1 . J. K. Rowling frequently shows there is magic every day. Her Harry Potter series has helped people through times of stress and depression and she is always there to deliver wise words of encouragement.
She is one celebrity who is very active on Twitter. So when a single dad named Matt Burke sent her a message thanking her for the series, she noticed. Her series had helped strengthen his relationship with his 9yearold daughter Bailey.
He included a link to his article titled Being a Broke Parent. He explained how he hadn’t found a level of financial stability that allowed him to pay bills on time and take his daughter on more activities and events. The family also doesn’t have the Internet or TV, which means there’s no “digital babysitter” and he has to rely on his own creative ways to bond with his daughter. Since he received the series, the main thing that has occupied them these days is reading books together.
Burke admits that he thought he was “too cool” for the books when they first came out and he was in his twenties, but he’s loving reading them now. “We switch off chapter by chapter reading them out loud，“Burke explains.” This not only allows her to get more used to reading aloud in front of someone, but it gets me directly involved in something she loves, and it gives me the chance to be very dramatic when I read my chapters and bring myself into the characters in the book, which has proven to be a ton of fun.”
After hearing Burke’s story, Rowling said how honored she was when Harry Potter was a part of his family’s life and offered Burke more books. Besides, people are also offering to send Burke more books as gifts. For Burke, this experience, far more than gifts, will be what he treasures.
1. Why did Burke thank J. K. Rowling according to the text?| A．She guided him how to write a good story. |
| B．She encouraged him when he was in trouble. |
| C．Her books helped him through times of confusion. |
| D．Her books helped him improve his bond with his daughter. |
| A．He has found it interesting to read the series. | B．He was too old to understand the series better. |
| C．He has chosen a better way of reading the series. | D．He hopes to play a role in the drama in the future. |
| A．Useless. | B．Normal. | C．Valuable. | D．Boring. |
| A．J. K. Rowling chooses to help improve kids’ health. |
| B．J. K. Rowling gives a magical gift to a single father. |
| C．J. K. Rowling has a deep influence on others’ growth. |
| D．Burke comes to know J. K. Rowling through her series. |
Advertising
Advertising has always been closely linked with the mass media. In addition to making people aware of a product or service, a successful advertisement can also create a desire to buy, thus
Based on the psychology behind creating a desire to buy, advertisers have developed ways of persuading people into purchasing their
In the future, advertising will be more about understanding individual customers and sending them advertisements that are tailored
3 . Any sort of candy cooked above 212 °F will cool into an impossibly sticky mess. It’s a struggle to scrub away (刮掉) that mess with force.
Boil Water in the Pot
After making caramel (焦糖) apples, peanut brittle or any other kind of candy, simply fill the dirty dish with water and bring it to a boil. By the time the water starts to bubble, it will have removed most of the hardened candy from around the sides of the pot. If there’s anything else left around the edges, it will be half melted.
Mix Candy into another liquid
For those ready to advance to some truly advanced technique, like making a dessert or something, that hardened coating of caramel can be just as easily removed with cream. Or milk! Or coffee! Or whatever liquids! This trick works especially well in ice cream, panna cotta, or pudding.
This way might take a bit longer because there might be less liquid and the pot won’t be perfectly clean. But what’s left on there isn’t anything a soapy sponge can’t handle.
| A．Bakers find it hard to handle the mess. |
| B．In fact, cleaning up candy mess is simple. |
| C．If you don’t need another dessert, don’t force it! |
| D．With the back of a spoon, you can easily scrub it off. |
| E．This method can be applied to sticky bowls of sauce too. |
| F．So the next time you make candy, don’t sweat the clean-up! |
| G．Simply weigh the liquid ingredients from a recipe into the pot. |
1.活动过程；
2.个人感悟；
3.期待评论。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右;
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
An unforgettable English Poetry Recitation Competition
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5 . Roughly 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the Roman city, Herculaneum. Now a group of scientists is working to figure out one of the great mysteries of that time—the scrolls of Herculaneum.
In 1752, workers digging in Herculaneum uncovered a home with over 600 scrolls. Most of the scrolls were made from papyrus-a paper-like material. The heat from the volcano had burned the scrolls so much that just touching them could make them fall apart. So scientists have been looking for ways to read the scrolls without opening them.
Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky has been working on this for over 20 years. He uses a CT scanner to take 3D X-ray images. Then he uses a computer program to “unroll” the scroll, and gets pictures of what it looks like on the inside. In 2016, his team used this method to read a burned scroll found near the Dead Sea.
But the scrolls from Herculaneum are much harder. The ink is made from charcoal and water, and doesn’t show up well in CT scans. Still, Dr. Seales hoped to be able to find the writing on the scrolls by training an AI program to look for these patterns.
Though Dr. Seales was making progress, it was slowly going. Then Dr. Seales met with two businessmen. They had the idea of creating a contest for decoding the scrolls. The contest, called the Vesuvius Challenge, offered large prizes to people who met certain challenges in decoding the scrolls. About 1,500 people have taken part in the contest.
In August, Casey Handmer found a pattern that revealed where the ink had been on the scrolls. Soon afterward, Youssef Nader created an AI program that found a whole word: “πoρ
ραc”, which means “purple”. This was the first word ever read from these ancient scrolls. For their efforts, Mr. Handmer and Mr. Nader each won $10,000.
Now people are eagerly working to earn the contest’s $700,000 top prize, which is for decoding four longer sections of the scroll by December 31. The people behind the contest say that, with all the recent progress, it’s likely that someone will win this prize, too.
1. Why didn’t the scientists open the scrolls of Herculaneum?| A．The scrolls are too delicate. | B．There are no suitable tools. |
| C．The scrolls are poisonous. | D．The scientists lacked money. |
| A．Outdated CT scanner. | B．Limited scrolls for study. |
| C．Special composition of the ink. | D．Over-control from the businessmen. |
| A．Opening. | B．Understanding. | C．Hiding. | D．Destroying. |
| A．To compete for an academic award. | B．To uncover the history of Mount Vesuvius. |
| C．To cooperate with Dr. Seales in his research. | D．To win monetary prizes by decoding the scrolls. |
6 . Domestic cats, like many other animals, use smelly substances from anal sacs (肛门囊) to mark territory and communicate with other animals. The new study shows that many smelly compounds from a cat are actually made by a group of bacteria living in the anal sacs.
“Cats use a lot of smelly chemicals for signaling, and they probably don’t make the mall,” says David Coil, project scientist at the Genome Center at the University of California. The project grew out of the Kitty Biome Project, which started by researcher Holly Ganz, professor of evolution and ecology.
The researchers obtained anal sac substances from a single male Bengal cat. They extracted DNA for sequencing (排序) to identify types of bacteria, and also took samples for chemical smell analysis in Professor Cristina Davis’ laboratory in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department.
Davis’ lab focuses on technology for detecting and characterizing low levels of volatile (挥发性的) organic compounds that can be markers of health and disease, from flu in humans to a disease in fruit trees. Sequencing showed that the microbial community was not very diverse and controlled by a small number of bacterial type. “There are not a lot of players there,” Coil says.
The researchers grew the most abundant bacteria from the screen in culture. Researcher Mei Yamaguchi analyzed the volatile chemicals that the bacteria gave off. Yamaguchi and Davis were able to detect 67 volatile compounds that the bacterial cultures released. Of the compounds, 52 were also found directly in the anal sac substances. The results support the idea that the bacterial community, not the cat itself, produces many of the smells the cat uses to communicate.
Coil and colleagues want to follow up by looking at more cats. If bacteria make these smells, why do cats smell different from each other? How do cats acquire the bacteria and do they change over life? Understanding how microbes influence their smell could have wide implications for understanding smell communication in animals.
1. What do cats use for communication and marking territory?| A．Smelly bacteria living in cats. | B．Smelly substances from anal sacs. |
| C．DNA extracted from Bengal cats. | D．Chemicals from the KittyBiome Project. |
| A．Cats produce their own unique smells. |
| B．Bengal cats have distinct DNA sequencing patterns. |
| C．Bacteria in the anal sacs create the majority of smells. |
| D．The KittyBiome Project found new chemical compounds in cats. |
| A．Diet’s impact on cat smells. | B．Cats’ acquisition of bacteria. |
| C．Bacterial communities in wild cats. | D．Microbes’ role in cat smell variation. |
| A．The Secret Behind Cat Smells | B．How bacteria affect Cat Communication |
| C．The Role of Davis’ Lab in Animal Studies | D．Exploring DNA Sequencing in Bengal Cats |
7 . When Aiden and Lebron asked me to accompany them on a camping trip to the mountains, I pictured a cozy wooden house with a warm fire and hot cocoa. Imagine how my comfortable image became a nightmare of survival training when they showed up with a truck filled with camping supplies—tents, rolled-up sleeping bags, and canteens!
Lebron, super organized, rushed me to join him to escape the city rush. Good weather though —cotton-candy clouds dotted the deep blue sky.
The trail at first seemed more like a road through the trees than a hiking path. Then it got narrow and steep, making me focus and stay quiet. We went higher, above the tree line, seeing the trail winding up to the mountain top.
“It looks closer than it is,” Lebron said, reading my facial cues. “This is the most difficult part of the trail. Loose rocks and tree roots make it dangerous, and we have no shade.”
Finally, we reached the summit. My legs aching, I dropped my pack and groaned (呻吟).“No time to rest,” Lebron said, looking up at the sky. “The weather here changes quickly, and that cool air means a storm is coming. We need to set up camp.”
He was serious about the storm. While Aiden and Lebron set up camp, I tried to help, but the storm arrived fierce and quick. We took cover inside the tent near a huge rock as thunder roared.
Lebron, sensing that I was scared, reached in his backpack for some peanut butter. Slowly, he spread the peanut butter and said, “This is just a typical summer storm—they’re short-lived, but intense,” Lebron continued, “The campsite might get a bit muddy, but what’s the fun in camping if you can’t get dirty! At least the rain will keep the bears away,” he said with a smile.
The storm passed swiftly, revealing a breathtaking view. I won’t lie — I longed for a hot shower and a soft bed, but as I gazed upward at the Milky Way, I knew this was an adventure I would never forget.
1. How did the writer feel when Aiden and Lebron showed up with a truck filled with camping supplies?| A．Anxious and excited. | B．Relaxed and delighted. |
| C．Frustrated and angry. | D．Disappointed and surprised. |
| A．The trail. | B．The mountain. | C．The summit. | D．The tree line. |
| A．Narrow but plain. | B．Risky and challenging. |
| C．Pleasant with clear paths. | D．Marked with shelters for breaks. |
| A．To show off his humor. |
| B．To highlight danger in the area. |
| C．To ensure everyone stayed indoors. |
| D．To lighten the mood and reduce fear. |
8 . On May 7, “eco-mermaid” Merle Liivand
That
Since 2019, she’s broken records, swimming vast distances—first in California, then in Florida, and this time swimming the
During her
| A．planned | B．kept | C．broke | D．prepared |
| A．stronger | B．cleaner | C．lighter | D．cooler |
| A．water | B．plastic | C．sand | D．metal |
| A．situation | B．cleanup | C．disaster | D．experience |
| A．different | B．visible | C．similar | D．challenging |
| A．attached to | B．referred to | C．applied to | D．devoted to |
| A．connecting | B．removing | C．kicking | D．wiping |
| A．hides | B．marks | C．finds | D．conveys |
| A．depth | B．length | C．width | D．breadth |
| A．persisted | B．relaxed | C．faced | D．paused |
| A．accomplishment | B．betterment | C．management | D．agreement |
| A．training | B．adventure | C．travel | D．marathon |
| A．gathered | B．shared | C．sorted | D．pushed |
| A．miss | B．review | C．break | D．reach |
| A．various | B．lasting | C．positive | D．side |
After my son, Scott, graduated from high school, he took a job in North Carolina.Two thousand miles suddenly separated me from the person who’d been the focus of my life for 18 years.As the days went by, I missed Scott more and more.I’d always been able to take care of myself, but now I seemed to need Scott’s help constantly, like getting a tool from the top shelf, or moving something heavy.Most of all, I just missed having him to talk to.I was lonely.I knew this day would come.But why does it have to be so hard?
However, a mother spider(蜘蛛) taught me a lesson.
On my way out from my storeroom, I noticed a spider building her web across the top corner of the doorway.I reached for a hoe (锄头), tore down the web, and watched the giant spider run away in the grass.She was back the very next morning, in the exact same spot, busily rebuilding.I stared for a moment, and then reached for the hoe again.Then I twisted the hoe round and round, catching the spider in her own web.I carried her far into my backyard, shook the hoe and watched her fall to the ground and disappear in the bush.The third morning, I stopped short as I entered the storeroom.The spider was back in the same corner, her web almost completed again.I reached for the hoe, but stopped.I thought her persistence (坚持) in building her web should pay off.I stepped back and watched her long legs busily knitting the web.
For the next few weeks, the spider and I were close neighbors.One particularly boring day, I was feeling so down that I didn’t even glance up at my spider as I entered.Suddenly I found a hundred tiny creatures on the floor.I realized that these were baby spiders and the web the mother had built was to protect her young.
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。
Paragraph 1：
As the mother watched from the corner of the web, her young were making their way to the ground safely.
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Paragraph 2：
I decided that I would leave this web as a reminder.
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10 . One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the rural areas with the purpose of showing him how poor people lived. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, “How was the trip?”
“It was great, Dad.”
“So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?” asked the father.
The son answered: “I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a stream that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night.”
“Our courtyard reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them.”
The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, “Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are.”
Isn’t perspective a wonderful thing? It makes you wonder what would happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don’t have.
1. Which of the following words can best describe the boy?| A．Naughty and misbehaved. | B．Honest and creative. |
| C．Ambitious and doubtful. | D．Worried and childish. |
| A．The father wanted to show the farmers were poor. |
| B．The boy thought people on the farm lived a rich life. |
| C．The father was very surprised at his son’s answer. |
| D．The boy advised his father to live the farmers’ life. |
| A．To show his family was rich. | B．To prove the farmers’ was rich. |
| C．To show off his cleverness. | D．To make his father speechless. |
| A．From statistics to comparison. | B．From examples to conclusion. |
| C．From a story to inspiration. | D．From observation to action. |
