1 . Official figures show that 101 people were killed in road accidents on the streets of London last year. The city wants to reduce the number of deaths and serious injuries on the capital’s roads to zero. It seems impossible. But it focuses more minds on an important question: What can help reduce accidents in a big city? Transport for London (TfL), the capital’s road and rail authority, has some answers: safe speeds, safe vehicles and so on.
A safety standard for Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs), which harnesses blind area cameras and sensors (传感器), is pioneering. Blind area cameras and sensors are widely placed where they are needed. The European Commission has followed it. TfL has also helpfully identified London’s most dangerous places. Half of Britain’s most dangerous roads run through the capital. Around three-quarters of accidents that cause deaths or serious injuries happen at crossing near the British Museum, which has been the site of the most deaths since 2012. Westminster is the most dangerous area for walkers and cyclists, so it introduced 20 mph speed limits on all its roads in 2021.
“Vision Zero” was launched in 2018. Deaths and serious injuries on London’s roads have fallen — by 53% and 40% respectively in 2022. But movement is not one-way. Deaths were record breakingly low in 2020 and 2021. But in 2022 the deaths rose again. “We are moving in the right direction,” says Will Norman, London’s walking and cycling commissioner.
Lack of funds for TfL has put off improving the riskiest areas. Only a few parts of the1010 Avenue have bike paths with guardrails (护栏). Safety is the biggest problem to people taking up cycling or letting their children walk or cycle. But greener vehicles may be unsafe themselves. Electric scooters (滑板车) are the latest ones to confuse planners. “One of those doing 50 mph down the road is not good for anybody,” said Mr Norman.
1. What is the author’s purpose in writing paragraph 1?| A．To make the article interesting. |
| B．To stress the importance of TfL. |
| C．To call on scientists to study the question. |
| D．To give some background information. |
| A．Compares. | B．Removes. | C．Uses. | D．Replaces. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Supportive. | C．Puzzled. | D．Unclear. |
| A．Bike lanes are not safe anymore for riders on roads. |
| B．Children should think twice when taking up cycling. |
| C．Safety has been a problem for some eco-friendly vehicles. |
| D．Electric scooters have become the biggest confusion for planners. |
2 . Let us continue with all sorts of great books. These four ones are worth reading.
Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
Kate Beaton is best known for humor. She tells how hopeless she was to pay off college loans, and she spent two years in her 20s working in the oil fields of Alberta. Beaton also considered how her years in the oil sands affected her own creativity. Her surroundings seemed almost designed to limit her imagination. The book is a vital turning point in the career of an important artist.
Nowhere Better Than Here
In her first middle grade novel, Sarah Guillory has written an exciting story about a brave girl fighting against the effects of climate change. When the worst flood in a century hits, thirteen-year-old Jillian is determined to find a way to keep her hometown Boutin and its spirit alive.
It Won’t Always Be Like This
Malaka Gharib has got a sharp eye for character details. Now in the book, Gharib revisits her teens. She tells about leaving Los Angeles, where she lived with her mother and visiting her father in Egypt every summer. Looking back at this time with adult eyes, she recalls her teen self with a mix of liking and anger.
Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life
It tells the true story of the author Jerry Pinkney’s childhood growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In the book, Jerry also mentions his reading and writing problems. Only drawing could offer him a sense of calm, control and confidence. Jerry eventually became one of the most celebrated children’s book illustrators (插图画家) of all time.
1. What did Beaton think of her days in oil fields?| A．It was full of mystery. |
| B．It was helpful to her works. |
| C．It narrowed her imagination. |
| D．It gave her inspiration for drawing. |
| A．Just Jerry: How Drawing Shaped My Life. |
| B．It Won’t Always Be Like This. |
| C．Nowhere Better Than Here. |
| D．Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands. |
| A．They both mention the authors’ growth experiences. |
| B．They both describe the scenes of adulthood. |
| C．They both center on climate problems. |
| D．They both tell inspiring stories. |
Rescue efforts are ongoing after a massive earthquake and
Thousands of people have been killed, and the numbers seem certain
Amid the horror of the natural disaster have been reports of miraculous (奇迹般的) rescues.
Among the survivors, an entire family was rescued
A more bittersweet rescue
1. How does the speaker feel about the last fire practice?
| A．Pleased. | B．Frightened. | C．Unsatisfied. |
| A．At 10:15. | B．At 9:45. | C．At 10:00. |
| A．Take their coats along. |
| B．Open the windows first. |
| C．Leave through the front door. |
| A．Near the library. | B．Near the car park. | C．Near the school building. |
1. What is Isabel’s?
| A．A restaurant. | B．A clothes shop. | C．A toyshop. |
| A．Wendy. | B．Cindy. | C．Mrs Miles. |
| A．Have lunch. | B．Go to a party. | C．Go to a gas station. |
1. Why did the girl leave the basketball team?
| A．She was not welcome. |
| B．She was bad at basketball. |
| C．She was the only female member. |
| A．Football. | B．Badminton. | C．Tennis. |
Once upon a time, there was a boy who always enjoyed listening to his mother’s story about the statue (雕像) standing beside their house.
The statue’s name was Miriad, who was the symbol of kindness. People who walked by the statue showed their respect through bowing (鞠躬) in front of Miriad’s statue. It became a tradition in their village that everyman who died due to helping others would be honored as Miriad, and would be remembered by all the people.
One night, the boy asked his mother how Miriad gained his respect from all the people in this village. “He was just a simple man,” his mother said. “He helped people selflessly, thinking others first.” “Well, I can also do that,” the boy proudly told his mother. His mother continued, “That is the reason why people made Miriad a statue, for you child to copy and not to forget.”
One morning, the boy saw a little girl crying under an apple tree. “Why do you cry?” the boy asked. “I was trying to get myself some fruit from this apple tree and suddenly I fell down from it,” the little girl explained. “Let me do it for you,” the boy said. He started to climb up the tree and picked as many apples a she could. After a while, the boy jumped down from the tree and gave all the apples to the little girl.
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。
The little girl thanked the boy for his kindness.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
One day, the boy met a homeless man who seemed hungry.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
8 . A seven-word sentence was discovered on a 3,700-year-old comb (梳子),which is likely the oldest known sentence written in letters,according to a new study. The sentence is in Canaanite (迦南语),which is the source (来源) of later letter systems in European languages.
The comb was first discovered in 2016 in Israeli. However,it wasn’t until 2021 that a researcher from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem first noticed the words when checking the photo of the comb. The researchers were not able to directly date the comb. They believed it dated from around 1700 BC based on comparison of the letters with those on pottery (陶器) with a known age.
Garfinkel,a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,said,“The Canaanites invented the letters. Nowadays every person in the world can read and write using the letter system. This is really one of the most important achievements of humankind. When you are writing in English,you’re really using Canaanite.”
Small groups of Canaanite letters discovered on broken pieces of pottery before did not leave much room for further research on the lives of the Canaanites. But this find of a sentence written in the first letter-based language opens up the debate about the history during the ancient time period.
Garfinkel said,“The sentence was found on an ivory comb in the ancient city’s palace and temple area,which could suggest that only wealthy men were able to read and write.” The earliest writing system started around 5,000 years ago,which relied on hundreds of pictographs (象形文字) to represent words,ideas and sounds. Canaanites were the first to use letters in their writing system. “It shows that even in the most ancient times there were full sentences,which further suggests that Canaanites stood out among the early civilizations in their use of the written word.”
1. What do we know about Canaanite?| A．It has a history of 3,700 years. | B．It is the oldest known language. |
| C．Its sentences are in many languages. | D．Its letters are still in use at present. |
| A．It was discovered on some pottery. | B．It was identified on a comb in 2016. |
| C．It was recognized when dating the comb. | D．It was recognized on a photo of the comb. |
| A．The influence of Canaanite letters. |
| B．The rules of using Canaanite letters. |
| C．The problem in identifying the Canaanite sentence. |
| D．The explanation of the discovered Canaanite sentence. |
| A．Useless. | B．Meaningful. | C．Confusing. | D．Unacceptable. |
9 . We have been taught from a young age that red means stop and green means go. So why were these colors chosen for traffic lights? And what’s the history behind the colors?
To trace the connection between the colors and traffic lights,we have to travel back in time to the earliest railroad signals (信号灯) developed in the 1830s. Those first railroad signals were the forerunner of our modern stoplights. Like modern traffic controls,they contained three lights:one for stop,one for caution (警告),and one for go. The original color system was different from our modern system,though. Red meant stop,green meant caution,and white meant go.
The choice of red for stop was fairly obvious,since red — the color of blood — has been associated with danger for thousands of years, long before cars were even around. Scientifically speaking,red is the color with the longest wavelength which means that as it travels,it gets spread less in different directions than other colors,so it can be seen from a greater distance.
Why green and white were chosen for the other signals remains a bit of a mystery. It’s possible that the two colors were chosen because how they contrasted (反差) with red. This system of color-coded signals remained in place (仍然有效) for several decades until it became clear that using white for go could cause serious problems. Around 1914,a train signal’s red lights broke down,causing it to appear white. As a train approached the signal,it was supposed to stop,but the driver believed the white meant go. The result was a terrible train crash. After that,the color for go was eventually changed to green.
To provide the most contrast between red and green,yellow was then chosen as the new color for caution,because it can be seen well at all times of the day. After cars were invented and went into mass production,a similar signaling system was needed to control the flow of traffic. When traffic lights were put up,it became standard for them as well.
1. How does the author describe the original traffic lights?| A．By listing an example. | B．By offering a suggestion. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By showing the importance. |
| A．It is the easiest to recognize all day long. |
| B．It reminds people of accidents and danger. |
| C．It spreads fastest in all directions in the air. |
| D．It has proved the least harmless to our eyes. |
| A．The driver’s tiredness. | B．The train’s high speed. |
| C．The travel system’s shortcoming. | D．The white light’s failing to work. |
| A．How did the present traffic lights form? |
| B．Why was the first traffic system invented? |
| C．Why did white disappear from the traffic lights? |
| D．How did an accident change the traffic systems? |
10 . Mack Rutherford,born on June 21, 2005, has become the youngest person to fly around the world alone in a small plane after taking off on March 23, 2022. Five months later, he touched down in the Bulgaria (保加利亚),where his journey began, according to Rutherford’s website. He turned 17 years old during the trip.
Rutherford’s route extended 52 countries on a specially prepared plane, according to his website. His journey was tracked on his website, which showed he set off for the Mediterranean (地中海) then through the Sahara, onwards through the Middle East and then East Asia. He broke two world records, previously held by his older sister Zara Rutherford, as the youngest person to fly around the world alone and also the youngest person to do so in such a small plane. He entered his last leg through the United States, Canada and Mexico before flying back through Europe.
The teenager was just 15 years old when he received his first pilot’s license (许可证), becoming the youngest pilot in the world. “Having flown hundreds of hours with my dad, who is a professional pilot, I have known for certain I wanted to fly. I think there’s something I can actually try to struggle for and achieve,” he said. “I also want to use the opportunity to meet young people on my route who do amazing things or make a difference to their communities or even to the world,” he wrote before flying off.
There were several “hairy” moments during his journey, he said, but he never gave up. His journey even took him to a deserted island in the North Pacific after strong head winds forced him to land during a flight from Japan to the United States. “I was forced to face it on my own — but that was definitely an amazing experience,” he said.
1. What do we know about Mack Rutherford?| A．He started his journey at the age of 16. |
| B．He was forced to fly around the world. |
| C．He visited every country of five continents. |
| D．He is the first to fly around the world alone. |
| A．Losing control. | B．The final period of his trip. |
| C．Injuring his leg. | D．A dangerous situation. |
| A．Intelligent and warm-hearted. | B．Generous and hardworking. |
| C．Determined and humorous. | D．Ambitious and adventurous. |
| A．A survey report. | B．A travel guideline. |
| C．A news report. | D．A book review. |
