1 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Why does the woman travel alone?

A．She wants some time for herself.

B．She is on business.

C．Her family don’t like traveling.

2. What does the woman think of the hotel’s service?

A．It is common.

B．It is bad.

C．It is great.

3. What is the man’s favorite part of the hotel?

A．The service.

B．The breakfast.

C．The facilities.

4. What does the woman say about the hotel?

A．The prices are reasonable.

B．It doesn’t seem like a nice hotel.

C．The service doesn’t have anything special.

2 . Getting angry is a normal emotion that everyone experiences. However, regular or continued anger can harm your health in more ways than you might think.

When you get angry, your body reacts in ways that can cause problems. For example, a study found that anger can increase the risk of heart attacks. This is because anger affects how well your blood vessels (血管) work, making it harder for blood to flow properly.     1    

Anger also affects your stomach and digestive (和消化有关的) system. When you’re mad, your body can slow down digestion and cause stomach pain. Worse, your brain suffers from too much anger as well.     2     This affects your ability to think clearly and remember things, possibly leading to long-term cognitive (认知的) issues.

So how can you manage your anger better? Here are several effective strategies which can help you lead a healthier life.

Recognize and accept your anger.     3     While occasional anger is normal, long-term anger may indicate a deeper issue that requires attention.

    4     Practices such as deep breathing exercises and talk therapy (疗法) can reduce the physical impact of anger on the body. Deep breathing helps calm the nervous system, while discussing your feelings with a professional can provide valuable views and coping ways.

Use anger-management techniques. For instance, instead of yelling, calmly explain the cause of your anger and what you need to feel better.     5    

A．Identify the cause of your anger.

B．Take part in mental-health exercises.

C．Over time, this can lead to heart disease.

D．It can damage some systems of the brain.

E．It can affect your relationships with your friends.

F．It’s important to be aware of how often your anger occurs.

G．Calm expression of anger can prevent it from causing more serious issues.

3 . Family Day 2024

Here are some exciting happenings at Ontario Parks this Family Day Weekend:

Family Day — Sleeping Giant Provincial Park
February 19

Join park staff at Sleeping Giant this Family Day to enjoy some outdoor activities including ice skating with neighbor campfire, winter hiking or walking, cross-country skiing, and snowshoeing. The visitor centre will be open from 8:30 a. m. to 4:00 p. m.

The park gate will be closed and locked at 4:40p. m. Don’t forget to reserve your vehicle permit in advance!

Family Day — Bronte Creek Provincial Park
February 17

Spend an enjoyable day exploring the park trails, barns (仓棚), and outdoor play equipment. The play barn (for children 10 years and under) will be open from 9:00 a. m. to 4:00 p. m. Visit the children’s farm with a variety of animals, search for the park’s Gnome Road, or climb to the top of the hill and enjoy the views from the canyon scenic observation deck!

Fire and Stars Hikes — Sibbald Point Provincial Park
February 16&17

Visit Sibbald Point this winter for an evening journey along the Maidenhair Fern Trail, lit only by fire and the stars.

Hike between the hours of 6:30 — 9:30 p. m, on your own or join in a guided hike led by Discovery staff beginning at 6:30 p. m. This journey takes 1 — 1.5hours to complete dependent on your hiking pace.

Staff recommend bringing your own snowshoes, but they are optional depending on amount of snow fall. Be sure to check the Snow Report before you arrive!

Family Fishing Weekend
February 17 — 19

Do you know Canadians can fish licence-free from February 17 to February 19? What a great time to introduce your family to ice fishing! Find an event near you.

Safety should always be number one. Remember: Ice does not freeze at a uniform thickness. Always dress for the weather and layer up. Make sure you obey the rules and regulations of the body of water you’re fishing on too!

1. What should you do before attending the activities at Sleeping Giant?

A．Bring your snowshoes.	B．Apply for vehicle permit.
C．Check the snow report.	D．Know about relevant rules.

2. How long will the play barn be open?

A．For 5 hours.

B．For 6 hours.

C．For 7 hours.

D．For 8 hours.

3. Which of the following requires attention to the thickness of ice?

A．Family Day — Sleeping Giant Provincial Park.

B．Family Day — Bronte Creek Provincial Park.

C．Fire and Stars Hikes — Sibbald Point Provincial Park.

D．Family Fishing Weekend.

4 . It is a great challenge of descriptive writing: finding that balance between using enough details to bring your description to life, but not so much that your readers are fed up with it.     1    

Remember, you’re writing a description, not taking a photograph.     2     If you were photographing a tree, you would still make choices — lighting, framing, focus — that would capture the essence of the tree, but not its exact image.

Trust your readers. Stephen King says in On Writing, “Description begins in the writer’s imagination, but should finish in the readers.”     3     If you offer an exactly right description — rather than a complete description — the readers’ completion of your description will be close enough to what you want them to “see” in the picture.

    4     If you write this: “Wind stirred (吹动) the maple’s boughs, spurring leaves to wavelike a million green hands greeting them to hurry to its shady embrace”, you have created a real description, and you don’t need to write that the tree is big.

Let actions take the place of description. This can be effective in describing emotions. Instead of “Sue felt sad as she stared at their wedding photo.”, try “Sue stared at their wedding photo until her stinging eyes could no longer focus. She turned the photo face down on her nightstand.” We now know, through her actions, that Sue is sad.     5     That is because we’re experiencing her physical reactions (stinging eyes) and actions (turned the photo face down) along with her.

A．Focus on readers’ emotions.

B．Readers can fill in the picture.

C．Describe facts instead of actions.

D．Embrace the use of metaphors and similes.

E．It is not necessary to document every detail.

F．Besides, we now feel more connected with her in that sadness.

G．Fortunately, there are techniques you can use to find that balance.

5 . In 2021, a wildfire bloomed in the Sonoran Desert in southwestern Arizona. By June 7, winds had blown the wildfire east-northeast into the Pinal Mountains, in the Tonto’s southern reaches. The fire rose quickly, climbing over cliffs (悬崖) and sweeping across vast jungles. When the fire hit the tops of mountains with pine forests, it consumed them as well.

The Telegraph Fire, as it’s now called, grew very intense, creating its own wind as its heat rose, pulling air in from the edges. On the fifth day, the fire neared the city of Globe. By then, it had already destroyed a large area of Globe, making it one of the most powerful wildfires in Arizona’s history, spanning approximately 700 square kilometers of land. But the fire would not swallow Globe. Instead, on a ridge, the Telegraph Fire encountered a protective bulwark, remains of a previous great fire.

According to ecologist Kit O’Connor, the Telegraph Fire shifted from a powerful fire, which was killing roughly 60% to 70% of the trees it encountered, to a slow-moving ground fire that only killed about 1% of the trees it came across. “Ultimately, the fire stopped approximately a kilometer away from a residential area on the outskirts of Globe,” said Lata, a wildfire management expert. She notes that without the Pinal Fire, the Telegraph Fire would have likely spread into the town and that they would have no means to prevent it.

The decision to allow the Pinal Fire to burn was guided by a new approach to wildfire management called potential operational delineations (PODs). PODs categorize the landscape into zones where fires can potentially be contained. These zones are determined before the fire season begins, using a combination of AI and local expertise. A PODs network can assist land managers in identifying opportunities to exploit wildfires that light under manageable conditions. The goal is that, if subsequent fires break out under extreme conditions, there will be fewer bushes available to feed their great power.

1. What does paragraph 1 mainly describe about the wildfire?

A．Its extension.

B．Its origin.

C．Its duration.

D．Its management.

2. What does the underlined word “bulwark” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．A water source.	B．A defensive wall.
C．A type of vegetation.	D．A fire-fighting technique.

3. What is Lata’s attitude to the Pinal Fire?

A．Critical.

B．Indifferent.

C．Cautious.

D．Supportive.

4. What is the main purpose of PODs in wildfire management?

A．To predict wildfire occurrences.	B．To reduce fuel for future wildfires.
C．To help land managers put out wildfires.	D．To create landscapes against potential wildfires.

6 . In Mediterranean waters, off the coast of France, a diver recently visited the shipwreck La Lune, which lay untouched and unexplored on the ocean bottom since it sank in 1664. But the wreck’s first visitor in centuries wasn’t human. It was a robot.

Called OceanOne, the bright orange diving robot measures about 1.5 meters in length and has a torso (躯干), a head with stereoscopic vision (立体视觉) and arms. Its lower section holds its computer “brain”, a power supply, and an array of eight multidirectional thrusters (推进器).

Guided by a computer scientist from a boat, OceanOne combined artificial intelligence, sensory feedback and flexible mechanical construction to perform delicate tasks underwater, such as retrieving a delicate cultural relic from the ruins. It can place the cultural relic in a box so the thing can be brought to the surface.

OceanOne can not only investigate parts of the ocean that are less accessible to people, but can do so with the flexibility of a human diver. The engineers also created an interface (接口) that allows a person to not only control the robot, but to actually “feel” what the robot is touching. “The intention here is to have a human diving virtually,” said Oussama Khatib, who piloted OceanOne on its La Lune visit. Khatib, a professor of computer science at Stanford University in California, explained that the experience of guiding the robot is almost like being the diver. “You can feel exactly what the robot is doing,” said Khatib.

OceanOne is also capable of interpreting and responding to its environment autonomously, detecting whether its hands-on work requires a lighter touch and when it needs to make adjustments to stay in place or change direction.

The team behind OceanOne viewed the robot as a means for studying Red Sea’s coral reefs at depths that were inaccessible to a human diver. OceanOne would conduct underwater research—operated by a scientist on the surface—without damaging the reef or its inhabitants.

1. What do we know about OceanOne?

A．It has replaced a diver’s job.	B．It functions as a human.
C．It is a fish living in the ocean.	D．It can conduct demanding tasks.

2. What does the underlined word “retrieving” in paragraph 3 refer to?

A．Carving.	B．Recovering.
C．Guiding.	D．Crashing.

3. What is the engineers’ purpose of creating an interface?

A．To make a diver operate it conveniently.

B．To connect the robot to other computers.

C．To satisfy an operator’s virtual experience.

D．To learn well how the robot performs tasks.

4. Which word can best describe OceanOne?

A．Tiny.	B．Traditional.
C．Human-like.	D．Multifunctional.

7 . 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。

Yiyi is a 12-year-old girl from Wuhan. On July 31, 2021,     1     unexpected car accident broke up her carefree childhood. According to the doctors, she wouldn’t be off the ventilator (呼吸机) for the rest of her life. However, her family did not quit     2     (try) and went to the Rehabilitation Medical Center of Wuhan No.1 Hospital, hoping that Yiyi would return to a normal life through rehabilitation therapy (康复治疗).

After several months of     3     (profession) training, she could do 100 push-ups in 10 minutes.     4     (improve) the strength in her hands, her doctors kept her hands in thick bandages every hour. Even though her hands were covered     5     injuries every time she took then off, she never     6     (complain)of the pain. Just about two     7     (year) later, her effort paid off, making her able to not only eat food but also draw with her hands.

Early in 2023, Yiyi painted a picture called “Little snail”,     8     was put on show at an important ceremony of the volunteers in the children’s rehabilitation center. The     9     (inspire) story has spread widely since then. Her family and those volunteers     10     (eager) hope that the painting will bring hope for more people.

8 . 2024 Creative Arts Contest

Contest Rules:

●The contest is open to all staff, their children and grandchildren.

●One original piece of artwork will be accepted per individual.

●Each piece of work must be handed in with a short description of how this art applies to the theme “Take care of my future!”

●Artistic work includes: photography, drawing, painting, sculpture, storytelling, music, etc. Be creative!

●Entries (参赛作品) must have the name of the staff, parent, or grandparent attached.

Age Categories:

●Toddlers (5 years or younger)

●Kids (6 to 8 years of age)

●Kids (9 to 11 years of age)

●Teens (12 to 18 years of age)

●Adults (19+ years of age)

Deadline:

●The deadline for all categories is April 20, 2024

How to Submit:

●Via Inter-Departmental Mail: Earth Day M/S 22A

●Via email: EarthWeek@nassco.com

●Drop-off locations:

Medical. Bldg.15, 1st Floor

Employment Office Bldg.1. Rm.102

Prizes/Awards:

●The winning entries will be announced in early June.

●All entries will be displayed in various locations.

Grand Prizes (various free tickets):

●0-5 Years SeaWorld Family

●6-8 Years San Diego Zoo Family

●9-11 Years Knotts Berry Farm Family

●12-18 Years Universal Studios Family

●19+ Years Microsoft Surface

1. What can we know about the contest?

A．It is only open to teenagers.

B．A person can only hand in one entry.

C．Different artistic works need different themes.

D．Each entry should be handed in before April 10, 2024.

2. What prize can a 7-year-old boy get if he wins?

A．A ticket to SeaWorld.	B．A ticket to Universal Studios.
C．A ticket to San Diego Zoo.	D．A ticket to Knotts Berry Farm.

3. What is the text?

A．A notice.	B．A guide book.
C．A news report.	D．A book review

9 . In 2015, Brian Peterson and his wife moved to Santa Ana, California, where they came across a homeless man named Matt Faris. Inspired by Love Does, a book about the power of love in action, Peterson decided to introduce himself. Despite Faris’ challenging circumstances, Peterson saw the beauty within him and asked to paint his portrait. This encounter led Peterson to establish Faces of Santa Ana, a nonprofit that befriends and paints portraits of unhoused community members.

Starting from a black-and-white photo taken with his phone, Peterson chooses colors inspired by the subject’s personality and life story, creating a poignant portrait. He sells the finished canvases, signed by both the subject and artist, and shares the proceeds. Half goes into a “love account” for the model, which Peterson assists them in using to rebuild their lives.

Many of Peterson’s new friends use the donations to secure immediate necessities — medical care, hotel rooms and food. However, Peterson has learned the importance of not assuming what someone needs and instead asks them directly. The impact has been profound. Faris, for example, used the money to record an album, fulfilling his musical dreams. Another subject, Kimberly Sondoval, used it to support her daughter’s rent, leading to a tear-filled and heartfelt moment as they cried in Peterson’s arms.

Over the years, Peterson expanded his work with the creation of Faces of Mankind, a collective of artists painting portraits of homeless individuals nationwide. Peterson himself has painted 41 of these portraits. The nonprofit’s impact extends beyond financial support, however, as buyers of the paintings often connect with the subject’s story, finding similarities and often friendship with someone they might have otherwise overlooked or stereotyped.

Peterson expressed his surprise at this transformation when he said, “People often tell me, ‘I see homeless people differently now.’ I didn’t know that would happen.”

1. What inspired Brian Peterson to set up Faces of Santa Ana?

A．A book on kindness.	B．His love for painting.
C．His meeting with Faris.	D．Faris’ deep despair.

2. What is special about Peterson’s portraits?

A．They are created by using his imagination.

B．They are signed only by the subjects.

C．They mirror strong personal identities.

D．They are painted from live events.

3. How would Peterson describe the impact of Faces of Mankind on the buyers?

A．Temporary.

B．Far-reaching.

C．Foreseeable.

D．Ground-breaking.

10 . Then in 1925, a team of __________ (化学家) led by a scientist named Ida Tacke claimed that they had found element 43. （根据汉语提示单词拼写）