1 . Every June, we have a tradition at our house. Our children are given bowls and asked to collect pieces of summer nature. They leave those bowls on the front doorstep and we go for a walk. When we return, we find fairies (仙女) have transformed the bowls’ contents into ice cream.
“When are the fairies coming?” Six-year-old Anna had been asking last June with expectation. Meanwhile, Joshua, nine, was getting wise to fairies and such silly things. As the evening arrived, the children collected leaves, grass and dead insects. We put their bowls on the front doorstep and we were on our walk. After a while, I said that I had forgotten my keys and needed to go back, but then I said I found them. Joshua smiled knowingly, and then was beginning to get a bit confused.
Back near our house, I warned that the fairies might not have arrived—we might need to walk a bit longer. Joshua seemed relieved. “Yes,” he said, “they probably hadn’t come.” Yet when we reached the front door, the bowls were in the same place we had left them—filled with ice cream.
Anna accepted all this with complete innocence. She felt happy, excited and eager to eat. But Joshua was astonished, speechless. He looked up at me, at his dad, then gazed around the neighborhood in amazement. “The fairies must have come,” he whispered as we all sat down to feast. “But was this really magic?”
I kissed Anna and Joshua good night, but at 2:00 a. m., Joshua crawled into bed next to me, whispering, “Mummy, how did you do it?”
I told my nine-year-old boy the truth. I had asked a neighbor to help us. Shortly after we left on our walk, she had slid over to our house and switched the bowls. Joshua smiled in relief and thanked me for telling him. Then he fell asleep. Just at that moment, I believed in magic, too.
1. What’s the author’s family tradition in June?| A．Lining up to greet the fairies. |
| B．Filling the bowls with charity food. |
| C．Attracting kids to nature with ice cream. |
| D．Teaching the kids to make ice cream. |
| A．She felt grateful neighbors are so kind. |
| B．She was pleased fairies had prepared them. |
| C．She was aware her mother had made them. |
| D．She felt relieved she finally went back home. |
| A．His appreciation of a neighbor’s kindness. |
| B．His excitement from the outdoor experience. |
| C．His strong desire to stay with his mother. |
| D．His curiosity about the source of the ice cream. |
| A．Collecting Fruit from Nature in Summer |
| B．Watching the Magic of Making Ice Cream |
| C．Revealing the Secret of Nature to Children |
| D．Growing up with the Ice Cream Fairy Tradition |
2 . What will you do when you feel like a failure? Feeling like a failure is part of the human experiences. Treat yourself with kindness and understand that failure does not define you, but it is a stepping stone on your journey. When you’re ready, take action and challenge yourself.
As some friends were deeply lost in the world of yoga and mindfulness, I’ve personally struggled with the feeling of failure, not on the yoga mat, but on the road to my entrepreneurship(创业). It all began several years ago when I threw myself into the business, driven by my passion and a dream.
In the early days, optimism flowed freely, but financial struggles and sleepless nights soon followed. I questioned my decision and felt like the biggest failure. However, every difficulty became a stepping stone towards growth. I learned more from my failures than from my successes, adapting and growing stronger with each obstacle. I reached out to instructors, friends and family, sought advice and slowly saw a ray of hope. One defining moment came when I gained my first long-term coaching partnership. It was a breakthrough, and my hard work paid off. Over the years, I faced many more failures, but I refused to let them define me.
Today, looking back at my journey, I realize that moments of feeling like a failure were essential to my success. They taught me humility, perseverance and the value of hard work. They shaped me into a successful entrepreneur I am today—someone who doesn’t fear failure but embraces it as a necessary part of the path to success. As we approach the end of the year of graduation, remember that success is not about avoiding failure, but about how we rise after we fall. Let’s support each other on this journey called life. Stay positive, stay inspired and stay true to ourselves.
1. What is the function of paragraph 1?| A．To give the definition of failure. |
| B．To list some examples of failure. |
| C．To introduce the topic of the story. |
| D．To stress the importance of experience. |
| A．Internal motivation. | B．Advice from a coach. |
| C．Family financial crisis. | D．Encouragement from friends. |
| A．To teach is to learn. |
| B．A word spoken is past recalling. |
| C．Constant dropping wears away a stone. |
| D．Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. |
| A．Inspire us with his lessons. |
| B．Persuade us to major in business. |
| C．Recall the key moments of his entrepreneurship. |
| D．Advocate avoiding obstacles on the way to success. |
Brad Howard, a Texas father, had enough of his son’s disruptive (扰乱性的) behavior in physics class. Despite multiple warnings and complaints from the teacher about his son’s excessive (过多的) talking, the situation didn’t improve.
So, Brad decided to take matters into his own hands and gave his son, Bradley, a final warning. Brad made a bold promise to his son, saying, “Hey, if we get another call, I’m going to show up in school and sit beside you in class. ”
The 17-year-old Bradley probably thought his dad was just bluffing (唬人) and continued his chatty (爱闲聊的) ways. But when Brad received another email from the teacher, he knew he had to follow through with his threat.
On the morning of the important day, Brad’s wife woke him up and said, “Brad, it’s time for you to go to school. ” It struck him what he had said. He just couldn’t but a bit regret, “Oh, no, what have I done? ”
Despite his unwillingness, Brad was determined to keep his word and headed to his son’s high school.
The sight of Brad sitting next to Bradley in class was a source of amusement for Bradley’s friends, who found the situation ridiculous. Bradley, on the other hand, was less than thrilled.
He couldn’t believe that his dad had actually gone through with his threat, The embarrassment of having his own father sitting beside him in class was enough to make him regret his behavior. As the class started, Bradley could feel all eyes on him and his dad. He could sense the judgment and the whispers from his classmates.
“Hey, Bradley, it looks like your dad is really serious about this, ” one of his friends whispered across the hallway, trying to hold back a laugh.
“Yeah, this is so embarrassing, ” Bradley whispered, his cheeks turning a deep shade of red.
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。
But as the class progressed, something unexpected happened.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________After school, Bradley hesitantly approached his dad with newfound appreciation.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________4 . Until recently, gravitational waves could have been the stuff of Einstein’s imagination. Before they were detected, these waves in space time existed only in the physicist’s general theory of relativity, as far as scientists knew. Now, researchers are on the hunt for more ways to detect the waves. “The study of gravitational waves is booming,” says astrophysicist Karan Jani of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “This is just remarkable. No field I can think of in fundamental physics has seen progress this fast.”
Just as light comes in a variety of wavelengths, so do gravitational waves. Different wave lengths point to different types of origins of the universe and require different kinds of detectors. Gravitational waves with wavelengths of a few thousand kilometers—like those detected by the United States, Italy and Japan—come mostly from pairs of black holes 10 or so times the mass of the sun, or from collisions of dense cosmic blocks called neutron stars (中子星). These detectors could also spot waves from certain types of exploding stars and rapidly moving neutron stars.
In contrast, huge waves that span light-years are thought to be created by orbiting pairs of bigger black holes with masses billions of times that of the sun. In June, scientists reported the first strong evidence of these types of waves by turning the entire galaxy (星系) into a detector, watching how the waves make slight changes to the timing of regular blinks from neutron stars throughout the Milky Way.
Physicists now hope to dive into a vast, cosmic ocean of gravitational waves of all sorts of sizes. These waves could reveal new details about the secret lives of exotic objects such as black holes and unknown parts of the universe.
Physicist Jason Hogan of Stanford University thinks there are still a lot of gaps in the coverage of wavelengths. “But it makes sense to cover all the bases. Who knows what else we may find?” he says. The search for capturing the full complement of the universe’s gravitational waves exactly could take observatories out into the moon, to the atomic area and elsewhere.
1. What does Karan Jani think of the current study on gravitational waves?| A．It is rapid and pioneering. |
| B．It is slow but steadily increasing. |
| C．It is interrupted due to limited detectors. |
| D．It is progressing as fast as any other field. |
| A．The creation of different kinds of detectors. |
| B．Collisions of planets outside the solar system. |
| C．The presence of light in different wavelengths. |
| D．Activities involving black holes and neutron stars. |
| A．By analyzing sunlight. |
| B．By locating the new galaxy. |
| C．By using the whole galaxy as a tool. |
| D．By observing the sun’s regular movement. |
| A．It’ll exclude the atomic field. |
| B．It’ll focus exactly on the mapping of the galaxy. |
| C．It’ll require prioritizing certain wavelengths on the moon. |
| D．It’ll explore potential places to detect gravitational waves. |
5 . Historical accounts often described the now-extinct California grizzly bears as huge beasts ready to attack humans and livestock at any time. But according to a new paper, scientists say the truth might have been less dramatic: The bears ate a mostly vegetarian diet and were smaller than previously described. California grizzly bears once roamed in the Golden State. But European settlers often hunted, poisoned and trapped the creatures. Over time, because of these human activities, the California grizzly population declined. The last reliable sighting of a California grizzly bear occurred 100 years ago in 1924, and the animals disappeared completely sometime after that.
Researchers wanted to get a better understanding of the factors that accelerated the bears’ extinction. They also hoped to gain more insight into the creatures’ behavior, size and diet. To do so, they turned to documents and California grizzly specimens in natural history collections. They measured the animals’ skulls and teeth and analyzed their bones and pelts. The researchers found that California grizzly bears were much smaller than the 2,000 pounds often reported at the time. Historical accounts might not necessarily have been wrong, but they might have only included the largest bears. In addition, analyses of the animals’ bones and skins suggest the bears were primarily eating plants, which stands in contrast to their fear some hyper carnivorous (超级食肉的) reputation. “The bears likely increased meat consumption due to landscape changes coupled with the arrival of livestock,” says study co-author Alexis Mychajliw. However, researchers found the animals still ate a majority vegetarian diet and killed far less livestock than historical accounts suggested.
By digging beyond the bears’ reputation, the researchers gained a more accurate understanding of the California grizzly’s biology and natural history. And since scientists and land managers often rely on historical accounts when reintroducing animals to their former habitats, the study serves as a reminder that those old newspapers and journals do not tell the whole story.
1. What does the underlined word “roamed” in paragraph 1 mean?| A．Disappeared. | B．Declined. | C．Fought. | D．Wandered. |
| A．They mainly fed on livestock. |
| B．Their diet consisted mostly of plants. |
| C．They ate a balanced diet of plants and meat. |
| D．The absence of livestock changed their dietary habit. |
| A．They are unique. | B．They are one-sided. |
| C．They are accurate. | D．They are comprehensive. |
| A．The natural habitats of California grizzly bears. |
| B．The extinction process of California grizzly bears. |
| C．The reveal of the truth of California grizzly bears. |
| D．The significance of the arrival of California grizzly bears. |
6 . The oceans play a crucial role in lightening global warming by absorbing carbon dioxide emissions. However, in a study conducted by the University of Texas, researchers found that the oceans’ capacity to absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) would reach its maximum by 2100 and decrease to half of its current efficiency by 2300, based on a climate simulation (模拟) that was set for a worst-case emissions scenario (设想).
The decline happens because of a surface layer of low-alkalinity (碱度) water that can hinder the ability of the oceans to absorb CO₂. Alkalinity affects how much CO₂ can dissolve in seawater. Although the emissions scenario used in the study is unlikely because of global efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, the findings reveal a previously unknown tipping point that if activated would release an important brake on global warming.
“We need to think about these worst-case scenarios to understand how our CO₂ emissions might affect the oceans not just this century, but next century and the following centuries. Climate simulations had previously shown that the oceans slow their absorption of CO₂ over time, but none had considered alkalinity as an explanation. We recalculated pieces of a 450-year simulation until we hit on alkalinity as a key cause of the slowing.” said Megumi Chikamoto, who led the research at the University of Texas Institute.
The effect begins with extreme climate change, which slows ocean currents. This leaves the surface of the oceans covered in a warm layer of fresh water that won’t mix easily with the cooler, more al kaline waters below it. That means more of it is left behind in the atmosphere. This in turn produces faster warming, which sustains and strengthens the low-alkalinity surface layer. Co-author, Pedro DiNezio, said that the discovery was a powerful reminder that the world needs to reduce its CO₂ emissions to avoid crossing this and other tipping points.
1. What may happen after the year 2300?| A．More CO₂ will be absorbed by the oceans. |
| B．The oceans will lose all their current efficiency. |
| C．The world will face even more severe warming. |
| D．The oceans will be less crucial to global warming. |
| A．Improve. | B．Weaken. | C．Protect. | D．Control. |
| A．Finding why they slow CO₂ intake is hard. |
| B．Their ability to absorb CO₂ is at their maximum. |
| C．They will decide on the future of human beings. |
| D．They will slow down CO₂ absorption very quickly. |
| A．A biology textbook. | B．A government report. |
| C．Science fiction. | D．An environmental journal. |
1. Who does the woman travel with?
| A．Her classmates. | B．Her parents. | C．A travel guide. |
| A．Beijing. | B．Dunhuang. | C．Xi’an. |
| A．Her parents are busy. | B．She isn’t interested in it. | C．Her parents don’t like it. |
| A．Taste Peking duck. | B．Visit the Great Wall. | C．Tour the Palace Museum. |
1. When will Flight 962 arrive?
| A．At 9:35. | B．At 10:35. | C．At 11:35. |
| A．Bad weather. | B．Fuel shortage. | C．Engine trouble. |
| A．In Boston. | B．In Chicago. | C．In San Francisco. |
9 . We live in a digital world. Most people share photos and stories about the good times, while most don’t share a hard time in life.
Prove yourself wrong by reviewing what you’ve done right. Make a list of things you’ve accomplished or done well.
Speak to yourself the way you speak to others. When it’s hard to speak kindly to ourselves, a way to turn things around is to pretend we’re speaking to someone else. Imagine what you would say to them if your friends were in the same tough situation?
Go for a walk. Not only does walking reduce stress, but a change of environment can also help you get out of your negative mind space. Stop and smell the flowers, or feel the breeze against your face.
| A．Have positive self-talk. |
| B．Let yourself feel this way. |
| C．It doesn’t have to be complicated! |
| D．Journaling is useful for stress management. |
| E．Then when you go back home, you might feel a bit better. |
| F．That may make you feel like you can’t do anything right occasionally. |
| G．Chances are that you’d point out everything you’ve seen them do right. |
10 . “In high school, I decided to stop eating meat. I love animals. I couldn’t see them suffering.” Babulski says, who is a biologist at Monroe Community College in New York. Teenage Babulski initially lived on starches (淀粉食物) and salads. Eventually she learned to eat a more balanced vegetarian (素食者的) diet. But, Babulski remembers, her mom still wished she’d give up the madness. Mom thought she was going to straight up die.
The decision by Babulski and others to go vegetarian can be threatening to those who view eating animals as typically American. Eating meat is the norm in the United States, even though medical experts have long encouraged people to eat less processed and red meat for health reasons. What is becoming clear is that a meat-heavy diet is also terrible for the planet.
Shifting demand from meat to beans, whole grains, fruits, vegetables and nuts could have many benefits for the climate. A more recent April report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the IPCC, suggests that the world’s wealthiest individuals could greatly decrease emissions (排放) through lifestyle changes. That’s because households with incomes in the top 10 percent produce roughly 36 to 45 percent of global emissions, while households with incomes in the bottom 50 percent contribute just 13 to 15 percent. Therefore, wealthier individuals, who adopt a low-carbon lifestyle, can help establish new, more sustainable social norms.
Babulski learned about the environmental impacts of meat production. She now shares her personal journey with students in her environmental science course. Many of her students come to realize the power of their individual choices. The little things they do actually do add up and make a difference.
1. Why did Babulski’s mother object to her becoming a vegetarian?| A．She felt threatened. | B．She was a meat lover. |
| C．She misunderstood her. | D．She was worried about her health. |
| A．It is a personal lifestyle. | B．It can cause health problems. |
| C．It is harmful to the environment. | D．It is an essential part of their life. |
| A．The factories. | B．The government. |
| C．The low-income families. | D．The wealthy people. |
| A．Neutral. | B．Supportive. | C．Critical. | D．Uninterested. |
