1 . 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。

Self-Portrait

Alia was disappointed to find herself in the drawing studio. She had been sick with the flu during the week when everyone else got to pick their classes. She had hoped for Astronomy or Marine Biology, but they were full by the time she got to choose. She loved everything about science, from the way it used facts and formulas to how it revealed the basic nature of things. But art was so un-scientific.

The first class project was self-portraits. Some students were drawing self-portraits using mirrors. Others were working from photographs. Alia glanced at the incomplete sketches, feeling like a cat in a dog show. But she had no choice. Hesitantly, she lifted a pencil, only to pause before the canvas. Confusion and reluctance were evidently written on her face; she had no idea how to proceed with her strokes.

The teacher came up to Alia’s easel (画架). Seemingly having noticed her trouble, he sat next to her.

“Every portrait begins with a circle,” he said. “Then you create a series of lines.”

To demonstrate, he drew a group of small, quick portraits. He began each one with a circle, some straight lines, and a triangle to determine where the eyes, nose, and chin should go. To Alia’s amazement, each portrait on the paper took form. Alia had never thought about it, but the features of everyone’s face were in the same spots. “Go ahead and give it a try.” The teacher handed the pencil back to her.

Taking a deep breath, Alia began her own self-portrait. She drew the basic form of a head, the way she had been shown. From there, she used lines to plot the features of her face. She had to take note of each detail, with each stroke, line and curve demanding her close attention. One wrong measurement could throw off the whole portrait.

注意：
1. 所续写短文的词数应为150左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。

The process took patience and precision.

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Admiring her work, Alia suddenly realized drawing was just what she had hoped for.

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2 . The text from my son said it all: “Dad, there’s an article you were born to write that the world is finally ready for: Bring Back the Handkerchief!” As my son knows, there’s no “bring back” for me. For me, the handkerchief never left.

My mother raised me with several fixed rules. One was that a gentleman always has a clean handkerchief in his right rear pocket, a piece of simple cotton, roughly 15 inches square and less than four inches when folded. I was a dutiful son, but as a child, I had been wondering what it was there for. After 60 years, my body weight now feels wrong if I’m heading out of the house with an empty back pocket.

I am sure this habit has sometimes struck friends but in polite company nobody comments on somebody else’s business. Children like my kids think of my hankie ridiculously old-fashioned and they have their arguments. If you have to be prepared every day for allergies or a cold, why not choose a little packet of tissues, which saves you from that disgusting business of blowing your nose in the thing and then stuffing it back in your pants?

Point taken. But a handkerchief is more durable and has a far wider variety of uses. Can you grab the handle of a pot that’s boiling over with a Kleenex? Or do you recall the cases of skinned knees and drippy noses that hankie wiped? In fact, my wife gave me several new handkerchiefs as gifts. Neither of us can count the number of times her eyes have welled up at a movie, or, as happens, she’s needed to blow her nose.

Yet not even my mother could have anticipated the hankie’s new role as an Essential Public Health Appliance. All of us have learnt how hard it is to follow advice from medical experts about not touching your face. Here is an answer. Use your hankie. In case of emergency, your handkerchief can become a makeshift DIY mask that can be pulled over your lower face like a robber entering a bank.

And it will certainly give me the chance to lift my chin and look at my adult children through one eye, asking in her good-hearted way, “What do you have to say now, smarty-pants?”

1. What kind of person is the author in the eye of his son?

A．His father is a born writer.

B．His father lost his handkerchief long ago.

C．His father will bring back the handkerchief.

D．His father has a habit of using handkerchief.

2. How do the younger generation like the handkerchief?

A．They adore it very much.

B．They regard it as fashionable.

C．They consider it inconvenient.

D．They desire to have their own someday.

3. What can be learned from the passage?

A．The function of handkerchiefs has been updated.

B．Handkerchiefs will be taken over by tissues sooner or later.

C．The author’s wife feels embarrassed to give him a handkerchief.

D．The author was ridiculed by his friends for his use of handkerchiefs.

4. What’s the tone of the author in the passage?

A．Bossy

B．Humorous

C．Pessimistic

D．Critical

3 . 短文填空：阅读下面短文，在空白处填入1个适当的单词或括号内单词的正确形式。

Visitors have flocked from far and wide     1     (visit) the world’s largest ice and snow festival dubbed (称为) “Disneyland on ice” recently. This is China’s Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival — a family friendly, fun-filled dream land     2     (fill) with intricately designed ice sculptures. Although visitors are treated     3     masses of ice sculptures throughout Harbin City, Sun Island and Ice and Snow World, are the two main areas. Ice and Snow World area is largely open at night, and     4     (feature) illuminated ice skyscrapers. This year, they’ve also added such a towering snowflake Ferris wheel     5     visitors can take in the     6     (complete) of this impressive winter wonderland from the air. The festival has established     7     (it)as one of the best winter celebrations worldwide, and has been pulling in an estimated 28.7 billion yuan per year.

One travel guide said: “I’ve always had     8     difficult time with winter, or at least the idea of it. I’ve associated winter with misery, irrespective of how I     9     (physical) react to the cold, and have gone to great     10     (length) to deny its very existence. But exploring China’s Harbin Ice and Snow Festival brought me indescribable joy.”

4 . “THE ANT AND THE ZEBRA” sounds like the title of a Aesop’s fable. Like all good fables, this one has a moral, which is that tinkering with nature has unpredictable consequences. Unlike the Greek originals, though, this fable is real.

The story plays out in Laikipia county, Kenya. The characters include big-headed ants, an invasive species, the native acacia ants, these invasive ants have gradually been replacing, the whistling-thorn trees where both sorts of ants live, a cast of elephants, lions, zebras and buffalo, and Douglas Kamaru, a Kenyan biologist in the University of Wyoming. As Mr Kamaru reports this week in Science, the ant invasion has set off a complicated chain of consequences which has helped zebras at the expense of buffalo — thus illustrating a phenomenon called “trophic cascade”.

It works like this. Whistling-thorns have co-evolved with the local ants. The trees provide the ants with shelter and food, in the form of large, hollow thorns into which they produce nutritious nectar. The ants, meanwhile, protect the trees by seeing off the chief threat to them, the local elephants, which are not keen to feed on trees crawling with biting insects.

Acacia ants’ habitat are thickly carpeted with whistling-thorns. Big-headed ants, however, are not good at keeping the elephants at bay. The elephants move in and bite the trees, removing much of the area’s cover. That upsets the local lions, which often use this cover to hide when hunting zebra. To compensate, the lions switch to hunting buffalo, which are more dangerous, but less fleet of foot.

Mr Kamaru has put numbers to the process, too. In invaded areas, elephants break trees five to seven times as often as in uninvaded ones. And in those uninvaded places, zebra kills are almost three times as frequent as in the invaded ones. Indeed, between 2003 and 2020, as the big-headed ants have spread, the percentage of local lion kills where the victims was a zebra fell from 67% to 42%. Over the same period, the percentage of kills that were buffalo rose from zero to 42%. Whether the buffalo blame the ants for their misfortune, no one knows.

1. What does the underlined phrase “tinkering with” probably mean in the 1st paragraph?

A．making changes to	B．paying attention to
C．finding fault with	D．showing respect for

2. The “trophic cascade” in the passage happened when ________.

A．animal habitat in a specific area was preserved

B．an invasive species suffered a lack of food supply

C．certain plants were affected by human activities

D．a particular species in the food chain was replaced

3. Why did the lions change their targets of attack when hunting?

A．Because it becomes less risky to hunt the buffalo.

B．Because greater visibility makes it hard to hunt zebra.

C．Because they are not good at keeping the elephants away.

D．Because they are upset by the presence of big-headed ants.

4. Which of the following is probably the best title for the passage?

A．How ants and buffalo defeated lions.

B．How elephants landed zebra in trouble.

C．How trees changed lions’ dinner menu.

D．How ants persuaded lions to eat buffalo.

5 . Exhibitions of the British Museum in 2024

Legion life in the Roman army 1 Feb 2024-23 Jun 2024 Adults from E22, Members and under-16s free.	Admonitions of the instructress to the court ladies 8 July-18 August 2024 Free
Experience Rome’s war machine through the people who knew it best. Expansive yet deeply personal, this exhibition transports you through the life and service of a real Roman soldier, Claudius Terentianus, from enlistment and campaigns to enforcing occupation then finally retirement. Objects include letters written on papyri and the Vindolanda tablets, revealing first-hand what daily life was like for soldiers and the women, children and enslaved people who accompanied them.	This masterpiece is considered a milestone in Chinese painting history. Traditionally attributed to Gu Kaizhi (about AD345-406), it probably dates to between AD 400 and700. Due to conservation precautions, it can only be displayed for six weeks a year. The Admonitions Scroll depicts a poetic text composed by an official Zhang Hua（about AD 232-300）aimed at correcting the behaviour of an empress. The Scroll carries inscriptions (题词) by later collectors including the Qianlong emperor.
Gesture and line 5 October 2023-1 April 2024 Free Explore the work of four artists who spearheaded (引领) the practice of drawing in the post-war years. From the 1960s drawing assumed a prominent position among a rising generation of post-war artists in Germany and Austria. This exhibition examines works on paper by four of these artists, who are still comparatively little known in the UK.	Around the world in 90 24 Feb2024-24 Mar 2024 £ 14 Adults and children aged 12+ Explore some of the most famous objects on display at the Museum. Follow our knowledgeable volunteer tour guide on a journey of discovery around the galleries. See spectacular sculptures from ancient Greece, explore life and death in ancient Egypt and get closer to many more highlights from the collection.

1. What can be learnt from Legion life in the Roman army?

A．The rise and fall of the Roman empire.	B．The function of machines in the war.
C．Daily objects used by Roman civilians.	D．Life records of a retired Roman soldier.

2. What can we know about The Admonitions Scroll from the passage?

A．It is on display every 6 weeks.	B．It changes the course of painting.
C．It bears Qianlong’s handwriting on it.	D．It was created by official Zhang Hua.

3. Which exhibition would a person interested in contemporary art choose?

A．Gesture and line.

B．Around the world in 90.

C．Legion life in the Roman army.

D．Admonitions of the instructress to the court ladies.

6 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. What will the weather be like on Christmas day?

A．Dry.

B．Rainy.

C．Snowy.

2. When will people probably go to shop in the sales?

A．On Christmas Eve.

B．On Christmas Day.

C．On Boxing Day.

3. What does the speaker suggest people do for New Year?

A．Watch the roads when driving.

B．Wear warm clothes when going out.

C．Stay indoors and drink hot chocolate.

4. What is the main topic of the talk?

A．The weather condition during Christmas period.

B．The plan on celebrating the New Year.

C．The arrangement on Boxing Day.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Who lives above the speakers?

A．Mrs. Green.

B．Mr. Black.

C．Mr. Jones.

2. Where is Mr. Jones now probably?

A．In another city.

B．In his apartment.

C．At the fire department.

3. What will the man do next?

A．Phone for help.

B．Break down the door.

C．Stop the water from reaching his carpet.

8 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. When was the last time the speakers were in a theater?

A．January.

B．March.

C．July.

2. What stage show did the speakers watch on television?

A．Cats.

B．Romeo and Juliet.

C．Hamilton.

9 . Every Friday night the Chevron gas station food mart offers a discount on the leftover food. To ensure the best selection, my mother and I pile into our old car and _________ in front of the mart at five p. m. sharp, ready to get our _________.

Chevron shopping _________ like this: One day my mother suddenly realized that she had maxed out (透支) almost every credit card except the Chevron card and we needed groceries for the week. Since our first _________ there, I’ve learned to believe in flexibility. In my life, it has become necessary to _________ the idea of grocery shopping. My mother and I can no longer shop at real grocery stores, _________ we still get the necessities.

Grocery shopping at Chevron has its _________. The worst is when we have so many items that it takes the cashier what seems like hours to ring up everything. A line of _________ customers formed behind us. It’s that line that _________ the most-the way they look at us. My mother never notices — or maybe she __________ not to.

I’m __________ to shop there, and I’m afraid of running into someone I know. I once expressed my fear of being seen shopping at Chevron to my mother, and her eyes shone with disappointment. I know that I hurt her feelings when I try to __________ our weekly shopping trips.

And that is why I hold on to the idea of __________ so tightly. Whenever I feel the __________ rise to my face, I remind myself at this point in my life I am struggling does not mean that I will always struggle. I know that whatever happens, we will always __________ a way to survive.

1.

A．settle down

B．pull up

C．hang about

D．show off

2.

A．award

B．share

C．change

D．credit

3.

A．continued

B．started

C．ran

D．worked

4.

A．encounter

B．match

C．inspection

D．visit

5.

A．dismiss

B．develop

C．bend

D．accept

6.

A．but

B．so

C．when

D．unless

7.

A．purposes

B．drawbacks

C．features

D．grounds

8.

A．excited

B．guilty

C．grateful

D．anxious

9.

A．declines

B．suffers

C．hurts

D．struggles

10.

A．threatens

B．promises

C．agrees

D．pretends

11.

A．shocked

B．confused

C．embarrassed

D．bored

12.

A．avoid

B．join

C．arrange

D．cancel

13.

A．simplicity

B．generosity

C．integrity

D．flexibility

14.

A．pride

B．bitterness

C．heat

D．sweat

15.

A．figure out

B．wait for

C．agree on

D．break off

10 . If you want to make a good first impression in that important business meeting, it is no longer about wearing the sharpest suit or the firmest handshake but about making sure that the little Zoom window with your face in it projects professionalism. But this isn’t always easy.     1     Here are some tips.

• Don’t hold your phone.

If you absolutely must join the meeting on your phone, then don’t hold it in your hand.     2     Your colleagues won’t see your picture swinging about wildly. And the camera won’t suddenly look up your nose when you naturally pull your phone closer to your face.

•     3    

How the light falls on our faces counts. So make sure that you don’t have a big, direct source of light behind you, because all it will do is make your face dark and hard to see — and that’s the most important part!

• A professional microphone makes up for bad video.

The built-in microphones inside our computers can be pretty good, but they’re never truly great.     4     What matters is that people should be able to hear what you’re saying.

• Don’t rely on the default (默认) camera.

    5     This could help create the illusion of eye contact. However, this isn’t always easy, especially if you’re using a laptop and are sitting at a desk, towering above it. It might be worth getting an external camera you can put on top of a monitor.

A．Lighting makes the difference.

B．Do put on make-up on your face.

C．Instead, obtain a phone stand to hold it.

D．The ideal position for your camera is at your eye-level.

E．What can you do to ensure a successful business meeting?

F．So it’s worth spending the money on a dedicated external microphone.

G．So what can you do to make sure your video calls project the right image?