2 . “If you feel like sleeping more in the winter, you’re not alone,” said Dr. Raj Dasgupta, an associate professor of clinical medicine in California, citing research that found at least a third of American adults reported they sleep more in the winter.

The 188 patients who underwent sleep studies at St. Hedwig Hospital in Berlin slept about an hour longer in winter than they did in summer. And participants did get 30 more minutes of rapid eye movement, or REM, sleep during winter.

The REM phase of sleep is the sweet spot of sleep cycles, characterized by more dreaming and faster heart rate and breathing than in other stages. Its “an essential stage of sleep that helps with memory, concentration, mood regulation and immune function,” Dasgupta said.

The desire for more sleep during winter may have to do with how light fluctuates (波动,起伏) throughout the year. “Our bodies receive cues from the sun when it comes to our circadian rhythm, meaning that when it is bright outside we tend to be active, but when the sun goes down, you may tend to feel tired,” Dasgupta said. “The decrease in sunlight causes an increase in melatonin (褪黑激素) in the body that regulates sleep-wake cycles.”

With the earlier production of melatonin during winter, “it would be natural to assume that a healthy person also would need more sleep during the winter,” said Dr. Carleara Weiss, a research assistant professor at the University of Buffalo.

And light influences not only sleep quantity but also sleep quality. ‘“REM sleep is highly affected by light and darkness, so when during the winter months we have less light, the body is going to basically overcompensate by giving more REM sleep,” said Dr. Joshua Tal, a clinical psychologist specializing in sleep issues.

Humans still don’t need to hibernate (冬眠), Weiss said, nor can we afford to due to our social and occupational obligations. “But we can make adjustments to perform in a better way, to rest in a better way during winter,” she said. “To help our bodies make this transition from sleep to wake, it’s important to have light exposure in the morning during winter months,” Weiss said. “Along with that, it’s important to keep a consistent bedtime and wake-up times.”

1. What happens in the REM phase of sleep?

A．Faster breathing.	B．Slower heart rate.
C．More concentration.	D．Fewer dreaming.

2. What can we learn about the connection between light and sleep?

A．Light will remove people’s desire for sleep.

B．The brighter it is, the more active you will be.

C．Light affects not sleep quantity, but sleep quality.

D．People are more likely to feel sleepy when it gets dark.

3. What does the underlined sentence suggest in paragraph 6?

A．People’s sleep quality is decided by the REM sleep.

B．People’s health is built up based on the REM sleep.

C．More REM sleep can strengthen our energy in winter.

D．REM sleep can make up for the shortcoming of less light.

4. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．The theory of REM sleep.	B．The approach to relaxing.
C．The way to adapt ourselves.	D．The plan of increasing sleep.

4 . The wind was blowing from all directions. Another Iowa storm was _________.

Alice ran into the farmhouse on the hill above Honey Creek. Thunder rattled (咯咯作响) along as she looked out the window to the railroad tracks below. They _________ her of father, a railroad man. Alice loved hearing the trains rumble (轰隆) _________ over Honey Creek Bridge. Every day she heard the trains’ sounds and knew their _________, when they would arrive and when they would leave.

The windows of the little house continued to rattle as the storm invaded the night. She watched the stream rise higher — almost _________ the tracks of Honey Creek Bridge. Suddenly, Alice heard a loud crash. She knew that something must have gone wrong with the _________

Taking her lantern, Alice slid down the _________ hillside to the washed-out bridge. She would have to make her way through the dark woods to the Moingona train depot (中转站). There she could get help and stop the Atlantic Express, but first she had to _________ the Des Moines River Bridge.

As Alice finally reached the bridge, the wind _________ her lantern, nearly 700 feet of bridge lay ahead. __________ and shaking, Alice got down on her hands and knees and began to crawl (爬).

When she was halfway across the bridge, lightning showed a giant tree in the river rushing towards her. Luckily, the tree __________ its course and she felt its spray (喷扫) of water. Finally, Alice __________ her way across and ran to the train depot. Breaking through the door, she shouted something about __________ the Atlantic Express, then fell down to the floor.

Alice’s story did not go __________. Newspapers spread her story. And Alice received a medal for her __________ along with a lifetime train pass.

1.

A．approaching

B．exploring

C．disappearing

D．recycling

2.

A．warned

B．reminded

C．convinced

D．informed

3.

A．ups and downs

B．back and forth

C．in and out

D．far and wide

4.

A．changes

B．directions

C．schedules

D．measures

5.

A．flashing

B．attaching

C．shocking

D．touching

6.

A．bridge

B．train

C．stream

D．valley

7.

A．untidy

B．muddy

C．empty

D．ugly

8.

A．replace

B．repair

C．cross

D．check

9.

A．break out

B．put out

C．give out

D．find out

10.

A．Excited

B．Interested

C．Tired

D．Moved

11.

A．escaped

B．reached

C．blocked

D．changed

12.

A．inched

B．lost

C．signaled

D．marched

13.

A．stopping

B．finding

C．driving

D．taking

14.

A．wrong

B．ahead

C．unpunished

D．unnoticed

15.

A．wisdom

B．generosity

C．patience

D．courage

5 . When we wake up, how many of us think of what we want to do today? Almost all of us.

How many of us think of improving at what we do or focus on personal growth and development? Not many.

As Josh Waitzkin, a talented chess player and martial arts world champion, said in his book The Art of Learning, “We focus so much on the result that the details of the learning process are lost on us.”

Why is the process of learning so important? If we are getting the result,why do we have to learn or do things in a better way?

My point: Life is a marathon, not a sprint (冲刺). You have to keep running. You have to build the base of the house strong enough so that it could bear every earthquake or storm. And believe me, bad days come.

That base is the process of learning. Learning is more important than the result. And those who understand this always win.

Many of us, me included, do not realize the importance of this process. When I used to code (编程), rather than understanding the root cause of a code break, I was more interested in just fixing the issue. The next time a similar issue occurred, I worked from scratch again. I didn’t learn anything from the first time and ended up spending even more time later on the same thing.

If you were a designer but didn’t understand how 3D objects could be presented in 2D, you might look at someone else’s sheet and get the work done. But what about the next time? And the next time?

If we don’t do something properly — it could be worse than not doing it at all. But if we focus on the learning process, we could be faster and better for any future problems.

1. If you think of what you want to do today after you wake up, it means you are focusing on        .

A．the result

B．the learning process

C．your personal growth

D．building the base of your life

2. What does the author say about bad days in life in paragraph 5?

A．They are the root cause of failure.

B．They can be avoided with careful work.

C．We don’t need to worry too much about them.

D．We should be prepared for them.

3. What does the underlined phrase ”worked from scratch“ most probably mean?

A．worked very hard

B．lost my interest

C．started from the beginning

D．solved the problem very fast

4. What is the best title of this article?

A．Why the Process of Learning Matters More Than the Result.

B．Why the Result Are Often Focused on.

C．If You Want to Succeed, Please Learn from Others.

D．If You Can’t Get a Good Result, Please Stop.

6 . 假如你是李华，你的初中同学兼英文笔友James听说你在刚刚结束的高中英语读写比赛(Reading for Writing Contest)中获得了一等奖，特发邮件来表示祝贺并向你咨询参赛事宜，希望你推荐一本适合的小说作为下一届参赛读物。请你写一封回信，内容包括：
1.推荐合适的小说；
2.阐述推荐该小说的理由。
注意：
1.词数80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear James,

Thanks for congratulating me!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Yours sincerely,

Li Hua

7 . 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。

There once was a little village situated in the rich area of New Delhi, Just beyond the village lay a pond, which was a deep dark blue in the middle. Beautiful plants grew all over it. All the children in the village loved the pond. They frequently came to swim and play with water in it. During the summers, the cool water would refresh them from all the dust and heat, and even prevent them from getting immersed (沉溺于) in social networking apps like We Chat or Whats App.“It’s so nice and beautiful,” they would all say.

Then, one day, the villagers began to send the water from the pond into small channels leading to the nearby fields. These channels looked like tiny streams, and they called them irrigation (灌溉) channels, saying that it would help the growth of the plants in their fields to become taller and greener. After some time, the plants did grow taller and stronger. However, the pond was no longer as deep as before; it became shallow.

Sometime later, a factory appeared near the village, letting out a lot of thick black smelly smoke and released (排放) many chemicals into the pond. As these chemicals traveled from the pond through the channels to the fields, many plants died. The pond turned black and produced an awful smell, causing the children to lose their desire to get close to it anymore. They couldn’t even think of splashing water and playing in it as they used to. “It is so dirty.How can we play in it?” they said. Then came the burning hot summer. The pond dried up entirely, without a single drop of water remaining. The beautiful plants surrounding it died too. The once lively village now looked ugly, its beauty lost forever, leaving only memories of what once was.

注意：1.续写词数应为150个左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

The children decided to do something to make a difference.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Over time, their efforts, especially what they did through the apps, took effect.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Abel Cruz is an industrial engineer living in Lima, the capital of Peru, which is located in the central coastal part of the country, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. When Abel Cruz was a boy,his weekly routine was to climb down a valley in the foothills of the Peruvian Andes to get the family’s water from a spring.

“It was downhill from the house, far away and steep,” he says.

The Peruvian Andes are under the weather influences coming both from the Pacific Ocean and from the jungle and traditionally there is a “dry” and “rainy” season. Recent climatic changes have made the dry seasons even drier and longer.

Cruz began dreaming up better ways to collect water. He noticed that some plants, for example, capture (捕获) rain and mist with their wide leaves. Eventually, he struck upon the idea of a fog net, a concept that he would go on to share around the world.

Each vertical (垂直的) net is 215 square feet of man-made resin (树脂). Micro-droplets (滴液) of water gather together and then fall down into collection tanks. One net can collect 50 to 100 gallons per day. Locals can carry back the water in small containers like buckets for their small farms.

Working in Lima, Peru, with support from the Creating Water Foundation, Cruz has installed (安装) more than 3,600 nets on the bare hillsides around the city to capture fog coming from the Pacific Ocean. This should help bring relief to the city of more than 9 million, which tends to have little rainfall and suffers from frequent lack of water. “The planet has less and less fresh water,” Cruz points out, “because the glaciers (冰川) that are natural water collection tanks are disappearing. So, we must find a way to store and save water for times of drought.”

1. Which of the following can best describe Abel Cruz’s work of getting water from a spring?

A．Tiring.	B．Entertaining.
C．Unnecessary.	D．Economic.

2. What is the nature (本质) of Cruz’s way?

A．Capturing rain with wide leaves.

B．Gathering fog droplets with big nets.

C．Turning resin into water droplets.

D．Carrying water into collection tanks.

3. Which of the following is the most important for Cruz’s invention to function well?

A．The net is man-made.

B．The collection tanks are made of resin.

C．The net is vertically installed on the hillsides.

D．Locals must carry water in small containers.

4. What causes Cruz to invent his way?

A．His concerns over world’s lack of water.

B．His engineering experience.

C．Support from Creating Water Foundation.

D．His geographic knowledge on his home country.