1 . The first attempt to mix visual arts and technology together dates back to the 60s’ when New York-based artists teamed up with scientists and engineers to deliver remarkable performances. Speaking of influential artists mixing tech and arts, Andy Warhol immediately comes to mind. He was among the first to create digital drawings on an Amiga computer in 1985.

When Covid-19 hit, the art industry struggled. About 95% of art-related events were canceled while 24% of organizations were forced to reduce staff. And yet, 65% of them are still managing to deliver content. Let’s see how technology impacts the art industry and helps it overcome the pandemic-induced challenges.

The artists try to use all kinds of technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robots, sensors and IoT, AR and VR to create. For example, artists Julian Adenauer and Michael Haas created a robot that moves around on a canvas (画布) leaving a colorful trail. This art piece is fixed on the wall of the Berlin Gallery. It is changing every day as the robot keeps moving around, adding color in response to Haas’s idea of creation, “the process of creation is ideally endless.”

There are issues that we need to address when using technology in the arts. For example, in online streaming, paying the intellectual property taxes became a complicated matter. Another concern is who owns the copyrights of AI-generated art. Despite these obstacles, technology widens our horizons whether we produce or simply enjoy arts. If you have an idea of bettering your studio, museum, or art research with technology, don’t hesitate to reach out.

1. What is Andy Warhol’s influence?

A．He gave perfect performance in the 60s’.

B．He could draw pictures without computer.

C．He was the first man to combine tech with arts.

D．He was a leading artist using digital technology.

2. What can we know from the figures in paragraph 2?

A．The painting skills are developing rapidly.

B．The employment rate is far below average.

C．The art industry undergoes great depression.

D．The work efficiency has been greatly improved.

3. What is paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．How artists develop technologies.	B．How high-tech assists art creation.
C．How to draw pictures on the wall.	D．How to control AI robot.

4. What is the author’s attitude towards using tech in art?

A．Supportive.

B．Disapproving.

C．Uncertain.

D．Objective.

2 . This year, people around the world are lining up to buy electric vehicles even as prices increase. Electric vehicle, EV, demand has stayed strong even as the average cost of lithiumion (锂离子) battery cells increased to an estimated $160 per kilowatt-hour in the first quarter from $105 last year. Costs rose due to supply issues, restrictions on Russian metals and investor speculation (投机).

For a smaller vehicle like the Hongguang Mini, the best-selling EV in China, the higher battery costs added almost $1,500, equal to 30 percent of the listed price. But gasoline and diesel fuel costs have also increased since the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and experts noted that environmental concerns are also pushing more buyers to choose EVs.

Manufacturers from Tesla to SAIC-GM-Wuling, which makes the Hongguang Mini, have passed higher costs on to consumers with price increases for EVs. More may be coming. Andy Palmer, chairman of Slovak EV battery maker InoBat, said, “rising costs will have to be passed onto carmakers.” But EV shoppers have so far not slowed down. Worldwide EV sales in the first quarter jumped nearly 120 percent, said the website EV-volumes.com.

Venkat Srinivasan is director of the Center for Collaborative Energy Storage Science at the U.S. government’s Argonne National Laboratory in Chicago. He said, “more and more people would buy EVs despite the cost of the battery and the vehicle.”

This increase in battery costs could be an unusual short-term change in a situation in which improving technology and growing production have pushed costs down for almost 30 years. Industry data showed that the $105 per kilowatt hour average cost in 2021 was down nearly 99 percent from over $7,500 in 1991.

Experts say battery costs could stay high for the next year or so, but then another large drop is likely as big investments by automakers and suppliers change the balance from shortage to surplus. “It’s like a bubble (泡沫) and for that bubble to settle down, it’s going to be at least the end of 2023,” said Prabhakar Patil, a former LG Chem executive.

The industry has long been awaiting the battery cell cost of $100 per kilowatt-hour, as a signal EVs were reaching a similar cost to fossil-fuel vehicles. But with gasoline prices high and consumer preferences changing, such cost considerations may no longer matter as much, experts say.

1. Why does the author mention Hongguang Mini?

A．To present a fact.

B．To give an example.

C．To introduce a topic.

D．To make an assumption.

2. What will possibly lead to the drop in battery costs in the future?

A．More EV shops.

B．Production growth.

C．Sufficient supplies.

D．Technology improvement.

3. What does the author think of the prospect of EVs?

A．Promising.

B．Unclear.

C．Doubtful.

D．Confusing.

4. What can be inferred from the text?

A．At present demands for EVs beat supply.	B．People concern price more when buying cars.
C．EVs sell much better than fossil-fuel vehicles.	D．People prefer EV mainly because of conflict.

3 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

Hunger

When I was a young boy, my mother would place spoonfuls of vegetables onto my plate whether I wanted them or not and the rule in our family was that we always had to clean our plates. However, I rarely saw my mother eat the vegetables herself. She always served us first. She seemed never hungry.

She worked for a rich lady in town, and I always assumed that the reason why she didn’t have our tasteless meals was that she had eaten meats and sweets in the rich lady’s kitchen. Our meals were boring, and there was never enough since there were ten of us — my parents plus eight children.

One afternoon my older sisters were sick, so they couldn’t take care of me. Therefore, my mother had no choice but to bring me with her. It was a long winter day and as my father hadn’t had much work, we had even less food than usual. So I was very excited to go to the rich woman’s house.

My mother placed me in a corner while she rolled out pie crust (饼皮). Then she cooked some meat, and by the afternoon, the pleasant smell filled the kitchen and was making its way into my empty stomach. Then, a bell rang in the kitchen and my mother told me, “Don’t move” and then left.

I tried to do as told, but then I thought it wouldn’t matter if I ate just one blackberry. So I put a single blackberry into my mouth. What an explosion of flavor! The wonderful taste hitting my empty stomach was more than I could handle! Soon I was throwing blackberries into my mouth with two hands! It wasn’t until I was staring at the empty bowl that I noticed the empty, unbaked pie crust sitting on the table waiting for the berries. I looked around for more berries, but there was none. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching, so I quickly hid into the cupboard (碗柜).

注意：
1. 续写词数应为150左右；
2. 请在答题卡的相应位置作答。

Just at the moment, my mother entered the kitchen, following a well-dressed lady.

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After the lady left, I crept(爬) out of the cupboard with tears streaming down my face.

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4 . The idiom “a big fish in a small pond” describes a person who is very well known or important in a small group but is not known or important outside that small group.For example,a high-performing high school student in a small town could be a big fish in a small pond.     1     And he may simply not know how small his “pond” is-until he moves on to a big university. He must compete with hundreds of students who were also the best at their high schools.     2    

Here is another example. A young singer was famous in his small town. He wanted to move to a big city to grow his singing career.     3     “Here in our small town,”they said, “you are a big fish in a small pond. Once you move to New York City, that is going to change. Best be ready!”For some people, this can be a painful realization-sometimes called a wake-up call.

    4     They never grow their circle of friends or work environment.Sometimes they do not take opportunities that increase their environment, or pond. By staying in a small pond,it is safer.There are fewer dangers and also fewer competitors.

The Merriam-Webster online dictionary explains another way to use the idiom. It can also describe a situation where one person has more power, influence, knowledge,or experience than others within a small group. So sometimes we use this expression to describe people who want to stay in a small pond just to feel more important.     5    

A．His family supported him but also warned him.

B．He may feel overly-confidentor overly-important.

C．Now, some people like being a big fishin a small pond.

D．People have been using this expression since the early 1800s.

E．Their position is not questioned by the other fish in the pond.

F．A pond is a small body of water,which is usually smaller than a lake.

G．His pond just got much larger and is now filled with many more fish.

5 . It was a cold Saturday night in February. Some 200 New Yorkers carefully made their way to the reservoir (水库) in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the magical snowy owl, who had touched down in the park the week before in what was reported as the first visit there by the species in more than 130 years.

Except for a few excited screams from children, people were quiet — patiently awaiting the owl’s arrival at the reservoir’s north gatehouse. The snowy owl did not disappoint. She flew down from the darkness and surveyed the water and the people holding phones and cameras before taking off into the night to the applause of her many fans. They simply wanted to see this lovely creature whose improbable appearance seemed to signify hope after the lockdown.

New Yorkers who had long taken Central Park for granted felt a renewed love for this rectangle of green in the heart of the big city and, of course, its amazing wildlife. That the park is a beautiful and essential refuge is something that humans have only come to fully appreciate during these recent times of uncertainty.

Central Park was originally planned and constructed during another difficult time in the nation’s history — in the years before and during the American Civil War. Unlike many European parks that had originally been built for the aristocracy (贵族), Central Park was designed as a public space. In its chief architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s words, the poor and rich alike could “easily go there after their day’s work is done” and “stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feeling nothing of the noise of the streets.”

As spring turns into summer, we see people sitting on the grass or benches — catching some sun, having family picnics, or tapping away on their laptops and iPads. Just being in proximity to other people in Central Park gave us a sense of community — the sense that we would somehow persevere.

1. What did people do in Central Park on that Saturday night?

A．They cheered for each other.	B．They paid their first visit.
C．They came for a rare sight.	D．They appreciated a water event.

2. What does the author mainly intend to do in Paragraph 4?

A．Give some examples.	B．Make a comparison.
C．Introduce a new opinion.	D．Add background information.

3. What do the underlined words “in proximity to” in Paragraph 5 mean?

A．close to	B．free from
C．at a distance from	D．in comparison with

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．Find Refuge in Central Park

B．Take Your Breath by Snow Owl

C．Trace Central Park to difficult times

D．Meet an improbable “visitor” in person

6 . 阅读下面材料，根据其内容和所给段落开头语续写两段，使之构成一篇完整的短文。

When the last customer left, it was already 10:30 pm. Eric, an 18-year-old college student in Atlanta, dragged himself home. In order to save money to buy himself the new mountain bike, he had been working at KFC for over a month that summer vacation. He already had 120 dollars. With one more week, he would have his dream bike.

Entering his room, Eric found his younger brother Bill sitting on the edge of his bed with an uneasy expression on his face.

“Sorry, Eric. I ... I did something wrong,” Bill sprang up and said nervously.

“What is it?”

“This afternoon I went to play football on the road outside our house and accidentally hit our neighbor Mr. White’s car. I was so scared and I ... I hurried home in panic without telling him.”

“Is the car seriously damaged?”

“The ball hit the front hard and the left headlight of it got broken.”

“It’s truly your fault. It’s really dangerous to play football on the road. What’s worse, you shouldn’t come back without telling Mr. Smith about it,” Eric raised his voice, obviously annoyed. Hearing this, Bill lowered his head and bit his lips hard.

“Anyway, it’s no use crying over spilt milk. And it is too late today. We have to deal with it tomorrow. Now you just go to bed.”

When Bill went bed, Eric couldn’t go to sleep himself. Father always told him to be honest, to be a man respected by people and to be an example of his brother. He was sorry for his brother’s behavior. He shouldn’t have run away after he did something wrong. But he could understand him. Anyway, he was only a boy of seven and what had happened really scared him. But as his elder brother, he should do something about it although this may delay his plan of having the mountain bike. “Nothing serious, just another week in KFC,” he said to himself.

注意：1.所续写短文的词数应为150左右;
2.至少使用5个短文中标有下划线的关键词语;
3.续写部分分为两段,每段的开头语已为你写好;
4.续写完成后,请用下划线标出你所使用的关键词语。

Eric got up early the next morning.

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Mr. Smith was a little surprised to see the brothers.

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7 . A groundbreaking new study finds that coffee beans are bigger and more plentiful when birds and bees team up to protect and pollinate (授粉) coffee plants.

Without these winged helpers, some traveling thousands of miles, coffee farmers would see a 25% drop in crops, a loss of roughly $1,066 per acre of coffee. That’s important for the $26 billion coffee industry — including consumers, farmers, and corporations who depend on nature’s unpaid labor — but the research goes beyond that.

The study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is the first to show, using real-world experiments at 30 coffee farms, that the contributions of nature — in this case, bee pollination combined with pest (害虫) control by birds — are larger than their individual contributions.

“Until now, researchers have typically calculated the benefits of nature separately, and then simply added them up, which actually underestimates the benefits biodiversity provides to agriculture and human wellbeing,” says lead expert Alejandra. “But nature is an interacting system, full of important synergies (协同). We show the ecological and economic importance of these interactions in one of the first experiments in actual farms.”

For the experiment, researchers dealt with coffee plants across 30 farms, excluding birds and bees with a combination of large nets and small bags. They tested four key situations: bird activity alone, bee activity alone, no bird or bee activity at all, and finally, a natural environment, where bees and birds were free to pollinate and eat insects like the coffee berry borer, one of the most damaging pests affecting coffee production worldwide. The combined positive effects of birds and bees on fruit set, fruit weight and fruit uniformity — key factors in quality and price — were greater than their individual effects, the study shows.

“Birds, bees, and millions of other species support our lives and livelihoods, but face threats like habitat destruction and climate change,” says Alejandra. “One important reason we measure these contributions is to help protect the many species that we depend on, and sometimes take for granted.”

1. What does the new research focus on?

A．Ways to increase coffee production.

B．Winged helpers’ effects on coffee plants.

C．Factors affecting coffee plants’ pollination.

D．The importance of pest control on coffee plants.

2. Which of the following is a major boost to the coffee industry?

A．High-quality service.	B．Government intervention.
C．Expanding investment.	D．Maintaining biodiversity.

3. How did the researchers conduct the tests according to paragraph 5?

A．By introducing a concept.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By explaining statistical data.	D．By referring to a previous study.

4. In which section of a newspaper may this text appear?

A．Advertisement.

B．Health.

C．Science.

D．Travel.

8 . My granddad often helped me make a tool to catch fish when I was young and we would spend hours along a river. It was lovely for both of us then. Many more of today’s grandparents have a growing sense of adventure. And a trend is catching on: skip-gen travel — grandparents taking fun-filled vacations with grand kids without their parents along.

A survey found that 83% of grandparents put travel with their grand kids as the number one thing when they retire. Skip-gen travel gets popular for good reason. Kids have their lives enriched and learn outside classrooms. This is also a time of talking and sharing ideas.

“How grandparents talk to children is different from how parents talk to them. Actually, I feel on a more equal footing with my grandchildren than I do with my own children,” Annie Collins, a travel architect and also part of the trend, says. “Kids away from their parents are more open to ideas and willing to express themselves. It’s not just kids gaining from traveling. Who gets the most out of this? You might think it’s them but it’s us.” According to a study by the Cleveland Clinic, grandparents who help watch and spend time with grand kids may actually live longer than their peers（同龄人）.

It’s also important to recognize that grandparents often have more time to travel. Unlike their children, who may still be in the pursuit of a personal career that offers limited time off, grandparents are often retired and likely have a different viewpoint on life, prioritizing experiences and family. So knowing the kids are in great hands, moms and dads will have a bit of time to themselves — some much-needed leisure time alone to rest and recharge their batteries.

However, skip-gen travel is not for every grandparent. After all, grandparents are worn out with years and not so energetic. They surely treasure the chance to form close ties with their grandchildren, but it’s wiser to say no when only the youth could enjoy themselves, for the travel should be a win for everyone involved.

1. Why does the author mention fishing experiences with his granddad?

A．To lead in the trend of skip-gen travel.	B．To share the pleasure in going fishing.
C．To stress the importance of family ties.	D．To show the growing interest in adventure.

2. Which of the following may Annie Collins agree?

A．Many parents are too strict with children.

B．Grandparents benefit more from skip-gen travel.

C．Spending time with grandparents is better for kids.

D．Children become mature when away from parents.

3. What do we know about the parents whose kids are on skip-gen travel?

A．They enjoy the moment to relax.	B．They feel less anxious and stressed.
C．They miss their kids very much.	D．They look forward to their own trip.

4. What does the author suggest grandparents do?

A．Get kids involved in travel planning.	B．Strengthen the bond with grandchildren.
C．Reduce skip-gen travel appropriately.	D．Make decisions in both sides’ interests.

9 . A new study combining linguistic, genetic and archaeological evidence has traced the origins of the family of languages including modern Japanese, Korean, Turkish and Mongolian and the people who speak them to millet (粟) farmers who inhabited a region in northeastern China about 9,000 years ago．

The findings detailed on Wednesday document a shared genetic ancestry for the hundreds of millions of people who speak what the researchers call Transeurasian languages across an area stretching more than 8,000 kilometers.

The findings illustrate how humankind’s embrace of agriculture following the Ice Age powered the movements of some of the world’s major language families. Millet was an important early crop as hunter-gatherers transitioned to an agricultural lifestyle.

There are 98 Transeurasian languages. This language family’s beginnings were traced to millet farmers in the Liao River valley, an area including parts of the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin and the region of Inner Mongolia. As these farmers moved across northeastern Asia, the descendant languages spread north and west into Siberia and east into Korea and over the sea to Japan over thousands of years.

The research stressed the complex beginnings for modern populations and cultures.

“Accepting that the roots of one’s language, culture or people lie beyond the present national boundaries is a kind of surrender of identity, which some people are not yet prepared to make,” said comparative linguist Martine Robbeets, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.

“Powerful nations such as Japan, Korea and China are often pictured as representing one language, one culture and one genetic profile. But a truth is that all languages, cultures and humans, including those in Asia, are mixed,” Robbeets added.

The origins of modern Chinese languages arose independently, though in a similar fashion, with millet also involved. While the ancestors of the Transeurasian languages grew millet in the Liao River valley, the originators of the Sino-Tibetan language family farmed millet at roughly the same time in China’s Yellow River region, paving the way for a separate language expansion.

1. What is the new study mainly about?

A．The migration routes of millet farmers.

B．The ancient origins of a large language family.

C．The different ancestries of Transeurasian speakers.

D．The shared features of some neighboring languages.

2. What fueled the spread of Transeurasian languages?

A．The transition of power.	B．The diversity of lifestyles.
C．The interaction of cultures.	D．The adoption of farming.

3. According to Robbeets, who may feel uncomfortable about the new findings?

A．Those from agricultural countries.

B．Those who deny their cultural identity.

C．Those with a strong sense of nationalism.

D．Those who are afraid to cross boundaries.

4. What is the main function of the last paragraph?

A．To draw a conclusion.

B．To present likely consequences.

C．To highlight the theme.

D．To offer additional information.

10 . The new member to the UAE's astronaut training program, the first female Emirati (阿联酋) astronaut, hopes that her mechanical engineering degree will be her ticket to the moon.

Nora AlMatrooshi and her fellow trainee astronaut Mohammad AlMulla were selected from 4000 highly qualified candidates to lead the nation’s 9.8 million citizens into space.

The two are looking forward to the laborious 30-month program ahead of them which has already begun with them getting their divers’ licences, picking up the Russian language and coaching for their many media interviews—and will move on to flight and weightlessness school at the Johnson Space Centre in Texas and eventually cruel survival training.

“They will need mechanical engineers to build a base on the moon,” says the 28-year-old, who represented her nation at the Mathematics Olympics and worked as an engineer at the National Petroleum Construction Company.

AlMatrooshi says she has dreamed of the stars since kindergarten, when her teacher set up the classroom as the Lunar surface and the five-year-old future astronaut constructed a cardboard moonbase. That early longing to explore space charted her degree choice.

“I actually went after it. I chose to study a degree in mechanical engineering because of a documentary I watched when I was in high school. It was about a group of astronauts going to the International Space Station and the role of the mechanical engineer was highlighted,” she say.

Leading big construction projects in the desert has helped equip the daughter of two academics—a PhD father and English teacher mother—for Lunar construction.

AlMatrooshi’s fellow trainee astronaut, UAE police helicopter pilot AlMulla, meanwhile says astronaut training has been “a big career change”.

“I spent 15 years qualifying to be a pilot, including training in Australia for my commercial pilot’s licence,” says the father of two. “As a pilot you get used to mastering everything—suddenly I’m changing my path.”

“I’m a big fan of SpaceX. The rockets and even the fancy space suits. And hopefully all four of us—and all the astronauts who come after us will get to be a part of future missions—perhaps even to the moon eventually.”

1. What preparation have they made before the training program?

A．They have grasped their native language.	B．They have had cruel survival training.
C．They have learned to deal with the press.	D．They have done some weightlessness training.

2. Which is the major factor for AlMatrooshi to be a member of the training program?

A．She got help from her academic parents.

B．She has had a big dream since her childhood.

C．She has experience in big construction projects.

D．She was the winner of the Mathematics Olympics.

3. What does the underlined part “I'm changing my path” refer to?

A．I’ll be a master of life.	B．I’m an enthusiast for SpaceX.
C．I’m settling my new problem.	D．I’m starting a new life from scratch.

4. Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?

A．The fans of Space X	B．Dream and achievements
C．Passion and preparations	D．Future astronaut training program