1 . The Most Beautiful Train Stations in the World

Tokyo Station Marunouchi Building

The wide-open entrance square on the Marunouchi side of Tokyo’s main train station would look more at home in Amsterdam or Paris. Kingo Tatsuno’s classical European design took over six years to complete, finally opening in 1914. The statin has received several facelifts since the Second World War, most recently in 2012. It’s one of the biggest and busiest train stations in the world.

Beijing West Railway Station

The idea of building this station in the capital of China was put forward as early as 1959 but didn’t come to reality until 1996. It was the largest station in Asia at the time, although Shanghai’s Hongqiao Station has since surpassed it. The station itself has a unique architectural (建筑的) style, with the main body of the building having quite a functional Russian look, but the rooftop is decorated with three amazing Chinese pagodas.

Duoliang Station, Taiwan

This is the smallest station on this lit by a distance. In fact we’re not really choosing Duoliang for architectural reasons. This station is all about location, location, location. Surrounded by hi top greenery on one side and amazing Pacific Ocean scenery on the other, it’s one of the most scenic spots in all of Taiwan. This isn’t even a working station anymore, but the platforms have been adapted into viewing spots, extremely popular with local train spotters.

Stazione Milano Centrale in Milan

Milan’s central train station looks pretty much exactly as you’d imagine it. There are a mix of styles at play here, from Art Nouveau to Art Deco, but the entire building is filled with a classic sense of Roman monumentality. The outer look is guarded by two statues, while its insides are equally impressive, as grand stonewalls curve (弯曲) into the station’s glass ceilings.

1. What do Tokyo Station and Beijing West Railway Station have in common?

A．Both have European features.

B．Both were built in the early 1990s.

C．Both have been rebuilt several times.

D．Both are the largest domestic stations.

2. What do train spotters favor most about Duoliang Station?

A．Its distance.	B．Its small size.
C．Its surrounding scenery.	D．Its architectural style.

3. What makes Stazione Milano Centrale impressive?

A．Roman buildings	B．Its various styles.
C．Statues on the walls	D．The curving ceilings.

2 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写一段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

When my mom announced that my dad had fixed the old car in his garage, I felt excited—I had wheels! I called my friend Steph and made plans to have dinner at her house the next day.

The following morning, I woke up early and put on a black skirt and jacket. “Aren’t you dressed too lightly?” Mom asked. “There’s a snowstorm coming.” “I’ll be inside,” I replied as I headed out.

As I began the forty-minute drive, I was in high spirits. However, halfway there it started to snow like mad. Cars slowed. The sound of a siren announced the approach of an ambulance and I pulled aside to let it pass. As I inched back into my lane, the traffic light ahead turned red. I stopped.

When the light turned green, I pressed on the gas, but the old car died. I tried to start it. One click, then nothing. Before I could do anything else, two young men raced over from the nearby sidewalk. I rolled down my window a little.

“Give us a second,” one of them said, “We’ll help you out of here.” Soon, they began pushing the car. With their guidance, I steered into a parking spot in front of a grocery store. “You’ll be fine now,” they said, and before I could even thank them, they walked into the grocery store.

The snow was falling faster now. I called Steph on my cellphone to cancel our plan. Next, I called my parents to come and get me. Now all I had to do was wait, but I was very hungry and cold. I sighed, regretting not taking my mom’s advice.

Just as I sat waiting in the car, I noticed a man walking towards me. It was one of the men who had just helped me. I rolled down the window at once.

注意：
1. 续写词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
After a brief greeting, he told me this was his parents’ store.
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3 . Top Scientific Breakthroughs in 2023

The pace of innovation never slows, and the impact of the breakthroughs will redefine the way we live, work and connect with the world.

A New Era for Space Exploration

Space exploration is one of the core missions in many countries. Recently, the newest mission to the moon was launched as NASA’s Artemis Program, which would pave the way for a future mission to Mars. This new era of space exploration will drive technological advancements in fields beyond astronautics and stimulate progress in real-world applications like materials, food science, and modern industry.

A Milestone in AI Predictions

For decades, the scientific community has chased a greater understanding of relationships between protein functions and 3D structures. In July 2023, Deep Mind revealed that the folded 3D structure of a protein molecule (分子), which reduced the number of human proteins with unknown structural data from 4,800 to just 29. While there will always be challenges with AI, the ability to predict protein structures in biology has implications across all life sciences.

Greener Fertilizer Production

Every year, billions of people depend on fertilizers for the ongoing production of food, and reducing the carbon footprint and expenses in fertilizer production would reshape the impact agriculture has on emissions. To reduce energy requirements, researchers from Tokyo Tech have developed a noble-metal-free catalyst (催化剂), which is much more environmentally friendly and safer to the agricultural produces.

Supercomputer—Exascale

Exascale computers, which can perform a mind-boggling quintillion (10¹⁸) mathematical operations per second, finally arrived in 2023. They’ve already helped refine weather forecasts and design new materials, and new ones will be coming online soon. The world’s most powerful supercomputers, operating at the far frontier of speed known as the exascale, have now begun to boom. These results from exascale machines coming online in the next few years promise to open a new window into materials, climate science, and medicine.

To stay ahead of emerging trends, new discoveries and unique perspectives, we invite you to subscribe to CAS Insights!

1. What do the Space Exploration and Fertilizer Production have in common?

A．They take a lot of time.	B．They make influence on the food.
C．They need government cooperation.	D．They cost a big sum of money to maintain.

2. Which aspect has a close connection with biology?

A．A New Era for Space Exploration.	B．A Milestone in AI Predictions.
C．Greener Fertilizer Production.	D．Supercomputers—Exascale.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．A textbook.

B．An exam paper.

C．A magazine.

D．A science fiction.

4 . Driving is a dangerous activity. Every single day people, for a variety of reasons, are hurt or killed in accidents. One woman, an emergency nurse in the Phoenix, ________ to let a man in an accident become just another motor vehicle death ________.

On the morning of July 26, Leigh Ann just ________ her fourth straight night shift. After a stress-filled day at work, Leigh Ann was ________. She was heading home along the way when she noticed a horrible ________ in the distance. As she got closer, she ________ it was a cement truck turn on its side.

Obviously, it was a(n) ________ accident, and emergency first responders had not yet ________. Leigh Ann knew that she had to act. She hurried over to the truck, ________ crossing the usually busy highway, which was empty at the time.

She then quickly ________ the situation. She discovered the driver was trapped, still ________, but injured and losing blood at an alarming rate. The nurse ________ the man, and then used the man’s belt to stop any further blood loss. Leigh Ann ________ him until the rescue team took him away.

As for what put her in that ________ to help that man, Leigh Ann said. “My professional spirit does direct my ________. I’m far from perfect, but at that particular moment, my previous work encouraged me to give a helping hand.”

1.

A．hesitated

B．promised

C．refused

D．pretended

2.

A．statistic

B．witness

C．intervention

D．survivor

3.

A．arranged

B．exchanged

C．deserved

D．completed

4.

A．stunned

B．homesick

C．exhausted

D．cheerful

5.

A．figure

B．scene

C．shadow

D．scenery

6.

A．realized

B．suspected

C．recalled

D．remembered

7.

A．avoidable

B．similar

C．consistent

D．recent

8.

A．retrained

B．arrived

C．swept

D．calculated

9.

A．unwillingly

B．safely

C．innocently

D．casually

10.

A．assessed

B．imagined

C．exposed

D．presented

11.

A．considerate

B．conscious

C．reliable

D．grateful

12.

A．encountered

B．followed

C．approached

D．convinced

13.

A．cared for

B．depended on

C．subscribed to

D．brought up

14.

A．protection

B．preparation

C．position

D．opportunity

15.

A．lesson

B．service

C．career

D．path

5 . There are many ways in which a person’s body language can give you information about whether they are lying or not.

One of the biggest signs that a person is telling lies is that he avoids eye contact during conversation. He may also touch his face often, covering his mouth with his hand very often. Touching the nose is also said to be a sign of taking others’ attention to cover up lies. A person who is not telling the truth may be trying to make you focus on his actions rather than his words.

When a liar (说谎者) tells lies, his physical expression is often very stiff (僵硬的). If he is smiling as he speaks, only the mouth will move. A real smile naturally causes movement of the mouth, eyes, forehead, cheeks, and jaw.

The liar’s hand, leg and arm movements are toward his own body. He takes up little space. The person’s body language is closed off. Liars do not look relaxed, even though they may be trying to give the impression that they are.

When explaining something, a liar usually feels uncomfortable with pauses (停顿) or silences. The person may speak gently or in disordered words. A very skillful liar is able to speak directly and with confidence. In fact, some salespeople are best at this skill.

If you doubt someone is lying, change the topic of conversation suddenly. The liar will willingly change topics with you and become more relaxed. A person who is telling the truth will generally become confused by this sudden change. Another sign of someone telling a lie is yawning (哈欠) — the person may try and look as relaxed as possible, and yawing and stretching are ways of achieving this.

1. Why do liars often cover their mouths?

A．To show their own skill.	B．To avoid the mouth’s stiffness.
C．To smile because they feel shy.	D．To change the listener’s attention.

2. What does the author think of some salesmen?

A．They speak softly.	B．They say “by the way”.
C．They speak confidently.	D．They are anxious while lying.

3. Which can best describe the liar’s yawning?

A．Uncomfortable.

B．Relaxing seemingly.

C．Worrying.

D．Exciting.

4. How does the author mainly develop the topic of the text?

A．By giving explanation.	B．By listing numbers.
C．By using others’ words.	D．By showing results of research.

6 . All we know about the abandoned (被抛弃的) newborn cat that made news for its genetic rareness comes from a web. A user named Vodkaholy posted a handful of photos of the tiny cat with a few background details.

No one knows how the newborn cat ended up in a rubbish bag, but it is very common for heartless people to abandon cats they choose not to care for. Luckily, Vodkaholy’s aunt heard the tiny mews that the cat was letting out. It appears she was the one who rescued the baby, who was only a week old. Not only had the cat been immediately abandoned after it was born, but it was injured and had developed a serious illness. Just a few days old, it had a broken leg and a badly injured paw (爪). Sadly, after the cat’s rescuer took it to the vet (兽医), they found out that the paw couldn’t be saved.

No doubt it was a shock to find such a sad cat abandoned in the rubbish bag, but the vet had another big surprise for the woman. It was a male calico cat (花斑猫)! The vet said it was really scarce for calico cats to be male. However, it won’t be a dad to any more calico cats. It was born with some kind of illness, but the vet said it’s normal for male calico cats. “Except for that, it is a normal happy cat, healthy as a horse,” Vodkaholy said.

Vodkaholy’s aunt is keeping the cat. It grows healthy and happy even if it only has 3 paws. And it is not the first cat this sweet aunt has brought home.

1. What can we infer about the abandoned cat?

A．It had three paws at birth.	B．It was abandoned by a naughty boy.
C．It was in bad condition when it was found.	D．It called loudly when Vodkaholy passed by.

2. What can we say about Vodkaholy’s aunt?

A．She is warm-hearted and caring.	B．She is smart but impatient.
C．She is hard-working but rude.	D．She is kind and curious.

3. What does the underlined word “scarce” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Graceful.

B．Challenging.

C．Frightening.

D．Unusual.

4. What is the best title for the text?

A．A Funny Story of a Kind Aunt	B．A Young Cat Lost Its Way Home
C．A Kind Lady Saved a Cat in a Dustbin	D．A Kind Lady Asking for Help on the Internet

7 . 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。

Long long ago, there was a little prince who was used to having everything he wanted. He was so badly behaved that he wouldn’t let anybody have a new toy if he didn’t have it first. If any child in the land wanted a new toy, they had to buy two and give one to him. Therefore, the little prince had no friends except for his toys.

One day a magic toymaker, who invented the most wonderful toys, came to the land. The little prince liked his toys so much that he invited him to spend an entire year in the palace, promising him great wealth if he made him a new toy every day. The toymaker set just one condition: “My toys are very special and need an owner who will play with them” he said. “Will you be able to devote a little time to each one every day?” “Of course, I will” the little prince replied impatiently.

From then on, every morning the little prince received a new toy. Every day the toymaker delivered a toy better than the previous ones. The little prince appeared very happy.

But the toy collection kept growing and, after a few weeks there were simply too many toys to play with all of them every day. So, one day the little prince put a few toys to one side, hoping that the toymaker wouldn’t notice. However, when it was night time and he was ready to go to bed. The toys that had been put away lined up in front of him and, one by one, demanded their daily playtime. The little prince couldn’t get to sleep until well past midnight because he had to play with every single toy.

Next day, tired after all his efforts, the prince slept very late. In the little time left of the day, he had to get to know a new toy and then play with all the others too. Once again, he finished very late and was so tired he could hardly stop yawning (打哈欠).

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。
       Every day was a little bit worse than the one before, with the same amount of time but one extra toy to play with.
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       The children saw the prince, wondering whether the prince would force them to hand over their toys just like before.
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8 . The International Federation of Pickleball, with 60 member countries and counties, is working to make sure pickleball will be part of the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.     1    

“Pickleball comes from tennis, badminton and table tennis,” says Hope Tolley, managing director of USA Pickleball.       2     And it uses square paddles (球拍) and a small plastic ball that’s similar in size to a tennis ball, but much lighter.

Unlike tennis, you can score only when it’s your turn to serve. What you should do is keep the ball in the air, and if your opponent(called the receiver)fails to return the ball over the net, you get the point.     3     If not, you’ll end up with a shot that fails to reach the net. Matches can be played in doubles or singles, and games are played to 11 points.

    4     Because the game can vary the intensity-going all out or taking a slower pace-pickleball suits professional athletes and beginners alike. It’s a great workout and it’s a low-influence sport, so it’s easy on players’ joints (关节).

People who are really into the sport can join tournaments at various levels. The first World Pickleball Games will be held next summer in Austin, Texas.     5    

A．Here’s how the game is played.

B．So be sure to hit with enough force.

C．Make sure you can’t stand in wrong position.

D．Playing pickleball can’t have any negative impact on players.

E．It’s played on a badminton-sized court with a slightly lowered tennis net.

F．If you haven’t played it yourself, you’ve probably at least heard of pickleball.

G．By 2030, pickleball is expected to have as many as 40 million players worldwide.

9 . Speaking two languages deeply affects the brain and changes how the nervous system reacts to sound, and researches have shown that learning a foreign language can strengthen brain power, but a new study suggests that the effects go further to those who begin in middle childhood.

It indicates that people who began learning a foreign language at 10 and were always exposed to the language, meaning they heard and used it in daily life, had improvements in the structure of the brain’s white matter compared with people who grew up speaking only one language and did not learn a foreign language.

These “higher levels of structural integrity(完整性)” were in areas responsible for language learning and semantic(语义的)processing, which occurs when the meaning of a word is encoded and related to similar words with similar meaning.

The new findings, published in the National Academy of Sciences on Monday, studied brain scans from 200 subjects(实验者), all around the age of 30, who lived in Britain for at least 13 months. They all started learning English as a foreign language at the age of 10.

Their imaging scans were compared with people of similar age who spoke only English. The study was led by Christos of the University of Kent School of Psychology in Britain.

“Everyday dealing with more than one language benefits specific language-related brain structures by preserving their integrity, and therefore it protects them against deterioration in older age,” the study found.

1. Who may have stronger brain power according to the text?

A．A person who learns English as a foreign language.

B．A person who speaks English as a mother language.

C．A person who can speak English well at an early age.

D．A person who hears and uses English in everyday life.

2. What can we know from 200 subjects’ brain scans?

A．The 200 subjects lived in Britain to learn English.

B．The 200 subjects studied English at the age of 30.

C．The structure of their brains’ white matter improved.

D．The structure of their brains’ white matter disappeared.

3. What does the underlined word “deterioration” mean in the last paragraph?

A．Evolving.

B．Reaction.

C．Worsening.

D．Formation.

4. What’s the text mainly about?

A．Speaking two languages affects the brain seriously.

B．Speaking two languages changes how the brain works.

C．Learning a foreign language can affect people’s childhood.

D．Learning a foreign language at 10 strengthens brain power.

10 . Jindalee State School

Email:info@jindaleess.eq.edu.au

Phone:(07)3725 5777

Website:www.jindaleess.eq.edu.au

7th November 2023

Class Placement Information

Dear Parents,

We are now providing you with information about your child’s 2024 class placement. Your child Najera Ochoa Ava is in 1W in 2024. The teacher for this class is Mrs Shelly Waner in room B11b.

Students return to school on 27th January 2024.

The office will close at 3:30 p. m.9th November 2023 and reopen on 20th January, 2024.

SNACK SHACK(零食铺)

The Jindalee Snack Shack is now closed for cleaning—we will not be taking any orders this week.Wewillreopenonthefirstdayofschoolandwillcontinuetoacceptonlineordersonly viawww.quickclig.com.au.Snackswillcontinuetobeavailableforpurchaseduringsecond break.

THE UNIFORM (校服) SHOP

The Uniform Shop will be taking orders online during December but items(物品) will not be available for collection until January. The shop will open on 20th January.

BY APPOINTMENT(预约) ONLY—please check our P&C Facebook page or the school newsletter for a booking link. Please do not come to the shop without an appointment.

The shop will continue to operate on an appointment system in 2024 and will be open on the first day of school. We will then resume(恢复) trading on Tuesdays and Thursdays during the term, for appointments and online order processing, from 28th January.

A calendar of the 2024 school year can be viewed at the following website, www.education.qld.gov.au.

On behalf of the Jindalee State School family, I wish you all a happy holiday.

We look forward to seeing you in the New Year.

Yours sincerely

Ms Penny Grant

Principal

1. When will the new academic year begin?

A．7th November 2023.	B．9th November 2023.
C．20th January 2024.	D．27th January 2024.

2. What is especially stressed about the Uniform Shop?

A．Students should check the school newsletter to order uniforms.

B．Visitors are not welcome without an appointment.

C．It will remain closed after 3:30 p. m. each day.

D．It will not take orders until January 2024.

3. How can Ava’s parents get the calendar of the 2024 school year?

A．By calling(07)3725 5777.

B．By contacting Mrs Shelly Waner.

C．By visiting www.education.qld.gov.au.

D．Byemailinginfo@jindaleess.eq.edu.au.