Beyond the Horizon
Oshima was sitting at the sea side but the beautiful site did not make her feel good. Her face was dull and gloomy. She was staring at the setting sun without an expression on her face.
But she was not an unhappy child like this always. Six months before, Oshima was a happy child who loved playing at the beach with her brother and sister. Her brother Mittsu used to make sandcastle and Oshima and her sister Osheen collected the sea shells. Her father always shouted, “Come home, it's late”, but they would not listen. The seaside was like their second home. At house also, they were a happy family who always laughed and played and had no problems to bother for.
One day all of a sudden something terrible happened. A violent tsunami came and took the entire country in its grip. It was a huge natural disaster. Most of the houses were washed away. The cities and towns were flooded with water. Oshima’s town was near the sea and so the tsunami flooded her town as well. Her house was washed and they lost all their belongings.
Her grandmother Midori cried and cried and was totally shocked. She has not seen such destruction in her whole life. They were homeless. Oshima wept and wept and complained that why a violent tsunami hit her city. She was very angry.
The government shifted them to a refugee (难民) camp where many families shared the living space. Helicopters dropped food packets and they had to stand in long queues even for drinking water. Their life had turned upside down. Oshima could see the sadness visible in her parents' eyes. Now she did not like the sea at all and always felt that the sea had broken her trust and was very disappointed with the waves. For her the sea was very cruel who had taken her beautiful house away.
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。
One day Oshima saw two little children playing in the camp without any trace of sadness on their face.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________A new ray of hope filled her spirits, making her cheer up.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________2 . How to overcome travel anxiety
If you want to travel, there shouldn’t be anything getting in your way.
To cope with travel anxiety, you need to figure out specifically what is making you feel anxious about your trip. Is it that you’ll be on the road for hours, that there would be things out of your control, or that you would have to be surrounded by a lot of people at an airport? Once you understand what causes your anxiety, you can ensure to plan ahead for the best ways to handle it.
Plan out your trip in as much de tail as possible.
One reason for anxiety when travelling is that you’re out of your comfort zone and won’t have full control over everything. To help ease that anxious feeling, try to make detailed travel arrangements. That will give you a sense of control. But it’s equally as important to think of alternative plans.
Have with you things that bring you joy.
Things that generally bring you joy can be extremely useful in distracting you from your negative feelings.
Don’t forget your physical health.
| A．Predict what challenges you might face. |
| B．Understand where your anxiety originates. |
| C．Sometimes, however, there can be problems. |
| D．Thus for anything that could not go as planned, you’re prepared. |
| E．Being physically active is a great way to reduce feelings of anxiety and stress. |
| F．The more you know about your upcoming trip, the more you’ll know what to expect. |
| G．These can include physical items like a book to read, or a game to occupy your attention. |
3 . The relationship between Jeffrey Pang and his son, Kevin Pang, was like hot-and-sour soup. It boiled over easily. The Pangs, who moved to the United States in 1988, wanted their son and daughter to know Chinese culture. As a video game-playing American teen, Kevin wasn’t interested.
But when Kevin became a food writer for the Chicago Tribune, he realized he had a valuable resource: his cook-laving dad. “My father and I shared, for the first time, a common interest. I would call to ask about recipes and cooking techniques. He would school me on the world of Chinese food,” Kevin writes in the introduction to the cookbook he has just published.
When it comes to cooking Chinese food, he points out that there is no one definition of Chinese food. “Chinese cooking is not hidebound. For example, consider baked pork chop rice, popularized in Hong Kong. It is a pork chop with egg-fried rice. And then you top it with this thick tomato sauce,” explains Kevin. “And then you top that with some cheese. It’s a very interesting combined dish that has some Western British influences, and it’s altogether very Chinese as well.”
By the time Kevin joined America’s Test Kitchen (ATK) staff in 2020 as its editorial director for digital content, his dad had become an Internet celebrity demonstrating the family’s recipes. Kevin recognized an opportunity not only to share his own family’s food stories but also to apply the ATK method of breaking down recipes into simple steps for the home cook.
“I think this cookbook can teach fathers and sons how to connect, how to find a common interest and improve their relationship, ” Kevin says. That feeling has found an enthusiastic fan base, generating nearly 3 million views, for their online cooking series “Hunger Pangs”, where viewers speak highly of their father-son bond as much as they do of their attractive dishes. Today the Pangs’ relationship is rarely sour or hot.
1. Why would Kevin phone his father after becoming a food writer?| A．To publish his Chinese cookbook. | B．To inquire about hot-and-sour soup. |
| C．To seek permission for video games. | D．To ask about cooking Chinese food. |
| A．Inflexible. | B．Inclusive. | C．Unpleasant. | D．Uncertain. |
| A．Their relationship has improved. | B．They run America’s. Test Kitchen. |
| C．They do dishes to attract followers. | D．Their cookbook is about low-fat food. |
| A．Cooking at home helps you cook well for less. | B．Father and son jointly teach Chinese cooking. |
| C．Chinese culture is becoming popular in the us. | D．Recipes and cooking techniques are really easy. |
4 . REGISTRATION OPENS FOR STUDENT ROBOTICS 2024
We’re excited to announce that registration for the 2024 season of Student Robotics is now open! Based in the UK, Student Robotics challenges teams of 16 to 19 year-olds to design, build and program fully autonomous robots to compete in our annual competition. Teams will have just three months to engineer their creations. As well as supplying teams with a kit, which they can use as a framework for their robot, we mentor (指导) the teams over this period. Thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, we provide all of this to our teams at no cost.
The competition cycle will start with a live streamed Kickstart event on our YouTube Channel. During the event, the game and the structure of the competition will be announced and kits handed out to teams.
The competition year will culminate (达到高潮) in an in-person competition from September 30 to October 1, 2024, which will see the robots compete through a league stage and a seeded knockout. As usual the prizes will recognise not only the teams which come top in the knockouts, but also those who are excellent in other ways.
Details of the game and prizes will be revealed at Kickstart. Details of the Kickstart and competition events will be published when they are available. We expect to confirm places towards the end of August, 2024.
If you would like a chance to compete in Student Robotics 2024, please fill in the entry form with the required information. The deadline of the registration is May 30, 2024. Places are limited, so please click here and sign up soon to avoid disappointment.
We look forward to seeing your teams!
1. What should participants do in Student Robotics?| A．Prepare a kit themselves. | B．Design a robot on the spot. |
| C．Work as a team. | D．Pay for the framework. |
| A．Two days. | B．Two weeks. | C．One month. | D．Three days. |
| A．A brochure. | B．A magazine. | C．A newspaper. | D．A website. |
5 . With the ocean covering more than 70% of the Earth’s surface, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said scientists and researchers had depended on sonar (声呐) technologies to understand and map the sea floor which had charted only about 10% of the world’s ocean. For the ocean and coastal waters in the US, the number is just around 35%.
We know less about our planet’s ocean than what we know about the far side of the moon or the surface of Mars. Part of the reason for the lack of observation is the challenge of powering an underwater camera. Researchers have used ships to recharge cameras or observed with a camera tied to a ship to solve the issue, which is expensive and unsuitable for long-term observations.
Recently, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have taken a major step to iron out this problem by developing a battery-free, wireless underwater camera that could harvest energy underwater on its own for long periods.
To keep power consumption as low as possible, the researchers used off-the-shelf, ultra-low-power imaging sensors. The device takes color photos, even in dark underwater environments, and sends image data wirelessly through the water.
The camera is powered by sound. It changes mechanical energy from sound waves traveling through water into electrical energy that powers its imaging and communications equipment. After getting and encoding image data, the camera also uses sound waves to send the data to a receiver that reconstructs the image. Those sound waves could come from any source, like a passing ship or marine life. As it doesn’t need a power source, the camera could run for weeks on end before getting it back, enabling scientists to search remote parts of the ocean for new species.
Now that researchers have demonstrated a working prototype (原型), they plan to enhance the device so it is practical in real-world settings. For future application, these cameras may be used to take images of ocean pollution and create more accurate models to monitor climate change to better understand how climate change impacts the underwater world, and advance various undersea scientific fields.
1. What do the data in paragraph 1 mainly show?| A．Undersea exploration is poor in the US. |
| B．Much of the planet’s ocean remains unexplored. |
| C．The mapping of the sea floor is time-consuming. |
| D．Technology development matters a lot to sea observation. |
| A．The complexity of the sea environment. |
| B．The concern about potential sea pollution. |
| C．The shortage of investment in ocean exploration. |
| D．The inability to effectively power underwater cameras. |
| A．Overcome. | B．Face. |
| C．Analyze. | D．Illustrate. |
| A．Secure and stable. | B．Expensive but effective. |
| C．Impractical but advanced. | D．Self-sufficient and energy-saving. |
6 . Most people believe that the human brain is set on “automatic” (自动运行的) — that means it learns all by itself. But this isn’t always true. We need to train ourselves to be better learners — to actively take part in the learning process and to reflect on what we have learnt. These kinds of learning behaviours are called “active learning”.
●Listen to the outer voice
There are two kinds of voices: the inner voice and the outer voice.
Although your inner voice can be useful, it can also get in the way of learning. If you keep paying too much attention to it, you risk missing important information.
If you find your inner voice difficult to control, you can argue with it as most active learners do. When your inner voice tells you a speaker/ writer is wrong, think about why the speaker / writer may be right. Be flexible in your opinions and you might end up agreeing with the speaker/ writer after all. If not, at least you have “listened to” another point of view.
●Ask questions
Asking questions is the easiest way to promote active learning. When you get information from someone, from books or the Internet, ask two, three, even five questions about the topic.
●Get to the truth
Active learners do not accept everything they learn.
| A．Argue with your inner voice |
| B．Focus on the message |
| C．I suggest doing four things to take an active role in your learning. |
| D．That is the truth that we cannot help disliking some people. |
| E．They attempt to find the truth at the heart of each idea. |
| F．The answers will lead you to further learning. |
| G．Your inner voice expresses your personal opinions, |
7 . Virtual reality (VR) is quickly becoming the new technological frontier. However, a set of challenges and hurdles need to be overcome, including things like low latency, the high refresh rate, high resolution and a wide field of view.
Now that we can actually build VR headsets that begin to meet these requirements, we are seeing a rising interest in VR. As it rises, so does the interest in creating new media to be experienced by using VR. Journalism is a medium built on relevance. Journalists should always be finding new ways to tell stories and deliver content. VR is a goldmine for storytelling. What better way to tell a story to someone than to put them right in the center of it?
By using VR, the consumer isn’t just reading or watching something played out; they’re experiencing it. The super-realistic effect of VR allows people to connect them with the subject matter on a much deeper level than just reading about it. Any storyteller wanting to do something more interesting than their peers should surely be considering the power of VR.
The question of VR, though, is not how powerful it is. It is apparent that the question of VR is its availability. Telling stories must be easy to do, and access to those stories must be readily available. This is the biggest challenge that VR faces. If the tools to tell a story with VR aren’t easy to pick up and learn, VR will fail. If VR isn’t both top-of-the-line and affordable, VR will fail.
Accessibility is one concern for Thomas Hallaq. However, he thinks VR is still very promising. Hallaq said, “We’re seeing more technology becoming accessible, and more people having access to that technology. Just look at smartphones.” If the technology is widely available and companies can overcome the hurdles, VR will succeed in being a desirable means of storytelling. Like radio, TV and the Internet before it, VR will change the way we tell stories.
1. Why is VR considered a power tool for journalism?| A．It entertains the consumers. | B．It delivers content very fast. |
| C．It is equipped with improved headsets. | D．It gets people’s senses fully involved. |
| A．Easy access. | B．New resources. |
| C．Public acceptance. | D．Technical barriers. |
| A．The longest in history. | B．The highest in price. |
| C．The best in quality. | D．The largest in quantity. |
| A．Approaches to employing VR. |
| B．VR: the future of storytelling. |
| C．Secrets of the increasing popularity of VR. |
| D．Storytelling ability: the quality of journalists. |
8 . Imagine Hying over the city in an electric powered aircraft that has no pilot but can take you from point A to point B in minutes. Sounds like science fiction, right? Well, not anymore. China-based Ehang has become the world’s first company to receive official approval to fly passengers in its pilotless air taxis.
Ehang’s EH216-S air taxis are electric vertical (垂直的) takeoff and landing aircraft, also called eVToL for short. The air taris can carry up to wo passengers or about 270kg of goods. They can fly at speeds of up to 130kmb and distances of up to 28km. The air taris are controlled by a central command centre that monitor the light, routes and weather conditions.
Passengers can simply select their destination on a touchscreen inside the cabin and enjoy the ride without worrying about piloting the aircraft. The taxis do not require airports or runways. They can take off and land vertically from any flat surface.
The air taxis use electric power to reduce environmental harm caused by emissions. They can be fully charged in two hours and have bow nose levels. They also have backup batteries and emergency landing systems and parachutes in case anything goes wrong.
They could transform how we travel around big cities —imagine using them to avoid traffic jams, save time on the daily commute (通勤) to work or school, or get to places that are hard to reach by car or public transport. And beyond just moving people, the aircraft can be used for delivering goods, such as packages, medical supplies or food. During natural disasters such as bushfires or foods, air taxis could transport much-needed medical staff, equipment or medicines to the scene quickly and safely.
One big challenge will be gaining the trust of the public and convincing commuters they are safe while flying. To do this, Ehang will educate passengers about the benefits and risks of using its taxis while also addressing potential issues and concerns about noise levels, privacy and the environmental impact.
1. What do we know about EH216-S air taxis?| A．They don’t make any noise. | B．They are environment-friendly. |
| C．They are controlled by eVTOL. | D．They can carry 270kg of goods and two persons. |
| A．A swimming pool. | B．An empty street. |
| C．A crowded car park. | D．A woody valley. |
| A．Where air taxis can work. | B．When air taxis function well. |
| C．Why air taxis are needed. | D．How air taxis can be used. |
| A．By providing a free tip for brave passengers. |
| B．By rewarding the most reliable passengers. |
| C．By explaining is taxis advantages and disadvantages. |
| D．By stressing the importance of environmental protection. |
1.写信目的；
2.提出建议。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Peter,
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
10 . HOW TO DO HARD THINGS
It’s an inconvenient truth that the road to success isn’t a secret. Most of us know exactly what we need to do to improve our lives.
First, you need to make sure you know what the hard, but effective thing is in the skill or job that you want to improve.
Figure out your why. Make sure you know why you want to do this hard thing.
Leave the doubts behind. When you’re doing something hard, your brain will try to find ways to stop doing it. You’ll want to look things up or find easy ways of doing the hard thing. Don’t give in to these tempting arguments during your hard work sessions.
If you keep improving yourself by doing hard things, you’ll be getting better at your targeted skill. So don’t spend too much time working around the hard task. Just do the hard thing instead.
| A．This should be easy to figure out. |
| B．Change your thinking so the hard thing looks good. |
| C．But we don’t do those things because they are hard. |
| D．Make a commitment and turn the hard thing into a habit. |
| E．If you are not clear about it, you’ll lose motivation quickly. |
| F．Do whatever you want after or before, but stay focused during. |
| G．Life is hard sometimes, and you will have to do hard things at some point. |
