1 . Would you take a trip if you couldn’t use your cellphone? A new tour company called Off the Grid is asking travellers to put their cellphones away and not even use them for photos. The company founder, Zach Beattie, is developing his business, using money he saved from a tech job at a mapping company. He’s hired guides for every trip but will help lead the first few himself.

The first trip is to Lisbon, Portugal, in July. It takes 7 to 10 days, with small groups of up to 16 people. Prices range from $1,500 to $1,650, including accommodations, meals and ground transportation. The plan includes at least three excursions (远足) and two social events, with an emphasis on unique experiences over bucket-list sightseeing. The tour also includes surfing lessons, yoga on the beach, a day of sailing and dinner with a local family.

“When you’re somewhere new, there’s a lot to see and a lot of cool and interesting people to meet,” Beattie said. “Your phone can distract (使分心) you.” The phone ban won’t be enforced quite as strictly as it seems at first glance. “We want it to be voluntary,” he said. “We’re not collecting phones and throwing them in a locked trunk. It’s held by you, but put in your pocket, and you state your intentions for the week, whether that’s checking your social media once or twice a day or a total blackout.”

Tour-goers also get a “dumbphone” without Internet access that’s loaded with numbers for group leaders and other participants, both for emergencies and to promote socializing. Participants may bring regular cameras, but Beattie is hiring a photographer for each tour so there will be plenty of photos to remember the trip. Once the trip is over, participants will have access to those photos for use in social media posts.

1. What can be learned about Zach Beattie?

A．He set up his business at his own expense.

B．He is always guiding every trip personally.

C．He forbids tourists to take along cellphones.

D．He used to earn his living in a tour company.

2. What do we know about the Lisbon trip?

A．The trip features sightseeing.

B．Participants live in homestays.

C．Air ticket is covered in the cost.

D．Tourists experience water sports.

3. What does Zach Beattie expect the participants to do?

A．Lock their phones in a trunk.

B．Post their photos on social media.

C．Free themselves from their phones.

D．Shift their focus onto dumbphones.

4. What can tour-goers do with the dumbphone?

A．Take photos.	B．Access the Internet.
C．Record the trip.	D．Contact group members.

2 . 阅读下列短文，根据短文内容或括号内所给词的恰当形式填空。
Hi Kelsey,

Happy 18th birthday! You’ve officially reach     1     (adult) in a lot of ways, even though I know you’re already mature beyond your years.

Many bittersweet events will happen in the next ten years. There will be highs. Stick to     2     (cherish) every single second. There will also be lows, and you may feel     3     (dishearten). But you’ll surely be committed to     4     (make) it through, and    5     (gradual) you’ll get stronger than before.

The world will always throw new challenges at you.     6     a consequence, your strength will be tested again and again. Looking back to what has happened over the last decade, I feel proud of how far you’ve come. Approve     7     everything that contributes to your     8     (become) fearless and independent.

As you become an adult, jump at every opportunity     9    comes your way. Celebrate every chance you get. No doubt you’ll always ponder     10    it and make the right decision.

Happy birthday, Kelsey! See you in ten years.

28-­year-­old Kelsey

3 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What is the talk mainly about?

A．An introduction to a voluntary job.

B．An appeal for blood donation.

C．Safety rules of driving motorbikes.

2. How many advanced qualified riders does the Association have?

A．262.

B．1,400.

C．35,000.

3. What caused Angela Brown to start the volunteering?

A．Her coach’s influence.

B．Suggestions from her nephew.

C．Her community’s encouragement.

4 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Why is Shakespeare-style writing mentioned in the conversation?

A．To introduce a new game.

B．To advocate a famous writing style.

C．To indicate ChatGPT’s advanced function.

2. What is Bard?

A．A chatbot

B．A search engine.

C．A tech company

3. What is Satya Nadella’s attitude towards ChatGPT?

A．Conservative.

B．Optimistic.

C．Critical.

4. What does the man suggest doing in the era of AI?

A．Avoiding heavy reliance on AI.

B．Developing our innovative ability.

C．Being adaptive and using AI fully.

5 . 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。

Following the barbecue-induced travel craze to the city of Zibo in East China, Chinese social media has once again highlighted the next internet-famous city worthy of     1     (explore).

This time it’s Tianshui, a low-key city in China’s Gansu province that     2     (take) the spotlight recently. It has attracted considerable attention     3     food enthusiasts and social media influencers online,     4     (celebrate) the city’s iconic dish of hot pot.

Known as Tianshui Malatang, which     5     (literal) means spicy and hot, the local dish is popular for its large portion of skewered meat, vegetables,     6     hand-made potato noodles in a pot of boiling broth (肉汤).

Two food bloggers, with over 3 million followers in their account on the popular Chinese Weibo,     7     (be) among the influencers praising the deliciousness of Tianshui Malatang. Their vlogs show eager food enthusiasts lining up on the streets, many of     8     traveled from cities far away.

Dong Liangyan, 29, from Daqing in Heilongjiang province,     9     (locate) more than 2,000 km away from Tianshui, told Xinhua that she was absolutely delighted     10     (enjoy) the local delicacy.

6 . Plenty of audiences have warned: don’t see the new French movie The Taste of Things on an empty stomach. Juliette Binoche plays a longtime personal cook to a man who’s a gourmand (美食家). They share a passion for food. Filled with delicious meals, the film celebrates food, and all the work and love that go into making it.

When you see a delicious meal in a movie or an ad, chances are that it’s not fit to eat. Food stylists have been known to substitute glue for milk, and coat meat with motor oil. All this was a big “No” for Vietnamese French director Tran Anh Hung.

Tran says he wanted everything in The Taste of Things “to be real,” from the raw ingredients (食材) to the menu to the way the cooks move in the kitchen. Real food can’t always handle multiple takes. Plus, Tran needed to show dishes at different stages of preparation. So he needed a lot of everything. For a classic French dish, “we needed 40 kilos of meat for the shooting.” He also had to find vegetables that looked like they were harvested in the 19th century. “They’re not as beautiful as today,” he says, “They’re not straight, and they have many spots on the skin.”

After doing extensive research into the history of French cuisine and working with a historian, Tran enlisted three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire to make sure the menu he’d come up with worked in real life.

Gagnaire also cooked for Tran for five days, so the director could study his movements in preparation for filming. Tran says watching Gagnaire move around the kitchen taught him that “simplicity is important and you don’t need to have the perfect gesture for this or that. You need only to be very free.” Gagnaire says the movie feels like a gift. “For my creativity, it’s an honor,” he says. The famous chef agreed to take a small part in the film.

“When you leave this film, you feel calm because instead of violence, there’s tenderness,” Gagnaire says.

1. What can we say about The Taste of Things?

A．It shows that food represents love.

B．It gives audience a good appetite.

C．Its characters only focus on cooking.

D．Its story is based on a food stylist.

2. Which of the following best describes Tran as a film director?

A．Romantic.	B．Caring.
C．Demanding.	D．Humorous.

3. Why did Gagnaire cook for Tran for five days?

A．To get a role in Tran’s movie.

B．To give Tran some inspiration.

C．To test Tran’s menu for the film.

D．To show Tran his food creativity.

4. What’s the author’s purpose in writing the text?

A．To show a film shooting style.	B．To recommend a film.
C．To call on people to save food.	D．To promote food culture.

8 . Challenges are part of life and something we can all expect to encounter at one point or another during our lifetime. We handle challenges differently;some of us choose to face them head-on, while others flee in uncertainty.     1    The following are simple methods and strategies we can all employ to overcome challenges more effectively.

    2     Nike couldn’t have said it any better with their slogan, "Just do it! "Some challenges require us to do just that. Grab the bull by its horns and have the courage to conquer it, no matter how unsure we might feel. Some challenges are urgent and require immediate attention, leaving us with no option but to go ahead full-steam.

Educate ourselves. The reason why some issues prove challenging for us is that we aren’t familiar with them.     3     The internet, books, forums, etc. , offer platforms where we can research and learn about our challenges to find strategies against them. Knowledge is definitely powerful and essential in conquering anything.

Be persistent. This is what is required to accomplish anything, especially when it comes to overcoming challenges. No matter how difficult our challenges might be, we must be willing to push through and try again and again until we achieve victory over them.     4    

Ask for help. There are times when we can’t go it alone and need others to help us conquer whatever challenges we face.     5     Networking with like-minded individuals who can offer us support, suggestions, and solutions is useful in helping us overcome challenges.

A．Meet them head-on.

B．Adapt a different strategy.

C．It is said that two heads are better than one.

D．If we give up, we allow the challenges to conquer us instead.

E．Therefore, our knowledge and ability to conquer them is limited.

F．Whatever our positions, we all wish to conquer them and move on.

G．Some challenges can be overwhelming, making us question our ability to overcome them.

9 . Pullman is a superb writer and Seagull is a brilliant communicator. They had a debate after Seagull posted a question on his social media platform: “When you were trying to create an environment for learning, what were your best pieces of classical music to listen to?” He received hundreds of suggestions — and one negative reply, from Pullman: “That’s not what classical music is for. Treat it with respect.”

That did it! Everyone — professional musicians, students, teachers — weighed into the argument, and the majority supported Seagull and were criticizing Pullman.

It’s easy to see why people are annoyed. We all want classical music to be as accessible as possible, especially to the young. If some of them are using Bach or Schubert as a tool to help them study, what’s the problem? They may also develop an attachment to classical music.

So is Pullman ridiculous and supercilious by objecting to classical music being used as background music? At first sight, his idea seems stuffy and extreme. By suggesting that classical music should be “treated with respect” and not used as background music, Pullman seems to be closing classical music of to millions of people.

It’s worth pointing out, however, that he isn’t the first to express concerns about classical music being devalued by becoming too commonplace in today’s technologically shaped world. In Benjamin Britten’s 1964 speech, the composer expressed exactly the same worries as Pullman. Britten suggested, “The true musical experience demands some preparation, some effort, a journey to a special place, saving up for a ticket, some homework perhaps”. In short, it demands as much effort from listeners as from composers and performers.

I don’t agree with such an extreme viewpoint, but I do think it touches on a reality. You will never fully grasp the beauty of classical music if you half-hear it only in the background. That doesn’t necessarily matter. Music can be enjoyed on many levels. What Pullman and Britten are really saying is that, in a drive for “accessibility”, we shouldn’t deny the emotional and intellectual complexity underpinning (构成) much classical music.

1. What did Seagull’s posting result in?

A．Great admiration for Seagull.

B．Public criticism of classical music.

C．A discussion about learning environments.

D．An argument over the role of classical music.

2. What does the underlined word “supercilious” in paragraph 4 probably mean?

A．Self-important.

B．Open-minded.

C．Impatient.

D．Considerate.

3. Why is the Benjamin Britten’s 1964 speech mentioned?

A．To show his affection for classical music.

B．To introduce young people to classical music.

C．To demonstrate classical music is demanding.

D．To support Pullman’s idea over classical music.

4. Which word best describes the author’s attitude to Pullman’s idea?

A．Favorable.

B．Doubtful.

C．Objective.

D．Uninterested.

10 . 他在升旗仪式上的演讲得到了高声喝彩。(greet) (汉译英)
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