1 . There is growing evidence to show that our past knowledge about Mars was not always the case. Now European researchers say they have discovered the first evidence of a huge groundwater system that once existed below the planet’s surface.

A new study was carried out by Francesco Salese and his team, who studied images of 24 deep craters (n.弹坑) in the northern half of the Red Planet. These pictures were captured by ESA’s Mars Express orbiter (n.宇宙飞船), which was launched in 2003. The study provides the first geological proof that Mars once had a “planet-wide groundwater system.”

According to Salese, scientific evidence already suggests Mars was once a watery world. His team says the images showed that large amounts of successive groundwater activity connected the areas they studied. Evidence of basins and coastlines was also found on the surface of Mars, supporting the idea that water was once present. He added that all the basins seemed to reach about the same height.

Scientists have yet to find out what happened to all that water. And the complex history of water on Mars has linked to whether or not life ever existed on it. During the latest study, researchers also discovered evidence of minerals within some of the identified (adj.被识别的) bodies of water.

The researchers say the findings adds weight to the idea that the water basins on Mars may have once held the materials required to support life. Some of this material could still be buried on Mars, providing possible evidence of life during future exploration. Francesco Salese believes the latest findings could also help us learn new things about our own planet.

1. What can we infer about our past knowledge of Mars?

A．It had no water.

B．It had no groundwater.

C．It had a great groundwater system.

D．It had water on the surface of the planet.

2. Where can you find the evidence that Mars once had a “planet-wide groundwater system”?

A．In paragraph 3.	B．In paragraph 2.
C．In paragraph 1.	D．In paragraph 4.

3. Which of the following best explains “successive” underlined in paragraph 3?

A．complicated

B．brilliant

C．continuous

D．incredible

4. What is the main idea of the text?

A．Evidence of water on Mars enables us learn new things about the earth

B．Our past knowledge about Mars was incorrect.

C．Evidence of life could be revealed by the discovery of water on Mars.

D．The ever existence of groundwater system on Mars was discovered.

2 . Secrets, whether they’re juicy, shocking or just plain funny, nothing compares to the thrill of opening up or listening to a friend’s confession (n.坦白). When a pal bares his heart to you, you can’t help but feel trusted and special. In fact, you’re a lot more likely now to tell him something you wouldn’t tell just anyone. When you’re first getting to know a new friend, start with small secrets.

No secret is ever 100 water-proof, but you can take steps to prevent getting your feelings hurt. First, when something you’re telling a friend is a secret, always say so. Every time when you share something confidential (adj.保密的), tell her that this is “for your ears only.” Also, don’t assume (v.假定,认为) someone will keep your secrets just because you know some of hers. Some people just have a tendency to blurt things out, which is why it pays to get a feel for how good a secret-keeper your friend is. Finally, make sure you get a reputation as someone who takes secrets seriously.

It’s not worth breaking a promise to a friend, but if a secret is too big for you to carry alone, you have a responsibility to tell someone. There are probably a few details about your life that you don’t feel like sharing, even with your closest friends. If the secret isn’t hurting you or your friendship, silence is golden. If you’re hiding something big and constantly worrying about your secret being leaked, it may be time to just spill (v.溢出) your beans. Taking control of a secret that’s eating you up inside isn’t easy.

So it seems clear that knowing when to let the secret out and when to zip your lips will help you a lot.

1. What is the purpose of the writer to mention a pal in the text?

A．To tell people when it’s okay to share a secret with someone.

B．To tell people how to gain others’ trust.

C．To tell people why he bares his heart to you.

D．To tell people who is the right people to express your heart.

2. Which of the following best explains “blurt out” underlined in paragraph 2?

A．Speak out without thinking.

B．Badmouth somebody.

C．Let out a secret.

D．Keep a secret.

3. What does the text suggest you do when the secret is big and keeps making you worried?

A．Keep it silently.

B．Let the secret out.

C．Share the secret with your closest friend.

D．Take control of the secret.

4. What is the text mainly about?

A．Tips to know when to give away secrets

B．It’s always okay to tell a secret you promised to keep.

C．How to be successful with different secrets.

D．When to spill secrets

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Who is the talk aimed at?

A．Children.

B．Teenagers.

C．Adults.

2. What does the speaker say about the programs?

A．They offer courses for beginners only.

B．They provide flexible language lessons.

C．They give online learning materials for free.

3. What kind of teachers are available?

A．Native speakers.

B．Qualified professors.

C．Experienced travelers.

4. What’s the purpose of the talk?

A．To teach communication skills.

B．To promote courses.

C．To discuss a program.

4 . 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。

Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane have been friends for 60 years. Born in Hawaii 15 months apart, they met in the sixth grade and played football together at a Honolulu prep school.

Macfarlane never knew his father, and Robinson was adopted. Separately, they sought answers about their ancestry (n.祖先，血统). Macfarlane turned to family history and DNA-matching websites to learn more about it after unsuccessful searches on the internet and social media. “So then we started digging into all the matches (n.匹配) he started getting,” said his daughter, Cindy Macfarlane-Flores.

A top match - someone with identical X chromosomes (n.X染色体)- had the username Robi737.Robison’s nickname was Robi and he flew 737s for Aloha Airlines, Macfarlane-Flores said.

It tuned out Robinson used the same website to find answers about his family. They later learned they have the same birth mother.

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。

“It was a shock,” Macfarlane said.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Then came the big evening.

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5 . 假如你是李华，收到好友John 的邮件。John希望你介绍他所敬佩的著名中国科学家钱学森。请你给他回一封电子邮件告知。
主要内容包括：
(1)他的主要经历；
(2)他的伟大成就；     
(3)他的个人品质；
注意：(1)可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
(2)词数80左右。
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

6 . 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。

An undersea tunnel (n.隧道) of a high-speed railway was completed in South China on Friday,    1     (set) a new record in the construction of high-speed railway tunnels in China.

The Zhanjiang Bay (湛江湾) Undersea Tunnel, a key project of the Guangzhou-Zhanjiang High-speed Railway,    2     (complete) after 33 months of construction, marking a significant milestone in the construction of the new railway.

The Zhanjiang Bay Undersea Tunnel spans (v.横跨)    3     total length of 9,640 meters. It is designed as a single tunnel with double tracks, crossing the seabed of the Zhanjiang Bay and the urban area of Zhanjiang. It crosses a 2,500-meter sea section and a 5,051-meter section of land.    4     (especial), the tunnel is China’s    5     (long) single-headed undersea high-speed railway shield tunnel (盾构隧道), showcasing the country’s remarkable engineering techniques.

“Single-headed shield (单头盾构) refers to the method of using a single tunnel boring machine (隧道掘进机)     6     (dig) continuously from one end to the other,” said Yin Yihao, an engineer from China Railway’s 14th Bureau Group, which was responsible for the tunnel’s construction. Yin added that the traditional methods were not applied in the Zhanjiang Bay Undersea Tunnel due to the complicated geological conditions and    7    the single-headed shield tunnel was    8       (safe) and more efficient in this case.

Wu Chunzhao, a senior engineer of the China Railway Design Company,    9     (explain) the reason for building an undersea tunnel instead of a bridge. “Building a tunnel preserves (v.保护) the beautiful urban skyline of the Zhanjiang Bay,    10     avoids the impact of the project on the marine (adj.海洋的) ecological environment,” he said. Wu also noted (v.指出) that a bridge will affect the large ships’ navigation, but the tunnel will not do this.

The tunnel is a key project of a high-speed railway linking Guangzhou and Zhanjiang in Guangdong.

7 . Although Lahongsang is only in her early 20s, she is a video blogger with eight years of experience, who is acquainted with video recording and social media sharing. Still in high school, she started her journey as a _________ on the Chinese platform Bilibili. “I felt bored during that summer vacation after finishing my homework, _________ I decided to try recording my life through videos and _________ a student’s ambition for the upcoming semester,” she recalled. She consistently updated her content with _________ topics such as study, anime, snacks, weight loss, and makeup. She _________ shared her life, creating a youth full atmosphere for her audience.

“Whenever I encounter something worth recording. I _________ it.” she said. “I’m not exactly sure what draws people to my videos, but many _________ say watching my videos makes them happy, so maybe that’s it.” Despite her _________ behavior in videos, she _________ that she is actually an introvert (adj.内向的). However, she has __________ spreading positive and __________ energy to her audience. Her unique, sincere, and easygoing video style, along with her attention to life’s details, has __________ increased her viewership (n.收视率) from 100,000 to 10 million views. By the end of high school, she had amassed (v.积聚) over 200,000 followers.

__________ her videos attract her audience greatly, she has to struggle with creative inspiration and face negative feedback at times. “Some scenes may appear to be everyday shots, but the storytelling and main idea are particularly __________ and planned,” she said. “What viewers see is only the final product. __________ witnessing the production process, they can’t judge or undermine others’ efforts.”

1.

A．assistant

B．vlogger

C．tutor

D．photographer

2.

A．so

B．therefore

C．however

D．as far as

3.

A．denying

B．motivating

C．describing

D．grasping

4.

A．substantial

B．dramatic

C．awesome

D．diverse

5.

A．enthusiastically

B．severely

C．reasonably

D．stably

6.

A．handle

B．suspect

C．capture

D．recall

7.

A．tutors

B．viewers

C．messengers

D．advisors

8.

A．cheerful

B．modest

C．depressed

D．frustrated

9.

A．admits

B．transforms

C．defends

D．anticipates

10.

A．participated in

B．subscribed to

C．arose from

D．kept on

11.

A．worried

B．optimistic

C．confused

D．complex

12.

A．initially

B．vividly

C．steadily

D．logically

13.

A．As

B．While

C．Since

D．Which

14.

A．traced

B．cited

C．crafted

D．involved

15.

A．Regardless of

B．Owing to

C．Thanks to

D．Without

8 . How to deal with the “Grass Is Greener” Syndrome

Grass is Greener Syndrome is a problem one can have, which means you are never happy with what you have. You always want more or something different. Even if things are good, you think they could be better somewhere else.     1     When it hits hard, this syndrome can hurt the love life of an individual while making career decisions tough or making one’s place to live not pleasing at all. If you’re curious to learn more about overcoming this syndrome and finding true fulfillment, keep reading!

Manage expectations

It is a crucial step in overcoming the Syndrome.     2     By practicing self-reflection, we can shift our mindset and find fulfillment and contentment in the present moment. This requires us to let go of constant comparisons and embrace imperfections, understanding that true happiness comes from within rather than external circumstances.

    3    

By focusing on what we already have and being thankful for it, we can find happiness in our current situation. This helps prevent feelings of regret and dissatisfaction that often come with constantly comparing ourselves to others or daydreaming about a different life. Cultivating gratitude allows us to appreciate the present moment and recognize the value in our relationships, career choices, and geographic living.

Avoid comparisons

Constantly comparing yourself or your situation to others is a hallmark (n.特征) of this syndrome. By avoiding comparisons, you can shift your mindset and start finding happiness at present.     4    

Embrace imperfections

One of the main signs of this syndrome is always searching for flaws and mistakes, both within ourselves and in our surroundings.    5     Embracing imperfections means acknowledging that no one and nothing is perfect, including ourselves.

All in all, by working on building self-confidence and understanding their own worth, individuals can start to break free from the cycle of always seeking something better elsewhere.

A．Practice gratitude and appreciation.

B．People find it hard to stay with one person who is better for them.

C．This keeps you from being glad for what is in your life now.

D．The causes of this syndrome can include unrealistic expectations.

E．It involves recognizing the mindset that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.

F．Learning to accept the imperfections, we can break free from the constant longing for something better.

G．Stopping comparing yourself or your life to others, you give yourself the opportunity to truly embrace your current situation.

9 . Sam Krug is the second generation at Preferred Popcorn, a Nebraska (n.内布拉斯加州) factory that produces Americans favorite movie snack. Here fresh batches of popcorn are made every 15 minutes and immediately tested and tasted for quality.

The whole process begins with growing the right kind of corn, not surprisingly cold popcorn. The big difference between corn and popcorn is that popcorn has lots of starch (n.淀粉) inside of it. The shell is hard and so the starch, when you heat it up, mixes with the moisture in the kernel (n.玉米粒) and it boils inside of this. And it gets so hot and the shell is so hard on the outside that it gets hotter and hotter and more excited and more excited and eventually it just blows out.

Nebraska has perfect conditions for growing popcorn, including the right climate and plenty of water for irrigation. And you don’t have to look far to find local farmers to work with. They usually take it to the factory where the kernels are sorted by weight, color and size.

Factory staffs pop a sample of each batch to test it out. They always pop at 480 degrees and use exactly the same amount of oil when they are going to pop. During the course, factory standard coconut (n.椰子) oil is used.

The factory sells kernels for different kinds of popcorn, depending on how the buyer plans to prepare it. It seems that the Americans eat more popcorn than any other nation in the world. And the US Popcorn Board says that in 2018 they consumed more than 14 billion liters of the snack.

1. What do we know about Preferred Popcorn?

A．It is the second generation popcorn factory.

B．It produces fresh batches of popcorn every 15 minutes

C．It tests and tastes the quality of popcorns.

D．It produces popcorns for the Nebraska movie factory.

2. Why does the popcorn blow out when heated?

A．Because it has lots of starch inside of it.

B．Because the starch and moisture boils inside the hard shell.

C．Because the shell is hard.

D．Because it is cold popcorn.

3. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A．The factory has already known the consumers’ plan.

B．The factory makes preparations for the buyers.

C．The factory sells kernels for different kinds of popcorns according to the workers’ needs.

D．The factory takes different consumers’ demand into consideration.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Production of the popcorns.

B．Reasons for Nebraska to grow popcorns

C．Procedures for growing the popcorn

D．Conditions for making popcorns.

10 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. Which TV show is Viola mostly known for?

A．Central Falls.

B．Everybody’s Ruby.

C．How to Get Away with Murder.

2. When did Viola receive her first major award?

A．In 1993.

B．In 1999.

C．In 2001.

3. Which film earned Viola an academy award?

A．Fences.

B．Doubt.

C．King Hedley II.

4. What have Viola and her husband done recently?

A．They have run their own company.

B．They have acted together in a movie.

C．They have showed up in a ceremony.