1. Where does the conversation probably take place?
| A．On the street. | B．At the man’s home. | C．In a camera shop. |
| A．One. | B．Two. | C．Three. |
| A．Cameras are old-fashioned. |
| B．People buy things on the Internet. |
| C．There are fewer photographers. |
| A．Go to a camera shop. |
| B．Take care of his friend’s kids. |
| C．Take pictures for a wedding. |
2 . It was a cold winter night and I was sleeping in my warm and cosy bed. My cousins had come to stay with me at my house. The sound of thunder could be heard in the distance, but getting closer by each passing minute.
I woke up and saw that my cousins were not sleeping in the spare beds in my room. They were gone! I had a thousand questions in my mind, “Where were they? Had someone kidnapped (绑架) them?”
This filled me with fear. I wondered if I should go and tell my parents, then I decided to check downstairs first to see if they were playing tricks with me or trying to pull my leg. I stepped out of the room and decided to go downstairs to investigate.
When I stepped on the top step, I slipped and rolled down the stairs like a ball. It was the most miserable experience rolling down the stairs! My legs were hurting and I had a bump (肿块) on my forehead.
When I entered the living room, the electricity went off, and because I couldn’t see anything, I accidentally bumped into the wall. This made me feel dizzy. When I looked beside me, I saw a figure but couldn’t make out what it was. The figure started to move here and there, and then I heard strange and frightening sounds.
I glanced back towards the direction of the figure, but there was no sign of it this time. This made me frightened. Again I could hear someone talking and jumping in the room. I stayed rooted where I was.
Suddenly the TV switched on by itself. I was totally scared now. Then I felt as if someone was patting my shoulder. I hurried in the direction of the electricity switch and turned it on. Suddenly a person appeared in front of me and turned off the lights. I froze with fright for a moment but managed to get enough courage to move away, only to trip over a rope.
注意：1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 续写部分分为两段，每段开头语已为你写好。
Someone then switched the lights on again.
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But soon I was also laughing with them after I had calmed down.
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3 . Researchers at the University of Washington created a new web app, Self-Talk with Superhero Zip, aimed to help children develop skills like self-awareness and emotional management.
At first, some parents were wary: In a world of Siri and Alexa, they are skeptical that the makers of such technologies are putting children’s welfare first.
In Self-Talk with Superhero Zip, a chatbot guided pairs of siblings through lessons. The UW team found that, after speaking with the app for a week, most children could explain the concept of supportive self-talk and apply it in their daily lives. And kids who’d engaged in negative self-talk before the study were able to turn that habit positive.
The UW team published its findings in June at the 2023 Interaction Design and Children conference. The app is still a prototype (雏形) and is not yet publicly available. Previous studies have shown children can learn various tasks and abilities from chatbots. Yet little research explores how chatbots can help kids effectively acquire socioemotional skills.
“There is room to design child-centric experiences with a chatbot that provide fun and educational practice opportunities,” said senior author Alexis Hiniker, an associate professor in the UW Information School. “Over the last few decades, television programs like ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘Mister Rogers,’ and ‘Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood’ have shown that it is possible for TV to help kids cultivate socioemotional skills. We asked: Can we make a space where kids can practice these skills in an interactive app? We wanted to create something useful and fun— a ‘Sesame Street’ experience for a smart speaker.”
The length of these effects isn’t clear, researchers note. The study spanned just one week and the tendency for survey participants to respond in ways that make them look good could lead kids to speak positively about the app’s effects.
“Our goal is to make the app accessible to a wider audience in the future,” said lead author Chris (Yue) Fu, a UW doctoral student in the iSchool. “We’re exploring the integration of large language models — the systems that power tech like ChatGPT — into our prototype and we plan to work with content creators to adapt existing socioemotional learning materials into our system. The hope is that these will facilitate more prolonged and effective interventions.”
1. What can we learn about Self-Talk?| A．It encouraged kids to engage in positive talking. |
| B．It could help kids explain complicated concepts. |
| C．It could be already downloaded from UW’s website. |
| D．It was welcomed by parents like Siri and Alexa. |
| A．The primary function. | B．The promising prospect. |
| C．The new-found popularity. | D．The historical background. |
| A．Larger amounts of kinds of languages. | B．More characters with different background. |
| C．New technology adopted like ChatGPT. | D．Longer studies in more natural settings. |
| A．Adapt socioemotional material and reform the education system. |
| B．Explore powerful technology and improve its effectiveness. |
| C．Promote socioemotional learning and provide ongoing support. |
| D．Combine large language models and lengthen its service time. |
4 . When Richard Oswald was growing up in northwestern Missouri in the 1950s, his dad had a firm rule: Don’t plant corn until mid-May. But that rule has become a relic of the past. In Rock Port, a small farming community near the Nebraska border, the growing season now begins more than a month earlier.
That’s not surprising. Across much of the US, winter is not as cold as it used to be. The four warmest Januaries on record have all occurred since 2016. In Missouri, winters are about 4 degrees hotter on average than in 1970-and farmers are starting to feel the effects.
As the planet continues to warm, cold winter weather will become less common, said Amy Butler, a re-search scientist studying climate variability. “However, less cold does not mean never cold.” Butler said. In the past decade, Liz Graznak’s organic vegetable farm near Columbia, Missouri, has endured increasingly extreme swings in weather. “We don’t get a couple of inches of snow; we get 18 inches of snow all at once and then in five days, it’ s 70 degrees again.” Graznak said. “We don’t get a couple of inches of rain; we get a 12-inch downpour in the span of 24 hours. That’s devastating(毁灭性的)to a vegetable farm.”
To help protect her crops, Graznak has built four large greenhouses on her property in just over a decade. Inside, she’s able to grow delicate, high-value crops, including flowers, lettuce and spinach.
But these greenhouses come at a steep cost. Nearly seven years ago, Graznak spent more than $18,000 to build a greenhouse and since then, the price has more than doubled. “When I think about these costs, in my brain, I say, ‘OK, how many heads of lettuce is that?’” She said. “I know I can sell a head of lettuce for $4, so how many heads of lettuce do I have to sell to be able to pay for that greenhouse? And that’s a lot of lettuce.”
1. What does the author want to show by telling Richard Oswald’s story?| A．New farmers should learn to farm on their own. |
| B．New farmers aren’t as experienced as old ones. |
| C．Following traditional farming rules is essential. |
| D．Climate change is changing farming rules. |
| A．Many extreme weather events. |
| B．A winter without any cold days. |
| C．Less snow and rain on the whole. |
| D．More stable temperature than before. |
| A．The profits of her farm have increased. |
| B．She has lost hope in the future of farming. |
| C．The cost of farming has greatly increased. |
| D．Budgeting is important in modern farming. |
| A．Farmers in the US are troubled by floods |
| B．Farmers are worried about the future of farming |
| C．Farmers are feeling climate change’s effect in the US |
| D．Farmers are turning to greenhouses due to climate change |
1. What did researchers study in two tests?
| A．The way of seagulls’ stealing food. |
| B．The effects of staring at seagulls. |
| C．The different food thieves. |
| A．They flew away immediately. |
| B．They stood still and looked at the food. |
| C．They made an attempt to steal food. |
| A．They snatched food violently. |
| B．They stole food secretly. |
| C．They attacked people aggressively. |
| A．By feeding them first. | B．By setting a big trap. | C．By staring at them. |
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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9 . For many buyers, electric vehicles (EVs) are simply too expensive, their range is too limited, and charging them isn’t as quick and convenient as refueling at the gas stations. All these limitations have to do with the lithium-ion batteries (锂电池) that power the vehicles. They’re costly, heavy, and quick to run out of juice. To make matters worse, the batteries rely on liquid electrolytes (电解质) that can burn during crashes.
Making electric cars more competitive with gas-powered ones will require a breakthrough battery that overcomes those shortcomings. That, at least, is the argument of Jagdeep Singh, chief executive of QuantumScape, a Silicon Valley startup that claims to have developed just such a technology. The company says it did so by solving a chemistry puzzle: how to use lithium to boost the amount of energy that can be packed into a battery without posing a routine risk of fire or otherwise weakening performance. The company says it achieved this by developing a solid version of the flammable (易燃的) liquid electrolyte.
In an online presentation in December, QuantumScape displayed a series of charts showing that a single-layer lab version of the battery can be charged to more than 80% of its capacity in 15 minutes, last for hundreds of thousands of miles, and work fine at freezing temperatures. The company expects the batteries to be able to boost electric vehicles’ range by more than 80%: a car that can go 250 miles on a single charge today could drive 450 miles instead.
Indeed, the battery field is littered with examples of startups that promised breakthrough technologies but ultimately failed. And the challenges ahead of QuantumScape are enormous, particularly when it comes to turning its samples into commercial products that can be produced cheaply.
If the company succeeded, it could transform the EV marketplace. Cutting costs, boosting the range, and making charging convenient enough could broaden demand beyond people who can afford charging ports at home, and ease the anxieties of those who fear being left on longer trips.
1. What does the author mainly want to tell us in the first paragraph?| A．The high cost of electric vehicles. | B．The complaints of vehicle consumers. |
| C．The disadvantages of present batteries. | D．The inconvenience of charging cars. |
| A．They consume more energy than gas-powered ones. |
| B．They should reduce performance to avoid the risk of fire. |
| C．They have gained an advantage over gas-powered ones now. |
| D．They need technology improvement in batteries’ performance. |
| A．By showing lab data online. |
| B．By testing the battery capacity on site. |
| C．By challenging the previous range record. |
| D．By displaying the working principles of electric cars. |
| A．Dismissive. | B．Objective. | C．Doubtful. | D．Positive. |
10 . 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. |
