1 . The case for and against social media

Is social media harmful to teenagers?     1     Social media sites have been blamed for most of the world’s social problems from feeling disconnected and lonely to having difficulty forming meaningful relationships. Yet, many of us feel a need to use social media because it offers something we cannot find elsewhere, despite knowing the downsides.     2    

An argument for social media claims it can strengthen social bonds by facilitating relationships with people in different geographical areas. For example, social media has helped old school friends to get back in touch after many years without contact.     3     These are real benefits of using social media.

    4     The argument used by many people is that interactions on social media are no substitute for face-to-face communication. When you are out with friends how many times do they check their phones? for example.     5     Research highlights it is far more satisfying to physically laugh out loud in real life rather than to replace the act with a typed representation of laughter such as “haha” or “LOL”.       

Ideally, we should have enough self-control to be able to limit our use of social media, enjoying the benefits it can bring.

A．The disadvantages of social media.

B．In my opinion, the disadvantages of social media outweigh the benefits.

C．It is all too easy to become absorbed in this online life rather than communicate in real life.

D．People secure jobs now through social media or research information for their studies.

E．This is the question we are going to examine.

F．We will look at the arguments for and against using social media before answering the question.

G．We aim to control our use of social media.

2 . Must-See Destinations in 2024

Are you ready to explore the world in 2024? Whether you dream of sailing down famous European rivers or exploring unique places, our list of must-see destinations is here to inspire your travels.

Spain

Throw yourself into the rich culture and history of Spain. From the sunny beaches of Tenerife to the Moorish architecture (建筑物) of Andalucía, there’s so much to explore in this lively country. Discover the UNESCO World Heritage (遗产) city of La Laguna and become amazed at the beauty of Cordoba, Seville, and La Alhambra, or relax on a beach holiday to Majorca or Tenerife.

Montenegro

Despite its size, Montenegro has beautiful beaches, rich history, and a breathtaking channel. Experience the beauty of the Montenegrin coast — Dalmatia’s jewel (宝石) is the UNESCO World Heritage listed oasis of Dubrovnik, famously praised by Lord Bryon as The Pearl of the Adriatic.

Croatia

Discover the beauty that is Dubrovnik. Explore the 16th-century city’s defensive walls and red-roofed buildings. Sail along Croatia’s Adriatic Coast, where attractive villages and beautiful towns like Pula, Rovinj, and Poreč are just waiting to be explored...

South Africa

Explore the wonders of South Africa, from the Garden Route’s nature reserves to the thrill of a Safari drive in the Kariega Game Reserve. Discover the different plants and animals while searching for the “Big Five” on an unforgettable South Africa holiday.

With over 25 years of experience creating holidays for the curious, Travel Department ensures that your journey is in good hands. Plus as a trusted Reader’s Digest Travel partner, you can get special deals when you travel with them across lots of different 2024 holidays. If you want to know more information, please click here.

1. What do Spain and Montenegro have in common?

A．They are both praised by tourists.

B．They both have world heritage cities.

C．They are known for their architectures.

D．They both own beaches and rich history.

2. Which destination will attract people who are interested in creatures?

A．Spain.	B．South Africa.
C．Montenegro.	D．Croatia.

3. Where is this text most likely from?

A．A website.	B．A guidebook.
C．A novel.	D．A magazine.

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头请续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

When Emily was 16, she had a dream of becoming a professional singer, a dream that was as bright as the stars in the night sky. Emily’s parents, though supportive, often reminded her of the importance of her studies. This made Emily feel torn (为难) between her passion and her responsibilities

Each day, Emily trained herself for hours. She would sing in the mirror, imagining every audience was fully attracted by her singing. The sound of her voice filled the empty room, giving Emily a sense of purpose and fulfillment (成就感).

When she learned about the local singing competition, Emily felt a spark of excitement in her heart. She chose a song that reflected her emotional journey and practised it over and over again. The lyrics spoke to her heart, allowing her to relive (回味) moments of joy, heartbreak and growth.

Finally came the day of the competition. With butterflies in her stomach, Emily could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she walked onto the stage. As the music began, Emily closed her eyes and let her voice flow out. She could hear the audience gasp (倒吸气) as she hit the high notes, and she felt a sense of connection with them that she had never experienced before.

注意：1. 续写词数应为80词左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答；
3. 写作提示：第一段可写出 Emily比赛时的表现；第二段可写出 Emily 获奖后的表现和感悟。

As she sang, Emily’s emotions poured out.

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When the judges announced Emily as the winner, she felt a wave of joy washing over her.

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4 . Trees in tropical (热带的) forests grow more slowly in years when the nights are warmer than average or dry-season days are unusually hot, according to a 21-year study. This suggests such forests will grow less as the world warms due to climate change -potentially taking in less carbon dioxide from the air and worsening global warming.

“For the first time, we have a window on what a whole tropical forest is doing, ”says Deborah Clark at the University of Missouri-St Louis. “It is very scary. ”

Tropical forests contain a large amount of carbon, because the trees take in CO₂ from the air and use it to grow. Droughts, which are becoming more serious due to climate change, may harm the forests and re- lease (释放) some of the stored carbon.

For over two decades, Clark and her husband David Clark, also at the University of Missouri-St Louis, lived at La Selva Biological Station in Costa Rica. From1997 to 2018, they took detailed measurements of the surrounding tropical forest, tracking the wood production as well as the amount of litter that fell from the trees.

The pair, with Steven Oberbauer at Florida International University, discovered that wood production fell in years with warmer nights -something studies had already suggested before. The team also found that the trees produced less wood in years when temperatures in the dry season rose more than 28°C.

While this hadn’t been shown before, Deborah Clark says it was expected because photosynthesis (光合作用) slows above this temperature.

The study adds to growing proof of climate effects on tropical forests, says lain Hartley at the University of Exeter in the UK. “It looks like, as you warm the climate, you put pressure on the plants, leading to reduced productivity. Coupled with droughts, tropical forests may have less ability to help us in the fight against climate change in the future.”

1. What causes the forests to grow less according to paragraph 1?

A．Warmer temperature.	B．More carbon dioxide.
C．Less daylight	D．Worse air condition.

2. How did Clark and her husband conduct the study?

A．By gathering wood.	B．By giving example.
C．By collecting data.	D．By tracking former study.

3. What do we know about the study?

A．The trees took in more CO, in the drought season.

B．The wood production decreased in the warmer days.

C．Droughts help increase the carbon storage.

D．Tropical forests grow faster at warmer nights.

4. What does Hartley think of climate effects on tropical forests?

A．Helpful.

B．Negative.

C．Unclear.

D．Necessary.

5 . When the day is dawning, the Center of Naxi Dongba Pictographs and Paintings of the old town Liliang welcomes his owner, He Runyuan, who is dressed in a traditional Naxi clothing. Every day, He explains Dongba culture to tourists and teaches them to write Dongba characters. “Dongba characters are not only the soul of Dongba culture, but also a treasure for the whole world,” said He. Enjoying a history of over 1,000 years, Dongba characters are an ancient system of pictographic glyphs (象形字形). They are praised to be the “living fossil (活化石)” in writing.

As a member of the Naxi group, He first learned Dongba characters at the age of 13. He loved them immediately when he first looked at the symbols. “These characters have pictographic drawings that look like humans, animals, plants etc.” He said. “They are usually colorful and recognizable.”

Though the characters are interesting, learning them is never easy. Dongba culture is always mastered by Dongbas, the Naxi priests (祭司). Without Dongbas in his village, He has to travel far to the Old Town, where many Dongbas are gathered. “In most cases, I need to walk for more than one day to the destination. To get more learning time, I always set off very early when the city is still in darkness,” said He.

But the love for Dongba culture keeps him going. For the past 30 years, He has been studying these characters every day. In 2016, He set up the Center of Naxi Dongba Pictographs and Paintings Where He beautified fans, glasses and even T-shirts with Dongba characters, hoping to pass down Dongba culture and let more people know about it.

“Our life is limited, but so long as everyone makes an effort, the life of a culture can exist forever,” He said.

1. What does He Runyuan do in his center every day?

A．He spreads Dongba culture.	B．He writes Dongba characters.
C．He sells his painting.	D．He learns from priests.

2. Which of the following best describes He Runyuan?

A．Honest and creative.	B．Outgoing and confident.
C．Hard-working and responsible.	D．Humorous and determined.

3. What keeps He studying when facing difficulties?

A．The love for his hometown.	B．The preference for Dongba culture.
C．The respect for priests.	D．The encouragement from his fans.

4. What can we learn about Dongba characters?

A．They are popular with the young.	B．They are interesting and easy to learn.
C．They are lively and easily recognized.	D．They are passed down by oral explanation.

6 . 选词填空

be set in       lose track of          in advance        what if        make one’s fortune turn up        be anxious about     up to               keep in mind       tend to

1. I came a thousand miles to stand in this door tonight, and it’s worth it if my old partner _______________.
2. How would you feel if moving to a new town meant _______________ your friends?
3. We need to _________________ that what we see on social media is often not the whole truth about a person.
4. On social media sites, people _____________ post only positive updates.
5. It is cheaper if you book the tickets _______________.
6. The short story “After Twenty Years” _______________ New York on a cold, dark night.
7. Social media tools let us see what our friends are ______________ and maintain friendship.
8. ______________ the only way of getting news from faraway friends was writing letters that took ages to be delivered?
9. Johnson _________________ his job interview tomorrow.
10. The next morning I was to start for the West to ________________.

7 . 选词填空

go to the trouble to do sth, wash away, pass down, reflect on, lead to, make one’s fortune, in case

1. Before I make a decision, I need time to _________ the problem.
2. With these trees, the soil couldn’t be _________ easily.
3. Too much smoking can _________ lung cancer, so giving up smoking is of great importance.
4. In the 19th century people rushed to the big cities where they expected to _________ .
5. The doctor shares his phone number with the patients _________ they need medical assistance.

8 . Screen time before bedtime may leave people feeling sleepy in the morning. Cell phones, computers and TVs emit (发出) blue light. And exposure to that bluish light during the two hours before bed can keep us from getting a good night’s rest, a new study finds. It cuts down on the length of people’s sleep. It also leaves them feeling tired in the morning and can disrupt the body clock. Data shows that this blue light tends to make us more alert at night, making it harder to get all the rest we need.

Green and his team surveyed 19 people — all in their 20s — for a sleep study. All spent two hours on a computer right before bedtime. But they didn’t all experience the same light exposure. Looking at screens that gave off intense blue light cut someone’s sleep by about 16 minutes, compared to when they had used screens with red light. Those exposed to blue light also woke up more often at night than if they had been exposed to red light.

“The normal blue light emissions from the computer screen also affect how much melatonin (褪黑素) each volunteer makes. It is released into our blood around 9 p.m. When our bodies make less melatonin, we may still feel too alert at bedtime to fall asleep when the body is tired. And body temperature won’t drop as expected after we use devices emitting lots of blue light. Using screens before bed damages the body’s biological clock,” Green says. “More and more kids are using screens nowadays. Sleep is important, especially during the first few years of life when ‘neural plasticity’ (神经可塑性) is at its greatest. Their brains are still developing the ability to learn and pay attention. That makes the new results worrisome,” Green says.

Rahman says that the new work makes a good point about how blue light from screens can be bad for our bodies. However, he points out, the light in this study is extremely bright. It is far brighter than what a normal computer, tablet or TV will emit. Still, Rahman says the results remind us to think about how we should use screens before bed.

1. The blue light from the screens may cause people to ________.

A．tend to work at night	B．get attentive in the morning
C．be less sleepy before bed time	D．be affected less by the body clock

2. What is Paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．People’s concern about light exposure.

B．A study on blue light’s effects on sleep.

C．Reasons for blue light’s effects on sleep.

D．Effects of various types of light on sleep.

3. What can be implied from Green’s remarks?

A．Melatonin may affect people’s neural plasticity.

B．Blue light may affect children’s brain development.

C．Exposure to normal screen has little impact on sleep.

D．The low temperature of body helps produce melatonin.

4. What’s Rahman’s possible attitude towards the Green’s study?

A．Uncaring.	B．Approving.
C．Objective.	D．Critical.

9 . 假如你是李华，请你代表心理社团，在学校的英文广播上发言，向同学们提出以多种方式缓解高中学习压力，保障心理健康的建议。内容包括：
1）具体做法；
2）表达期待。
注意：词数80左右；词汇：Psychology Club心理社团

Hello, everyone!

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10 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容或括号内单词的正确形式。

Light pollution is a serious problem. This became completely obvious when the World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, a computer-created map based on thousands of satellite (卫星) photos,     1     (publish) in 2016. The map shows how and where     2    (we) world is lit up at night. Large areas of North America, Europe, and Asia are glowing (发光) with light, while only the most remote (偏远的) places on Earth are in total darkness. Some of the most light-polluted    3     (country) in the world are Singapore, Qatar, and Kuwait.

Sky glow is the brightening of the night sky, mostly over cities, because    4    the electric lights of cars, streetlamps, offices, factories and buildings, turning night into day.

People     5     live in cities with high levels of sky glow have a hard time     6     (see) stars at night. Scientists are     7     (particular) worried about sky glow pollution as it influences their ability     8     (view) space.

According to research, more    9     80% of the world’s population, and 99% of Americans and Europeans, live under sky glow. It sounds pretty, but sky glow    10    (cause) by human activities is one of the most common forms of light pollution.