An unexpected change on the road
It was a damp evening in September 2013 when I landed in Kuching, the capital city of Sarawak in Malaysia. I was a 19-year-old Dubai-raised kid away from home for the first time to start my undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering.
Alone and homesick, the wet welcome I received at the airport didn’t make me feel any better. I had never travelled alone before and the seven-hour flight from Dubai was the longest flight I had ever taken. I pushed my luggage and headed to the airport exit to find a grey van with the name of my university on it. My ride, I assumed, and I was right.
As we left the airport, the driver began talking to me; he told me that I was the last of the new students he had to pick up that day. He shared information with me about the city and its people and what I should see and do. As I am a driving enthusiast myself, we started talking about cars and driving in Dubai and his accounts of driving in Kuching.
“Never make a Sarawakian angry” he warned. “No road rage (路怒). Very dangerous!” He then went on to list his experiences of road rage and by the time he had finished, I had made up my mind to be very passive on the roads.
Not long into our journey, the lights of the car behind flashed at us. This continued more aggressively and my driver started to panic. We pulled over to the roadside in a well-lit area. My heart was pounding but I tried to put on a brave face as the man from the car emerged and made his way to my side of the van. As he reached my window, I lowered it and tried to force a smile. He reached into the van and I let out a loud “Whoa (used to tell someone to become calmer)!”
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。
Then I looked down at his hands to see that he was holding a travel bag.
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With a sigh of relief, I took my bag and thanked this stranger.
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Have you ever been misunderstood (误解) by someone you care about? In my first year in high school, I had a good friend. We got along with each other very well and we often talked about our life and discussed the problems we had in school. We always shared our joys and sadnesses.
Every time I was in a bad mood (心情) or didn’t do well on a test, she would encourage me and make me feel relieved. I also listened to her patiently when she got into trouble. We cared about each other so much that we thought of each other as part of our families. Both of us had the same interest in our free time. We enjoyed enriching our knowledge by reading articles in many different fields on blogs on the Internet. And blogging also became one of the important ways for us to communicate with each other. Sometimes we would post something that we weren’t willing to say face to face on our blogs. And the next time we turned on the computer, we would know what had happened to each other these days and also understand each other more through the blog.
But one night I got an e-mail from her. In it she told me that she felt very disappointed with me and she didn’t want to be my friend anymore! I was very shocked at that time and had no idea about what had made her so angry. So I called her back immediately, but no one answered the phone. I was so confused and didn’t know what to do. I thought about the last time we had chatted with each other and couldn’t find anything wrong. So I turned on my computer and read her blog, hoping to figure out what had happened to her. Suddenly, when I read an article about some other friends, I realized what had gone wrong.
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。
It was because of one article on my blog the week before.
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Finally, I came up with the idea of communicating with her through my blog, too.
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Marla Adams had spent her last dollar on the ticket to a show. Although it was a bit expensive, she was very happy. Sadly, her joy quickly disappeared due to a voice behind her. “Look at her worn clothes. Who allowed this woman to sit with us?”
Marla’s eyes welled up, and she looked behind to see a woman looking at her sharply. “Yes, I’m referring to you! Ugh, how did you get in here?”
A man in black shouted, “Security, get this woman out of here! We don’t want to sit next to her!”
They kept commenting on her appearance until the guards led her to a corner seat in the last row where no one could see her. Marla felt so hurt and disrespected. However, not a single person in the audience came to her support. They were all wealthy and looked down on Marla.
Marla dried her tears and forced a smile on her face. She told herself not to cry. It was a special day for her. So she forgot about their rude words and cheered herself up.
“These actors are so young but so gifted,” Marla said when watching the performance.
When the show was over, the actors held each other’s hands and bowed in front of the audience, who clapped their hands for the excellent performance.
Soon after, people started leaving their seats to head to the exit when a voice stopped them. “Could you kindly take your seats, ladies and gentlemen? We’d like to introduce you to someone special today! Our special guest for tonight,” a young actor announced. The audience was in confusion. Marla, too, was confused. They weren’t informed about the special guest before.
The young actor smiled and invited Marla to stage. He continued, “Everyone, this is Mrs Adams. It is she who helped us reach where we are today. We were a group of irresponsible teenagers who were hated by our whole school, yet she believed in us.”
The audience was shocked at this point. The crowd just couldn’t believe the woman they had looked down upon was the special guest.
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。
The audience sat back in their seat, listening to the young actor.
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There was deep silence in the hall, and Marla was in tears.
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4 . I spoke to my parents last night and for a moment I forgot I wasn’t really speaking to them, but to their digital replicas (复制品). They live inside an app as voice assistants constructed by the company HereAfter AI.
In fact, my parents are still alive and well; their virtual versions were made to help me understand the technology. Grief tech, which lets you “talk” with the people you’ve loved and lost, has been appearing in science fiction. But now it’s becoming a reality. Although the thought of it makes some frightened, it’s not hard to see the appeal that people might turn to digital replicas for comfort.
However, there is one major limitation. These replicas may sound like someone you love, but they know nothing about you. Anyone can talk to them, and get the same reply in the same tone. “The biggest issue with the technology is the idea that you can generate a single universal person,” says Justin Harrison, founder of a technological service.
Creating a virtual avatar you can have more conversation with contributes to your feeling connected to someone you loved and lost, says Erin Thompson, a clinical psychologist. But a grieving person needs to know that these bots can only capture a small part of someone rather than replace healthy, functional human relationships.
And there are other risks. Any service that allows you to create a digital replica of someone without that person’s participation raises complex moral issues. While some might argue that permission is less important with someone who is dead, can’t you also argue that the person who generated the other side of the conversation should have a say too? And what if that person is not, in fact, dead?
If digital replicas become mainstream, there will inevitably need to be new regulations around what we leave behind online. And we’ll be better off if we cope with the possibility of these replicas’ misuse before, not after, they reach mass adoption.
Anyway, I feel lucky to still have the precious opportunity to spend more time with my parents, face to face, no technology involved.
1. Which of the following is not a drawback of digital replicas?| A．They can’t vary their response accordingly. |
| B．They can’t mirror every aspect of a person. |
| C．They may pose threat to the interests of people alive. |
| D．It’s hard to gain permission from someone who is not alive. |
| A．Favorable. | B．Reasonable. | C．Critical. | D．Indifferent. |
| A．Technology is advancing faster than imagined. |
| B．Safety risks can be surely avoided by regulations. |
| C．Replicas will not be misused before widely adopted. |
| D．Cherish the beloved ones when they are still around. |
| A．Reflections on grief tech. | B．Ways to overcome our grief. |
| C．Technology to change our life. | D．Controversy over digital replicas. |
5 . In our human-centric view, the ability to shoot ink or change colors may seem odd, but you know what’s really odd? Menopause (更年期). You can count species other than humans known to experience and outlive menopause on one hand. Only Oracs (虎鲸) and some whale populations have females that live long past their reproductive years to become grandmothers. But a new, landmark study confirms that at least one population of chimpanzees can now be added to the list.
The discovery comes as the result of 21 years’ worth of observing the Ngogo community of wild chimpanzees in Kibale National Park, Uganda. Studying urine from 66 Ngogo females, aged 14 to 67, showed that their hormone levels changed after approaching 50, confirming they were in menopause. Interestingly, 50 is also the age when many people begin to experience menopause. “It’s really cool to finally have that piece of the puzzle come into place,” says Catherine Hobaiter, a primatologist who was not part of the new study.
But Catherine points out that the Ngogo community lives in a chimp paradise: the resource-rich, well-protected Kibale National Park that also lacks leopards, their main predator. And because the Noggo community is found in the heart of the park, its only neighbors are other chimps — not humans who can expose chimpanzees to viruses that have devastated other communities. “The Ngogo population may be an outlier (局外人) when it comes to the rest of the species,” she cautions.
And there is a question concerning “the grandmother effect”, according to which a grandmother has a decidedly beneficial effect on her children and grandchildren. Chimpanzees do not form long-term pair-bonds and females leave in search of new communities when they reach maturity, which means grandmother chimpanzees likely don’t know who their grandchildren are in the same way humans or even orcas do. What they do after the menopause remains a question of interest. “And that’s all future work to be done.” said Catherine.
1. What can be learned about menopause?| A．It is rare among animals. | B．It is unique to human beings. |
| C．It just occurs at the age of 50. | D．It is experienced only by females. |
| A．Scientist have found the solution to menopause. |
| B．What happens to the 66 Ngogo females remains a puzzle. |
| C．There is a puzzle whether chimpanzee females experience menopause. |
| D．The latest discovery casts new light on the puzzle of animal menopause. |
| A．To stress the importance of protecting chimpanzees from viruses. |
| B．To remind researchers of the potential limitation of the new study. |
| C．To prove that Ngogo chimpanzees are perfect subjects of the study. |
| D．To argue that the discovery of the new study is completely groundless. |
| A．By offering a definition. | B．By drawing a conclusion. |
| C．By presenting relevant facts. | D．By giving examples and opinions. |
6 . Fragile. Oversensitive. Glued to their phones.
Never before have the lives of any generation of teens been as flooded with mobile technology and social media as the teens of this generation.
To conclude, the teens of this generation differ in many ways from their predecessors (前辈), in some ways more positive than others.
| A．No wonder the self-confidence and mental health of teens have been damaged. |
| B．Yet, the effects of technology on this generation of teens are not all bad. |
| C．Is this what comes to mind when we think of the teens of this generation? |
| D．Their parents or grandparents were likely less connected and more isolated. |
| E．Moreover, in the older generations’ mind, the teens today are more individualistic. |
| F．As a result, this might be why the teens today are more open-minded and progressive. |
| G．Every generation is a product of the cultural, political and economic events of their time. |
要点：1. 运动对于生活与学习的意义
2. 介绍你日常生活中的良好运动习惯
注意：1. 词数80词左右。
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
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8 . High-resolution (高分辨率) satellite imagery has been used to map every single tree in Africa, showing a technique that could help improve the monitoring of deforestation (森林砍伐) across the world. Florian Reiner at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and his colleagues used images from sate lies to map canopy (树冠) across the entire African continent.
Modern sate lies usually catch tree canopies at a resolution of 30 meters — fine for measuring the size of forests, but less good at mapping individual trees. The satellite data Reiner and his colleagues used had a resolution of 3 meters, enabling the study to map all trees, including those not part of a forest.
The results suggest that 30 percent of all trees in Africa aren’t in a forest and instead are across farmland, savannah and urban areas. “Many countries in Africa lack thick forests, but have a lot of trees.” says Reiner. “These trees are extremely important to the local ecosystems, the people and the economy. By tracking every single tree, researchers can start to monitor how these trees are coping with climate change or whether they are sensitive to deforestation.” It could also improve the monitoring of reforestation efforts, which are growing in popularity as a way of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
“At a local level, being able to consistently monitor when and where trees are disappearing or reappearing can lead to more actionable insights,” says John Francis at the Alan Turing Institute in London.
“The study is a proof of concept rather than a map ready for immediate commercial use,” says Reiner. “It’s research work. It’s showing what could be done,” he says. But he is already working with colleagues to scale up the tracking approach to cover the entire global canopy: “We’re hoping that this will be seen as a way forward in monitoring tree resources.”
1. Why is high-resolution satellite imagery used to map every single tree?| A．To know the exact height of the tree. |
| B．To have a clear picture of the canopy. |
| C．To help monitor the deforestation. |
| D．To improve the satellite technology. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Disapproving. | C．Indifferent. | D．Favorable. |
| A．Protect the trees only in Africa. |
| B．Put the map into commercial use. |
| C．Track the entire global canopy. |
| D．Improve the imagery technology. |
| A．Ways to Measure the Size of Forests in Africa |
| B．Coping with Climate Change by Tracking Every Single Tree |
| C．A Map from the Satellite Ready for Immediate Commercial Use |
| D．High-resolution Satellite Imagery Used in Monitoring Deforestation |
In the spring sun, my aunt and I headed for her flower shop. Normally I would be delighted to help in her shop, but not recently because of Rosa. Rosa was my sister, just one month old, who was settled in my old bedroom. For ten years, the small room was full of my toys and books. But now it was transformed into her baby room, decorated like a garden with pinks and yellows. My space, my old life, was gone.
“Here we are!” We arrived at the shop, a wave of colour and sweet smell washing over me. My aunt said I could pick some flowers for Mum and Dad. I used to love this, but today I was so overcome with tiredness and envy. Why bother to bring them flowers when they were enjoying Rosa at home without me?
Silently I helped my aunt arrange flowers. “Your mum told me there hasn’t been much shut eye recently for any of you.” “Not much, since Rosa the alarm clock was installed (安装).” I complained with a huge yawn (哈欠).
“I remember having to creep (蹑手蹑脚地走) around like a worn-out mouse when your mum was a baby. I spent the first months hating her so much.” “But you and Mum seem so close,” I said, guiltily hiding away my envy of Rosa.
“Now we are. But it took me years to grow into the role of big sister. Few flowers blossom (绽放) overnight, you know.” She pulled me in for aside hug, glancing up at the clock, and suggested I take a walk outside.
Behind her shop was a field dotted with spring flowers. Stepping into the field, I began to pick little flowers. It was like gathering my childhood memories. I remembered how I’d sit with Dad, making flower chains, crowning (授予) each other with the silliest titles: Queen of Junk Food and King of Mess. My smile grew wider. The shining yellow flowers reminded me of the color in Rosa’s baby room. Was she awake? I wondered.
注意：1.续写词数应为150左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卷的相应位置作答。
Suddenly I saw two familiar figures walking towards me.
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_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. How old is Davyon?
| A．13 years old. | B．11 years old. | C．7 years old. |
| A．He helped Bill leave the burning house. |
| B．He got the bottle cap out of Bill’s throat. |
| C．He called the fire department. |
| A．Sitting in his mother’s car. | B．Playing basketball. | C．Playing with his RC car. |
| A．Give more examples of young people. |
| B．Present Davyon with a certificate. |
| C．Play a video of Davyon. |
