1. Where did the woman go at the weekend?
| A．The city centre. |
| B．The forest park. |
| C．The man’s home. |
| A．Packing for a move. |
| B．Going out with Jenny. |
| C．Looking for a new house. |
| A．Take Henry to hospital. | B．Stay with his kid. | C．Look after his pet. |
2 . I’m obsessed (迷恋) with music. As a teenager, I couldn’t leave the house without my
But one day last year something changed. I became aware of a faint tapping sound in my left ear. It wasn’t loud enough to be
I was then sent to see specialists. They said it was the mitochondrial disease that caused the
I was given hearing aids, but they didn’t work. I’ve signed up for a lip-reading course and am
Other deaf people have warned of feeling isolated (孤立) and I’m determined not to make that my
I’ve always preferred to
| A．assignments | B．headphones | C．schoolbags | D．uniforms |
| A．textbooks | B．toys | C．records | D．flowers |
| A．annoying | B．impressive | C．pleasant | D．heartbreaking |
| A．strike | B．clean | C．see | D．hear |
| A．pain | B．deafness | C．awareness | D．anxiety |
| A．technically | B．gradually | C．similarly | D．confidently |
| A．teaching | B．speaking | C．promoting | D．learning |
| A．great | B．curious | C．excited | D．awkward |
| A．withdraw from | B．leave behind | C．break off | D．adapt to |
| A．job | B．hobby | C．life | D．aim |
| A．reward | B．anxiety | C．criticism | D．pleasure |
| A．because | B．if | C．until | D．when |
| A．plan | B．contact | C．depart | D．write |
| A．memory | B．appetite | C．hearing | D．sight |
| A．promising | B．unbelievable | C．predictable | D．uncertain |
China’s newest online sensation is a pink fox called LinaBell from Shanghai Disneyland. After
Footage of meet-and-greets with the pink fox are all over the Internet and LinaBell can be seen communicating
Visitors to Shanghai Disneyland were the first people
Disney’s localization efforts, including the company’s IP products have resulted in its popularity in China. Shanghai Disneyland has been
1. What does the man want the woman to do?
| A．Check the cupboard. |
| B．Clean the balcony. |
| C．Buy an umbrella. |
| A．Husband and wife. |
| B．Employer and employee. |
| C．Shop assistant and customer. |
1. What is Mr. Stone doing now?
| A．Eating lunch. | B．Having a meeting. | C．Writing a diary. |
| A．To discuss a program. | B．To make a travel plan. | C．To ask for sick leave. |
| A．At 3:00. | B．At 3:30. | C．At 3:45. |
6 . Beavers(海狸), like humans, change their surroundings to fit their needs. Known as nature’s engineers, they tear trees down to build homes to live in and dams to raise water levels for protection from enemies. Dams also slow water’s flow while blocking sediment(沉积物)that would otherwise flow downstream. The resulting wetlands often attract wildlife diversity where none had existed. There are challenges, though. Beaver dams sometimes cause flooding, and most people prefer trees alive and upright.
Communities face a delicate balancing act, learning to coexist with beavers. Last winter, many people enjoying Winston Path became beaver fans as one furry family transformed Swallow Pond into an oasis for birds, frogs, turtles and deer.
Yet such activity caused concern. As beavers worked, they raised water levels about five feet. The increased depth allows beavers to survive underwater if the pond ices over. But county officials were concerned about how higher water would affect the soil bank supporting Winston Path.
To find a good balance between protecting the path and the beavers, the county introduced a“ beaver baffle”— a pond leveler.Beavers often rush to fill holes in their dams.Baffles stabilize water levels by creating a hidden exit for high water to escape through the dam, unnoticed by the beavers.
People love the beavers but they also love the mature trees. Recently, Catherine Jones,18, organized a tree-caging event — putting wire cloth around large tree trunks to discourage beavers from biting them. It also protects people from injury due to random trees falling.“We cover the trees we don’t want them to eat, while planting periodically others they like,“said Jones.“We need-to learn to give up a little of our wants to share the Earth’s resources.”
Swallow Pond’s 2023 project will restore proper water depth and improve wildlife habitat without creating problems for the path. The balancing act continues.
1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?| A．Where beavers’ favorite surroundings are. |
| B．What effects beavers have on their habitat. |
| C．Why beavers are called nature’s engineers. |
| D．How beavers help attract wildlife diversity. |
| A．Swallow Pond would flood often. |
| B．Sediment would flow downstream. |
| C．The popular path might be damaged. |
| D．Beavers might have to live underwater. |
| A．A block to keep beavers away. | B．A tool to fix holes in the dams. |
| C．A device to maintain water level. | D．A material to protect the soil bank. |
| A．Biological diversity. | B．Harmonious coexistence. |
| C．Prevention of natural disasters. | D．Preservation of wildlife habitat. |
My teenage son, Jordan, always complained about having to be home earlier than all his friends. He would tell me that he was already seventeen, but still had a curfew (宵禁). He believed he was practically an adult. I pointed out that he was not an adult as he was still in high school.
“You don’t trust me!” he yelled. Before I continued, he rolled his eyes, slammed the door and walked away. I sighed. How could I make Jordan see that I only wanted to keep him safe?
I decided to go for a walk, hoping the December air would clear my head. I opened the front door and nearly stepped on her: a small black cat, just like a meatball. “Hi, Meatball,” I said, bringing her into my arms. I walked back in, touching her neck gently. Meatball seemed happy enough to come in the house, but after an hour or two, she sat by the door, meowing to go back outside.
“Why won’t she just stay in with us all the time?” Nathan, my youngest son asked.
I explained to him that she was happy here but she liked being able to come and go as she pleased.
“That must be nice,” Jordan muttered from the other room, complaining why the cat, not him, could come and go. He even asked me to give Meatball a curfew.
Meatball became a regular.
One night, temperatures were unusually low. Meatball stood at the door, meowing to go outside.
I shook my head at her, afraid that she might freeze to death. She stared at me and meowed again. I patted her head, “I know you’re not happy, but it’s for your own good.”
“Mom’s not being mean to you,” Nathan told the cat. “She’s just trying to keep you from turning into a frozen meatball.” We both laughed at his joke.
The next morning, I couldn’t find Meatball. I asked the kids if anyone had seen her.
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。
Jordan nodded, “I let her out last night.”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I drove to the animal hospital, Jordan sat in the back, holding Meatball inside his coat.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________8 . From cottages surrounded by impressive gardens to days spent exploring sandy beaches and deep woods filled with wildlife, in My Family and Other Animals, English writer Gerald Durrell provided a vivid account of his family’s time on the Greek island of Corfu in the 1930s.
Come for the arresting descriptions of Corfu landscapes and stay for Durrell’s laugh-out-loud tales of his unusual family. This book, Durrell wrote humorously in the introduction, “was intended to be a nostalgic(怀旧的)account of natural history, but in the first few pages, I made the mistake of introducing my family.”
Durrell, later known for his zoo keeping and the preservation of wildlife, was just a child during his family’s five-year stay in Corfu. He is 10-year-old Gerry in the book—curious, passionate about animals and a detailed storyteller of his strange family: his imaginative elder brother Larry with his literary ambitions, lovestruck sister Margo, sporty brother Leslie and his ever-calm, loving mother.
Durrell’s attention to detail is what makes the book so winning, with every sight, sound and smell of the island brought to life. One minute you’ll be laughing as Larry’s clever literary friends walk down to the daffodil-yellow cottage, the next you’ll be catching your breath as Durrell describes swimming at night in the Ionian Sea: “Lying on my back in the silky water, staring at the sky, only moving my hands and feet slightly, I was looking at the Milky Way stretching like a silk scarf across the sky and wondering how many stars it contained.”
My Family and Other Animals is quite difficult to classify, being one part travel, one part autobiography, one part natural history, and one part comedy, with a thread of descriptive language running throughout that sometimes raises it nearly to poetry.
As a real delight to read, it’s the perfect literary escapism for any adult or older teenager who is currently walking down a tough road in life.
1. Which word best describes Durrell’s life in Corfu?| A．Diverse. | B．Busy. | C．Risky. | D．Tough. |
| A．I just introduced my family by mistake. | B．I shouldn’t have introduced my family. |
| C．I gave false information about my family. | D．I couldn’t help introducing my family. |
| A．Durrell’s rich imagination. | B．Some interesting plots of the book. |
| C．The book’s writing feature. | D．Some vivid descriptions of the island. |
| A．To share an experience. | B．To introduce a writing style. |
| C．To recommend a book. | D．To describe an unusual place. |
9 . While enjoying my fresh lunch in a restaurant in Amsterdam, I noticed something odd. Customers coming in for something to eat ignored the person standing behind the counter (柜台), preferring to
What was the crazy thing about this? They were just several
Think about it for a moment. When was the last time you naturally
We shop,
| A．talk | B．call | C．order | D．deliver |
| A．meters | B．millimeters | C．kilometers | D．centimeters |
| A．chance | B．turn | C．look | D．test |
| A．spoken | B．written | C．typed | D．mentioned |
| A．efficient | B．enthusiastic | C．effective | D．energetic |
| A．ended up | B．engaged in | C．made up | D．went on |
| A．hear | B．believe | C．remember | D．understand |
| A．recording | B．studying | C．playing | D．calculating |
| A．idea | B．aim | C．problem | D．rise |
| A．cash | B．price | C．debt | D．tax |
| A．decorate | B．book | C．build | D．repair |
| A．Contact | B．Work | C．Quarrel | D．Reunion |
| A．interests | B．benefits | C．disadvantages | D．influences |
| A．unrealistic | B．unsuitable | C．unreasonable | D．unexpected |
| A．serves as | B．refers to | C．accounts for | D．consists of |
10 . As AI grows more sophisticated and widespread, the voices warming against the potential dangers of artificial intelligence grow louder. “The development of artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race,” according to Stephen Hawking.
Job losses due to AI automation
AI-powered job automation is a pressing concern as the technology is adopted in industries like marketing, manufacturing and healthcare. Eighty-five million jobs are expected to be lost to automation between 2020 and 2025.
Social control through AI algorithms (算法)
TikTok runs on an AI algorithm that fill a user’s feed with content related to previous media they’ve viewed on the platform. Criticism of the app targets this process and the algorithm’s failure to filter out harmful and inaccurate content, raising doubts over Tik Tok, ability to protect its users from dangerous and misleading media.
Blue-collar workers have experienced wage declines as high as 70 percent because of automation. On the other hand, white-collar workers have remained largely untouched. From this sense, if the trend continues, the existing social and economic gaps between different races and classes will be further widened. Weakening ethics and goodwill If mankind’s so-called technological progress were to become an enemy of the common good, this would lead to a heavy blow to modern civilization. The rapid rise of the conversational AI tool ChatGPT gives these concerns more substance. Many users have applied the technology to get out of writing assignments.
| A．This fear has become a reality |
| B．Widening socioeconomic inequality |
| C．Financial crisis brought about by AI |
| D．No one knows what’s real and what’s not |
| E．It threatens academic integrity and creativity |
| F．The famous theoretical physicist isn’t alone with this thought |
| G．As AI robots become smarter, the same tasks will require fewer humans |
