1 . The power of modern electronic media-the net, mobile phones and video games to capture the attention of the human mind particularly the young mind and then distract it, has lately become a subject of concern. We are, say the worriers, losing the ability to apply ourselves properly to a single task, like reading a book in its entirety or mastering a piece of music on an instrument with the result that our thinking is becoming shallower

Nicholas Carr, the American writer, has explored this theme for his new book The Shallows, in which he argues that new media are not just changing our habits but our brain too. It turns out that the mature human brain is not an immutable seat of personality and intellect but a changeable thing, subject to “neuroplasticity” (神经可塑性). When our activities alter so does the architecture of our brain “I’m not thinking the way I used to think,” writes Carr. “I feel it most strongly when I’m reading.” Years of internet use have, he suspects, dented his ability to read deeply to absorb himself in books: “My brain wasn’t just drifting. It was hungry. It was demanding to be fed the way the net fed it.” He describes getting fidgety when faced with a long text: “When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning.”

Carr cites research by Gary Small, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, who concluded that constant exposure to modern media strengthens new neural pathways while weakening older ones. Just five hours of internet use is enough to awaken previously dormant parts of the brain’s prefrontal cortex (前额叶皮层), concluded Small. For Carr, this is proof that the net can rewire the mind. He sees dangers. Deep thought, the ability to immerse oneself in an area of study, to follow a narrative, to understand an argument and develop a critique, is giving way to skimming. Young users of the Internet are good at drawing together information for a school project, for example, but that does not mean they have digested it.

1. The underlined word “dented” in paragraph 2 means ______.

A．strengthened

B．exhausted

C．stimulated

D．damaged

2. In his new book, The Shallows, Nicholas Carr believes that ______.

A．five hours of net use can rewire the mind

B．modern electronic media help focus users attention on the task

C．electronic media have affected his fulfillment of reading books

D．our brain evolves when fed with information and knowledge from the net

3. What can we learn from the passage?

A．The sharper the attention, the sharper the memory.

B．Nicholas Carr’s book on the subject is a bestseller.

C．Superficial thinking and learning are associated with the new media.

D．Years of internet use do harm to people’s management over multi-tasking.

4. What is the overall danger of the Internet that Carr pointed out in the last paragraph?

A．Young users cannot digest information from the Internet.

B．Using the Internet will cause damage to our prefrontal cortex.

C．Constant internet use will impair our intensive reading ability

D．The Internet can waste young users’ time to an alarming extent

2 . There is hot, and then there is hot! Extreme heat is a period of high heat and humidity with temperatures above 90 degrees Fahrenheit for at least two to three days. Extreme heat is responsible for the highest number of annual deaths among all weather-related hazards (危害).

It’s not your imagination. Summers have been getting hotter and hotter with extreme heatwaves occurring earlier and more frequently. But why is this happening and can we better predict heatwaves in advance to give people time to prepare?

“Climate change is here and it’s already been changing human behavior and causing significant influence in the society. As global temperatures rise, historically excessive (过高的) temperatures are more likely to occur.” says Craig Ramseyer, an assistant professor who studies climate modeling in the department of geography at Virginia Tech.

Ramseyer says heatwaves are the most concerning because of the lack of attention they normally receive. “Hurricanes, tornadoes, and flash floods drive more media attention because of the natural attraction with the visual impact of those types of hazards. However, heat does not tend to be as attractive and it becomes very difficult to communicate the danger to the public,” said Ramseyer. “Around the world, more deaths occur due to extreme heat than from hurricanes, flooding, and drought combined. It impacts the most helpless of our citizens who do not have enough access to air conditioning, water, and other important resources.”

Since the Earth is running warmer than it used to, Ramseyer says that when these heatwave-related weather patterns take place, it results in higher extreme temperatures than we used to experience 30 years ago.

“As a global community, we need to decrease carbon emissions as soon as possible. We have rapidly developing technologies that are going to help advance the process, but the faster the better, there is no time to waste.”

1. What can we learn from the article?

A．Extreme heat is a No.1 death cause.

B．People are suffering more extreme heat.

C．A 100-degree heat is an extreme heat.

D．Extreme heat is getting better over the years.

2. What will Ramseyer possibly agree with?

A．Climate change will soon affect human behaviors.

B．High temperatures happened frequently in history.

C．Air conditioning and water can stop the extreme heat.

D．Garbage sorting can less advance the climate change.

3. Why is extreme heat lack of attention?

A．Extreme heat can be stopped by technology.

B．People have enough time to solve the climate problems.

C．The danger of extreme heat is not easily transferred to the public.

D．Heatwave-related weather patterns will decrease in the future.

4. What’s the article mainly about?

A．Complaints about extreme heat.	B．Prevention of extreme heat.
C．Characters of extreme heat.	D．Technologies behind extreme heat.

3 . Top Tips for Efficient E-mail Management

For many of us, email is an extremely important means of communication in business.     1    . It allows us to do our jobs from almost anywhere. However, when used improperly, email can do harm to productivity. Here are some tips to better manage your email.

Set fixed email times

Don’t leave your email program open all day. Instead, schedule specific time throughout the day to check your email.     2    . The amount of time it takes to check email and respond depends on how frequently you check messages and how many you typically receive.

Take immediate action

Quick decisions and immediate action will help you keep your email inbox (收件箱) under control. The point is not to delay until tomorrow what can be carried out immediately. Don’t let important emails sit in your inbox for days. If you can’t respond immediately, let the sender know you received the message and will be in touch shortly.     3    .

Manage additional mailboxes

    4    ? Many people manage various other mailboxes, especially assistants. Approximately 75 percent of assistants manage two or more of their managers’ inboxes in addition to their own. The key to effectively managing another person’s inbox is to discuss their expectations. The key here is to build routines, establish trust and also get permission.

    5    

Newsletters and advertising emails can occupy your inbox and hide important messages. Therefore, be sure to clean up the mess. Unsubscribe (取消订阅) from receiving messages from specific senders if you no longer want to receive their advertising emails or have time to read them. To make the unsubscribe process quick and painless, search your inbox for the term “unsubscribe”.

A．It’s convenient and fast

B．Turn off unwanted emails

C．Organize with certain categories

D．Why do emails keep coming in

E．How many inboxes do you manage

F．If you’re not on vacation, respond within 48 hours

G．For example, you can mark your calendar to do this

4 . Courage is a highly admired virtue. When asked to describe courage, most people conjure up (脑中浮现) the image of an individual running into a burning building, or maybe a hero saving the world. But there's another form of bravery that's much more important because it comes up more often. It's called moral courage.

Moral courage is the ability that allows us to face our fears and to conquer our darkest fears. It’s the ability to face the future without knowing what is certain. It’s the ability to stand tall and confront those who oppose us, those who prevent us from realizing who we are and what we are. But most importantly, it’s the ability to stand up for what’s right, even though there are risks that stand in your way. Sara Anderson once said that "It takes great courage to faithfully follow what we know to be true."

The potential of showing moral courage has the power of changing the world. It was because of the moral courage that Mahatma Gandhi was able to make India free from British rule. He fought bravely against them without the use of any weapon by presenting great moral courage. In this way, he also became a great example for the people of the whole world. It is not that we remember Gandhi because of his body or beauty. We remember him because of the great ideas and principles of his life.

Moral courage is essential not only for a noble life, but a happy one. Without moral courage, we have no control over our lives. Our fears destroy our spirit and make us trapped in depression. Mark Twain said, “Courage is not the absence of fear but the resistance of fear, the mastery of fear.” If our fears cause us to lose confidence in the power of virtue, we will lose something very precious.

People with moral courage rarely get medals, but it is the best marker of true character and a virtue others can be proud of. We must try to develop the power of moral courage that will surely help in ending injustice and wrong and grant us a better world.

1. What is the main function of Paragraph 1?

A．To make a comparison.

B．To propose a definition.

C．To introduce the subject.

D．To provide the background.

2. In the author’s view, moral courage is not _________.

A．the willingness to face and conquer fears

B．the capacity to stick to what is right

C．the ability to confront opponents

D．the desire to control whoever opposes you

3. What does the example of Mahatma Gandhi tell us?

A．Moral courage can make a difference to the world.

B．Moral courage makes people faithfully follow the truth.

C．Moral courage is essential for leading a happy life.

D．Moral courage restricts great ideas and principles.

4. What can be inferred from Mark Twain’s words?

A．Courage is being brave without any fear.

B．Courage is a spirit to overcome the fear.

C．Having a fear can limit our future lives.

D．Fear can stop us from achieving our goals.

5. What does the author advise us to do in the last paragraph?

A．To end injustice and wrong.

B．To pursue excellent virtues.

C．To strengthen moral courage.

D．To create a better world.

5 . 上周，你班就“双减”这一话题进行了讨论。请你根据下表提示，介绍讨论情况，并说明自己的观点。

赞成	1.作业、学习压力减小； 2.有更多的时间培养自己的兴趣爱好； 3.……
反对	1.业余时间多了，一些孩子可能会打游戏； 2.只有努力学习，才能打下更扎实的基础； 3.……
你的看法	……

注意：1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
参考词汇：双减 double-lightening the burden

6 . 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、

I had always prided myself on my sharp tongue and brilliant response whether in class debates or casual arguments. Thus, when I was selected to represent the school in the national debate series, I was naturally extremely confident of myself.

All the members in my team were good speakers. We had an experienced teacher who trained us well. But I was undoubtedly the most outstanding speaker. In each of the rounds that I debated in, all the judges selected me as the best one. This meant that my confidence was the highest by the time we found ourselves with one week to train before the finals. I had every reason to believe that I would be voted the best speaker for the debate series.

I began to be self-important about the whole business and started behaving that way with my team-mates. I would laugh at Eton’s poor debating style. I would complain of Vivian’s slow response. I saw myself as the natural debater who would be disappointed by their bad performance.

As the finals drew near, I became more and more dissatisfied with my team. I began missing practices. My teacher was worried. My teammates were panicked. However, they had no choice but to rely on me to win the finals. Even if they would love to remove me from the team they could not because there was no replacement good enough.

The day of the finals finally came. I was very excited that I was able to finally show off my debating skills. Everyone was expecting my performance.They knew that I was praised to be the one most likely to win the best speaker for the debate series.

注意：
1．续写词数应为150左右；
2．请按如下格式在相应位置作答。
Paragraph1:

But the reality was not something that I had ever imagined.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Paragraph 2:

Suddenly,a comforting hand from behind held mine.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

7 . Recently, Facebook has changed its corporate name to Meta. The company said it would better include what it does, as it broadens its reach beyond social media into areas like virtual reality (VR). The CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the existing brand could not possibly represent everything that they’re doing today, let alone in the future. He also revealed the company’s plans to build a “metaverse (元宇宙)” — an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment.

The term “metaverse” was invented by author Neal Stephenson in Snow Crash, a science fiction published in 1992. In the work, the metaverse is a sort of 3D virtual world. It’s not simply a virtual reality game but is a persistent and shared virtual world. Or rather, the metaverse is a whole universe of shared virtual spaces seemingly linked together — you could, essentially, teleport (瞬移) between them.

Metaverse combined at the very least five technologies — they are social media, online game, Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR) and cryptocurrency (加密货币). Those technologies will bring users to an interactive world. AR and VR are vital for Metaverse. VR serves to present the virtual world visually and then AR will provide the audio and sensors for people to be able to interact. With Metaverse, Facebook will offer not only a texting service but also a multi-perspective virtual touch that feels like a real thing.

Facebook said that it plans to create 10,000 jobs in Europe over the next five years to work on metaverse-related endeavours (活动). The company also has introduced Oculus-branded virtual-reality headsets, and it joined with Ray-Ban to develop smart sunglasses that went on sale for $299. “Over time, I hope that we are seen as a metaverse company and I want to anchor our work and our identity on what we’re building towards,” Mark Zuckerberg said. “I view this work as critical to our mission because delivering a sense of presence — like you’re right there with another person — that’s the highest goal of online social experiences,” he said.

1. Why has Facebook changed its corporate name?

A．To lead the gaming industry.

B．To cover its extended business.

C．To improve its corporate image.

D．To attract investment for its new plans.

2. What is paragraph 2 mainly about?

A．The introduction to the VR game.

B．The future with 3D virtual world.

C．The origin of the word “metaverse”.

D．The importance of the novel Snow Crash.

3. What do we know about Metaverse?

A．It has a wide range of applications.

B．It offers people deeply interactive experiences.

C．It enables people to enjoy a free texting service.

D．It uses the five technologies to explore the universe.

4. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?

A．There will be fierce competition in the metaverse market.

B．Facebook will focus on designing virtual devices.

C．Metaverse will be the center of online experience studies.

D．Facebook will be devoted to developing the metaverse.

8 . 阅读下面短文，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

In a new cartoon named Turtle Journey, Greenpeace UK, an environmental organization,     1    (highlight) ocean destruction from the perspective of a family of sea turtles.

    2     (create) the film, Greenpeace UK teamed up with Aardman Animations, as well as Oscar-winning actors and stars. The    3     (power) film follows the family of turtles as they make their way across the seafloor to their home on a coral reef.

“Our ocean has been driven to breaking point during     4     past few years but it's a story that doesn't get told often enough,” says Will Mccallum, head of ocean at Greenpeace UK. Ocean damage is     5     (serious) affecting sea turtles and other sea creatures, many of which are faced     6    extinction at present.

“The story of this turtle family     7     (attempt) to get home in the damaged and changing ocean is a     8     (real) for many ocean creatures that are having their habitats destroyed due to human activity,” says actress Olivia Colman,     9    voices a character in the film. “It is my hope     10     this film can inspire more people to take action to protect our ocean.”

9 . Microsoft plans to erase its entire carbon footprint since its foundation in 1975. Microsoft aims to accomplish "carbon negative" by 2030, meaning that it will erase more carbon from the environment than it emits(排放). The company will minimize carbon emissions across its entire supply chain to zero. And the following step is to clean up all the carbon emissions it has produced since 1975, when it was founded. What the company further proposed was that it would try to push for policies to price carbon and help clean energy technology develop faster. It is among the companies that approve of carbon tax.

More attention has been drawn to removing carbon from the atmosphere. There are a variety of methods toward that, including nature-based ones, like planting trees, and technological ones, like capturing carbon directly from the air.

“Microsoft will initially focus on nature-based methods like restoring degraded forests and planting new trees, ”said Lucas Joppa, the company's Chief Environmental Officer. An investment of one billion dollars will also be provided for the development of carbon removal and reduction technology. Microsoft's decision of counting its supply chain's emissions is an extension of its previous commitment to run data centers mainly on the renewable energy.

The company's intention to promote low-carbon policies was highly recognized by environmentalist. “A company's most powerful tool for fighting climate change is its political influence, and we're eager to see Microsoft use it, ”Elizabeth Sturcken, Managing Director of EDF+Business said.

Other industries are also encouraged to follow Microsoft's example. But none of them has such a commitment, according to Gary Cook, senior analyst of Greenpeace. Nevertheless, Cook, together with some other environmentalists, criticized Microsoft for continuously cooperating with oil and gas companies. Amazon's AWS service has faced the same criticism for working with fossil fuel clients.“There's a real disconnection between what they're doing within their own company and their empowering of dirty energy, ” Cook said.

1. What do we know about Microsoft In its “carbon negative” commitment?

A．It will reduce its carbon emissions to almost zero.

B．It will remove all the carbon from the environment.

C．It plans to clean up its previously released carbon.

D．It plans to include its clients in its future campaign.

2. Which of the following approaches will Microsoft apply to reduce its carbon emissions?

A．Collecting carbon tax	B．Capturing carbon from the air
C．Exploring renewable resources	D．Funding carbon reduction technology

3. What do environmentalists think of Microsoft?

A．They criticize it for its unrealistic promise.

B．They think highly of it for its political influence.

C．They praise it for its push for low-carbon policies

D．They speak ill of it for its partnership with Amazon.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Health.

B．Politics

C．Technology.

D．Environment.

10 . NASA selects university teams for space exploration

The moon's permanently shadowed areas, nearly 384, 400 kilometers away from home, are the closest water source outside the earth. The craters have been dark since billions of years ago. But now with student-developed technologies, more about them can be discovered.

Through the competitive Breakthrough, Innovative and Game-changing (BIG) Idea Challenge and the Space Grant project, NASA has awarded nearly $ 1 million to eight university teams. They will build sample lunar payloads (装备) and demonstrate innovative ways to study the moon's darkest areas.

"Its an exciting time for NASA and students across the country," said Drew J. Hope, Program Manager of Game Changing Development program. "Thanks to our partnership with the Office of STEM Engagement, this is the most money NASA has awarded in a student challenge directly connected to Artemis."

The chosen teams will work out ways to gather data in and around the craters, generate wireless power for future infrastructure, and enable autonomous mobility even in the most extreme environments. The research results could benefit NASA's Artemis Program and be used to study the moon ahead of a human landing in 2024 or help establish   sustained presence by 2028. Each team will receive different amounts of grants, based on the concept and budget they propose. They will develop and test the technologies in simulated(模拟的environments with the awards during the following 10 months, showing they are prepared for a possible lunar mission as early as 2023.Then in November 2020, a panel of NASA and industry experts will examine the teams' research and development results at a face-to-face design review.

"One of the most exciting things about this challenge is that several of the concepts, if proven to be valuable as a result of these awards, could eventually be integrated and operated together on the surface of the moon," according to Chad Rowe, Acting Manager of Space Grant project." These students are part of the Artemis generation and they are helping fulfil NASA'S mission needs today, while developing relevant hands-on experience that will prepare them for aerospace careers after graduation.

1. What are the university teams supposed to do?

A．Explore the mystery of space.	B．Participate in a competition.
C．Develop technologies to study the moon.	D．Challenge NASA'S Artemis program.

2. What does the underlined word "grants" in Paragraph 4 most probably mean?

A．Aid.

B．Funds.

C．Tests.

D．Chances.

3. When will the students' achievements probably be first put into use?

A．2020.

B．2023.

C．2024.

D．2028,

4. How can the students benefit from the project?

A．They can land on the moon

B．They can get paid while doing the job.

C．They can work In NASA after graduation.

D．They can gain experience for their future aerospace careers.