1 . Mars is truly a fascinating planet for those of us here on Earth.     1     It is about half as big as Earth and is often referred to as the Red Planet because of its red surface.

The Red Planet has the largest volcano in the solar system-Olympus Mons.     2     That’s about three times the height of Mount Qomolangma.

Mars also has an atmosphere, but it is very thin and made up mostly of carbon dioxide. Because of its thin atmosphere and greater distance from the Sun, Mars is much colder than Earth.     3     The dust storms of Mars can grow so big that sometimes they blanket the entire planet and last for months. The poles on Mars are a lot like Antarctica, capped by ice, but much of Mars’s ice is made from carbon dioxide, not water.

Scientists believe that studying Mars can help answer some of the key questions about our planet Earth, or even the universe.

    4     Since 1960, more than half of all attempted Mars missions have failed. The USA, Russia, the European Space Agency, and several other countries have lost many spacecraft in their quest to explore the Red Planet. Nevertheless, they will still continue their explorations. Chinese experts are confident about their plan to explore Mars, in spite of the many challenges. The first Mars unmanned spacecraft was launched from Wenchang around 2020. But it is only the beginning of deep voyages into outer space.     5    

A．It is roughly 27 kilometres high.

B．Missions to Mars have never been easy.

C．Mars, however, today has no active volcanoes.

D．The temperature at the planet’s surface varies widely.

E．However, Mars does have weather, with clouds and winds.

F．China will continue to explore the mysteries of the universe.

G．It is one of the few planets that we can see with our own eyes.

2 . In looking through your social media, there’s a good chance you’ve noticed pictures accompanied by texts. The pictures are likely made possible by a text-to-image program called DALL-E. For example, Twitter user posted a tweet with the text, “To be or not to be, rabbi holding avocado, marble sculpture.” Then a matching picture appears below.

The AI models come from Google’s Imagen software as well as OpenAI. a start-up backed by Microsoft. On its website, OpenAI calls DALL-E “a new Al system that can create realistic images and art from a description in natural language.” But most of what’s happening in this area is coming from a relatively small group of people sharing their pictures. That’s because Google and OpenAI have not made the technology broadly available to the public.

The text-to-picture services identify the most important parts of a user’s text and then guess the best way to picture those terms. There’s generally a text box, a button to start the generation process and an area below to display images. To indicate the source. Google and OpenAI add watermarks in the bottom right comer of images from DALL-E and Imagen.

Engineers trained the models on various collections of words and pictures from the web. OpenAI recognizes the potential for harm that could come from a model. To avoid the risk, employees removed violent content from training data, and there are filters（筛选）stopping DALL-E from producing images if users submit（提交）violent or illegal content.

Boris Dayma, a developer from Texas spelled out the problems in an explanation of their software. Despite the risks, Dhariwal, a research scientist at OpenAI, said it could open up creative opportunities for individuals and could help with commercial applications for dressing up websites. Results should continue to improve over time.

1. What is the function of the the AI system DALL-E?

A．Beautifying pictures at users’ request.

B．Producing pictures from human words.

C．Changing pictures into vivid descriptions.

D．Providing pictures for users to choose from.

2. What does paragraph 3 mainly talk about concerning DALL-E?

A．Its users’ rights.	B．Its operating conditions
C．Its working process.	D．Its company’s prospect.

3. How could DALL-E ensure the images it produces legal?

A．All images come from a unified model.

B．The training data is selected beforehand.

C．Improper requests can’t be submitted.

D．Filters remove the unhealthy description.

4. What is Dhariwal’s attitude to the future of DALL-E?

A．Positive.

B．Objective.

C．Uncertain.

D．Worried.

3 . Picture the scene: you’ve spent years working towards a very specific goal. You’ve put in countless hours of work and made many efforts along the way, but now that you’ve got there it doesn’t feel quite like you imagined. Instead of celebration, you feel emptiness, confusion and doubt.

Welcome to the anti-climax. The often-experienced but seldom-discussed downside of achieving life’s biggest milestones. Many of us work tirelessly towards our goals. We may spend our lives dreaming of the day we get married, publish our first hook or buy our first home. However, oftentimes, when we achieve these things it doesn’t feel quite as expected. In fact, the achievement of these goals feels a bit of a letdown.

So why do we often experience an anti-climax with big goals, even though we’re happy to achieve them? “An anti-climax can be an unexpected by-product of a milestone achievement. Usually, the more significant the milestone, the greater the anti-climax may be. The intensity（强度）of an anti-climax often relies on what we expect of this achievement.” says Rachel Vora. a psychotherapist（心理治疗师）.“The journey to achieving a milestone can he exciting and tiring in addition to giving us a sense of purpose and focus. Therefore, when this disappears overnight. we can often feel lost and confused, in spite of feeling proud of our achievement.

When this happens it can contribute to a mixture of emotions. We often falsely believe that we’ll feel completely different afterwards or that our feelings of low self-worth will disappear, but this is rarely the case. “Clients（客户）often present to me with an extremely great sense of ‘is this it?’ and ‘what now?’.” says Vora. “These feelings of confusion and disappointment, if let ignored, have the potential to cause clients to be in low spirits, or even worse.”

1. Why does the author mention the examples in paragraph 2?

A．To present a fact.	B．To prove a rule.
C．To explain a term.	D．To make a prediction.

2. What does Vora think is the leading cause of the anti-climax?

A．Low self-worth.	B．High expectations.
C．Sense of purpose.	D．Unexpected achievements.

3. Which of the following is a case of the anti-climax?

A．Amy felt empty before giving a speech.

B．Jack felt lost after his first novel came out.

C．Mary felt proud when she joined a ballet club.

D．Tom felt doubtful about taking further education.

4. What will the author probably talk about in the following text?

A．How to hold back feelings.

B．How to improve self-worth.

C．Hon to identify the anti-climax.

D．How to deal with the anti-climax.

4 . It was supposed to be a normal trip to the supermarket. My son was little, and it was getting close to nap time, so I was rushing. But when I went to start the car, I realized that I must have locked my keys in the trunk with my bag.

So I took my son and went back inside the store. I had to use their phone to call my husband for the spare key. After many calls and messages with no answer. I was getting upset. My son was tired and getting fussy. I was exhausted from a sleepless night that all moms go through when their kids are teething. When he went into full-on crying, I felt tears come down my face, too.

An employee at the store tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to come with her. I was fearful for a moment, thinking I was going to be scolded and thrown into the storage area to keep us quiet. The employee, whose name was Kelly, took me, to my surprise, to the Starbucks cafe inside the store. She bought me a coffee and settled down with us. As we talked, my son settled into a sound sleep. After about fifteen minutes, she said her break was over and if I couldn’t contact my husband, they would get the trunk open.

After I got home that day, I kept thinking about what Kelly had done for me and wanted to do something. So, Kelly from the Safeway in Delaware, these are the things that you have done because I was thinking of your kindness as I did them: bolding doors for people, letting someone ahead of me in line, hitting “yes” on the donation button at the checkout, and many others.

I am so glad I locked my keys in the car that day. Who would have thought a cup of coffee could have so much of an effect on a person?

1. What does the underlined word “fussy” mean in paragraph 2?

A．Hard to please.

B．Frightened to death.

C．Moved to tears.

D．Easy to approach.

2. Why did Kelly tap the author on the shoulder?

A．To scold her.

B．To comfort her.

C．To tell her a story.

D．To keep her quiet.

3. What does the author want to show by listing what she did in paragraph 4?

A．She led a very busy life.	B．She was indeed a kind woman.
C．Kelly made her a better person.	D．Kelly took pride in her kindness.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．A Cup of Coffee	B．A Story of Lost Keys
C．A Forgetful Mother	D．A Responsible Employee

5 . We want to achieve zero fines and not have any items returned late. However, library fines are definitely necessary. More about fines:

Lost items

The Lost Item charge will apply if we mark an item as Considered Lost because it is not renewed within the required period. You should pay the replacement cost of the item. If it is still not renewed after the due date, you have to pay extra ￡200, plus a10 inconvenience charge. If you have paid for a Considered Lost item and find it later, you will not be returned the cost of the item, but can keep the item.

Late items

Late item ( Not returned on time )	Fine
Flexible loan items requested by another user	￡2 per day or part of a day
Locker key requested by another user	￡2 per day or part of a day

How to avoid fines

◆ Check the “Fines & Fees” tab regularly.

◆ Check your email for requests which have changed the return date.

◆ Return the item as soon as possible to keep your fine low.

◆ Contact us if you have a problem visiting the Library to discuss your options.

How to pay your fines/charges

◆ Use credit card.

◆ Pay online using the University’s Online Store.

For more information, please contact us

◆ In person at the Library and IT Help Desk

◆ Email lib-enquiry @ york. ac. uk

◆ Phone (01904 32) 3838

Note

Feel that a fine or charge is unfair? Click HERE to express your views for Library fines.

1. How much will be charged for a lost book worth ￡35 before the due date?

A．￡35.

B．￡45.

C．￡210.

D．￡245.

2. What can readers do to avoid fines?

A．Put off the return date at will.	B．Give back the item in person.
C．Have a discussion with their partners.	D．Keep an eye on the relevant information.

3. Where is this text probably taken from?

A．An official website.	B．A science magazine.
C．A library noticeboard.	D．An admission guide.

6 . — Sir, please ________ your order before signing your name.
— OK. Let me check it again.

A．remove

B．confirm

C．permit

D．attach

7 . — Take it as a lesson! Remember “ ________ ”.
— I won’t speak that much to unfamiliar people any more.

A．Tick all the right boxes	B．Loose lips sink ships
C．Let off steam	D．Pull your weight

8 . 上个月，你校举办了一场高一学生英语配音比赛。请为你校校刊（英文版）写一篇短文，介绍这次活动，内容包括：
1. 活动背景；
2. 活动过程；
3. 个人感受。
注意：
1.字数：100词左右；
2.可适当加入细节，使内容充实、行文连贯。
3.参考词汇：英语配音比赛the English Dubbing Contest/Competition
4.凡使用铅笔答题，或答题中使用了涂改液或不干胶带，一律不给分。
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

9 . It was the unacceptable truth________ John Thornton was killed that made Buck lose his head. （用适当的词填空）

10 . No one saw Buck go off on________ Buck thought was a walk but it was actually a theft. (用适当的词填空)