1 . Since her retirement, an old family friend has begun visually journaling her travels. She isn’t an “artist”, but that doesn’t reduce her joy in her experiences or the truth and appeal of her sketches (素描). It was inspiring and I took it as a good idea for later. When I saw the recent Van der Weel and Van der Meer study about handwriting and cognitive activation (认知激活), I thought about my friend, the passage of time, and aging and realized that it was time to hunt up all my media ( pens, pencils, watercolors, bound journals, and sketchpads) and shift some activities from keyboard to paper as an investment in brain health.

Van der Weel and Van der Meer found writing by hand (rather than tapping away on your keyboard) increases brain connectivity. It may be time to consider deleting some of those list-making and journal apps from your phone and return to paper and notebooks. Healthy media use of any kind is, after all, about balance. I realized that I write very little by hand but if doing so activates the whole brain, then it may join the list of activities, like doing crossword puzzles and learning a new language, which help delay cognitive decline.

Writing helps people process life’s emotional ups and downs through sense-making—the greater the cognitive effort to find meaning, the greater appreciation of the benefits and improved mood. Meaning and positive emotions are central to well-being.

However, I had never considered the physical act of handwriting as a brain health aging activity. The greater brain activity from handwriting compared to typing is thought to explain why handwritten notes are linked to increased learning among students. Learning and memory are both cognitive functions. Learning describes how we gain new skills and knowledge. Memory is how we store and bring back what we learn. Aging messes with both and can prevent new learning as well as the memory of what you just learned. However, social, physical, and cognitively challenging activities have been shown to reduce the negative effects of aging on cognitive function and increase cognitive reserve (认知储备).

1. What made the author begin to notice brain health?

A．The passage of time.	B．The aging of him/her.
C．The recent study about handwriting.	D．His/Her friend’s visual travel sketch.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about?

A．The benefits of writing.

B．Ups and downs of life.

C．The meanings of positive emotions.

D．The advantages of writing over computers.

3. How is the last paragraph developed?

A．By giving advice.	B．By listing numbers.
C．By quoting experts’ words.	D．By making a comparison.

4. What may the author say to students?

A．Learn by memorizing.	B．Add handwriting to your list.
C．Be aware of the secret of memory.	D．Join in the healthy aging activities.

2 . Passive learning and active learning are two totally different patterns of learning in the world of teaching. Traditionally, learning has been mostly passive in nature. However, in the last 2-3 decades, there has been a push to encourage active learning in the classroom. Passive learning refers to learning in which the student does little to acquire knowledge. The most common form of passive learning is direct instruction. In passive learning, the student is viewed as an empty container of knowledge that the teacher must fill with his or her knowledge. Freire called this pattern of learning banking education as the student serves as an account in which the teacher or banker places knowledge or money. There’s a heavy stress on memorizing information or knowledge. The student should take notes and be ready to repeat what the teacher has said. The teacher is the wise man on the stage.

Passive learning always sounds bad but sometimes it can be beneficial. When people have no former knowledge of a subject, passive learning can provide a foundation for future active learning activities.

Active learning is learning in which the student is actively involved in the learning process. Common examples of this learning pattern include any form of discussion in the classroom.

Active learning encourages students to use their current knowledge to build new understanding. There’s a reduction of lecturing in an active learning classroom. Rather, students interact with each other and the teacher to develop their understanding of the content. Active learning also faces some challenges. One is that active learning is time-consuming. Developing activities and leading discussions can force the class to move slower. If the course covers a large amount of content, this can be challenging for teachers.

In conclusion, there’s room in the world of education for both passive and active learning. But too much reliance on either one will probably be a disadvantage for students.

1. What’s the disadvantage of banking education?

A．Failing to make classes move quickly.

B．Weakening teachers’ interest in education.

C．Focusing too much on memorizing knowledge.

D．Causing bad relationships between teachers and students.

2. When does passive learning happen?

A．When learning a new lesson.

B．When writing about reflection.

C．When answering a teacher’s question.

D．When planning active learning activities.

3. Which would the author most probably agree with?

A．Parents should support teachers’ education.

B．Teachers shouldn’t bother students’ learning process.

C．We must make passive learning disappear from classes.

D．We should balance passive learning and active learning.

4. What does the underlined word “time-consuming” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Taking too much time.	B．Highly effective.
C．Making no difference.	D．Rather expensive.

3 . 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。

Nola Ochs was born in Kansas in 1911. There were many farms and everybody had a job to do. Nola Ochs was raised under the endless sky, and the long arc (弧线) of the sun marked her chore-filled (满是工作的) days. Her life was common. She grew and married, had children and grandchildren, taught in country schools, and lived the quiet Midwest life. But she was different in one way: After her husband died in 1972, Nola began taking classes and finally earned her associate degree (准学士学位) at the age of 77.

“I still want to go to school. It is fun to go to classes. And if I have homework to do in the evening, that takes up my time in a pleasant way,” she recalled. After some years went by, Nola decided to keep going and get her master’s degree in Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, where her granddaughter studied. She emailed the university for admission (入学), mentioning that she was 80, and had prepared for studying further.

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。

A week later, she got an mail back for her admission.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

On the day of her graduation, Nola was chosen to be a spokesperson.

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5 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落的开头续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

“Look at this,” I said to my friend Mandy, holding up the paper I had got as we entered the library. “There’s a five-day art camp at White Cliff this summer.” Mandy took the paper and glanced at it. “That’s the same time as the Hill County Fair. But we always go to the fair,” she said.

Later, I called my friends Emily and Yoshiko. Yoshiko was going to the fair, and Emily would be out of town in July. I sighed and dropped my head down on the red paper.

“Will I attend the art camp? Probably not,” I said to myself. “None of my friends are going.” I had a hard time jumping into something with no familiar faces around.

“Maybe next year.” I sighed. “I’m going outside to draw the Westons’ pine tree. I’ll be out front.”

I opened the door and blinked (眨眼睛) at the bright sunshine as I sat on the front steps. I thought about art camp and wished I felt a little braver. By the time I started drawing, I had convinced myself I was happy to skip the camp. I drew the pine’s strong trunk. I added the beautiful branches, making sure the upper ones lifted gently toward the sun. Once I started drawing, I didn’t notice the fly buzzing around me or the sound of the lawn mower(割草机) a few houses down. That’s why I jumped when Mr. Weston said, “You’ve done a great job showing the strength of that tree on paper.”

“Thanks.” I smiled, glancing up. Mr. Weston was out for a walk. He used a cane (拐杖) , and I cut the grass for him every week.

“That pine was there when we moved in,” Mr. Weston said, “You have to spread out the roots near the surface so the tree can get enough water and grow tall. If you plant the root ball too deep, the tree will die.”

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。
I learned that roots grow out, not down.
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That night, I took a deep breath and filled in the application for the art camp.
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6 . Temperatures remained near zero, and frost (霜) covered the ground on the morning of Saturday, October 29, but none of this _________ the group of volunteers and students who_________ from different schools planting a new microforest. Emma Fox, the community engagement _________, got the group warmed up before their shovels (铲) hit the _______. In just under three hours, the volunteers had all of the trees planted, and Fox   _________ on what they had achieved. The group planted around 100 trees in what is called a microforest.

Microforests, with trees planted together _________ , are more powerful than having the same number of trees planted across a larger area, Fox _________. This is particularly beneficial in environments for ecological, climate, and human benefits.

In support of this, these microforests are allowed to grow free, with as little human _________ as possible. This includes not mowing (割草) around the forest to _________the grasses to grow, increasing even more biodiversity. __________ the environmental benefits, microforests offer many advantages for the students. They offer additional __________ in the schoolyard, and additional __________ educational opportunities.

Fox shared that it’s the __________ of many different organizations coming together to achieve the shared aim of __________ the environment. To make a microforest a __________, they need land, trees and volunteers.

1.

A．had

B．prevented

C．recognized

D．permitted

2.

A．graduated

B．recovered

C．benefited

D．gathered

3.

A．organizer

B．volunteer

C．performer

D．viewer

4.

A．dirt

B．foundation

C．brick

D．root

5.

A．depended

B．decided

C．reflected

D．concentrated

6.

A．timely

B．closely

C．currently

D．extensively

7.

A．explained

B．recommended

C．assumed

D．complained

8.

A．crowding

B．proceeding

C．destroying

D．bothering

9.

A．allow

B．force

C．advise

D．remind

10.

A．Except

B．For

C．Without

D．Beyond

11.

A．profit

B．sale

C．shade

D．mystery

12.

A．mental

B．outdoor

C．flexible

D．uplifting

13.

A．result

B．signal

C．component

D．attitude

14.

A．protecting

B．improving

C．respecting

D．adapting to

15.

A．dream

B．wonder

C．reality

D．camp

7 . “From delighting in the creativity of others, seeing something from a different viewpoint, sharing that experience or building connections, I know I always leave our galleries feeling energized, inspired and uplifted,” says Karin Hindsbo, the director of Tate Modern——and she’s certainly not alone. According to a recent study, looking at art can light up the pleasure centre in the brain and release dopamine, the feel-good chemical——which is why visiting a gallery can be a valuable act of self-care.

Nottingham-based art psychotherapist Sofie Dobbelaere agrees that going to a gallery to view art can be a powerful healing (治愈) experience. “When we look at art, we connect with our humanity, and therefore are pulled into dialogue with something outside of ourselves,” she says. “This can help us feel connected and like we are part of something important.”

We live in a fast-paced culture, often consuming great works of art as quickly as we do content on our phones. But the act of engaging with art often disobey our own deadlines and boundaries of time, inviting us to look a little longer. Next time you go to a gallery, try practicing “slow looking”, spending several minutes or even hours thinking over just one piece. Galleries are full of amazing works, but observing just one on a deeper level can be incredibly meaningful.

According to a recent study, although 95% of UK adults agree that visiting museums and galleries is beneficial, 40% of us visit them less than once a year—which is especially regretful as so many of these incredible spaces and artworks, including the main collections in the Tate galleries, are completely free to view and open to all. “These gloomy (阴沉的) winter months are the perfect time to get lost in our free displays, especially if you’ve never visited before,” says Hindsbo.

1. Why is visiting a gallery an act of self-care?

A．It relaxes the brain.	B．It offers company.
C．It pleases the visitor.	D．It makes visitors wiser.

2. How should you act when visiting a gallery?

A．Be polite.	B．Take your time.
C．Leave before the deadline.	D．Stay longer than permitted.

3. What does the author find regretful?

A．Some collections are not open regularly.

B．Many seldom visit museums and galleries.

C．Less than half never visit museums and galleries.

D．Most think visiting museums and galleries is beneficial.

4. What may be the best title of the text?

A．Free tour——visiting museums and galleries

B．Culture cure—a cure few have experienced

C．Why culture helps improve health condition

D．How art can be a powerful healing experience

8 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What’s the field trip like?

A．Free.

B．Expensive.

C．Educational.

2. Where does the speaker advise taking a photo?

A．Beside the pile of pumpkins.

B．In front of the “Special Exhibit”.

C．Before the “Milk-A-Cow” exhibit.

3. How much does the trip cost a teacher with two children?

A．$13.

B．$16.

C．$23.