1 . As I walked to the market this morning, I saw an old man with a dirty scarf covering his face seated in front of a shop. His clothes were _________ and his hair under an ill-fitting cap was long and messy. I decided he was a beggar. I made a mental _________ that I should give him whatever change I had after _________. A few feet away was a young man lying on the pavement obviously _________ and no one who passed by _________. I thought it was some good-for-nothing drunkard who had _________ all his money on alcohol.

Back to the beggar, I handed over all the _________ change to him. He hardly _________ my eyes, but shook his head. I _________ and pushed it into his hand. As I stood there satisfied over my great act of __________, the old man slowly got up, walked to the tea shop nearby, and __________ a sandwich and a cup of hot tea with the money I gave. He then went back to the young man, helped him to __________ and eat. Noticing I was still there watching, he explained that boy had not eaten for two days, which was why he __________ on the pavement.

Suddenly I felt so small and admired the non-judgemental __________ of a man who has so little compared to me. He was truly charitable even in a far less __________ state than me.

1.

A．ironed

B．wrinkled

C．folded

D．abandoned

2.

A．picture

B．effort

C．note

D．calculation

3.

A．work

B．exercise

C．meeting

D．shopping

4.

A．frustrated

B．frozen

C．drunken

D．exhausted

5.

A．took notice

B．took control

C．took pains

D．took risks

6.

A．invested

B．bet

C．fixed

D．wasted

7.

A．useless

B．loose

C．extra

D．unnecessary

8.

A．focused on

B．looked into

C．turned to

D．stared at

9.

A．insisted

B．rejected

C．ignored

D．regretted

10.

A．charity

B．courage

C．devotion

D．random

11.

A．collected

B．harvested

C．purchased

D．enjoyed

12.

A．stay up

B．straighten up

C．bounce up

D．sit up

13.

A．wandered

B．collapsed

C．begged

D．slipped

14.

A．responsibility

B．superiority

C．generosity

D．dignity

15.

A．privileged

B．stable

C．powerful

D．independent

2 . After ending a mining season in Colorado in 2018, Todd was ready to get back in the game. Gold mining runs in his ________. Jack, Todd’s father, mined for gold in the 1980s, but never struck it ________. Now, Todd is more determined than ever to make good on his father’s dreams.

This time around Todd is ________ his life savings into a run-down mine located nearly 100 miles north of Nome, Alaska. ________, after years of greenhorn crews, worn-out equipment, and little to no results, Todd can’t afford any ________.

Hit by the recession (经济衰退), Todd Hoffman decided to take the biggest ________ of his life and headed north in search of gold. ________ with little more than a dream and devoted crew, Todd learns gold mining in a ________ way. Conditions are dangerous, pay dirt (矿石) are never ________, and disaster hides around every corner.

In order to make his dream a reality, he’s ________ his closest family and friends. Joining Todd in Alaska will be his father Jack and his son Hunter along with an experienced crew of ________. For Todd, it’s more than just finding gold — this could be Todd’s last ________ to set up his family for generations to come and share the wealth with his friends who’ve ________ by his side over the years. This is Todd’s time to prove he has what it ________ to hit the ultimate mother-lode (终极矿脉). One thing is for sure… the ________ is on.

1.

A．blood

B．head

C．eye

D．skin

2.

A．important

B．valuable

C．strong

D．big

3.

A．depositing

B．expanding

C．emptying

D．narrowing

4.

A．Besides

B．However

C．Moreover

D．Otherwise

5.

A．mistakes

B．savings

C．crews

D．dreams

6.

A．fortune

B．risk

C．discovery

D．promise

7.

A．Impressed

B．Satisfied

C．Armed

D．Compared

8.

A．skilful

B．different

C．new

D．hard

9.

A．guaranteed

B．reflected

C．suspended

D．updated

10.

A．agreeing with

B．picking up

C．working out

D．bringing in

11.

A．instructors

B．miners

C．competitors

D．owners

12.

A．dream

B．game

C．chance

D．success

13.

A．stuck

B．passed

C．got

D．fixed

14.

A．means

B．decides

C．takes

D．seems

15.

A．future

B．gold

C．friendship

D．pressure

3 . Electric vehicles (EVs) are due for huge upgrades in driving range and charging times as new battery technologies are introduced. Lithium (Li) -ion (锂离子) batteries could be out of date in a few years as alternatives like Li-sulfur, Li-air and Li-metal enter production. Meanwhile, quantum (量子) battery charging promises to reduce charge times from hours to seconds.

Scientists at the University of Michigan have produced a stable Li-sulfur battery using Kevlar, the material used in body armor, to increase the amount it can be charged and discharged. Fibers in the Kevlar stop certain parts of lithium from growing between the electrodes (电极) and destroying the battery. Research group leader Nicholas Kotov called the design “nearly perfect” in terms of capacity and efficiency. The battery can handle summer heat and winter cold extremes, and in real-world driving conditions, its lifespan should be 1, 000 cycles or ten years.

Sulfur is a great alternative for EVs because it is a tiny amount of the cost of metals like what is used in Li-ion battery electrodes, and there is simply more of it. Mainstream electric cars fitted with its battery could achieve around 900 miles on a single charge. Battery researchers say the Li-sulfur battery’s energy density could theoretically be 10 times higher than the best Li-ion battery, so it will drive further, be safer and more environmentally friendly, for less money.

In Japan, university researchers have teamed up with a telecommunications company to develop a Li-air battery with an energy density (500 Wh/kg) two to five times better than Li-ion.

Newer quantum technologies that will speed up vehicle charging times are added to these breakthroughs in battery materials and energy density. Li-metal, often talked about as solid-state batteries, are long-lasting and capable of rapid charging, especially when they are paired with quantum technologies that connect all the battery cells simultaneously. And once investments in quantum charging and batteries are made, it could revolutionize transport and the way we use energy worldwide.

1. What can we learn about Kevlar?

A．It will speed up vehicle charging.	B．It can lengthen battery’s cycle life.
C．It can boost EV range to 1000 miles.	D．It will break down in extreme weather.

2. Why is Sulfur a fantastic option for EVs?

A．It has been tested in Li-ion battery.

B．It is less expensive and more accessible.

C．Li-sulfur battery has been installed in mainstream EVs.

D．Li-sulfur battery features a higher energy density than Li-metal.

3. What can we conclude from the last paragraph?

A．Quantum technologies give rise to Li-metal.

B．Battery materials determine vehicle charging speed.

C．Li-metal is more efficient in charging than Li-sulfur.

D．More investments are needed in quantum technology.

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the text?

A．Which Battery Suits Evs Best?

B．What Is The Future Road Of EVs?

C．Why Will Li-ion Batteries Be Replaced?

D．How Will Reformed Lithium Batteries Influence Evs?

4 . Look, let’s be honest-there’s no such thing as a “green” vacation. You’ll leave a carbon footprint, no matter what.     1     Here are a few questions to ask:

Is it a B Corp?

B Corps are businesses that meet a strict set of standards by the nonprofit B Lab. They include requirements for governance, workers, customers, community and the environment.     2     You’ll see some fairly well-known brands, like Intrepid Travel. But you won’t find the names of any major airlines, car rental companies or hotel chains-at least, not yet.

Does the company have any other environmental certifications?

Third-party certifications from Green Key, LEED and WELL can be signs that a travel company means business about the environment. Transportation companies may also offer verified certifications from organizations like Terrapass or the Gold Standard Foundation.     3     However, it’s a good start.

    4    

If the company claims to be green, don’t just take its word for it. Listen to what it says. If you see nothing but models on its Instagram channel or ads for online discounts on its site, perhaps it’s a shade of fake green. “A company’s social media strategy is generally a reflection of its current ethos and goals,” explained Julia Carter, founder of Craft Travel.

How deep is its commitment to the environment?

    5     For example, the Travel Corporation publishes an annual impact report that maps its progress against 11 sustainability goals developed by the United Nations. Many cruise lines also publish detailed reports that allow you to check their commitment to the environment against several objective standards.

A．But your trip can be green-ish.

B．What’s the company saying to everyone?

C．How can we find a reliable company online?

D．Don’t trust anything the company says to the public.

E．These certifications aren’t a guarantee the company is green.

F．Look for reliable reports on sustainability from a travel company.

G．You can search the directory of these forward-looking companies online.

5 . Jiang Shumei learned her first Chinese character at the age of 60. Now, the 87-year-old grandmother from Northeast China’s Heilongjiang province is the proud author of six books.

“I wasn’t educated as a child. I never imagined, even in my wildest dreams, that I would publish a book one day,” says the resident of Suihua city. Her books detail the chaos of wartime and the hardship during the famine, and vividly retell anecdotes over the decades.

The elderly woman had her own way of learning. She composed lyrics for songs, and asked children to write them down, so that she could read each character as she sang the songs again and again. Whenever she came across characters she didn’t know on pamphlets (小册子), bus stops, or shop signs, she found someone to ask.

She first put pen to paper in 2012, at the age of 75. It was not easy. Sometimes, completing a single sentence could take a day. As a college teacher and a writer herself, Zhang Ailing, Jiang Shumei’s daughter, gave her mother a lot of encouragement and help. She told her that while writing, she should imagine herself telling stories to an audience, so that they would be easier to understand and be full of interesting details.

Zhang was also her first editor. Every time her mother finished writing something, she would discuss the manuscript (手稿) with her and check it over before typing it on the computer. Zhang began publishing her mother’s stories on social media platforms in 2013. When they drew the attention of her writer friends, the pair made the decision to publish them.

The first book, Time of Trouble, Time of Poverty, was published later that year, and proved to be a success. The book earned Jiang a lot of fans and sympathy. So far, the elderly woman has published six books, totaling more than 600,000 characters in length. In her spare time, she is also learning painting and calligraphy. “I would like to be a writer, a painter and a calligrapher,” she says, adding that her dream now is to have her own art exhibition when she is 90.

1. How did Jiang Shumei learn characters?

A．By reading books with her children.

B．By asking questions whenever she was free.

C．By going to a college to get herself educated.

D．By singing lyrics and memorizing characters around her.

2. Which of the following may contribute to Jiang Shumei’s success most?

A．Her hard-work and Zhang’s support.

B．The care and attention from the public.

C．The help from her friends and editors.

D．The popularity of social media platforms.

3. When did Jiang Shumei publish her first book?

A．At the age of 60.	B．In the year 2012.
C．At her 87-year-old.	D．In the year 2013.

4. Which of the following can best describe Jiang Shumei’s story?

A．Adversity makes a man wise.	B．Practice makes perfect.
C．It is never too old to learn.	D．Still water runs deep.

6 . 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。续写的词数应为150左右。

When I was young, I always dreamed of playing the piano and giving performances to a large audience in a concert hall. However, I struggled to understand the musical notes and the theory. Despite my parents’ encouragement and offer of piano lessons, I pretended not to be interested, too afraid to try.

Many years passed until one day, at 25 years old, I heard that a new piano studio had opened in my neighborhood. The teacher was recruiting (招收) new students. My childhood dream came flooding back.

I remembered I had initially feared becoming a teacher after graduation. However, I overcame those doubts. I refused to let fear hold me back any longer, so I walked into the studio.

The teacher, Deb, welcomed me warmly. I was relieved to find we were contemporaries (同时代的人) and expressed my desire to play the works of Bach and Beethoven if I could overcome my fear. Deb understood and seemed sincere, so I signed up for 3 months of classes. Still doubtful about my commitment, I bought a small, tabletop electric organ to practice with at home. It wasn’t the same as a real piano, but enabled me to learn some basics.

Week by week, I attended lessons in Deb’s studio. I often passed young students on their way out from their lessons before mine. One day, noticing the textbooks in my bag, a child stopped me and asked, “Where’s your boy?” After some hesitation, I finally answered I was the student. The children then welcomed me and I sat in the studio and listened to a piece a child was working on.

Soon, I gained confidence and upgraded to a full-size piano at home for daily practice. After three rewarding years of lessons with Deb, she announced it was time for me and other students to prepare for a recital (钢琴演奏会) on stage. I was thrilled at the chance to finally fulfill my childhood dream, yet also anxious at the thought of performing before the audience. But Deb believed in me. “Look how far you’ve come,” she encouraged. “It’s time to share your gift with others.”

Paragraph 1:

I shook my head and told her, “No, thanks.”

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

When I finally finished my performance, I faced the audience and bowed.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Aviation is a big polluter. Cutting the sector’s impact on global warming is high on the agenda. Although many governments are regulating emissions from cars and trucks, air transportation is technologically rooted in old patterns.

Facing the reality that the sector will keep emitting a lot, ICAO has established an international carbon-trading plan—Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation, or CORSIA. This encourages wide use of offsets (抵消) : aviation companies can buy emissions credits or invest in sectors that store carbon, such as forestry, to allow them to carry on as normal. CORSIA aims to keep CO2 emissions at 2019 levels through such purchases for emissions over that year’s baseline. ICAO predicts that increasing demand might reach 1. 7 billion tons by 2035, potentially making aviation the largest offset market in the world.

Yet offsetting faces a fundamental challenge: the size of the offset requires estimating flows of warming pollution that would have occurred if the carbon-removal project hadn’t existed, and comparing them against flows with the project in place. The former — a baseline that is unobservable — is a hotbed for shady accounting.

The vast majority of offsets today and in the expected future come from forest-protection and regrowth projects. The track record of reliable accounting in these industries is poor, because they lack convincing baselines. Even with oversight, forest projects are often troubled by wild assumptions, for example that trees would disappear completely from these areas in the absence of those projects, even when there are other forest protections in place. Such assumptions drive up baselines and flood the market with huge volumes of offsets. They make it easier for accountants to claim a net reduction in emissions even though the atmosphere sees little or no benefit. These problems are essentially unfixable. Evidence is mounting that offsetting as a strategy for reaching net zero is a dead end.

In our view, this approach could prove dangerously narrow. Removing aviation’s impact on global warming means upending the industry. The longer that reality is overlooked, the harder it will be to find effective solutions.

1. What does aviation refer to in the passage?

A．A project which needs revising.	B．A resource which needs trading.
C．A market which needs expanding.	D．An industry which needs reforming.

2. Why should aviation companies buy emissions credits?

A．To support the development of forestry.	B．To earn the largest profit in offset market.
C．To keep the levels of emission unchanged.	D．To make up for emissions over the baseline.

3. What can we infer from paragraph 4?

A．Too many offsets are filling the market now.

B．Some projects may cheat to create more offsets.

C．Offsetting contributes a lot to reducing emissions.

D．Trees would totally disappear without the projects.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards the CORSIA?

A．Disapproving.

B．Confused.

C．Favorable.

D．Unconcerned.

8 . When it comes to technology, never before have we been both more dependent, and more cautious. Society is more connected, but also more lonely ; more productive, but also more burnt-out; we have more privacy tools, but arguably less privacy. Would it be wrong to say we are becoming disappointed with it?

There’s no doubt that some tech innovation has been universally great. A new antibiotic that killed a previously deadly superbug was invented by an Al tool. Machines that can suck carbon dioxide out of the air could be a huge help in the fight against climate change. But on the other hand, tech-related scandals (丑闻) dominate headlines. Stories about cyberattacks and horrible online abuse are regularly on the news. “Like everything, tech has a dark side. It is a two-edged sword,” says veteran Silicon Valley watcher, Prof Mike Malone.

“Fundamentally, if there was a problem people would, should, stop using it,” Paolo Pescatore, an analyst, says . But he then goes on to talk about the peer pressure to remain plugged in -from colleagues, friends and family, and even from governments wanting to switch to digital services.

Mr Halgas, a young tech boss with big ambition, tells me that the industry has become a more easily affected place for its staff. “Tech workers were very comfortable in our jobs,” he explains. “People used to say , ‘Google isn’t a job; it’s a retirement plan’. Those days are long gone.” “Tech workers thought they were safe from automation: now we are among the people who might be replaced by code-writing Al tools,” he says.

A recent survey by PR firm Edelman suggested that 52% of people in the UK believed tech innovation was developing too fast, and 70% thought tech bosses should develop new tech slowly.

Realistically, there is practically zero chance of that happening. The money and power that is flooding in, particularly to the AI sector, speaks for itself. “But the outpouring of public debate that also centers around it is healthy”, argues Prof Malone.“ We’re not just blindly embracing new tech anymore and that’s a good thing,” he says.

1. What do Mr Halgas’s words indicate?

A．Tech industry is taking a bad turn.	B．Workers in tech industry are comfortable.
C．Google provides detailed retirement plans.	D．Tech workers may be replaced someday.

2. What can we learn about new tech from the last 2 paragraphs?

A．New tech is well received currently.	B．New tech can not flood into the Al sector.
C．New tech is under sensible discussion now.	D．New tech is criticized for developing too slow.

3. What will the follow-up text focus on?

A．A bolder attitude to developing new tech.	B．An urgent appeal to welcome new tech.
C．A balanced approach to embracing new tech.	D．A comprehensive plan to advance new tech.

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

A．Should the Public Embrace Digital Services?	B．Can Innovative Technology Follow Up?
C．Is It Good to Slow Tech Innovation Down?	D．Should We Have Faith in Technology?

9 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What instrument did the speaker play when she was young?

A．The piano.

B．The guitar

C．The violin

2. Where is the theater located?

A．In London.

B．In Sydney

C．In New York

3. Why is winning this competition important to the listeners?

A．They’ll meet famous performers.

B．They’ll have a brighter future.

C．They’ll get a chance to travel the world.

4. How many hours will the performances last?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Seven.

10 . To survive in the desert, a camel needs both sweat and fur. That’s according to engineer Jeffrey Grossman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “If it didn’t have the fur, it would sweat too quickly and run out of water, which is a really precious resource for the camel,” says Grossman. The engineer wondered if he could mimic (模仿) the camel’s sweat glands (汗腺) and fur by laying two materials. In a new research appearing today in the journal Joule, Grossman details the new innovative technology that could be used to keep food and medical supplies cold without requiring additional energy.

For the bottom layer of the camel-inspired system, Grossman used hydrogel, a highly absorbent network that is super-charged with water. As water evaporates (蒸发) from hydrogel, the liquid cools the surface it’s on. The top layer Grossman created is composed of aerogel, a porous (多孔的) structure that makes the material more than 90 percent air—earning the substance the title of “the world’s lightest solid.” Aerogel acts like the camel’s fur, slowing water evaporation for sustained cooling power.

Grossman knew that the layer atop the hydrogel had to be both insulating (起隔热作用的) and porous so that water could evaporate through it. If the insulating layer was too thin, it would fail to insulate the hydrogel from surrounding heat. If the aerogel layer was too thick or not porous enough, the hydrogel’s water couldn’t evaporate, and the technology would lose its cooling power. By slowing evaporation, you get more out of each drop of water.

During their experiment, Grossman and his team placed a heat sensor beneath the layers and placed the system in a temperature-controlled room. The sensor monitored the temperature beneath the hydrogel over time as liquid evaporated into the 30℃ room. The team compared their camel-inspired creation to a single layer of uncovered hydrogel. Grossman found that the layered materials extended cooling time by 400 percent.

“While hydrogel and aerogel are not new, combining them in this way is innovative,” says Kyoo-Chul Kenneth Park, an engineer at Northwester University. Like Grossman, Park is optimistic that it could be used to insulate surface like windows.

1. Which aspect of the camel inspired the new technology?

A．Its heat-proof fur.	B．Its water-resistant ability.
C．Its low-energy consumption.	D．Its well-developed sweat glands.

2. What is good about the bottom layer of Grossman’s innovation?

A．It’s extremely thin.	B．It’s a porous structure.
C．It takes in water easily.	D．It slows water evaporation.

3. What is stressed in the fourth paragraph?

A．The cooling power of Grossman’s innovation.

B．Solutions to cooling technology challenges.

C．Differences between hydrogel and aerogel.

D．The vital functions of a heat sensor.

4. What does Park say about Grossman’s work?

A．It could be further improved in many ways.

B．It has benefited from two types of new materials.

C．It has contributed a lot to window production.

D．It has creatively put two common materials together.