1 . Cultural tourism is a form of travel that focuses on exploring and experiencing the cultural heritage and traditions of a particular destination. Cultural tourism is a good way to enrich your experience as a tourist.
Cultural tourism helps to encourage the protection of culture and heritage by keeping endangered traditions alive. For example, heritage handicraft skills (手工技能) might be little practical, but outside interest could be enough to safeguard a tradition that might otherwise have been lost.
Cultural tourism also improves education.
However, when cultural practices and traditions are presented only for tourism purposes, they may lose their true meaning and become superficial (表面的) performances aimed at entertaining tourists.
In addition, a lot of tourists can put a pressure on local resources.
Most importantly, cultural tourism may lead to the loss of cultural diversity. As destinations become more popular to mass tourism, there is a risk of homogenization, where cultural practices and traditions become standardized to the tastes and expectations of tourists.
| A．Only when culture tourism is managed properly |
| B．This can lead to a misunderstanding of the culture |
| C．It is important to improve cultural understanding and respect |
| D．Because cultural tourism often involves travelling to far areas |
| E．Travelers have the chance to take part in educational activities |
| F．But it’s worth noting that this type of travel has both benefits and downsides |
| G．Popular cultural destinations often experience an increase in the number of visitors |
2 . People normally look for a bit of adventure in their lives. They hunt for something new, something unknown, and they learn new things about the world and themselves.
Most of the time, adventures can be rewarding, because they make you feel satisfied after doing them.
| A．Adventures come in many forms |
| B．That may be followed by disasters |
| C．However, some adventures are risky |
| D．It is the best way to live a life of adventure |
| E．It tells us about what life was like during his time |
| F．And one’s adventures also provide others with useful information |
| G．We should weigh the dangers against the rewards before our adventures |
1. How did Alan get his first car?
| A．He bought it himself. |
| B．His parents gave it to him. |
| C．It was a prize from a competition. |
| A．A teacher. | B．A salesgirl. | C．A law firm clerk. |
| A．In primary school. | B．In high school. | C．In college. |
Due to my unhealthy eating habits, I became fatter and fatter after college. My good friend Anoush was a running enthusiast. So he advised me to lose weight by running. I didn’t agree at first until he promised to accompany me to run although he was busy with his work.
Seven years later, I got more serious about running. And I dreamed to participate in Boston Marathon. Anoush encouraged me to realize my dream. He also said he enjoyed running too and wanted to attend the same marathon with me. Every day we spared our time to practise hard and did about 2 marathons a year, during which time Anoush gave me much professional guidance and encouragement. And then one day, both of us qualified for the 2017 Boston Marathon. We were excited but unfortunately, several weeks before the marathon, we had a serious quarrel. Even I swore never to talk with him in the future.
The day came. Anoush and I stood at the starting line. He said, “Good luck! You will certainly finish the marathon.” Hearing his words, I looked at him, saying, “It’s none of your business.”
Then we started running. I had strong mental confidence by using positive self-talk when running distances, which has helped me finish 18 marathons. Soon, I passed Anoush.
But I struggled in the heat starting at mile 16. I felt most of my oxygen went to the muscle in my legs and less in my brain, which made me feel a bit lightheaded and fuzzy (迷迷糊糊的). I continually encouraged myself. “Just get to the finish, run bold, and you will win,” all phrases that I say to myself didn’t work any more.
Gradually I felt out of breath and had to slow down my pace. As I ran down the famous last stretch of the Boston Marathon on Boylston Street, I fell down on the ground with my legs moving like jello (果冻).
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。
Just then, I felt that someone picked me up.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When Anoush and I crossed the finish line, the audience at present applauded.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________5 . Earthquake prediction has long been a challenge for scientists around the globe since the geological phenomenon can occur at any time and any location with little or no warning. The chance of a powerful earthquake can only be determined through long-term forecasts in a general area or region on Earth.
Throughout history, no individual or group has yet successfully predicted a major earthquake: including its date and time, location and magnitude. These are the three elements essential to make an earthquake, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS). While small earthquakes occur all the time, high-intensity earthquakes are rare but is something to watch out.
Now, a new study led by researchers from Pennsylvania State University found a potential solution to the dilemma of earthquake forecast: ancient underthrust rocks. Rocks buried deep in ancient subduction (俯冲) zones — where tectonic( 地壳的) plates bump with each other — could help scientists make better predictions of how these zones behave during the years between major earthquakes.
According to the USGS, we are still uncertain how we can make such a feat and are not expecting to perfectly predict major earthquakes any time in the foreseeable future.
Although some people in the past said they could predict earthquakes, the U.S. Government agency asserts these are all failed predictions. Their predictions are neither grounded on scientific fact nor passed through the scientific method.
Since authorities in the field of geology and other related areas acknowledged that earthquake prediction is still far from being completed, scientists continue to further understand this mystery. Unlike weather forecasts of hurricanes and other storms, earthquakes have no concrete parameters (参数) that would indicate that they would occur in the coming hours, days, weeks or months.
Regardless, the Penn State researchers have made progress in the dilemma by understanding the underthrust rocks in ancient subduction zones. Determining this area could help scientists better predict the behavior of these zones during periods between major earthquakes. Evidence of their findings was based on clues from rock formations in Alaska and Japan.
1. What is the hard nut as to earthquake prediction?| A．Earthquakes often occur in unexpected areas. | B．No scientists can tell how earthquakes happen. |
| C．The geological structure is too complicated. | D．It is hard to predict earthquakes accurately. |
| A．Take actions. | B．Achieve success. |
| C．Adopt measures. | D．Face challenges. |
| A．Because they can be tracked through the specific data. |
| B．Because they usually happen in some particular places. |
| C．Because they can be confirmed by the practical experience. |
| D．Because they often take place during hot summer time. |
| A．Ancient underthrust rocks help in earthquake prediction |
| B．Earthquake prediction remains a problem to work out |
| C．Underthrust rocks indicate coming violent earthquakes |
| D．Scientists can successfully predict destructive earthquakes |
1. Why do people all over the world enjoy sports?
| A．Because sports are exciting. |
| B．Because sports have a long history. |
| C．Because sports enable them to live longer. |
| A．When their favorite team wins. |
| B．When they win the game. |
| C．When they get good news. |
| A．Basketball. | B．Jumping. | C．Sailing. |
| A．Martial arts. | B．Swimming. | C．Water-skiing. |
7 . A young and fearless child, Thomas Alva Edison wanted to know the inner workings of the world around him and was not afraid to dive (潜水) into the river behind his house to find answers. At five, his curiosity to understand fire ended with the family barn burned down. His dangerous curiosity and endless questions drove his father crazy. But his mother saw something else in her son.
Edison’s “turnabout” really began at age eight. He was registered at Reverend Engle’s school in 1855．The lessons were likely boring to the little boy. He daydreamed through classes.
One day, in front of Edison, Reverend Engle complained that the boy was addled and unable to be taught. Edison ran home in tears. The next day, his mother, Nancy Edison, brought him back to discuss the situation with Reverend Engle. She became angry at the teacher’s ways — Everything was forced on the kids. She said her son was much smart and that she would educate him at home. Surprisingly, this marked the end of Edison’s formal education and the beginning of the great inventor.
Mrs. Edison equipped her son with works of literature and history as well as science that fed his passion (求知). She encouraged Edison’s hands-on experiments. Young Edison applied what he learned to practice. Despite a few explosions and burns that happened at home, Mrs. Edison encouraged her son to go on in that path.
It was the model of discovery and innovation (创新) that Edison learned from his mother that would mark the rest of his creative life. Edison met challenges with his head and hands.
The light of Edison, which has lasted more than a century, might never have reached us were it not for an admirable mother who saw the promise in her son where others only saw problems.
1. What can we know about young Edison?| A．He was curious about the world around him. |
| B．His carelessness led to a fire in the classroom. |
| C．His action made his teacher quite proud. |
| D．He was forced to drop out of high school. |
| A．Nervous. | B．Frank. | C．Energetic. | D．Stupid. |
| A．She thought that her son made little progress. |
| B．She couldn’t afford the cost of private education. |
| C．She was dissatisfied with the teaching at school. |
| D．She believed that the school was to be closed. |
| A．Put homeschooling before everything. |
| B．Focus on the promise their children show. |
| C．Develop their children’s love for experiments. |
| D．Take no notice of mistakes their children made. |
8 . Fans of Star Wars might remember Luke Skywalker’s home planet. Called Tatooine, the planet orbits two stars. A new study suggests similar planets might be the best focus in the search for places that can host life outside our solar system.
Many suns come in pairs called binary stars. Lots of these should have planets orbiting them. That means there could be more planets orbiting around binary stars than around lone stars like our sun. But until now, no one had a clear idea about whether those planets could host life. New computer models suggest that in many cases planets like Tatooine could be fit for life.
The researchers ran computer models of binary stars arranged in thousands of ways. Each had an Earthlike planet orbiting the two stars. The team modeled different sizes and shapes of the stars’ orbit around each other. They then tracked the movement of the planets for up to a billion years of simulated (模拟) time. That showed whether the planets would stay in orbit over timescales that might develop conditions to start life. They also checked to see if the planets stayed in a habitable zone. That’s the region around a star where an orbiting planet’s temperatures are never extremely hot or cold, and water could stay liquid (液态).
“An atmosphere and oceans could make a great difference,” says Mariah MacDonald, who took part in the new modeling work. Plentiful air and water could change the picture. Adding atmospheres to the modeled planets should increase the number of stars that could host life. She hopes to build more advanced models in coming months.
“Models of planets orbiting binary stars could guide future efforts to look for them with telescopes,” says Jason Wright, who studies the physics of stars at Pennsylvania State University. “This is an under-explored population of planets. There’s no reason why we can’t go after them,” he says. “And it might be worthwhile to try.”
1. Why does the author mention Tatooine in Star Wars?| A．To attract movie lovers. | B．To introduce the topic. |
| C．To remember an old friend. | D．To present a newfound planet. |
| A．Its preparation. | B．Its application. | C．Its process. | D．Its finding. |
| A．Improve the study. | B．Lead a peaceful life. |
| C．Start another project. | D．Travel into outer space. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Concerned. | D．Uncaring. |
9 . When I was five, my parents began to place me in a variety of different sports. The first
I
While
| A．game | B．activity | C．variety | D．class |
| A．joke | B．failure | C．mess | D．change |
| A．season | B．sport | C．training | D．track |
| A．account | B．answer | C．apply | D．prepare |
| A．trained | B．hesitated | C．waited | D．considered |
| A．disappointed | B．shocked | C．interested | D．moved |
| A．noise | B．condition | C．situation | D．atmosphere |
| A．approaching | B．recognizing | C．appreciating | D．finding |
| A．confident | B．anxious | C．nervous | D．content |
| A．turn out | B．go off | C．break off | D．set out |
| A．warn | B．balance | C．encourage | D．enjoy |
| A．specific | B．usual | C．attractive | D．mad |
| A．since | B．though | C．while | D．unless |
| A．terrifying | B．convincing | C．challenging | D．annoying |
| A．provided | B．persuaded | C．made | D．inspired |
10 . Climate change is drying out rivers, supercharging wildfires, raising seas and changing the seasons as we know them. These disastrous changes to the environments we depend on for food and shelter are also harming our mental health.
“We’re seeing a lot of anxieties in research, especially as more people start to understand that climate change is a very real phenomenon,” says Derrick Sebree, a psychologist (心理学家) at the Michigan School of Psychology.
A recently published UN report noted that mental health cases are resulting from extreme weather and rising temperatures. It also warned that these extreme conditions are only going to worsen. In 2017, the American Psychological Association argued that therapists (理疗师) will be almost as important as cooling centers to help people deal with a changing planet.
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, the storm and resulting floods killed nearly 2,000 people and damaged nearly 300,000 homes. A study of 400 people found a quarter experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for two years following the storm.
Therapists treating natural disaster survivors say mental health issues may not always appear immediately. “Two to three years later, somebody may think they are doing great, but actually they’re not,” says Dix Moore-Broussard, a therapist who experienced Katrina and treated those who suffered PTSD from it.
Along with the typical symptoms (症状) of PTSD, like anxiety, Moore-Broussard says she saw patients who had deep worry about what might happen in the future, which can badly affect normal brain function. People who had been impacted by natural disasters also struggled to focus and process their thoughts.
Psychologists are taking climate change seriously. They help patients find local therapists who have signaled an interest in treating climate-related disorders. “People experiencing climate anxiety tend to care about the environment and can benefit from spending time outdoors,” says Derrick Sebree. He adds that spending time in nature improves both mental health conditions and physical conditions.
1. Which is a cause of mental health cases according to the UN report?| A．Worsening weather conditions. | B．Increasing medical costs. |
| C．Concern about food supplies. | D．Pressure from daily work. |
| A．Their physical health will become worse in two years. |
| B．Their mental sufferings may show later than they thought. |
| C．They are more likely to recover from their operations. |
| D．They find it hard to get the medical treatment they need. |
| A．Spend time at home. | B．Grow houseplants. |
| C．Keep happy memories. | D．Get close to nature. |
| A．A cure for the mental disorder. | B．A solution to natural disasters. |
| C．Climate change’s hidden threat. | D．Family worries about the heat. |
