learning skill.

C．Few people are born with natural talents.

D．Many people have misunderstanding about creativity.

2. According to the author, how does creativity work?

A．By showing the truth.

B．By breaking the old things.

C．By combining the old and the new.

D．By gaining inspiration from artworks.

3. What does the author focus on in the third paragraph?

A．Providing examples.

B．Explaining a concept.

C．Making comparisons.

D．Drawing a conclusion.

4. What is the most important about creativity?

A．The immediate action.

B．The ability to solve problems.

C．Applying different learning styles.

D．Viewing things in a unique manner.

10 . 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。

Famous British physicist Stephen Hawking,     1     mental genius (智力天才) and physical disability made him a household name and inspiration across the globe, has died at age 76 on March 14^th, 2018.

Propelled (推动) to superstar by his 1988 book A Brief History of Time, which became     2    unlikely worldwide bestseller, Hawking devoted    3    (he) to unlocking the secrets of the Universe.

Hawking refused to accept the predictions that he would only live for a few years after developing a form of motor neurone disease (运动神经元病) in his early     4    (twenty). The illness gradually robbed him of mobility (移动的能力)    5    (leave) him confined to a wheelchair, almost completely paralysed and unable to speak except through his voice synthesizer (合成器). It was with these difficulties     6     he revised the draft of A Brief History of Time which was published in 1988.

    7     (translate) into thirty languages, the book has sold over ten million copies worldwide and lives on as a science book that continues to captivate (迷住) and inspire new readers each year.

When I came into contact with the book, I did not know much about the time and space. Was there a     8     (begin) of time? Could time run backwards? …These questions may be with all of us during our childhood.     9    (lucky), Stephen Hawking shows us the time and the space, the God and a mystery. The book, A Brief History of Time, is available in paperback and I     10     (strong) recommend it. For me, books like A Brief History of Time are more captivating (迷人的) than any novel.