1. 主要景点及选择的理由；
2. 其他安排；
3. 具体时间与交通方式；
4. 你的期待。
参考词汇：Tian’anmen Square 天安门广场 The Forbidden City 故宫 Palace Museum 故宫博物馆 Bird’s Nest 鸟巢 the Great Wall 长城
注意：
1. 字数 80 词左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Tom,
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2 . The Mona Lisa is the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting of a woman with a mysterious smile. This week, the painting gave up a secret.
Scientists using X-rays to examine the chemical structure of a small part of the painting discovered a technique Leonardo used in the work. An oil paint used for it was a special, new chemical mixture, which suggests that the Italian artist was in an experimental mood when he worked on the painting in the 16th century.
“He loved to experiment, and each of his paintings is completely different technically,”said Victor Gonzalez, a chemist who has studied the chemical element (成分) of several works by Leonardo and other artists. The researchers found a rare lead compound (铅化合物) — plumbonacrite, in Leonardo’s first layer of paint. The discovery proved that da Vinci most likely used lead oxide to thicken and help dry his paint. The paint in the study is about the thickness of a human hair, lying in the top right area of the painting.
The scientists looked into its atomic structure using X-rays, moving particles at the speed of light, permitting researchers to look deeper into the paint structure. “ Plumbonacrite is really a fingerprint of his recipe, as it’s the first time we can chemically confirm it,” Gonzalez said.
Dutch artist Rembrandt may have used a similar mixture when he was painting in the 17th century. Gonzalez and other researchers have found plumbonacrite in his work, too. Leonardo is thought to have put lead oxide powder, which has an orange color, in the oil to make it thicker and dry faster. “What you will get is an oil that has a very nice golden color,” Gonzalez said. “It flows more like honey.”
But the Mona Lisa — said by the Louvre to be a portrait (肖像) of Lisa Gherardini, the wife of a Florentine silk businessman — and additional works by Leonardo still have other secrets to tell. “What we are saying is just a little brick in the knowledge,” Gonzalez said.
1. What’s the new discovery about the Mona Lisa?| A．A new explanation of the secret smile. |
| B．A new chemical element used in the painting. |
| C．The secret of the woman in the painting. |
| D．The structure of the paint da Vinci used. |
| A．Open secret. | B．Widespread use. | C．Hidden element. | D．Long-term dream. |
| A．It helps to make many things into paints. |
| B．It helps to make paints easy to deal with. |
| C．It helps to keep the paintings last long. |
| D．It helps to make paintings rich in color. |
| A．It has more secrets to tell the world. |
| B．It’s the portrait of a silk businessman. |
| C．It’s well kept in bricks in the Louvre. |
| D．It has a mixture of different art styles. |
3 . The giant Amazon rainforest in South America has been a mystery for centuries. It holds all kinds of natural wonders. Among them in Colombia, a river stands out as “the most beautiful river” in the world.
Locally called Carnio Cristales, this special river lies in a national park. It is made up of several waterfalls, rapids, and plenty of pools. For most of the year, Canio Cristales looks like a common river: clean, green, and rocky. However, during the short period between September and November, the river explodes (迸发) with life and colour. It appears as any mix of colours including blue, green, yellow, orange, and a purplish red. So it is also known as the “River of Five Colours”.
Although at first it may appear as if some chemicals were added to the water, this rainbow river is completely natural. Cafio Cristales' colours are the result of a rare (稀有) water plant which needs sunlight to grow. The plants change colour depending on how much sunlight they receive, and the amount is decided by the height and speed of the water. Therefore, it is possible for the plants to be totally colourless if the sunlight is too hard to get. They are a delicate plant. This makes them easily damaged in the water.
Actually, the river faces some problems, including drier seasons, wildlife trouble, waste management, and budget (预算) cuts. In 2007, the park was forced to close because it was over-crowded with tourists. Now the park admits only 200 people a day and requires them to mind their behaviour.
Today, Cano Cristales still shines among Colombia's most popular natural attractions, drawing thousands of tourists every year.
1. When is the best time to visit Cafio Cristales?| A．In January. | B．In March. | C．In June. | D．In October. |
| A．A special plant lives in it. | B．People add chemicals to it. |
| C．The water is badly polluted. | D．The weather is changeable there. |
| A．Special. | B．Weak. | C．Lively. | D．Beautiful. |
| A．Too many visitors. | B．The poor service. |
| C．Too much rubbish. | D．The wildlife problem. |
4 . I took up baking (烘焙) when I was twelve. At that time I was working on my school bakery project with my classmates. I tried a few times, but I wasn’t very successful. My parents. advised I learn from my grandmother, who later gave me her recipe and instruction as well. After two years’ practice, I was able to make delicious bread. I have come to realize making bread means a lot to me although it takes a long time.
To make bread, others usually use quick-rise yeast (酵母), but I don’t. Every Saturday morning, after mixing proper amount of water with flour, sugar etc, I take time to wait for the dough to rise. This is my way to slow down and smell the roses.
Baking does require great patience. In my hands, the dough is slowly growing. It’s becoming softer. I can feel the change, which connects me to something quite different from the modern way of living. To me, making bread is a push against our culture of convenience. It certainly takes more time than buying bread from a store, but I enjoy it.
I’ve stuck with my grandmother’s recipe without making any change. Now this tradition has continued for years. Sometimes, in order to fit it in, I have to change my schedule. But I have never considered giving it up.
By the time my children get home from school, the bread has been baked and cooled. They step into the house and the first thing they do is to take a deep breath of the warm, honeyed air. My bread-baking has also helped them to slow down and understand the value of taking their time and leading an unhurried life.
1. How is the writer’s bread-making different from others?| A．She uses less water. |
| B．She uses more sugar. |
| C．She doesn’t bake it a long time. |
| D．She doesn’t add quick-rise yeast. |
| A．Relaxing. | B．Exciting. | C．Fast. | D．Happy. |
| A．The recipe. | B．The plan. | C．The change | D．The tradition. |
| A．Do things in a slow way. |
| B．Bake bread at an early age. |
| C．Be thankful for parents’ work. |
| D．Get home from school in time. |
1. Why does the woman make the phone call?
| A．To make a booking. | B．To get barbecue stuff. | C．To reschedule a reservation. |
| A．On Saturday. | B．On Friday. | C．On Monday. |
| A．In the biggest area. | B．Near the fish pond. | C．Near the construction area. |
1. How long has the woman probably been waiting?
| A．For an hour. | B．For twenty minutes. | C．For ten minutes. |
| A．Two inches. | B．Three inches. | C．Four inches. |
| A．Work at home. | B．Have coffee with the man. | C．Contact a travel agency. |
| A．She is a tour guide. | B．She is a lawyer. | C．She is a waitress. |
1. Whose birthday was it yesterday?
| A．Mary's. | B．Mary's sister's | C．Jane's. |
| A．She stayed up typing a paper（论文）. |
| B．She had the party for a whole night. |
| C．She was too nervous to sleep last night. |
1. What does the speaker do?
| A．A coach. | B．A professor. | C．A doctor. |
| A．Making eye contact. | B．Dressing properly. | C．Having good posture. |
| A．Shaking hands with them. | B．Greeting them. | C．Using their names. |
| A．Not bothering others. |
| B．Not controlling the conversation. |
| C．Not letting others talk about themselves. |
The “Chuanbei Big Puppet (木偶) Show” in Nanchong, Sichuan Province,
The art dates back over 300 years, and 82-year-old Li Siyuan is a
You can’t
“The traditional puppet, along with the ability
The good news is that the big puppet show in Nanchong is slowly gaining
10 . Most people hate mosquitoes — but scientists are about to build a “mosquito factory” to release modified (改良的) mosquitoes.
The modified mosquitoes carry a bacterium called Wolbachia pipientis (沃尔巴克氏菌), which can be naturally found in most insect species. However, it’s rarely discovered in mosquitoes. “We actually grow these mosquitoes that contain the bacterium,” Scott O’Neill, an Australian scientist involved in the project, told CBC News. When the modified mosquitoes are released, they slowly spread the bacterium to the population.
Several studies have demonstrated the insects’ success. For example, a controlled experiment in Indonesia showed that the modified insect helped reduce the cases of the disease dengue (登革热) by 77 percent, according to a study paper published in 2021.
The World Mosquito Program has announced that it will release modified mosquitoes in many of Brazil’s urban areas over the next 10 years. The aim is to protect up to 70 million people from diseases such as dengue, an infectious disease mainly spread by mosquitoes.
Brazil has one of the highest rates of dengue infection in the world, according to the Nature website. “More than 1,000 people died of dengue in 2022 because of the spread of mosquitoes. It’s going everywhere,” Luciano Moreira, a scientist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, told CBC News.
Another way to prevent mosquitoes from spreading diseases is by producing genetically modified mosquitoes (GM). In 2022, the US Environmental Protection Agency cleared the release of 2.4 billion GM mosquitoes in California and Florida.
According to the agency, GM mosquitoes carry two types of genes: a self-limiting gene that prevents female offspring (后代) from surviving to adulthood; and a marker gene that allows researchers to identify GM ones in the wild. After being released, GM mosquitoes lay eggs, so the genes are passed on to offspring. In this way, the number of female mosquitoes is reduced, therefore reducing the chance of spreading disease.
1. What is the final purpose of building the “mosquito factory”?| A．To prevent the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. |
| B．To produce massive mosquitoes for scientific research. |
| C．To study the behavior of mosquitoes in different environments. |
| D．To replace the natural mosquito population with a modified one. |
| A．It states challenges facing the program. | B．It provides the background to the program. |
| C．It shows the expected effect of the program. | D．It indicates an opinion on the announcement. |
| A．By limiting their ability to lay eggs. | B．By making them immune to disease. |
| C．By reducing their offspring’s lifespans. | D．By allowing them to be easily identified. |
| A．Releasing GM Mosquitoes | B．Reducing Dengue in Brazil |
| C．Experimenting on Modified Insects | D．Modifying Infectious Mosquitoes |
