1 . New research from the University of Portsmouth has shown a marked increase in shipping in the North East Atlantic. Scientists now warn that more monitoring is required to help protect sea life.

Researchers at the University of Ponsmouth have discovered that rates (率) of shipping in the North East Atlantic area rose by 34 per cent in a five-year period. The research is the first detailed survey of shipping activity in the North East Atlantic. Researchers used data from over 530 million vessel (船) positions recorded by Automatic Identification System(AIS). They looked at the change in shipping between 2013 and 2017 across ten different vessel types. In total the study area covered 1.1 million km², including waters off Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany,Iceland, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal. Spain, and the UK.

Lead author, James Robbins said: “This change is likely to put more pressure on the marine (海洋的) environment, and may influence the protection of at-risk species. Renewed monitoring effort is needed to make sure that protective measures are enough to save species under threat in a changing environment.”

Some of the greatest shipping increases were found in areas close to the Spanish coast. The Espacio Marino de la Costa da Morte saw a rise of 413 percent in vessel activity. It is an area used to protect seabirds.

Dr. Sarah Marley, Visiting Researcher at the University of Portsmouth, said: “Shipping is the most widespread human activity in our oceans, carrying a set of threats-from unnoticeable effects like underwater noise pollution to serious results when ships hit whales.”

Professor Alex Ford. from the University’s Institute of Marine Sciences, said: “Given the well-documented effects that shipping can have on the marine environment, it is necessary that this situation continues to be monitored-particularly in areas used to protect vulnerable (脆弱的) species which may already be under pressure.”

1. What can we say about the new research?

A．It started in 2013.	B．It is the first of its kind.
C．It was carried out by AIS.	D．It covers the whole Atlantic.

2. What do the underlined words “This change” in paragraph 3 refer to ?

A．Rapid population growth.

B．Rising global temperatures.

C．The huge increase in shipping.

D．The disappearance of marine life.

3. What does Dr. Sarah Marley want to tell us in paragraph 5?

A．Shipping plays an important role in the local economy.

B．Shipping can be a danger to the marine environment.

C．Noise pollution is closely related to human activity.

D．Marine areas should be monitored more carefully.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．New waterways across the Atlantic

B．The shipping industry in the North East Atlantic

C．New research opens windows into life under the water

D．Sea life needs better protection from an increase in shipping

2 . Frosty Ridge Resort (FRR) is a popular tourist attraction with a long history. Do you want to join the proud tradition of service at FRR? Welcome to join us!

Parking Host

The responsibility of a parking host is to help guests properly park their vehicles (交通工具), informing guests of parking steps and answering questions. You must be at least 18 years of age. A driver’s license (执照) is required. It’s necessary to have a team player attitude and be able to work with people of diverse cultures. The ability to work with different groups of people in a calm and professional manner is also a must.

Child Care Provider

Previous child care experience is preferred. You should provide quality child care, by meeting the needs of various age groups and guest demands in a positive way. Show positive communication skills, and offer children funny activities. Climb stairs to work space and work at a desk or computer work station for one or two hours.

Ski Instructor

Teach ski lessons to guests with the specific focus on students’ goals while emphasizing (强调) safety, fun and learning. You should be able to ski or snowboard. Great customer service skills and good adaptability are required. In particular, unlike the two positions above, you must work during the Christmas week.

1. What should people in the parking host position do?

A．Teach ski lessons to guests.

B．Help guests park their cars.

C．Look after guests’ children.

D．Answer questions from FRR director.

2. What is specially required for a ski instructor?

A．Being communicative.	B．Providing fun for guests.
C．Working during Christmas week.	D．Having related working experience.

3. Who is the text intended for?

A．Job hunters.

B．Project managers.

C．Local visitors.

D．College students.

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 drove to Yosemite Valley, California, for the first time in years. This was the first time I’d traveled to the valley by myself. I connected with my friends and found out about Facelift, a project started by a rock climber, Ken Yager. The goal was to spend a week volunteering to clean up trash in Yosemite Valley.

Thankfully, Yosemite Valley only has one or two roads, so it was impossible for me to stay lost for long. I pulled into Yellow Pine, the campground set aside for volunteers at the event.

I felt shy and insecure as a new comer. When I found the Group camp area, I saw eight event coordinators (协调者) I’d been talking with recently but had never met. These were outdoor people. I found a campsite, parked, got out, and walked over and introduced myself. They were nice.

The week turned into a wonderful learning experience. Meeting new people was a bonus. A few became forever friends. But the nights were really hard! I was alone in my tent in the thick, black forest. There were absolutely no lights. I rarely slept. A ranger (护林员) warned us about recent bear activity in our campground. A mother bear and her cub had been spotted wandering around during the day. The ranger explained that bears with cubs are especially dangerous. Great information, I thought. What should I do with it? I knew, my fear doubled.

Each night, I wrapped the band of my headlamp around my wrist so I could instantly turn on its bright light. I placed a couple of metal pots by my sleeping bag to make noise if I heard anything. I lay awake most of the night staring at the tent door to see if it moved.

The week flew by. I enjoyed every part of it, except for the sleepless nights. My daughter Leah joined me on the last day. We would drive together back home.

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。

Leah asked how I did camping alone for the first time.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After I finished, Leah gave me a funny look.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . How to Make the Most of Your Free Time of Holidays

While the holidays can be a fun time to relax and enjoy seeing family and friends, you can end up with a lot of downtime if you don’t plan ahead. If you want to get the most out of your holidays, schedule time for a mixture of fun activities and productive tasks.     1    .

Wake up early to get each day off to a good start. It can be tempting to sleep in during the holidays, but you’ll get more out of your time off if you wake up a little earlier than normal each day. Even setting your alarm 30 minutes earlier can help keep you from getting off schedule, and you’ll have more time during the day to get things done. If you do end up staying up late one night, try to get up as early as you can the next morning.    2    .

Spend time learning or improving a skill, craft, or hobby. If you think you’re going to have a lot of free time over the holidays, try using that time to learn something new. You might practice a new drawing technique if you love art, for instance, or you might try learning to play a new song if you play the guitar.    3    . For instance, you might prepare tasty cuisines that you can bring along to a holiday celebration.

    4    . A book is a great way to stimulate your imagination, but it’s also a relaxing way to pass the time. Find a spy novel, a romance story, or an epic adventure that will keep you interested and excited, and you’ll be surprised how quickly you’re turning the pages!    5    , try reading that material for about 10 to 15 minutes before you switch to the book you’re reading for fun.

A．Take time to read for fun or for study

B．The holidays are also a great time to improve cooking skills

C．But remember that frequent getting up early is harmful to your health

D．Then go to bed extra early the next night to help you stay on schedule

E．A well-scheduled holiday can make you more refreshed in the coming semester

F．If you have any assigned reading materials, you're supposed to do over the break

G．While keeping in mind that it's also important to spend some time relaxing yourself

5 . Dogs may have earned the title of our best friends through their interactions with humans, but now researchers say these social skills could, be present shortly after birth rather than being learned.

To better understand the role of biology in dogs’ abilities to communicate with humans, the researchers studied 375 eight-week-old service dogs. They looked at how these dogs performed in a series of tasks designed to measure their communication skills. The puppies were still living with their littermates (同窝出生者) and had not been sent to live with a volunteer puppy raiser, making it unlikely that they had learned about his or her behavior.

In the first task, a person hid a treat beneath one of two overturned cups and pointed to it to see if the puppy could follow the gesture. Since dogs are good at using noses to find things a treat was also taped to the insides of, both cups. In the second task, puppies watched as the researchers placed a yellow, block next to the correct cup, instead of pointing to indicate where the puppy should look for the food.

The third task was designed to observe puppies’ tendency to look at human faces. The researchers spoke to the puppy in a voice people sometimes use when talking to a baby. They then measured how long the puppy fixed a stare on the human.

In the last task, researchers sealed a treat inside a closed container and presented it to the puppy. They then measured how often the puppy looked to the human for help in opening the container.

The study found that while many of the puppies were responsive to humans’ physical and verbal cues, very few looked to humans for help with the unsolvable task. Researchers said, “This suggests that while puppies may be born knowing how to respond to human-initiated communication, the ability to initiate communication on their own may come later.” The next step will be to see if specific genes that may contribute to dogs’ abilities to communicate with humans can be identified.

1. Why were eight-week-old service dogs chosen for the study?

A．They were the best age to learn.

B．They were cute and safe to deal with.

C．They were unlikely influenced by their mates.

D．They had had little contact with humans before.

2. What is the researchers’ purpose in taping food to both cups?

A．To provide clues for the puppies’ final decisions.

B．To make comparisons between different conditions.

C．To prevent the puppies from making use of their smell.

D．To check the puppies’ preference for a particular color.

3. What can we know from the study?

A．Puppies can understand our body language.

B．Puppies are good at asking humans for help.

C．Puppies are born to arouse communication with humans.

D．Puppies need specific genes to communicate with humans.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A．Dogs—talented performers	B．Dogs—humans’ best friends
C．Dogs—born to be able to learn	D．Dogs—born to understand humans

6 . I’ve never had a great sense of direction. And I often wander into shops and, upon coming back out, can’t remember which way I’ve come from — left or right? Many people are like me, and why do some constantly have no idea where they are?

The hippocampus (海马体) is a region of the brain associated with memory and involved in sense of direction. And a nearby region has also been associated with sense of direction. There are four known types of navigation-related neurons (神经元), found in these regions place cells, grid cells, border cells and head direction cells.

In short, you can think of place cells as an internal cognitive (认知的) map; they identify where you are. Grid cells are like a GPS system in our brain; they tell us about the relationship of this place to other places we’ve been to. Border cells respond to the presence of environmental boundaries at a specific direction and distance from us. Lastly, head direction cells are activated when our head faces a specific direction. These cells will fire electrical impulses when we enter familiar locations, with each group of cells relating to a specific place.

Our reliance on GPS and smartphones may have decreased the ability to use our internal maps. Older adults who regularly used GPS had less activity in their hippocampus, compared with those who did not use GPS. They also performed slightly worse in a cognition test. In contrast, a study involving London taxi drivers found they significantly larger hippocampus than ordinary people.

You can improve your way-finding ability specifically by practicing the skill, according to Aziz, PhD of neurology at Temple University School of Medicine. “The more you get out and go to places, the better,” he says. Physical exercise improves the blood flow to the brain, while mental exercise, such as doing puzzles or learning a new language, stimulates the development of new nerve cells and connections in your brain.

1. How does the author introduce the topic of the text?

A．By raising a question.

B．By making a comparison.

C．By stating personal opinions.

D．By referring to scientific research.

2. What can we learn about the four types of navigation-related neurons?

A．They depend closely on each other.

B．They are responsible for different jobs.

C．They will decrease in numbers as one ages.

D．They will fail to function in unfamiliar situations.

3. What will happen it we rely too much on GPS?

A．We will easily be misled.

B．Our hippocampus will get enlarged.

C．Our cognitive ability will be affected.

D．We will have our hippocampus relaxed.

4. What are we advised to do according to the last paragraph?

A．Build up our body.	B．Take training courses.
C．Try different brain exercises.	D．Get out to connect with people.

7 . In an awe-inspiring incident, a young killer whale recently demonstrated remarkable intelligence by seeking assistance from a group of humans to save its trapped mother, which challenged our conventional understanding of wild predators (食肉动物).

The online viral video, shared by Alvin Foo, began with a young killer whale emitting distressing cries towards a group of people on a boat. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the concerned individuals promptly responded by contacting a rescue team. The young whale’s desperate request for help touched more people’s hearts and set a truly extraordinary chain of events in motion.

As the rescue team arrived, they were amazed to witness the young killer whale’s playful interaction with the humans. The whale appeared elated, seemingly understanding that assistance had finally arrived. This interaction between the mother killer whale and rescuers underlined the potential for mutual understanding beyond the boundary of traditional predator-prey relationships.

The young whale took on the role of a guide, leading the rescue team to its mother trapped in a fishing net. It navigated the water with purpose, as if fully aware that the humans possessed the means to save its mother. This display of intelligence left the rescuers in awe, highlighting the complex cognitive abilities of these magnificent marine creatures. With its guidance, the rescue team swiftly initiated the liberation process, carefully cutting the net to free the trapped whale. Astonishingly, they seemed to understand that the humans were there to help and did as asked.

The instant the mother whale was finally freed, an eruption of joyous cries filled the air. The emotional outpouring conveyed the immense gratitude of both the mother whale and the young whale to the humans who had intervened. As the rescue team made their way back to shore, the two whales swam alongside them. This heart-warming sight emphasized the lasting impact of the rescue. The bond formed through this extraordinary rescue operation was well obvious, proving that the profound connections can be established between various species. The journey back to safety symbolized the victory of compassion over adversity.

1. What can we learn about the video from paragraph 2?

A．It spread widely.

B．It went unnoticed.

C．It documented humans’ requesting help.

D．It recorded passive response to the rescue.

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

A．Tired.

B．Excited.

C．Frightened.

D．Confused.

3. What is the young whale like?

A．Wise and cooperative.	B．Complex and mysterious.
C．Curious and careful.	D．Wild and rude.

4. What does the author mainly want to convey in the last paragraph?

A．Adversity is a good discipline.

B．It is urgent to protect wildlife.

C．Different species can coexist in harmony.

D．Human intervention poses a threat to whales.

8 . My parents went shopping at the supermarket and a complete stranger came up and did something that really touched them. He_________ my mum and dad’s entire grocery, which came to $273!

You can _________ the shock and gratitude my parents felt in that _________. It’s not every day that such a selfless act of kindness comes your way, and it _________ recovers your faith in humanity. They were so touched by this stranger’s generosity.

This excellent gesture has _________ my parents to pay it forward in the most amazing way possible. They’ve decided to _________ the love and kindness they received by doing something _________ for someone else. It’s like a positive chain reaction that will keep on _________!

It’s a beautiful reminder that even the smallest acts of kindness can have a _________ effect on others. Together, we can create a __________ filled with sympathy, love, and generosity.

So, let’s take a moment to __________ the incredible stranger who brightened my parents’ day and inspired them to pay it forward. Let’s also remember that we all have the __________ to make someone’s day a little __________, whether it is through a smile, a kind word, or a small act of __________. Together, we can make this world a __________ place.

1.

A．paid for

B．watched over

C．focused on

D．referred to

2.

A．mention

B．guess

C．measure

D．honor

3.

A．activity

B．section

C．standard

D．moment

4.

A．severely

B．really

C．sincerely

D．frequently

5.

A．encouraged

B．persuaded

C．forced

D．warned

6.

A．make

B．enlarge

C．spread

D．pack

7.

A．reliable

B．cheap

C．wonderful

D．random

8.

A．giving

B．remembering

C．receiving

D．shining

9.

A．small

B．silent

C．deep

D．slow

10.

A．dream

B．world

C．chance

D．situation

11.

A．realize

B．remind

C．admit

D．praise

12.

A．root

B．power

C．reward

D．anxiety

13.

A．right

B．timely

C．needy

D．bright

14.

A．success

B．wisdom

C．kindness

D．bravery

15.

A．better

B．riper

C．bigger

D．cleaner

9 . AI is just now starting to go mainstream, but these classic films about AI have been exploring the future of artificial intelligence for decades.

Ex Machina

In Ex Machina, a computer programmer is selected by the genius CEO of the company he works for to take part in an experiment involving the Turing test (图灵测试)with an impressive AI robot named Ava, convincingly played by a real actress.

A. I. Artificial Intelligence

No list on films featuring AI would be complete without A. I. Artificial Intelligence where a young AI boy with human-like feelings is left out by his human mother. As is so often the way, the questions posed by the story make the film way ahead of its time. What responsibility would humanity hold for an artificial intelligence that is advanced enough to actually experience feelings and emotional turmoil (混乱)？

I, Robot

As humans and robots struggle to survive together, and sometimes against each other, on Earth and in space, the future of both hangs in the balance. Here human men and women confront robots gone mad, telepathic robots, robot politicians, and vast robotic intelligence that may already secretly control the world. And both are asking the same questions: What is human? And is humanity out of date?

Brian and Charles

When an inventor in a Welsh village develops an AI being that looks like a mature professor who acts nothing like it, the result is quite possibly the funniest film of the decade so far. This is a film that is the perfect antidote to the apocalyptic threats surrounding modern life in the 21st century.

1. Who took the Turing test in the film Ex Machina?

A．A CEO.	B．An AI boy.
C．An inventor.	D．A programmer.

2. What can we know about the AI boy in A. I. Artificial Intelligence?

A．He is played by Ava.

B．He is experiencing emotional turmoil.

C．He is a life-like robot turning bad.

D．He is an orphan in real world.

3. Which of the following is a comedy film?

A．I, Robot.	B．Ex Machina.
C．Brian and Charles.	D．A. I. Artificial Intelligence.

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。

China is a big country with many dialects. However, in recent years, the preservation of Chinese dialects    1     (become) a subject of concern due to various factors.

Chinese dialects represent a    2    (value) aspect of the world’s linguistic (语言的) diversity. Protecting these dialects    3    (be) crucial not only for preserving China’s diverse cultural heritage (遗产) but also for maintaining global linguistic richness. Just    4    biodiversity is essential for the ecosystem, linguistic diversity is essential for the cultural fabric of our society.

Chinese dialects carry    5    them the wisdom, traditions and unique expressions of local communities. By safeguarding these dialects, we preserve a window into Chinese history, custom and local knowledge,    6    (contribute) to a more comprehensive understanding of China.

In the digital age, using technology can aid in the preservation of dialects. Efforts should    7    (make) to digitally record dialect-specific vocabulary, phrases and stories. The development of dialect-focused applications and online platforms can facilitate the learning and communication among dialect    8    (lover) across China.

Preserving Chinese dialects is not    9    (mere) about protecting a linguistic system; it is about safeguarding cultural heritage and showcasing China’s linguistic and cultural diversity. By recognizing    10    importance of Chinese dialects and adopting the right strategies, we can ensure that China's rich linguistic system continues to thrive (繁荣).