1 . Phonetic (语音) information—the smallest sound elements of speech - is considered by researchers to be the basis of language. Babies are thought to learn these small sound elements and add them together to make words. But a new study suggests that phonetic information is learnt too late and slowly for this to be the case. Instead, rhythmic (有韵律的) speech helps babies learn language and is effective even in the first few months of life.
Researchers from the Trinity College Dublin investigated babies’ ability to process phonetic information during their first year. Their study, published in the journal Nature Communications. found that phonetic information wasn’t successfully encoded (编码) until seven months old, and did not occur very often at 11 months old when babies began to say their first words. From then individual speech sounds are still added in very slowly—too slowly to form the basis of language.
The researchers recorded patterns of brain activity in 50 babies at four, seven, and eleven months old as they watched a video of a primary school teacher singing 18 nursery rhymes (童谣) to a baby. They found that phonetic encoding in babies appeared inchmeal over the first year of life, beginning with labial sounds (e.g. “d” for “daddy”) and nasal sounds (e.g. “m” for “mummy”), with the “read out” progressively looking more like that of adults.
“The reason why we use nursery rhymes is because that is the best way for babies to discover and connect sounds with language, so we are teaching them how to speak,” said Giovanni Di Liberto, lead author of the study at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland. “Parents should talk and sing to their babies as much as possible or use baby-directed speech because it will make a difference to language outcome,” she added.
1. What should babies learn in the first few months of life according to the new study?| A．Small sound elements | B．Rhythmic information. |
| C．Phonetic information. | D．Individual words. |
| A．The poor phonetic encoding in babies. | B．The advantages of phonetic information. |
| C．The babies’ great ability to learn language. | D．The babies’ growing process in the first year. |
| A．Gradually. | B．Suddenly. | C．Successfully. | D．Occasionally. |
| A．When Babies Are Able to Say Their First Words |
| B．How Phonetic Information Changes Over Time |
| C．Why Phonetic Is Better Than Rhythmic for Babies |
| D．Why Babies Need Nursery Rhymes for Language Mastery |
Police chief Matthew Bruce’s son, Adam, came late into his lives, so he always spoiled him and never said no to him for anything. As Adam grew older, he began to take his parents’ love and concern for granted, as if it were permission for him to do whatever he pleased. There were certainly times when he was criticized for bad grades or sneaking out of the house, but that was limited to only minor blame. Adam thought that if he pretended to be an “ideal” son, he would have to face absolutely no blame from his parents. So he began to act like a good son in front of them while engaging in all sorts of wrongdoing behind their backs, such as breaking the law. However, Adam always got away with it.
One day, Adam was driving back from a party with his friend Freddie when he began over-speeding. Freddie warned him to slow down, but Adam didn’t listen. Adam’s driving worried Freddie. He asked Adam to slow down again, and when Adam didn’t, he grabbed the steering wheel himself, causing the car to slide off the road and ran into a tree on the side. Then they heard the alarm of a police car behind them. The car came to a stop in front of them, and a police officer approached them.
“I’ve been following your car for a while now, and I’m afraid I’ll have to take you to the station for speeding. May I have your driver’s license first?” the police officer said.
Freddie was scared. “Here’s my driver’s license, sir,” he said, offering it to the officer. Adam tried to explain that he was the police chief’s son, but the police officer turned a deaf ear to him. They drove him to the station, and when Adam stepped inside, he was surprised to see his father there. He had been called to the station for an urgent case.
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2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Adam felt no worries and thought he was out of trouble.
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He told Adam he would need to earn money himself to pay for the fine.
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I should not have dressed up. Obviously, no other fifth grader had felt driven to celebrate the first day of school via fancy clothing. So I stood out not just as a newcomer, but as an awkwardly dressed one. Scratching at black tights with the toe of my sneaker, I paused uncertainly in the doorway of the Writing Room.
Pausing uncertainly, however, was not the way of the world of Mr. Matthews. This red-haired, red-beard, red-faced man seemed to call wildly to me to enter. I walked over to a seat and in three minutes of casual observation I was convinced that I had never known an adult like him. He laughed from his belly, moved his ears on request, and his face then turned even redder. His students loved him; it was evident from the way they greeted him to the way they relaxed when they entered his room.
On the contrary, I was not relaxed. I was uninterested in writing. My only previous writing experience had been in cloth-covered books with more room for pictures than print. I had no idea what to expect from a class that was just called "Writing", but I was certain I wasn't going to like it.
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。
Yet Mr. Matthews spent that first class entertaining us.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________That night, despite having dealt with a word processor all of twice in my life, I wrote with passion.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The day that I met my best friend for the first time, I was anxiously reviewing for an important exam in the local library. Because I kept being disturbed by others, I was unable to make any progress, The last straw was when I heard someone singing behind me. I turned around and gave the person a dirty look. It was a tall girl about the same age as me and she had a slight smile on her face. Standing near the “English Literature” section, she seemed to be looking for a book. “How could she be so selfish (自私的)?” I thought angrily.
I picked up my books, looked into her eyes and said angrily, “Please be considerate in public. I’ve been unable to study because of your terrible singing”
I still hate thinking of that moment. Let me tell you the rest of the story though.
Two hours later, I realized I’d forgotten my most important textbook in the library. What was worse, the library had already closed. I was close to tears. Just then, the phone rang. A soft voice introduced the speaker as Li Hua and asked if I was Jane. After confirming that I was, she told me that she had noticed my book in the library. As my phone number was in it, she called and told me she didn’t live far away and could bring it to me.
Paragraph 1: I sighed (叹息) with relief and agreed to meet her at the store down the road.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Paragraph 2: Can you believe we became best friends?
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________It was last summer that Anna reached retirement age and left the job she loved. She spent most of her working life teaching Chinese in a high school. A good teacher must know how to deal with children. She received many honours, including outstanding teachers in the town.
Her husband had passed away earlier and her children are all abroad. She was alone guarding a large house, so her friends advised her to enter a local nursing home. However, she loved being around people and was used to dealing with young people. Fortunately, there stood a library near her home, so she often visited it.
The library is both an invaluable resource and a beautiful space. Anna always appreciates the helpful staff and broad collection of books. “Studying from home gets lonely, so just to be around other people is very helpful,” she told her friends.
However, she still felt that there was room for energy in her heart and always thought about doing something more meaningful.
One day, the sign on the librarian’s desk read: “Readers Wanted for Project Read Aloud.” Anna looked at it as the librarian handed the book that she had chosen.
“What is Project Read Aloud?” Anna asked, bursting (满怀) with curiosity.
“Here’s the brochure about it. There’s a form inside to fill out if you want to become a reader. There is no pay, by the way,” the librarian said with a smile.
She loved to sit in one of the reading chairs in the reading room with the smell of books all around her and lose herself in a book. Once home, she sat down to read the brochure, which said, “Project Read Aloud aims to provide the opportunity of hearing stories read aloud in a comfortable setting.” That was a fine goal, she thought.
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2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Anna filled out the form.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Soon, the audience began to walk in and find their seats.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________6 . Cities, covering less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, are major contributors to climate change, consuming almost 80% of the world’s energy and producing more than 60% of greenhouse gas emissions. Fortunately, net zero emissions (净零排放) by 2050, a target set at the COP26 conference, could be achieved faster using digital twins cities, according to a recent research.
Looking and behaving identically in their real-world physical environments, digital twins can help track, manage and reduce environmental damage rapidly. These replicas (复制品) link to networks of sensors that collect data from buildings, transport, air quality, and energy use, to see where emissions can be cut and efficiency improved. Similar technologies have been in use since NASA’s Apollo moon mission in 1969, where computers and machine replicas were used to test and monitor spacecraft.
Research shows that digital twins can save cities more than $ 280 billion globally by 2030 through more efficient urban planning. Digital twin provider Cityzenith believes that net zero deadlines could be achieved 15 years earlier if the world’s 100 biggest cities use the technology to decarbonize. “They are the perfect tool for managing and speeding up the energy transformation,” said CEO Michael Jansen. “We could get to net zero globally by 2035.”
Over the past decades, big tech companies around the world, including GE Digital and Siemens, have developed software for replicating cities, including a district of Berlin, the island nation of Singapore, and the entire city of Shanghai in China. In the US, the Digital Twin Consortium is working to standardize how digital twins are built and share data. Technology company MX3D built the world’s first 3D-printed stainless steel bridge and co-created its digital twin. CEO Gijs van der Velden believes twins will give us precise control over the built environment.
Recently, OpenAI also made advances in this field. On February 15, the company revealed its latest groundbreaking tech—Sora to the world. Sora is a text-to-video generative AI model. It can generate videos that matches the text prompt (文本提示) given to it in a few seconds. Experts believe Sora is likely to be applied in science and national defence in the future.
1. How does the author show the impact of cities on climate change?| A．By listing data. | B．By giving examples. |
| C．By comparing opinions. | D．By quoting research findings. |
| A．Approving. | B．Opposed. | C．Unconcerned. | D．Objective. |
| A．Sora has been used in scientific research and military. |
| B．Gijs van der Velden has little faith in digital twins’ future. |
| C．Digital twins technology is developing rapidly around the world. |
| D．Few tech companies are involved in the study of replicating cities. |
| A．Net Zero Emissions Could Be Hit 15 Years Earlier |
| B．Cityzenith Is Working on Promoting Digital Twin Cities |
| C．Big Cities Are to Blame for the Severe Environment Pollution |
| D．Digital Twin Cities Can Reduce the Impact of Planet’s Largest Polluters |
“Keep this a secret,” Jessica whispered to me, “and the money is yours, Raelyn.” After saying that, she looked me in the eye with a stare that was intense. It looked like it was saying, “Do not betray (背叛) my trust.” Then, she gathered her books from her locker and walked off.
I quickly came to my senses after I agreed to Jessica’s strange request. Why did I agree? Just for money? I knew it was wrong for her to lie to her parents, telling them that she was going to meet me for a school project. In truth, she wanted to go to East Coast Park to meet her online friend. It was not safe and I knew this, but I did not want to ruin our friendship, neither did I want to betray her trust.
A few hours later, I received a phone call. It was from Jessica’s mom. Cold sweat started dropping down my forehead. What should I do? Multiple questions flooded my mind. My trembling fingers were forced to pick up the call. “Hello, Aunt May.” I greeted her with some nervousness in my voice.
“Hello,” she said. “How is your project going? I need to tell Jessica something as she doesn’t seem to be picking up the phone. Can I trouble you to pass the phone to her?”
My eyes widened. I quickly thought of an excuse. “She’s in the toilet now. I think she’s having a stomach ache.” Then, many more thoughts rushed through my mind. After a big struggle and debating in my mind, I decided to tell the truth.
Before Aunt May could reply. I said directly. “Aunt May, I’m sorry I lied to you just now. Well...you see. Jessica isn’t at my place doing our project. She went to East Coast Park to meet her online friend. She asked me to keep it a secret, but I had to betray her. This is for her own good if her online friend is a bad person.” I paused and then added, “I think you and Uncle Ron should look for her now before it’s too late.”
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2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
“Thank you so much, Raelyn, ”Aunt May replied and I could sense the worry in her voice.
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I rushed towards Jessica as fast as my legs could carry me.
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I was having a hard weekend. My husband left two days ago for a business trip, and it was our first separation in ten years of marriage. I slept through my alarm after a rough night’s sleep, and the first thing I saw upon looking at my phone was that the cast list was just posted for a community musical I recently auditioned (试镜) for, and I was not on it. All told, I was starting my day lonely and discouraged.
In addition, I was behind on my work-from-home job—even more so now that I’d overslept—so I put in a Meituan order, which included a drink, a piece of bread, and four cake pops from a coffee shop before sitting down in my home office to work.
I live in a gated community, which ensures the safety and privacy of its residents. Given this, whenever I place an order for delivery, I provide detailed instructions to ensure smooth access for the deliveryman. Therefore, in the delivery instructions that accompany every order I place, I make sure to include the gate code for entrance. Moreover, I provide specific instructions on how to make the exit gate work, as some drivers have found it difficult.
About ten minutes after putting in my order, I received a message from the delivery driver who was picking up my order.
Driver: “Hi, Ms Jennet! I just picked up your order at the Coffee Shop, and I’m on my way! I delivered something to you a few days ago, so don’t worry. I know the way and the instructions! I will be there as soon as possible!”
I responded, “Awesome! Drive safe!”
Less than five minutes later, I got another message from the driver, “Just delivered! Enjoy your meal and have a great day!”
注意：1. 续写词数应为150个左右；2. 按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
I headed for my front door and found a bag with my order as well as a little bag of candy.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________As I enjoyed the candy, I couldn’t help but feel grateful and decided to pay it forward.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________9 . Until recently, gravitational waves could have been the stuff of Einstein’s imagination. Before they were detected, these waves in space time existed only in the physicist’s general theory of relativity, as far as scientists knew. Now, researchers are on the hunt for more ways to detect the waves. “The study of gravitational waves is booming,” says astrophysicist Karan Jani of Vanderbilt University in Nashville. “This is just remarkable. No field I can think of in fundamental physics has seen progress this fast.”
Just as light comes in a variety of wavelengths, so do gravitational waves. Different wave lengths point to different types of origins of the universe and require different kinds of detectors. Gravitational waves with wavelengths of a few thousand kilometers—like those detected by the United States, Italy and Japan—come mostly from pairs of black holes 10 or so times the mass of the sun, or from collisions of dense cosmic blocks called neutron stars (中子星). These detectors could also spot waves from certain types of exploding stars and rapidly moving neutron stars.
In contrast, huge waves that span light-years are thought to be created by orbiting pairs of bigger black holes with masses billions of times that of the sun. In June, scientists reported the first strong evidence of these types of waves by turning the entire galaxy (星系) into a detector, watching how the waves make slight changes to the timing of regular blinks from neutron stars throughout the Milky Way.
Physicists now hope to dive into a vast, cosmic ocean of gravitational waves of all sorts of sizes. These waves could reveal new details about the secret lives of exotic objects such as black holes and unknown parts of the universe.
Physicist Jason Hogan of Stanford University thinks there are still a lot of gaps in the coverage of wavelengths. “But it makes sense to cover all the bases. Who knows what else we may find?” he says. The search for capturing the full complement of the universe’s gravitational waves exactly could take observatories out into the moon, to the atomic area and elsewhere.
1. What does Karan Jani think of the current study on gravitational waves?| A．It is rapid and pioneering. |
| B．It is slow but steadily increasing. |
| C．It is interrupted due to limited detectors. |
| D．It is progressing as fast as any other field. |
| A．The creation of different kinds of detectors. |
| B．Collisions of planets outside the solar system. |
| C．The presence of light in different wavelengths. |
| D．Activities involving black holes and neutron stars. |
| A．By analyzing sunlight. |
| B．By locating the new galaxy. |
| C．By using the whole galaxy as a tool. |
| D．By observing the sun’s regular movement. |
| A．It’ll exclude the atomic field. |
| B．It’ll focus exactly on the mapping of the galaxy. |
| C．It’ll require prioritizing certain wavelengths on the moon. |
| D．It’ll explore potential places to detect gravitational waves. |
Brit works full time as a fourth-grade teacher at Kula Elementary School. It was there that she met Seth Snyder, a student who had flown under the radar with previous teachers. Every year, Brit is given a nine-month window in which to connect with a group of new students. And with each batch of new students, she hopes to have a positive impact on their lives. But Seth was a tough cookie to crack. For the first few months of the school year, she struggled to connect with her student, who was shy but nevertheless a pleasure to have in the classroom.
One day, Brit showed her students a clip of skateboarders going all out at Tony Hawk’s ramp in California. Brit glanced over and watched Seth’s face light up; she found their connection. She went one step further to connect with Seth by inviting him to join her at the skate park after school one day. Instead of excitement, Seth shut down. He politely declined his teacher’s offer and withdrew once more. In spite of that, Brit wouldn’t give up so easily. She asked again a few weeks later, the day Seth and his fellow students were cut loose for spring break.
“What are you going to do?” she asked. “Are you going to skate?”
“No,” he mumbled, almost embarrassed. “I don’t have a skateboard.”
Brit’s heart sank into her stomach. Kula Elementary comprises mostly underprivileged (缺少机遇的) students who come from low-income families. Teachers like Brit have to tread (行事) carefully when it comes to even the smallest conversations or assignments, because a question as innocent as “What are your plans for spring break?” can be hurtful, sometimes embarrassing, for students who have so little.
Brit said to the reporter, “If your parents are working three jobs to be able to pay rent, of course they’re not going to have time to take you to skate park or, you know, take you surfing, or let alone buy you that $400 surfboard or $ 200 skateboard.”
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2．请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
Brit shared the story with her best friend, Zach, a professional skateboarder.
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What began as two people coming together to do a good deed for one young boy quickly blossomed (发展) into a grassroots effort.
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