1 . Farmers have long relied on things that work without their involvement — bees to pollinate (授粉) flowers, earthworms (蚯蚓) to turn the soil, swallows to eat pests — to make sure that crops grow the right way. Now a team of British researchers is trying to take this hands-off thinking in a high-tech direction. Last October, scientists at Harper Adams University started a farm called the Hands Free Hectare to make the entire process of farming — from sowing and fertilizing to harvest — fully automatic. The project has just succeeded with five tons of robot-grown barley (大麦).
“We believe the best idea is that in the future, farmers will manage groups of smaller, autonomous machines, ” the researchers explained. “They will go out and work in the fields, allowing the farmer to use their time more effectively instead of having to drive up and down the fields.”
At the moment, agricultural machines — very large and heavy — can cover a lot of space quickly. But there are shortcomings. “Fertilizer gets sprayed over entire farms, regardless of the different needs of different crops. They’re also so heavy that they’re damaging farmers’ soils,” researcher Jonathan Gill said.
Gill and his colleagues went smaller: a tractor, a combine and a harvester, which followed a programmed route, using GPS. Altogether, they spent less than ￡200, 000 on equipment, and used open-source technology and a drone (无人机). Eventually the system will be complex enough to treat different parts of a field, or even individual plants, differently.
The team is quick to caution that they don’t want to put farmers out of work. They said, “Instead of being busy in the fields, the farmer will manage the machines and monitor their crops.” The next stop for the barley will be a brewery. That’s not going to be completely automatic. At least not yet.
1. What feature of bees, earthworms and swallows inspired scientists?| A．Their dependence on nature. | B．Their special way of survival. |
| C．Their selfless love for the earth. | D．Their natural involvement in farming. |
| A．Freeing workers totally. | B．Reducing the cost of harvest. |
| C．Improving the accuracy of farming. | D．Increasing the output of different crops. |
| A．Gill’s project is still at the design stage. | B．Unemployment wouldn’t be a concern. |
| C．The brewery will realize automation soon. | D．Complete automatic farming is unrealistic. |
| A．The future of hands-free farming | B．The functions of agricultural machines |
| C．The development of automatic harvest | D．The shortcomings of traditional farming |
I was eleven years old. This was my first soccer game. As the tall and skinny kid stuck in the middle of the muddy field, with little knowledge of the rules and regulations of the game, I was nervous, but still excited. With kids running at me from all directions, I observed the skills that many of my teammates possessed. Their motions appeared to be so smooth and effortless, while their faces revealed their attachment to the game. I, on the other hand, lacked the commitment that many of the other kids had.
Little to my knowledge, this game turned out to be an intense one. My team was trailing (落后) behind the entire game, but toward the end, we tied it up. Suddenly, it was my turn to kick the ball. This was my chance to reveal that I was as good as everyone else. I brought my leg back and was ready to kick with all my strength. I gave a good and hard kick, but unfortunately, I kicked the ball in the wrong direction. Seeing the disappointed faces of the members of my team, I felt my face went from pale white to bright red. I wanted to run home. faster than I ever ran in a soccer practice.
Over the next few years, I continued to participate in a variety of sports, trying to find the one where I would be the center of attention for the right reasons. That never happened. I began to feel like an outsider. Whenever I was introduced to a kid in school or a friend of my parents, I was always asked if I played soccer—a natural question to a teenager. When I responded “No”, everyone would tell me that I should. But I did not want to, and I was never able to figure out why it mattered so much. I longed to find something that really interested me.
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右;2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
At senior high, I gave up my attempt to try various sports.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I turned to the other aspects of my life, the ones I enjoyed.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________When I was young, we lived in a small town. Everyone knew Roy as he was a top student in the town. He was of my age, but he lost his parents in an accident at the age of 8. So he lived alone and delivered newspapers to support himself and his education.
Every time he delivered newspapers to our home, he wore a broad smile on his face and greeted my mom gently. My mom was greatly surprised when she knew his daily routine. He got up every morning by 5 o’clock and walked 5 kilometers from where he lived to the newspaper office to collect the newspapers. By 6:00, he carried 50 pieces of newspapers — more than 5 kilograms and walked 3 kilometers back. After sending the newspapers, he rushed another 3 kilometers home to cook a simple breakfast before hurrying to school.
This morning, seeing he left hurriedly in a strong wind, my mom and I decided to do something for him. After school, I waited for him at the school gate and told him that my mom would like to invite him to our home. When he asked why, I replied, “You will know soon!” Thinking for a short while, he followed me to my home nearby. It was possible that he assumed my mom would continue to subscribe to the newspaper.
注意：1. 续写词数应为100个左右;
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
My mom stood at the door, waiting for us.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Seeing the bike in front of him, he couldn’t hold back his tears.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Positive Action Fuels Hope
“I’m not going back to group therapy (治疗). I refuse to be treated like that.” The voice was so loud that I had to hold the phone away from my ear.
Alicia Gonzalez suffered from depression. This was her second month at the homeless shelter, where I work as a case manager.
Alicia had been a nurse for 10 years. Her work was intense and demanding, and she loved it. To her, the trauma (精神创伤) she’d suffered was that her son lost his life in a car crash. With her brain overloaded by the trauma, she couldn’t focus on her work. Finally, she had to quit her job. With no income, she couldn’t pay her rent. For almost three years, Alicia lived in her truck. Alicia told me all this at our first meeting.
“I want to help you,” I said. “There are lots of resources here. All I ask is that you tell me what’s going on with you. That way I can make sure you’re getting the services you need.”
“I’ll try,” she said. “It’s just hard. I used to feel as though what I did mattered. Now...” Her voice became quiet. Before I could say something, she stood and walked out of the room.
Two months later, I still felt as if I hadn’t gotten through to Alicia. Sometimes the things sending her into a violent anger were so minor—a piece of rubbish someone had dropped on the floor—it was hard for me to think of coping skills that didn’t sound like I was criticizing her.
Maybe this latest talk in group therapy was the last straw (稻草). “Finding something small you can feel good about can help you cope with anger,” I suggested. “It doesn’t need to be some huge thing.” Even as I said it, I wondered, “Was that really the best advice I could come up with?” Alicia took a long deep breath. “I know,” she said.
注意：1.续写词数应为 150个左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
A few weeks later, I saw her in the hallway with a rubbish bag.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________In March, Alicia was offered a job doing housekeeping at the shelter.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________I have a 6-year-old boy, Sam. He is autistic(患自闭症的). Thus, dining out can be terrible. Though he loves to eat out, he dislikes the loud noise in a restaurant. He has a method to solve it: overpower(压倒) all noise with a much louder noise of his own.
This begins what I think of as fighting tables: neighboring parties raise their voice followed by Sam raising his until the loudest point of the noise is reached, making us quite unpopular with other dinners.
Faced with a possible long-time dining alone, I decided to teach my son table manners with his favourite chocolate cake at a new modern cake shop early one Tuesday night.
To my joy, we arrived at an empty cake shop. Everything went well until women entered. Neatly dressed in a simple way, they were two tables away from us. I felt a sense of bad luck coming.
The women began to chat, paying little attention to us. Sam happily took this as his start to talk loudly and overpower them. I asked Sam for a quiet voice, but unluckily Sam had left that voice at home. I looked at the neighboring table, knowing we wouldn’t go noticed much longer. I planned to ask Sam to eat quickly and leave. Sam, who usually has food unhurriedly, refused to accept the sudden idea of fast dining, and he kept talking endlessly.
“SHUSH!” I said, a little angry. Sam laughed loudly as his reply. “Be quiet!” I could see that the two women were now watching us.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；2.请按如下格式在答题卡上相应位置作答。
Finally, the older of the two women came over.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It turned out to be a perfect night.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . The Strangest Jobs in the World
You may be tired of a 9-to-5 job. Or you may be looking for something different to do.
You won’t believe what some of these people do for a living. Check out these strangest jobs and tell us if you could handle doing any of them.
Watching Paint Dry
This may be one of the most boring jobs in the world. The paint company hires people to watch paint dry. They need to take note of the changing colors and have to examine the changes under a microscope(显微镜) as well as on the walls.
Iceberg(冰山) Mover
This job appeared after the Titanic tragedy( 悲 剧) in 1912. Iceberg movers remove icebergs and prevent any further accidents. Using satellites and airplanes, the movers search the seas for icebergs. And if any are found, they pull the iceberg to an area where it won’t be in the way. Pulling an iceberg can take up to 72 hours. This is because the boat needs ten hours to reach a speed of just one mile per hour.
Luggage Organizer
There are many camp activities for children in New York. Mothers are now inviting luggage organizers to pack their kids’ bags. To hire an organizer costs around US $250 an hour. It can take up to four hours to be fully packed and ready. US $1,000 to pay somebody to pack your kids’ bags, is it worth it?
1. What kind of job is the job of watching paint dry?| A．It is very boring and needs patience. |
| B．Its salary is higher than other jobs. |
| C．The employees only need to watch the colors. |
| D．Many creatures are examined under a microscope. |
| A．To be in memory of the movie Titanic. |
| B．To test the speed of boats pulling icebergs. |
| C．To do a search for life in the sea. |
| D．To prevent any more accidents on the sea. |
| A．It is suitable for children to do. | B．It is an easy job. |
| C．It is a full-time job. | D．It is expensive to hire one organizer. |
1. 表示理解和安慰；
2. 给出一些具体建议及理由；
3. 表达个人期待。
注意事项：
1. 可适当加入细节，以使行文连贯。
2. 词数：100词左右（开头和结尾已给出，不计入总词数）。
3. 请在答题卡上相应位置作答，写在本试卷上无效。
Dear Jack,
I am sorry to hear that
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Truly yours,
Li Hua
8 . In recent years, the Yi Jin Jing exercise has gained great popularity among Chinese of all ages, thanks to Jin Yong’s novels and the Shaolin Temple in Central China’s Henan province, which has promoted kung fu techniques, including Yi Jin Jing, vigorously(蓬勃地) at home and abroad. There are more than 60 types of Yi Jin Jing exercises spreading in contemporary China, differing in lengths, gestures and movements. Thousands of health and fitness clubs in the country have been teaching classical techniques, Yi Jin Jing being the most favored course.
In ancient times, average people did the Yi Jin Jing exercise for health and longevity(长寿) , But kung fu masters do it in different and more difficult ways, hoping to hugely improve their physical abilities. For example,when it comes to breathing, a normal person, especially a beginner, would be advised to take a safe and comfortable approach. But kung fu masters would use an opposite deep breathing technique when doing Yi Jin Jing. They would breathe in deeply, then hold their breath while trying to lengthen certain muscles and tendons(筋), and in the end they would relax and breathe out very slowly.
It is widely believed that Zong Heng, a monk in Ming Dynasty, invented the Yi Jin Jing qigong exercise while he lived in a cave on Mt. Zining, where Zhangjiajing village is located.
In 2016,the Tiantai county people’s government in East China’s Zhejiang province officially declared Pingqiao, a mountainous town, as “Yi Jin Jing Township”, with Zhangjiajing village at its center. At least 30,000 local residents in and around the “Yi Jin Jing Township” have learned to perform the so-called Zining YiJin Jing qigong exercise. They put on massive performances for tourists. Yi Jin Jing training courses, coupled with hillside camping, sightseeing, local foods, have brought great benefit to the previously poor county.
1. What do we know from the first paragraph?| A．Yi Jin Jing is mentioned in Jin Yong’s books. |
| B．Shaolin Temple is the origin of Yi Jin Jing. |
| C．Health and fitness clubs have many kung fu masters. |
| D．Yi Jin Jing is the most popular qigong exercise. |
| A．By giving an example. |
| B．By following time order. |
| C．By listing the differences. |
| D．By analyzing cause and effect. |
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
| A．Yi Jin Jing, the Most Powerful Qigong Techniques. |
| B．The Origin of Yi Jin Jing. |
| C．Learn Yi Jin Jing, Be Superman. |
| D．Try Classic Qigong Exercise: Yi Jin Jing. |
9 . Maintaining an ideal relationship can be a lifelong journey.
Communicate clearly. Being able to effectively convey your feelings to your partner is an important part of being in a relationship. Your partner isn't able to read your mind, so you'll need to work on talking things out, even when you are upset at one another.
Handle disagreements fairly. If you disagree about something, try not to get too upset about it. It might help you to take a moment to calm down and then try to talk calmly about the situation.
Keep your promises. Your partner needs to be able to trust you completely to maintain an ideal relationship. Because of this, it's important that you always stay true to your word and keep any promise you make to your partner.
| A．It isn't an easy issue. |
| B．Surprise your partner. |
| C．Show your partner the real you. |
| D．Develop new relationship behaviors. |
| E．Don't make promises you aren't sure you can keep. |
| F．Start by letting your partner tell his side of the story. |
| G．It can help you solve fights and avoid future problems. |
| 正方 | 反方 |
| 1.生活离不开钱 | 1.钱不是万能的 |
| 2.钱可以解决很多问题 | 2.钱买不到健康 |
| 3.钱使生活更舒适 | 3.太在乎金钱会失去人生的意义 |
注意：
1．词数80左右；
2．开头已给出，不计入总词数；
3．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Recently we have had a discussion about whether money can bring us happiness.
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