1 . If you look at the dynamic “Global Temperatures” map on NASA’s website, you can see the historic temperature change over time across the planet as the timeline goes from 1880 to the modern day. By 2019, the entire planet is in red, orange, and yellow colors, indicating temperatures much higher than the historical average in every country and human inhabitance.
If the timeline went to 2023, the map would look even worse. That’s because the summer of 2023 was the hottest ever, according to ocean monitors. July was the hottest month in recorded history. Next July could be worse. Unless we do something quickly, we face dealing with more and more dangerous and expensive natural disasters in the future.
Forest fires sent smoke from Canada across the North American continent, causing New York City to have the worst air quality in its recorded history. Heavy rainstorms fell on Vermont and the Northeastern United States in just a couple of days in the middle of July, which exceeded the amount that area would usually receive in two months and caused extreme damage to homes and businesses. Around the same time, flash flooding in Bucks County, Pennsylvania — north of Philadelphia — killed nearly a dozen people.
Erich Fischer, a researcher specializing in climate studies at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, is concerned that natural disasters could get much worse in the future—and in ways we cannot predict. He called for a “strike for climate justice,” which actually took place on Sept. 15, 2023. “The strategy needs to be twofold (双重的) . We need to decrease carbon emissions as much as realistically possible. That is already happening with people using electric cars and other green technologies. At the same time, we also need to find ways to predict the risk of natural disasters ahead of time,” said Erich Fischer.
1. Why does the writer mention the data on NASA’s website in paragraph 1?| A．To explain a concept. | B．To introduce a topic. |
| C．To provide a solution. | D．To make a prediction. |
| A．The severity of natural disasters. | B．The worst air quality in New York City. |
| C．The extreme damage by flash flooding. | D．The cause of the forests fires in Canada. |
| A．He advocated a twofold strategy. |
| B．He suggested forbidding carbon emissions. |
| C．He required people to use more electric cars. |
| D．He emphasized the awareness of climate changes. |
| A．The Hottest Month in History | B．Natural Disasters in the World |
| C．Extreme Weather Could Get Worse | D．Green Technology Would be Needed |
| A．Polite greetings. | B．Table manners. | C．Body language. |
1. What do we know about the rooms at Kerry Hotel?
| A．They are of modern design. |
| B．They have great lake views. |
| C．They have no tubs in the bathrooms. |
| A．In Kerry’s Kitchen. | B．In Kerry’s Pantry. | C．In the Horizon. |
| A．It has a tennis court. | B．It has an outdoor pool. | C．It is kid-friendly. |
| A．Boss and secretary. | B．Husband and wife. | C．Hotel clerk and customer. |
4 . I am excited to be teaching in an introductory history seminar (研讨班) on the world of Thomas Jefferson. It affords a(n)
I love seeing students try to make
With more
| A．expensive | B．serious | C．fantastic | D．acceptable |
| A．sense | B．use | C．mistakes | D．excuses |
| A．fixed | B．connected | C．tied | D．contacted |
| A．interview | B．imagine | C．describe | D．understand |
| A．support | B．satisfy | C．attract | D．guide |
| A．point out | B．look on | C．think up | D．put through |
| A．famous | B．powerful | C．unique | D．noble |
| A．combined | B．compared | C．added | D．devoted |
| A．experiments | B．research | C．suggestions | D．introductions |
| A．magical | B．surprising | C．interesting | D．logical |
| A．preferred | B．succeeded | C．expected | D．failed |
| A．structures | B．agreements | C．conditions | D．directions |
| A．century | B．history | C．seminar | D．facts |
| A．reveals | B．discovers | C．divides | D．explains |
| A．skill | B．subject | C．event | D．relationship |
5 . What is life? Like most great questions, this one is easy to ask but difficult to answer. The reason is simple: we know of just one type of life and it’s challenging to do science with a sample size of one. The field of artificial life-called ALife for short — is the systematic attempt to spell out life’s fundamental principles. Many of these practitioners, so-called ALifers, think that somehow making life is the surest way to really understand what life is.
So far no one has convincingly made artificial life. This track record makes ALife a ripe target for criticism, such as declarations of the field’s doubtful scientific value. Alan Smith, a complexity scientist, is tired of such complaints. Asking about “the point” of ALife might be, well, missing the point entirely, he says. “The existence of a living system is not about the use of anything.” Alan says. “Some people ask me, ‘So what’s the worth of artificial life?’ Do you ever think, ‘What is the worth of your grandmother?’”
As much as many ALifers hate emphasizing their research’s applications, the attempts to create artificial life could have practical payoffs. Artificial intelligence may be considered ALife’s cousin in that researchers in both fields are enamored by a concept called open-ended evolution (演化). This is the capacity for a system to create essentially endless complexity, to be a sort of “novelty generator”. The only system known to exhibit this is Earth’s biosphere. If the field of ALife manages to reproduce life’s endless “creativity” in some virtual model, those same principles could give rise to truly inventive machines.
Compared with the developments of Al, advances in ALife are harder to recognize. One reason is that ALife is a field in which the central concept — life itself — is undefined. The lack of agreement among ALifers doesn’t help either. The result is a diverse line of projects that each advance along their unique paths. For better or worse, ALife mirrors the very subject it studies. Its muddled (混乱的) progression is a striking parallel (平行线) to the evolutionary struggles that have shaped Earth biosphere.
Undefined and uncontrolled, ALife drives its followers to repurpose old ideas and generated novelty. It may be, of course, that these characteristics aren’t in any way surprising or singular. They may apply universally to all acts of evolution. Ultimately ALife may be nothing special. But even this dismissal suggests something：perhaps, just like life itself throughout the universe, the rise of ALife will prove unavoidable.
1. Regarding Alan Smith’s defence of ALife, the author is .| A．supportive | B．puzzled | C．unconcerned | D．doubtful |
| A．Shocked. | B．Protected. | C．Attracted. | D．Challenged. |
| A．ALife holds the key to human future. | B．ALife and AI share a common feature. |
| C．AI mirrors the developments of ALife. | D．AI speeds up the process of human evolution. |
| A．Life Is Undefined. Can AI Be a Way Out? |
| B．Life Evolves. Can AI Help ALife Evolve, Too? |
| C．Life Is Undefined. Can ALife Be Defined One Day? |
| D．Life Evolves. Can Attempts to Create ALife Evolve, Too? |
One day, my brother and I were in our apartment. My parents had both gone for a party and had left me in charge of everything. I was doing my homework while my younger brother was watching TV. All of a sudden, the doorbell rang. Dingdong! Dingdong! My younger brother had rushed to the door before I decided to answer the door. We both thought that our parents had come home. As a result, he unlocked the door and opened it.
Outside of the house stood a man who wore a black raincoat and black rubber boots. He looked no different from other people and said that he was a salesman and asked politely if our mother or father was at home so he could talk with them.
Without thinking, my brother said，“No.” He asked if we would like to buy some comic books (漫画书), which he was selling. I quickly explained to him that we were not supposed to buy anything without our parents’ permission. However, it seemed that he was not willing to follow my advice and he had an intention to enter our house.
Then, I realized something terrible would happen. As I was about to close the door, he forced his way into our house. He forced me to tie up my brother’s hands with the rope which he took out from his pocket. I tied up his hands but tied it in a special way so my brother could untie (解开) it himself as we often did. The man then tied my hands up and locked both of us in the kitchen.
Soon, he went upstairs to search the bedroom for something valuable. I managed to teach my brother to untie the rope on his hands. He then untied it for me. I rushed to the telephone to call the police, but the line was dead.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150左右。
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答
3. 参考词汇：forget to do sth. lock window manage to do sth. (设法做某事) go out of (出去) police station (警察局) as soon as possible (尽快地) be caught (被抓) robber (盗贼) tell pretend to do sth (假装做某事) praise (赞扬) bravery (勇敢) back home (回家) thankful (感恩) get hurt (受伤) learn a lesson (吸取教训) safety and responsibility
The doors were all locked from the outside and what’s more, I did not have the keys.
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Just at the same time our parents come back home.
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World Olive (橄榄) Tree Day takes place
Protecting and growing the olive tree is
World Olive Tree Day is set up
There is much to learn, share and celebrate on World Olive Tree Day, and UNESCO encourages everyone to participate in
8 . New research suggests that a gene that governs the body’s biological (circadian) clock acts differently in males versus females and may protect females from heart disease. The study is the first to analyse circadian blood pressure rhythms(节奏)in female mice.
The body’s circadian clock-the biological clock that organizes bodily activities over a 24-hour period—contributes to normal variations in blood pressure and heart function over the course of the day. In most healthy humans, blood pressure dips(下降)at night. People who do not experience this temporary drop, called “non-dippers”, are more likely to develop heart disease. The circadian clock is made up of four main proteins (encoded by “clock genes”) that regulate close to half of all genes in the body, including those important for blood pressure regulation.
Previous research has shown that male mice that are missing one of the four clock genes (PER1) become non-dippers and have a higher risk for heart and kidney disease. A research team studied the circadian response and blood pressure of female mice that lack PERI and compared them with a healthy female control group. On both low-and high-salt diets, both groups “kept an apparent circadian rhythm” of blood pressure, the researchers explained. Unlike the male mice in previous research, the females without PERI showed normal dips in blood pressure overnight.
These results suggest that the lack of PER1 acts differently in males and females. The findings are consistent with research showing that women are less likely to be non-dippers than men of the same age. “This study represents an important step in understanding sex differences in the regulation of cardiovascular(心血管的)function by the circadian clock,” the researchers wrote.
1. What does the new research find?| A．Biological clock may protect males from heart disease. |
| B．Biological blood pressure rhythms in female mice act normally. |
| C．Biological clock organizes bodily activities over a 24-hour period. |
| D．A gene controlling biological clock works differently between sexes. |
| A．Helping males cure heart disease. |
| B．Helping blood pressure vary normally. |
| C．Contributing to abnormal variations in blood pressure. |
| D．Making up four main proteins regulating almost half of all genes. |
| A．has the same impact on males and females |
| B．makes no difference to males |
| C．does harm to male’s health |
| D．is more likely to affect female’s health |
| A．One clock gene is important |
| B．Women may benefit from body clock |
| C．New study analyses blood pressure rhythms |
| D．Blood pressure of healthy humans dips at night |
9 . What’s more important in determining life success-book smarts or street smarts? This question gets at the heart of an important debate contrasting the relative importance of cognitive(认知的)intelligence (CI) and emotional intelligence (EI).
Cognitive intelligence is still recognized as an important element of success, particularly when it comes to academic achievements. People with high cognitive intelligence typically do well in school, often earn more money, and tend to be healthier in general.
But today experts recognize that cognitive intelligence is not the only determining factor of life success. Instead, it is part of a complex range of influences-one that includes emotional intelligence. Many companies now provide emotional intelligence training and use emotional intelligence tests as part of the hiring process. Research has found that individuals with strong leadership potential also tend to be more emotionally intelligent, suggesting that high emotional intelligence is an important equality for business leaders and managers. According to a survey of hiring managers, almost 75% of the responders suggested that they valued an employee’s emotional intelligence more than his cognitive intelligence.
Now that emotional intelligence is so important, can it be taught or strengthened? According to one meta-analysis that looked at the results of social and emotional learning programmes, the answer to that question is definitely yes. Strategies for teaching emotional intelligence include character education, modeling positive behaviours, encouraging people to think about how others are feeling, and finding ways to be more empathetic(感同身受的)towards others.
All in all, life success is a result of many factors. Both cognitive intelligence and emotional intelligence play roles in overall success, as well as health, wellness, and happiness. Rather than focusing on which factors have a prior influence, the greatest benefit may lie in learning to improve skills in multiple areas. In addition to strengthening cognitive abilities, such as memory and mental focus, you can also acquire and improve social and emotional skills.
1. What can we know about people with book smarts?| A．They can debate with other people. |
| B．They can deal with various situations. |
| C．They can be outstanding in academic research. |
| D．They can be good at gaining real life experience. |
| A．To indicate the strictness of the hiring process. |
| B．To prove the importance of emotional intelligence. |
| C．To explain the result of emotional intelligence tests. |
| D．To show the influence of cognitive intelligence on success. |
| A．Evaluating how others feel. | B．One’s extreme behaviours |
| C．One’s academic performance. | D．Controlling others’ emotions. |
| A．Does book smarts matter? | B．Is CI or El more important? |
| C．What counts most in life? | D．Mental health or physical health? |
Mary waited anxiously for her turn in the empty dressing room. Never had she been so nervous before. This competition was of great importance to her comeback. “If I can win today,” she said to herself, “I can dance on the national stage next month.” Three months ago, her left arm was seriously injured in a car accident. After the medical treatment, she began to recover slowly. She practiced over and over again in order to regain her dancing skills.
“Hi, Mary,” in rushed her friend Jessica. “How is your arm? Is it going to influence your performance?”
“I guess it can be tolerated for I am to win the match.” said Mary with a determined look.
“Admirable! But I hear that a girl called Linda is really gifted and strong. She can be your real well-matched competitor. Come on!”
After Jessica left, Mary decided to practice her most difficult spin (旋转). “If I don’t try harder, I won’t grasp this chance.” She thought. But her arm began to hurt, making her worried. “Mary, what makes you think you have a chance tonight?” she said to herself. After the pain was gone, she continued to warm up.
A slim girl hurried in and put down an equipment bag on the chair. Then, she took out her dance dress quickly and put it on skillfully. Seeing Mary, she smiled politely and said “Hi, I’m Linda. I am the next one to you!” Mary nodded in reply but felt uncomfortable. “This is just my competitor. Because of her, I may lose tonight.” Her mind was wandering when Linda let out a scream, “Oh, God, I can’t find my music tape!” Linda searched her bag but in vain (徒劳). “It may be missing on the way.” With these words, she then rushed out.
注意：1.所续写短文的词数不少于80字；
2.续写部分为一段，请在答题卡相应的位置作答。
Paragraph 1
Suddenly, Mary caught sight of a black box under the chair where Linda put her bag.
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