It all began when my younger brother, Chris, and I went over to Aunt Barbara and Uncle Howard’s for Thanksgiving. My aunt and uncle live on a farm at the opposite end of town, and Chris and I love going there. The farm is situated in a valley surrounded by rolling hills. The fields are lush and green, with crops growing as far as the eye could see. The sound of chickens clucking and cows mooing fills the air. For my brother and me, it is a wonderland where we have a lot of fun.
We got up early and did the morning chores before we left. As kids, we talked happily about the feast along the way. Roasted turkey, cornbread stuffing, sweet potato, and cranberries were awaiting us. We were curious to know how a turkey could grow so big. When we finally got to my aunt and uncle’s, Chris and I went outside to see if Uncle Howard needed help with anything. He and Dad had decided to clean out the turkey coop (笼子) before dinner. Since Chris was only nine, he got the easier job of scrubbing out the watering cans. I was twelve, old enough to help load the wheelbarrow (手推车). Work was tough, but we still found time to ask Uncle Howard a lot of questions about turkeys. He must have been impressed, because when we were finished, he winked at my dad and handed me a turkey egg. “You kids put it under a setting hen,” he said, “and in twenty-five days, you’ll have a fine turkey!” Chris was so excited that he nearly dropped his egg on the way to the house. We both stuffed ourselves at dinner and then couldn’t wait for the grownups to finish talking so we could go home and tend to our egg.
Dad put the egg under an old hen, and every day Chris and I would check to see if it’d hatched yet. Twenty-five days seemed like forever.
Para. 1. Finally, on the twenty-sixth day, Chris and I walked into the coop after school.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Para. 2. We waited nervously for the coming of the next Thanksgiving Day.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . Advances in AI and machine learning have sparked interest from governments that would like to use these tools for patrolling (巡查) purposefully before hand to prevent crime. However, early efforts at crime prediction have been controversial, because they do not allow for systematic biases (偏见) in police enforcement and its complex relationship with crime and society.
University of Chicago (UC) data and social scientists have developed a new algorithm (算法) that forecasts crime by learning patterns in time and geographic locations from public data on violent and property crimes. It has demonstrated success at predicting future crimes one week in advance with approximately 90% accuracy.
The new tool was tested and validated using historical data from the City of Chicago around two broad categories of reported events: violent crimes and property crimes.
The new model isolates crime by looking at the time and spatial coordinates (坐标) of separate events and detecting patterns to predict future events. It divides the city into spatial sections roughly 1,000 feet across and predicts crime within these areas instead of relying on traditional neighborhood or political boundaries, which are also subject to bias. The model performed just as well with data from seven other US cities.
Ishanu Chattopadhyay, senior author of the study, is careful to note that the tool’s accuracy does not mean that it should be used to direct law enforcement, with police departments using it to flock to neighborhoods ahead of time to stop crime. Instead, it should be added to a toolbox of urban policies and policing strategies to address crime.
“We created a digital twin of urban environments. If you feed it data from what happened in the past, it will tell you what’s going to happen in future. It’s not magical; there are limitations, but we tested it and it works well,” Chattopadhyay said. “Now you can use this as a model tool to see what happens if crime goes up in one area, or there is increased enforcement in another area. If you apply all these different data, you can see how the system evolves in response.”
1. What information would data and social scientists in UC collect?| A．Periods of traffic jams. | B．Items of lost and found. |
| C．Thefts and robberies on the street. | D．Casualty (伤亡) in traffic accidents. |
| A．Confirmed. | B．Modified. | C．Classified. | D．Abandoned. |
| A．The advantages and disadvantages of this new tool. |
| B．The principles and good performances of this new tool. |
| C．Positive feedback from some other experts in this field. |
| D．The hard process of Chattopadhyay’s developing this tool. |
| A．He does not think it’s accurate enough to put into use. |
| B．The limitations are to be removed for a better performance. |
| C．The police department can wholly rely on it to prevent criminals. |
| D．It can be of help when the authority make policies concerning crimes. |
1. Where did George park his car?
| A．On a narrow street. | B．At a parking lot. | C．At a square. |
| A．At 5:00 pm. | B．At 4:40 pm. | C．At 4:20 pm. |
| A．In his pocket. | B．In his car. | C．On the bench. |
| A．Someone stole it. | B．It was behind another car. | C．He went to a wrong place. |
As the first rays of the morning sun shone through the clouds, “Not again!” Julia sighed as she tried to reach her bedside clock. It rang repeatedly, reminding her she’d be late if she didn’t get up!
Julia threw away her blanket and sat on her bed, stretching herself. It was going to be another busy day. Julia worked as a nurse at the city hospital, often taking multiple shifts and working long hours to ensure her daughter never missed out on anything. Things had been hard for them after Julia’s husband died, and being a single parent wasn’t an easy thing.
“Get up, honey! You’re going to be late for school!” Julia opened the window in Ashley’s room and kissed her cheeks. “Wake up, princess!”
Later, Julia fed Ashley and dropped her off at the bus stop. “Be a good girl and have fun!” she told Ashley as she waved her goodbye. Watching the school bus disappear down the street, Julia returned home, took a quick shower and drove off to work, eating a breakfast bar in the car.
As she arrived at the hospital, Julia realized getting home in time to prepare lunch would be impossible because she had a long list of patients to attend to. Yet again, Julia was busy with work, which meant missing out on the time she spent with Ashley. But Julia didn’t have a choice. She was doing it all for Ashley and herself.
Sitting at her desk, Julia dialed her new neighbour, Marco, who’d always come through for her whenever she needed help, asking him if he could look after Ashley.
“No problem, I love hanging out with Ashley, and she’s a lot of joy to be around.”
“I’m sure she feels the same way about you,” Julia laughed. “Look, I’m sorry again for troubling you and thanks.”
Julia was on her way home after work when she was unexpectedly called back. It was an emergency case, and there was a shortage of nurses. Julia called Marco and informed him she’d be home later than usual, and he said it was fine.
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。
With her work finished, Julia called Marco twice, but no one answered and soon his phone was off.
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As Julia arrived home and stepped out of her car, she saw Ashley standing beside Marco outside and waiting for her.
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5 . Map reading, growing fruit and vegetable and basic car service are also more common skills among the baby boomer generation. But according to a new survey, just one in three 18- to 25-year-olds are able to do basic DIY, compared to two-thirds of those aged 58 and over.
Sarah Clarke-Kuehn, Chief Operating Officer-Commercial, said, “The survey findings are so interesting as they highlight a very common incorrect conception related to ‘getting old’.”
When asked at what age they thought developing new skills becomes “difficult”, Gen Z respondents said they were 35 years old, while those aged over 58 believed this number was 63 years old. The belief is that there is a boundary between learning new skills and getting a sense of achievement. But we know that this is just not the case. The benefits in continuing to enjoy life, as well as developing new talents are very significant—both physically and mentally as we grow older.
Neuroscientist and author, Dr Julia Jones, said, “We underestimate our brain’s ability to continue learning. Our brain is the most complex and precise structure in the known universe but we only use a small part of its true potential throughout our lifetimes. To boost continued brain health, we should learn complex and novel skills at all ages. This becomes more important as we age, because these learning experiences help to build new connections between neurons (神经细胞) that maintain intelligence and reduce the risk of future brain decline.”
“Learning languages and musical instruments are believed to be effective at boosting neuroplasticity (神经可塑性) due to their complex nature, but all learning is beneficial and can bring a sense of achievement, purpose and social engagement.”
Dr Jones added. “Find a new hobby and throw yourself into a wonderful learning experience or pick up an old pastime and improve those skills. I’m currently learning to play the guitar and it’s opened up a whole new world of music and fun.”
1. What is mentioned about the young generation in the text?| A．They lose interest in DIY. |
| B．They have no idea in plants. |
| C．Many of them lack some basic skills. |
| D．Many of them own poor reading skills. |
| A．Learning brings a sense of belonging. |
| B．It is never too late to learn in one’s life. |
| C．It is necessary to show off one’s talents. |
| D．The benefits of lifelong learning are temporary. |
| A．The significance of knowing the structure of the brain. |
| B．The difficulties in improving the ability of the brain. |
| C．The reasons for taking full advantage of the brain. |
| D．The process of protecting the brain from risk. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Negative. | C．Doubtful. | D．Unclear. |
1. What does the speaker intend to do?
| A．Place advertisements in the Olympics. |
| B．Become a volunteer in the Olympics. |
| C．Do an interview with Mr. Collins. |
| A．From his teacher. | B．On the Internet. | C．On TV. |
| A．Britain. | B．France. | C．Spain. |
| A．Knowledge of winter sports. | B．Volunteer experiences. | C．Language skills. |
Once in a school, about 50 students from different junior high schools formed a new high school class.
The class was made up of active and outstanding young students but the problem was that they wouldn’t share information to solve learning problems with each other and it was a headache. For instance, each of them wanted to achieve good results, but they did not want to let others know their learning progress and their own advantages, nor did they want to expose their weaknesses.
So one day, Michelle, headmaster of the class, invited them to an event. In this event, there were several fun activities organized for everyone.
For one of the activities, Michelle brought the class into a classroom which had 50 desks and envelopes of the same quantity with names on them. The students found their own envelopes and made them in the corresponding positions. Everyone was excited and was wondering what kind of activity it would be.
Michelle took a few minutes to say, “Each of you picks up the envelope in front of you and solves the problems in it by yourself. Let me divide the class into several groups, and the list is shown on the blackboard. The group that solves all the problems first wins. ”
Everyone immediately picked up a pen and began to work on the problem. All of them were absorbed because they were competitive. Solving difficult problems is an attractive thing for those who love learning. However, even after 20 minutes only a few scattered (分散的) students were able to finish the problems. They didn’t give up and were thinking long and hard to solve the problems. Michelle came and told them that this round was over and everyone should go for next round of activity.
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。
For next round, Michelle told them to change their way of solving difficult problems.
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At the end of this round, Michelle came and saw the students talking and laughing happily.
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There was once a troubled family. The parents spoiled their children. The son, John, loved to play video games all day long when summer vacation was around and he did not like to study. The daughter, Emily, on the other hand, loved studying without play. To her, video games were for foolish people who were unable to achieve anything useful. Life went on with parents complaining and not changing anything.
One day two new neighbors arrived in their neighborhood. One lived on the right side of John’s house while the other lived on the left side of John’s house. These two people were twins. They did not communicate with anyone other than themselves. John and his family felt uncomfortable living right between them. Strange sounds came from their houses every midnight until the afternoon. People heard and saw thunder and lightning coming from the house. After a couple of weeks of lightning flashing, machines roaring, this disturbed every household. Everyone could not help but wonder what their new neighbors were doing. It was whispered that they were inventing a time machine in secret.
People were beginning to dislike them. Every moment they heard these noises, they felt like something was going to explode soon. To deal with this problem John and Emily’s parents walked to both houses to speak with the owners. But on each door hung a sign that said, “DO NOT DISTURB!” They tried knocking the door and no one responded or came out from the house. The machine noise kept going but once in a while it did stop for a small break before it continued. They tried nearly every day to get the attention of their new neighbors. But in the end they gave up. They decided to send their kids to get their attention instead. So they made a plan and the kids successfully entered the neighbor’s houses.
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。
Paragraph 1:
Unexpectedly, the kids both experienced a journey to their own future there.
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Paragraph 2:
After returning from the neighbor’s houses, the two kids changed totally.
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1. Which isn’t included in the Nobel Prizes in 1960?
| A．The Peace Prize. | B．The Literature Prize. | C．The Economics Prize. |
| A．He was a chemistry teacher. |
| B．He invented a deadly weapon. |
| C．He handed out the first Nobel Prizes. |
| A．In 1896. | B．In 1901. | C．In 1906. |
| A．His position. | B．His invention. | C．His family. |
10 . The Tanzanian writer Abdulrazak Gurnah, whose experience of crossing continents and cultures plays a vital role in his novels about the impact of migration(移居)on individuals and societies, won the 2021 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Born in 1948 on the island of Zanzibar, Abdulrazak Gurnah never considered the possibility that he might one day be a writer. ”It never occurred to me,“ he said in an interview. ”It wasn’t something you could say as you were growing up.” He assumed he would become “someone like an engineer.” In 1964, a violent uprising(暴动)forced Gurnah to flee to England. Unhappy, poor and homesick, he began to write down thoughts in his diary and then stories about other people. Those writings as well as the habit of writing gave rise to his first novel, then nine more.
In almost all of his works, Gurah has tried to uncover the way in which colonialism(殖民政策)has changed everything in the world, and people who are living through it are still processing that experience and some of its wounds. “The thing that motivated the whole experience of writing for me was this idea of losing my place in the world,” he said.
Anders Olsson, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Literature, called him one of the world’s most extraordinary post-colonial writers. He said it was crucial that Gurnah’s roots are in Zanzibar, a place that had people from different countries, and was influenced by their cultures long before globalization.
It is of great significance for Africa-born Gurnah to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, which has been occupied by European and North American writers since it was founded in 1901.
1. What is the reason for Gurnah’s winning the Nobel Prize?| A．He is a Tanzanian writer. |
| B．He suffers too much all his life. |
| C．His rich experience and cultural background count. |
| D．His novels involve colonialism and poor life of people. |
| A．He aimed to be a writer while young. |
| B．His habit of writing contributed to his career. |
| C．He fled away to England for his political reasons. |
| D．His earlier stories were mainly about homesickness. |
| A．Inspire. | B．Persuade. |
| C．Combine. | D．Forecast. |
| A．A Worldwide Novelist Rooted In Tanzanian. |
| B．The Dream Of Becoming A Post-colonial Writer. |
| C．Abdulrazak Gurnah Awarded Nobel Prize For Literature. |
| D．The Influence Of Migration On Individuals And Societies. |
