1 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Scientists have discovered the remains of     1     appears to be an ancient sheep-drawn chariot (战车) near the famous Terracotta Army in the western tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The main structure of the chariot has likely rotted (腐烂) away after     2     (spend) more than 2,000 years in the ground but researchers did find a row of six sheep skeletons (骨架) wearing attachments used for pulling a chariot, so they     3     (infer) this was a sheep-drawn chariot.

Horse-drawn chariots were common in ancient China, but a sheep-drawn chariot is     4     extremely rare find. The founder of the Western Jin Dynasty, Emperor Wu, or Sima Yan, who ruled from 266 to 290CE, is said     5     (ride) in a sheep-drawn carriage around his palace complex every night and would sleep wherever the sheep stopped. Researchers hope laboratory     6     (analyze) on the western tomb’s burial chamber, which is currently underway, will help them determine who was buried there.

In addition to the six-sheep chariot, scientists unearthed a four-wheeled     7     (wood) chariot, probably drawn by horses,     8     (equip) with a fancy umbrella. It is the oldest of     9     (it) type ever found. They also found a wealth of iron tools and weapons, providing new insight     10     the period when iron tools first began to appear.

2 . “Red tide” is a natural phenomenon that frequently occurs in many places around the world. The phenomenon is the result of extreme growth of tiny algae (海藻) called K. Brevis, which has a red color, giving the water surface a very noticeable red color. K. Brevis will give off chemicals that can attack the nervous systems of animals, which often leads to deadly results.

Florida citizens are no stranger to “red tide”, which occurs along the state’s Gulf Coast annually. However, the most recent outbreak of red tide has so far lasted much longer and spread across nearly 145 miles of the coastline in southwestern Florida.

The long season has caused the death of tons of fish and other animals which were washed up on the beaches all the way from Tampa to Naples. The smell of the dead animals has kept away thousands of locals and tourists that frequent the area’s long beaches. In view of that, in August, Florida declared a state of emergency for the seven places where K. Brevis has been growing quickly, providing $ 3 million to help with research, cleanup, and wildlife rescue.

Recently, the situation of red tide in Florida may be exacerbated due to an outbreak of algae Trichodesmium in the waters offshore of Manatee County. Trichodesmium floats on the water’s surface sucking nitrogen (氮) from the air while K. Brevis lives below the surface obtaining nitrogen from the water. If these two masses of algae mix, the dying Trichodesmium may end up providing nitrogen for K. Brevis, lengthening its stay in the area.

Researchers recently are exploring the idea of introducing other algal species to Florida. Among the possibilities is the Diatom. It’s a kind of algae that can grow quickly in the water. Its growth will consume a large amount of nitrogen from the water. So it competes with K. Brevis for nitrogen. Another possibility is algae known to give off chemicals that stop the growth of red tide.

The 10-month-long red tide outbreak in Florida may be the result of a combination of heavy rainfall, warmer ocean temperatures, and pollution. Now it’s time for us to do something.

1. What can we learn about K. Brevis?

A．It’s caused by red tide.	B．It can harm ocean life.
C．It’s facing dying out.	D．It exists mainly on land.

2. What’s Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．The researchers’ study of algae.	B．The tourism potential in Florida.
C．The possible ways to deal with red tide.	D．The consequences of red tide in Florida.

3. What does the underlined part mean?

A．Worsened.

B．Studied.

C．Handled.

D．Ignored.

4. What’s the possible function of the algae Diatom?

A．To change the color of K. Brevis.

B．To help reduce K. Brevis’ food supply.

C．To damage K. Brevis using some chemicals.

D．To increase fishes’ resistance to K. Brevis’ attack.

3 . Scientists have designed plenty of devices that can pick up solid objects. Big mechanical claws can lift cars. Small claws can pluck (摘，拉) prizes from a glass box in an arcade game (街机游戏). But these new pluckers can lift something else entirely — a liquid.

Engineers have built the device, which can pick up and move a single drop of liquid. The device is made of two flexible crossed pieces. It is about the size and shape of a finger. Experimental tests showed that the pair can lift up a drop of liquids as small as 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) across.

Such a device might help scientists safely handle biological liquids like blood, says Arun KotA. That task could be particularly useful in laboratories where samples are tested for signs of flu or other infectious diseases. Kota is a mechanical engineer at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. He worked on these new devices.

The new device combines tech from two fields of engineering. One is soft robotics. Unlike robots made from hard and heavy materials such as metal, soft robots are made from soft stuff. The other field is materials science. “Many materials are repellent to water, but in alcohol or oil they’re no longer able to do it,” Kota says. Working with Wei Wang, an engineer in his lab, he developed such materials, which will not let any liquid pass through them.

The group completed their design by 2017. Yet cool as it was, it had no obvious use. Xiaoguang Dong, an engineer at Vanderbilt University, doubts whether infectious disease labs are looking for such a device. “To me, this is not really practical,” he says. “The number of droplets that can be lifted is very small. They need independently robotic fingers to lift several droplets. If you want to control hundreds of droplets, how do you do that?”

1. Why are the big mechanical claws and small claws mentioned in paragraph 1?

A．To introduce the function of the new invention.

B．To show the common usage of mechanical tools.

C．To give examples of some recent scientific findings.

D．To reveal the importance of accurately lifting liquids.

2. What does the second paragraph mainly tell us about the new device?

A．Its future.

B．Its feature.

C．Its creator.

D．Its principle.

3. What does the underlined word “repellent” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Exposed.

B．Resistant.

C．Connected.

D．Similar.

4. What improvement should be made to the new device?

A．It should be easier to use.	B．It should be safer in disease labs.
C．It should combine low-cost materials.	D．It should carry many more drops of liquid.

6 . Antarctica has not always been a land of ice and snow. Earth’s southernmost continent once was home to rivers and forests full of life.

Scientists are using satellite observations and radar imagery to look deep under the ice. The researchers report finding a large ancient landscape buried under the continent’s ice sheet. It is full of valleys and ridges (山脊) , shaped by rivers before being covered by glaciers long ago.

The landscape is located in East Antarctica’s Wilkes Land area bordering the Indian Ocean. The researchers said the landscape appears to date back to at least 14 million years ago and perhaps beyond 34 million years ago, when Antarctica entered its deep freeze.

“It is difficult to know what this lost world might have looked like before the ice came along, but it was certainly warmer back then,” said Stewart Jamieson, a professor at Durham University. “Depending how far back in time you go, you might have had climates that ranged anywhere from the climate of present-day Patagonia through to something more approaching tropical.”

“Such an environment likely would have been populated by wildlife”, Jamieson said. “But the area’s fossil record is too incomplete to know which animals may have lived there.”

The researchers said the surface of the planet Mars is better known than the earth surface below the ice in Antarctica. They said one way to learn more would be to drill through the ice and take a piece of the earth below. This could uncover evidence showing ancient life, as was done with samples taken in Greenland dating back two million years ago.

Jamieson said the researchers think that when Antarctica’s climate was warmer, rivers flowed toward a continental coastline that was created as the other land masses broke away. When the climate cooled, some small glaciers formed on hills next to the rivers. When the climate cooled even more, an ice sheet grew which covered the whole continent, the landscape got preserved, likely for 34 million years.

1. What can we learn about the ancient landscape?

A．It locates in the center of Antarctica.	B．It’s discovered by drilling through the ice.
C．It’s once a warmer area than it is now.	D．It has a history of no more than 14 million years.

2. In Stewart Jamieson’s opinion, why is it hard to know Antarctica’s past animals?

A．There is a lack of complete fossil record.

B．The ice sheet of Antarctica is melting quickly.

C．Scientists lack enough advanced equipment.

D．Climate conditions vary greatly from place to place.

3. Why is the planet Mars mentioned in paragraph 6?

A．To attract more scientists to study Antarctica.

B．To strengthen the importance of the Mars.

C．To indicate the complex situations of the Mars.

D．To show the difficult to know Antarctica’s earth surface.

4. What made the landscape get preserved for such a long time?

A．The colder climate.	B．The protection offered by coastlines.
C．Other land masses’ reduction.	D．A decrease in the number of wildlife.

9 . The relationship between Jeffrey Pang and his son, Kevin Pang, was like hot-and-sour soup. It boiled over easily. The Pangs, who moved to the United States in 1988, wanted their son and daughter to know Chinese culture. As a video game-playing American teen, Kevin wasn’t interested.

But when Kevin became a food writer for the Chicago Tribune, he realized he had a valuable resource: his cook-laving dad. “My father and I shared, for the first time, a common interest. I would call to ask about recipes and cooking techniques. He would school me on the world of Chinese food,” Kevin writes in the introduction to the cookbook he has just published.

When it comes to cooking Chinese food, he points out that there is no one definition of Chinese food. “Chinese cooking is not hidebound. For example, consider baked pork chop rice, popularized in Hong Kong. It is a pork chop with egg-fried rice. And then you top it with this thick tomato sauce,” explains Kevin. “And then you top that with some cheese. It’s a very interesting combined dish that has some Western British influences, and it’s altogether very Chinese as well.”

By the time Kevin joined America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) staff in 2020 as its editorial director for digital content, his dad had become an Internet celebrity demonstrating the family’s recipes. Kevin recognized an opportunity not only to share his own family’s food stories but also to apply the ATK method of breaking down recipes into simple steps for the home cook.

“I think this cookbook can teach fathers and sons how to connect, how to find a common interest and improve their relationship, ” Kevin says. That feeling has found an enthusiastic fan base, generating nearly 3 million views, for their online cooking series “Hunger Pangs”, where viewers speak highly of their father-son bond as much as they do of their attractive dishes. Today the Pangs’ relationship is rarely sour or hot.

1. Why would Kevin phone his father after becoming a food writer?

A．To publish his Chinese cookbook.	B．To inquire about hot-and-sour soup.
C．To seek permission for video games.	D．To ask about cooking Chinese food.

2. What does the underlined word “hidebound” in paragraph 3 mean?

A．Inflexible.

B．Inclusive.

C．Unpleasant.

D．Uncertain.

3. What can we infer about Kevin and his father from the passage?

A．Their relationship has improved.	B．They run America’s. Test Kitchen.
C．They do dishes to attract followers.	D．Their cookbook is about low-fat food.

4. What is the best title of the passage?

A．Cooking at home helps you cook well for less.	B．Father and son jointly teach Chinese cooking.
C．Chinese culture is becoming popular in the us.	D．Recipes and cooking techniques are really easy.

10 . High school graduation requirements

To earn a high school diploma, students must meet the following requirements.

Compulsory credits

*4 credits in English (1 credit per grade) *3 credits in mathematics *3 credits for group 1, 2 and 3 courses *2 credits in science *1 credit in Canadian history (Grade 10) *1 credit in Canadian geography (Grade 9)

*1 credit in the arts *1 credit in health and physical education *1 credit in French as a second language *0.5 credit in career studies *0.5 credit in civics and citizenship

Optional credits

Students must earn 12 optional credits. by successfully completing courses offered in the school’s program and course calendar. Optional credits may include up to four credits earned through approved dual (双倍的) credit programs. .

The literacy graduation requirement

In September 2023, the literacy graduation requirement was introduced and it became effective immediately. Students graduating in the 2023-2024 school year and beyond are required to meet this requirement to earn their high school diploma.

Community involvement

Students are required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of community involvement activities as part of the requirements for a diploma.

Students who are looking for community involvement opportunities should:

★make sure they know which activities satisfy the community involvement requirement
★check their school board’s website for a list of approved and prohibited activities
★have a discussion with their parents to plan and select their community involvement activities(students under 18 years old only)
1. What’s the minimum number of credits required for a high school diploma?

A．30.

B．32.

C．34.

D．36.

2. When did the literacy graduation requirement take effect?

A．In September 2021.	B．In September 2022.
C．In September 2023.	D．In September 2024.

3. What should adult students do before doing community involvement activities?

A．Ask for their parents’ permission.

B．Turn to local community centers for help.

C．Set community involvement hours with teachers.

D．Have a clear understanding of the qualified activities.