1 . If you feel that making friends as a kid is easy, you’re right. “They have a break between lessons and gym classes. They can let their guard down,” says Marisa G. Franco, a sought-after friendship & belonging expert. However, it’s not the case for adults. Even though they see their colleagues every day, they still find it never easy to be friends with them.
In the US, for example, a 2021 survey by the American Enterprise Institute, found that the number of adults who said they had no close friends had increased four times since 1990, going from 3 percent to 12 percent. “We’ve never been more disconnected,” says psychologist and author Jody Carrington. Although adults spend time together from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm and even late into the night, the fast-paced work pattern dictates that communication is limited to the content of the work, and after work, they immediately go back to homes, leaving no extra energy to have unplanned interactions to develop further friendship.
Research by Brigham Young University psychologist Julianne Holt-Lunstad has shown that loneliness is a major threat to longevity (长寿), same as smoking 15 cigarettes a day or being an alcoholic. People who are lonely or socially cut off have a higher risk of having diseases like depression, dementia and cardiac death. On the another side, healthy friendships can help us a lot, doing better with stress and living happier and longer. Plus, happiness is contagious. Harvard researchers found that when an individual becomes happy, his or her friends who live in a 1.6-kilometre radius have a 25 percent higher chance of getting a boost in happiness, too.
Hence, making and deepening friendships matters more than we imagine, You might think making friends is an inherent skill that doesn’t need to be taught. It’s not the case. We can all get better at connection if we try. Some experts offer some tricks to make finding connection a little easier.
1. How does the author lead in the topic of the text?| A．By listing a lot of figures. | B．By drawing a conclusion. |
| C．By making a comparison. | D．By showing a conversation. |
| A．Lack of breaks in the workplace. | B．Worry about being deeply hurt. |
| C．Unwillingness to communicate. | D．Lack of unplanned interactions. |
| A．The approach to leading a happy life. | B．The necessity of staying connected. |
| C．The consequences of getting into bad habits. | D．The relationship between happiness and habits. |
| A．Sustainable. | B．Influential. | C．Flexible. | D．Unique. |
Sports Day was getting close in the school. All the children were very excited and were practicing for the big race. John, one of the fast runners of the school, was confident that he would win for he was not doing anything at all. “You have to work hard to come first in the race John. You are not practicing at all,” said John’s mother.
“Mom, you know how fast I am! Why should I waste my time running? Only I will win; no one else will win!”said John. “John, you may be right but talent (天赋) without hard work is not good at all. This laziness of yours will cost you greatly,” his mother warned him. John just laughed. He was so confident that he would win the trophy (奖杯) as no one else in his class was as fast as he was!.
Tim, a classmate of John, was also participating (参加) in the running race. He was not a fast runner. However, he practiced till late at night and had developed great endurance (持久力) to run the race.
There were a few days left for the Sports Day but John did not practice at all. On the other hand, Tim practiced day and night.
The Sports Day was almost around the corner but John was confident that no one could beat him and had not practiced at all. But Tim with his hard work had become a very great runner.
At last, the Sports Day arrived. All the students showed up on the ground to cheer their favorites. The coach blew the whistle (口哨) and everyone began to run toward the finishing line. It was so exciting. John and Tim left all the racers far behind. Both of them were neck to neck.
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。
Suddenly, John went ahead of Tim.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________John’s mother came up to Tim and praised him for his hard work.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________3 . Romero is an 84-year-old man. He owes his
On November 27, Romero left his home for a short trip, but he didn’t come back
The police with trained dogs were brought in to
According to one member of the search team, the brown dog
The
| A．survival | B．poverty | C．promotion | D．identity |
| A．fighters | B．strangers | C．rescuers | D．hunters |
| A．by turn | B．at times | C．in advance | D．as usual |
| A．inspired | B．concerned | C．satisfied | D．confused |
| A．reported | B．exposed | C．transported | D．introduced |
| A．employ | B．assess | C．convince | D．seek |
| A．graduation | B．competition | C．disappearance | D．consumption |
| A．attempt | B．suggestion | C．conclusion | D．defence |
| A．spotted | B．dragged | C．pointed | D．guided |
| A．defeated | B．trapped | C．cheated | D．permitted |
| A．accounted for | B．made out | C．cared about | D．resulted from |
| A．strangely | B．equally | C．suddenly | D．obviously |
| A．hesitated | B．shouted | C．remained | D．whispered |
| A．responsibility | B．recovery | C．cooperation | D．arrival |
| A．compared | B．associated | C．reunited | D．pleased |
Brianna Kemp’s father had to move her entire family from Chicago to a small town in Maryland after his business went bankrupt. He didn’t lose faith in life, though, and decided to start his family’s new life there.
Along with the move came a new school for Brianna, who was 14 years old. She had a difficult time accepting the move, as she was a popular cheerleader at her school in Chicago. She also had a good set of friends, and she didn’t exactly like meeting new people.
When it was time to go to school, her father drove her there to wish her well. “Good luck, sweetheart. I know this is going to be difficult for you, but you can do it. I know you can!” he said, giving her a kiss on the forehead.
“Thanks, Dad,” Brianna said quietly before leaving the car. While she was sad, Brianna didn’t want her dad to worry even more, so she put on a brave smile and waved before her father drove away.
When she got to the school, she was greeted by the school secretary, Mrs. Keppler. “Hello, welcome to Chester Middle School! I’m going to give you a quick tour of the school,” she said.
“Thank you,” Brianna responded shyly and nervously.
Mrs. Keppler showed Brianna around, pointing her to the cafeteria, the school auditorium, and the gym. They also passed through the art and music rooms, the science laboratories, and the kitchen.
Finally, Brianna was led to the classroom and started her suffering first school day. Faced up with so many new faces, she made a brief self-introduction, still nervous. Then she was guided to sit in the back row alone. During the breaks, all the students seemed so familiar with each other. Brianna found it hard to start a conversation with any one of them, as they were always busy with their own friends. She felt like she was an outsider and didn’t belong. What a suffering the first school day was! So were the following weeks.
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。
When the day was finally over, Brianna shared her day with her father.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Over the next few weeks, things changed beyond Brianna’s imagination.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________1. 你的经历；
2. 你的感受。
注意：
1. 写作词数应为80左右；
2. 请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
An Unforgettable Sports Meet
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Zhang Xuehua is
Zhang
The walls of Zhang’s studio are covered with work, large and small, with subjects
7 . Everyone feels a little jealous (妒忌的) once in a while. But when the feeling begins to ruin your relationship and cause you stress, it’s probably time to start looking for ways to get rid of it. Here are some tips to help you along the way.
Sometimes there are deeper underlying (潜在的) issues that fuel jealousy. Once you admit that you’re struggling with jealousy, it’s time to start looking into why you’re feeling that way.
Use your jealousy to motivate yourself
Sometimes jealousy is rooted in feelings of insecurity and a lack of self-confidence.
Constantly comparing yourself to others can fuel feelings of insecurity. It can be tempting to compare yourself to others and want to compete against them. However, constantly setting yourself up against others can just make your jealousy and feelings of insecurity worse. Stop doing that.
| A．Find the root of your jealousy |
| B．Engage yourself in meaningful activities |
| C．Focus on yourself and how you’re doing instead |
| D．They are able to help you with increasing your confidence |
| E．However, it’s important to find your own unique strengths |
| F．For example, low self-confidence is often a cause of jealousy |
| G．Your jealousy might be just what you need to seek what you want |
8 . Coral reefs(珊瑚礁) are a unique ocean ecosystem consisting of rocky structures mainly formed by coral animals and some other ocean life. Despite only covering 0. 2 percent of the ocean floor, coral reefs support at least 25 percent of marine species, as well as providing food and economic security for hundreds of millions of people.
However, coral reefs across the world are under threat. Warmer oceans can cause the coral bleaching(漂白). It happens when the corals lose colored algae(海藻) living in their bodies and turn completely white. Without the algae, the corals lose their main food source and can die. In addition, as oceans become more acidic(酸性的) from absorbing CO₂, corals in acidic conditions become weak in forming reefs.
In 2021, the United Nations reported a 14 percent loss of corals across the world largely from rising sea temperatures in the previous 13 years. Australia declared mass bleaching events in 2022 across large parts of the Great Barrier Reef, four times since 2016. Data from the Philippines showed higher than usual ocean temperatures between 2015 and 2017 had caused a serious three-year bleaching events in reefs across the planet.
Scientists have been cooperating to see how coral reefs can be protected. Thankfully, they find those coral reefs in the hot parts of the globe are the worst affected. They contain corals with better heat resistance. So their research focus on finding genes(基因) for heat tolerance so that they can be passed on to future generations. Biologists also mix corals that are more resilient to higher temperatures with those that are not and the resulting generation has a better chance of survival.
Ultimately, scientists add that without a serious decline in greenhouse gas, 99 percent of the world’s coral reefs will be gone by the end of the century. There is a limit to how quickly corals can adapt warm climate, but if temperatures rise rapidly, then extinction is certain.
1. Which is the main threat to coral reefs?| A．Declining ocean acidification. | B．Loss of colored algae. |
| C．Increasing sea temperatures. | D．Lack of food source. |
| A．No actions are taken to protect coral reefs. |
| B．Coral bleaching is the worst in Australia. |
| C．Coral reefs have grown rapidly for years. |
| D．Coral reefs receive impacts globally. |
| A．Reducing greenhouse gas emission. | B．Transplanting them to the hot parts. |
| C．Relying on genes science. | D．Limiting their spread. |
| A．Where Are Coral Reefs Spread? |
| B．How Can Coral Reefs Survive? |
| C．Coral Reefs, A New Threat To Ocean Life |
| D．Coral Reefs, A Busy Underwater Community |
9 . Our history is rich with remarkable scientists who helped advance the development of our society. Here are some of them.
Isaac Newton (1643-1727)
Isaac Newton is considered by many to be the greatest scientist of all time. There weren’t many subjects that Newton didn’t have a significant impact on—he was one of the inventors of calculus (微积分), built the first reflecting telescope, and helped establish the field of classical mechanics(力学). He was the first to divide white light into its component colors and he gave us the three laws of motion, now known as Newton’s laws.
Emmy Noether (1882-1935)
Emmy Noether was a German mathematician particularly known for Noether’s theorem, which establishes a fundamental connection in symmetries (对称) in physics. It is considered a milestone of modern theoretical physics. Her contributions are foundational in various branches of mathematics as well, such as abstract algebra, algebraic geometry and topology.
Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855)
Carl Friedrich Gauss was born in a poor family in Germany and quickly showed himself to be a brilliant mathematician. He published Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, a foundational textbook that laid out the principles of number theory. Many of the advancements that we’ve made in using computers to solve problems are solved using number theory. Gauss was productive, and his work on number theory was just a small part of his contribution to math.
John von Neumann (1903-1957)
Before 1940, John von Neumann focused primarily on mathematics. Then he turned to its practical use, designing the structure of nearly every single computer today. Right now, whatever device that you are reading this on, whether a phone or computer, is cycling through a series of basic steps billions of times over each second, steps that were first thought up by John von Neumann. Remarkably, He proposed a theory of global warming caused by human activity.
1. Who put forward a theory about an environmental issue?| A．Isaac Newton. | B．Emmy Noether. | C．Carl Friedrich Gauss. | D．John von Neumann. |
| A．They showed a gift for physics since young. |
| B．They contributed a lot to the computer field. |
| C．They were highly established in mathematics. |
| D．They were from a similar family background. |
| A．Environment. | B．Figure. | C．Culture. | D．News. |
10 . In 1999, Rebecca Constantino began doing a study at schools across Los Angeles. She had just completed a PhD in Language, Literacy and Learning, and she was analyzing children’s access to books in wealthy and low-income communities.
One day, she saw something that stopped her in her tracks. “I was at a school in a wealthy community, and they were getting rid of almost brand-new books because they didn’t have room in the library, “said Constantino. She put the books in her car and drove them to a school in an underserved community.
Shocked by the difference she saw in public school libraries, Constantino became determined to bridge the gap. “School libraries are not funded well, and sometimes not funded at all,” said Constantino. “If you’re a child in an underserved community, you’re left with boring, outdated, and uninteresting books. “
The word about Constantino’s work was spread, and books began piling up. Today, her nonprofit organization, Access Books, has provided more than 1. 5 million books to public-school and community libraries across California. The group has also redecorated close to 350 libraries in public schools and homeless shelters.
Constantino recruits (招募) volunteers who work alongside the community to create a warm, vibrant (充满生机的) and welcoming library space. Students and their families, as well as school staff and teachers, come together to join in. “We’re working together. It’s not a gift; it’s a partnership. It really builds a sense of community,” said Constantino.
In addition to book donations and refurbishing (再装修) libraries, the group offers author visits with schools and holds an annual writers conference for kids. Constantino said, “If we provide high-interest books and a beautiful library space, they do come and they do read. We found that in the schools that we serve, the number of books borrowed increases significantly after our coming. So we know that kids are really interested in the books that we give. My goal is that kids can always have a friend in a book and they can always turn to a book to find comfort and to learn something.”
1. Why did Constantino do the study in 1999?| A．To prepare for a PhD. |
| B．To reduce the waste of books. |
| C．To donate more books to poor communities. |
| D．To figure out kids’ ways of gaining reading books. |
| A．By obtaining donated books. |
| B．By raising money on the street. |
| C．By founding a profitable organization. |
| D．By getting support from the local government. |
| A．Challenging. | B．Successful. | C．Depressing. | D．Doubtful. |
| A．They can turn to writers on campus. |
| B．They are more willing to read books. |
| C．They donate their own books to school libraries. |
| D．They think the books on the shelf difficult to read. |
