1 . I’m far________ and I’ll never get this report done by Friday.

A．below surface	B．beyond control
C．behind schedule	D．above average

2 . The experienced climber was________ the potential danger in such extreme weather and decided to wait until the following day.

A．completely blind to	B．totally lost in
C．pretty keen on	D．well aware of

3 . I have a drawer full of letters to Santa. Each year my children would write up their Christmas wish lists. They were polite requests for the latest game or toy. As the children got older, they would give Santa some hints(提示)on where to buy their presents.     1    

Those letters taught my children a valuable lesson about writing: It has a purpose. Sometimes our purpose is to achieve something;other times it may be to entertain, inform, or persuade.     2     And when writing doesn’t seem to have any purpose or get any kind of meaningful response, then it can be hard to get excited about doing it.

Christmas is a great time of year for children to communicate with others through writing. When children write for real audiences and real purposes, they can learn to choose their words accordingly.     3     You write “Dear Santa” because you don’t know him personally and you want to show him respect.

    4     Texting, online messaging, live chats while playing video games all mean that they are constantly producing written messages. However, because they are usually writing to family and friends, they use informal language most of the time.

There is nothing wrong with this kind of writing. It suits the audience and the purpose and gets the job done.     5     This type of writing won’t be rewarded by the school examiner, nor by a future employer or a potential client. The very best communicators are those who know how to adjust their language to match their audience.

A．It isn’t that these young people can’t write.

B．But it is always purposeful-or at least it should be.

C．The age of pen-and-paper letter writing may have passed.

D．As a result, each year they received something they wanted.

E．You write “Hi Nanna and Pop” because you are close to them.

F．As technology develops, young people are writing more than they ever have.

G．But if this is the only kind of writing young people do, it will cause problems.

4 . All around the world, there are small changes taking place. At the side of roads, behind school playgrounds and on all kinds of unloved pieces of land across towns and cities, tiny forests barely the size of tennis courts are appearing, making a great place for both wildlife and local people who may not normally have easy access to nature. This is the Tiny Forest movement, which aims to prove that the best things in life really do come in small packages.

Tiny forests were first pioneered as a concept in the 1970s by Dr Miyawaki, a Japanese botanist. As he went on to share his concept with others, the idea soon took off in India and other countries before eventually reaching Europe, where it became popular in places like France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

So how does it work? Louise Hartley, who is leading the Tiny Forest project in the UK, explains that the process begins by identifying areas in which a tiny forest could have the biggest influence. “We focus on urban areas where access to nature is often not that easy”, says Hartley. “We see it as a chance to try to break the growing disconnect between people and nature.”

In a Tiny Forest, there must be a minimum of 600 trees, and the trees are planted much closer together and without chemicals or fertilisers (肥料). There are usually around 30 different kinds of all-native tree species (物种). This variety, coupled with the fact that tiny forests grow up to ten times faster than standard forests, means they attract a rich abundance of wildlife. It’s also thought that these places could help reduce the risk of flooding, remove carbon from the atmosphere and fight climate change, as well as improving the mental health of those living locally.

1. What do we know about the Tiny Forest movement?

A．It has achieved notable success.	B．It is led by number of schools.
C．It began in Europe in the 1970s.	D．It will spread to the countryside.

2. What is the purpose of the project led by Hartley in the UK?

A．To promote eco-tourism.	B．To improve forestry research.
C．To popularise gardening.	D．To get people close to nature.

3. What is special about the trees in a Tiny Forest?

A．They are small in size.	B．They are thickly planted.
C．They are foreign species.	D．They are heavily fertilised.

5 . Pasta and pizza were on everyone’s lunch menu in my native land of Italy. Everyone who had such a lunch was fair-skinned and spoke Italian. A few years later, as I stood in the lunch line with my kindergarten class in a school in Brooklyn, I realized things were no longer that simple. My classmates ranged from those kids with pale skin and large blue eyes to those with rich brown skin and dark hair. The food choices were almost as diverse as the students. In front of me was an array of foods I couldn’t even name in my native language. Fearing that I would pick out something awful, I desperately tried to ask the boy ahead of me for a recommendation. Unfortunately, between us stood the barrier of language.

Although my kindergarten experience feels like a century ago, the lessons I learned will stick in my mind forever. For the past three summers, I have worked in a government agency in New York. New immigrants much like the little girl in the lunch line flooded our office seeking help. I often had to be an interpreter for the Italian-speaking ones. As I served the role of vital communication link, I was reminded of my desperate struggle to converse before I learned English. I watched with great sympathy as elderly Italians tried to hold a conversation in Italian with people who did not speak the language. It suddenly became very clear to me how lucky I was to be fluent in two languages.

In New York, a multicultural city, students like me are blessed with a chance to work with a diverse population. In my English to Italian translations, I’ve learned about social programs that I didn’t know existed. This work expanded my mind in ways that are impossible inside the four walls of a classroom. Walking through the streets of Brooklyn today, I am no longer confused by this city’s sounds and smells. Instead, enjoy its diversity.

1. What did the author realize after entering school in Brooklyn?

A．Time passed quickly.	B．English was hard to learn.
C．The food was terrible.	D．People were very different.

2. Who does “the little girl” in paragraph 2 refer to?

A．An Italian teacher.	B．A government official.
C．The author herself.	D．The author’s classmate.

3. How did the summer job benefit the author?

A．It strengthened her love for school.	B．It helped sharpen her sense of direction.
C．It opened her eyes to the real world.	D．It made her childhood dream come true.

6 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

Tom, a 15-year-old inventor and entrepreneur (创业者), witnessed at his own school the widespread consumption of sugary drinks by kids. He knew there had to be a better portable drink solution and decided to innovate from something he saw in his own home: fruit infused (浸泡) water.

Tom watched his mum make healthy fruit infusions but then struggle for a take-along option. From observing his mum and from his desire to give kids better drink options, he came up with his original model for the Fun Bottle. “I wanted to come up with a healthy, natural way for people to drink when on the go. A big part of my mission is to get people of all ages off sugary drinks,” Tom explains.

The bottle is made with a strainer (滤网) that allows the great tastes and natural sugars of the various fruits and vegetables you choose to come through the water, without any of the seeds or skins flowing through.

Tom is proud of his design and excited to be selling the Fun Bottle on his website and in stores, but this 15-year-old is most proud of the opportunities that Fun Bottle presents to others. It helps to provide healthy alternatives to sugary drinks; and also Tom donates part of the profits to the Organisation for a Healthier Generation (OHG).

Tom has been awarded several prizes, but this teenage innovator remains humble. When asked what advice he’d give other entrepreneurial youth, he says, “Prepare and have your family’s support. It is important to know from the beginning that there are a lot of highs and lows, and there is no such thing as overnight success.”

1. What did Tom witness at his own school?
2. Where did Tom get the idea for the original model for the Fun Bottle?
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Tom is most proud of the opportunities that Fun Bottle presents to others because he not only provides healthy alternatives to sugary drinks but also donates all the profits to the OHG.
4. Among Tom’s qualities, which one(s) do you think will be important for us? Why?(In about 40 words)

7 . Health and fitness help a person live a good and healthy life. Often due to various pressures, we tend to ignore our health.     1     It is the fitness level of our body that helps us fight these diseases.

    2     We need to be fit to have a healthy body. Similarly, if we are healthy we shall naturally be attracted towards maintaining the fitness of our body. Health is the state of our body at a given time. We may not have any disease but still have a weak body, which is ready to be targeted by viruses.     3     This does not definitely mean that we are not healthy. It means the fitness level is not in accordance with our age and the climatic conditions we live in.

It is important for everyone to devote some time to health and fitness.     4     For instance, we must exercise daily regardless of our age and working style. There are different levels of exercises for different age groups and we must do them according to our own health and age.

Additionally, it is important to relax our body. We should have at least six to eight hours of sleep every day. It helps in improving our immune (免疫) system and protects us against diseases.     5     This, in turn, gives us new goals of health and fitness.

A．Fitness levels decide the quality of life.

B．Health and fitness are interrelated to each other.

C．It also helps in keeping us calm and relaxes our mind.

D．For instance, we may have a tendency to catch a cold easily.

E．If we keep our body fit, we can enjoy life in a better manner.

F．There are some activities which everyone should do in our life.

G．This makes our body suffer and we will catch other diseases.

8 . Quantum ( 量子 ) computers have been on my mind a lot lately. A friend has been sending me articles on how quantum computers might help solve some of the biggest challenges we face as humans. I’ve also had exchanges with two quantum-computing experts. One is computer scientist Chris Johnson who I see as someone who helps keep the field honest. The other is physicist Philip Taylor.

For decades, quantum computing has been little more than a laboratory curiosity. Now, big tech companies have invested in quantum computing, as have many smaller ones. According to Business Weekly, quantum machines could help us “cure cancer, and even take steps to turn climate change in the opposite direction.” This is the sort of hype ( 炒作 ) that annoys Johnson. He worries that researchers are making promises they can’t keep. “What’s new,” Johnson wrote, “is that millions of dollars are now potentially available to quantum computing researchers.”

As quantum computing attracts more attention and funding, researchers may mislead investors, journalists, the public and, worst of all, themselves about their work’s potential. If researchers can’t keep their promises, excitement might give way to doubt, disappointment and anger, Johnson warns. Lots of other technologies have gone through stages of excitement. But something about quantum computing makes it especially prone to hype, Johnson suggests, perhaps because “‘quantum’ stands for something cool you shouldn’t be able to understand.” And that brings me back to Taylor, who suggested that I read his book Q for Quantum.

After I read the book, Taylor patiently answered my questions about it. He also answered my questions about PyQuantum, the firm he co-founded in 2016. Taylor shares Johnson’s concerns about hype, but he says those concerns do not apply to PyQuantum.

The company, he says, is closer than any other firm “by a very large margin ( 幅度 )” to building a “useful” quantum computer, one that “solves an impactful problem that we would not have been able to solve otherwise.” He adds, “People will naturally discount my opinions, but I have spent a lot of time quantitatively comparing what we are doing with others.”

Could PyQuantum really be leading all the competition “by a wide margin”, as Taylor claims? I don’t know. I’m certainly not going to advise my friend or anyone else to invest in quantum computers. But I trust Taylor, just as I trust Johnson.

1. Regarding Johnson’s concerns, the author feels ________.

A．sympathetic

B．unconcerned

C．doubtful

D．excited

2. What leads to Taylor’s optimism about quantum computing?

A．His dominance in physics.	B．The competition in the field.
C．His confidence in PyQuantum.	D．The investment of tech companies.

3. What does the underlined word “prone” in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?

A．Open.

B．Cool.

C．Useful.

D．Resistant.

4. Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Is Johnson More Competent Than Taylor?

B．Is Quantum Computing Redefining Technology?

C．Will Quantum Computers Ever Come into Being?

D．Will Quantum Computing Ever Live Up to Its Hype?

9 . My name is Alice. Early last year, I was troubled by an anxiety that crippled ( 削弱 ) my ability to do anything. I felt like a storm cloud hung over me. For almost a year I struggled on, constantly staring at this wall that faced me. My perfectionist tendencies were the main root of this: I wanted to be perfect at whatever I did, which obviously in life is not possible, but it consumed me.

One day, I attended a presentation by wildlife conservationist Grant Brown at my high school. His presentation not only awed and inspired me, but also helped emerge an inner desire to make a difference in the world. I joined a pre-presentation dinner with him and that smaller setting allowed me to slowly build up my courage to speak one-on-one with him—an idea that had seemed completely impossible. This first contact was where my story began.

A month later, Brown invited me to attend the World Youth Wildlife Conference. Looking back, I now see that this would be the first in a series of timely opportunities that my old self would have let pass, but that this new and more confident Alice enthusiastically seized. Shortly after I received his invitation, applications to join the Youth for Nature and the Youth for Planet groups were sent around through my high school. I decided to commit to completing the applications, and soon I was a part of a growing global team of young people working to protect nature. Each of these new steps continued to grow my confidence.

I am writing this just six months since my journey began and I’ve realised that my biggest obstacle ( 障碍 ) this whole time was myself. It was that voice in the back of my head telling me that one phrase that has stopped so many people from reaching their potential: I can’t. They say good things come to those who wait; I say: grab every opportunity with everything you have and be impatient. After all, nature does not require our patience, but our action.

1. What was the main cause for Alice’s anxiety?

A．Her inability to act her age.	B．Her habit of consumption.
C．Her desire to be perfect.	D．Her lack of inspiration.

2. How did Grant Brown’s presentation influence Alice?

A．She decided to do something for nature.	B．She tasted the sweetness of friendship.
C．She learned about the harm of desire.	D．She built up her courage to speak up.

3. The activities Alice joined in helped her to become more ________.

A．intelligent

B．confident

C．innovative

D．critical

4. What can we learn from this passage?

A．Practice makes perfect.	B．Patience is a cure of anxiety.
C．Action is worry’s worst enemy.	D．Everything comes to those who wait.

10 . Like many young people, Jessica wants to travel the globe. Unlike most of them, this 25-year-old is doing it _______ . She and her husband have spent the last two years traveling the world, stopping everywhere from Paris to Singapore. It might sound like one long, expensive _______ , but the couple has an unusual way to make their travel _______ .

They’re part of a new form of the _______ economy: an online group of house sitters. Throughout their no-cost stays in _______ homes, they feed pets and water plants in the homeowner’s _______ .

It’s not all sightseeing. The two travelers carefully _______ their trips, scheduling their days around the pets that are sometimes difficult to _______ . But house sitting also offers a level of _______ they can’t find in a hotel. “It’s like ________ at a friend’s house,” Jessica says.

The couple has a high ________ rate in getting accepted as house sitters and they always go beyond the homeowner’s ________ . For Jessica, that means ________ plenty of pictures of happy pets, keeping the house ________ and leaving a nice small gift before heading to the next house. “You want to make the homeowner feel that they made the right ________ ,” she says.

1.

A．indoors

B．online

C．single-handed

D．full-time

2.

A．game

B．service

C．vacation

D．procedure

3.

A．safe

B．busy

C．helpful

D．affordable

4.

A．local

B．private

C．sharing

D．agricultural

5.

A．strangers’

B．parents’

C．co-workers’

D．neighbors’

6.

A．favor

B．defense

C．honor

D．absence

7.

A．plan

B．explain

C．compare

D．complete

8.

A．buy

B．transport

C．choose

D．please

9.

A．support

B．comfort

C．control

D．attention

10.

A．cooking

B．staying

C．waiting

D．studying

11.

A．success

B．survival

C．growth

D．unemployment

12.

A．budget

B．abilities

C．expectations

D．understanding

13.

A．admiring

B．donating

C．sending

D．borrowing

14.

A．clean

B．open

C．simple

D．empty

15.

A．guess

B．decision

C．response

D．impression