1 . In 2019, after retiring from her career as a social worker, Ane Freed - Kernis decided to build a home workshop and devote all of her free time to stone carving. “I might be covered head to to e in dust but I’m happy — it was something I needed more of in my life when I hit 60,” she says.

This appeal has its origins in Freed - Kernis’ childhood. Growing up on her father’s farm in Denmark, she used to wander through the fields with her eyes fixed on the ground, looking for stones to add to her collection. “I’ve always been drawn to the shapes and textures (质地) of stones,” she says.

After moving to England in 1977 and training as a social worker, Freed - Kernis soon became occupied with her busy career and the demands of raising her son. Stones were the last thing on her mind, until her father died in 2005. “He took a stone carving course in his retirement, and I always thought stone seemed so fun but never had the time to look into it myself,” she says. “After he died, I became determined to learn in his honour.”

Signing up for a week-long stone carving course at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, Freed-Kernis began to learn how to turn a block of rock into well-designed shapes. “It was really scary at the start because you would spend hours just hammering (锤打).”

Now 65, Freed-Kernis has a thriving small business built largely through word of mouth. She creates 12 to 15 pieces a year that can take anywhere from a few days to three weeks to complete, while her prices range from £ 200 to £ 3,000. “I’m making smaller ones,” she says. “I don’t have to depend on the money much, so I want to keep prices in the range that people can afford, mainly just covering costs and labour (劳动力).”

1. Freed-Kernis was first attracted by stones when ______.

A．she was 60	B．she was a child
C．her father died	D．she moved to England

2. What can we infer about Freed-Kernis from paragraph 3?

A．She never cared about her father.

B．She led a disappointing life in Denmark.

C．She spent lots of time studying stone carving.

D．She learned stone carving under the influence of her dad.

3. How did Freed-Kernis feel when she started stone carving course?

A．Hopeful and proud.

B．Confident and satisfied.

C．Nervous and frightened.

D．Impatient and unprepared.

4. Why is Freed-Kernis making smaller pieces?

A．They are easier to move by her.

B．They are more affordable to people.

C．She wants to save costs and labour.

D．She is too old to focus on making large ones.

2 . In San Francisco, a large group of sea lions move themselves out of the bay waters and hang out on PIER 39, which is a popular tourist destination. According to dock (码头) officials, this is the most sea lions seen in the region in 15 years.

“Over 1,000 sea lions have been counted this week,” PIER 39 harbormaster Sheila Chandor told many different media. “The surge in sea lions is usually a good sign of their strong population and healthy living environment,” said Adam Ratner, Director of Conservation Engagement at the Marine Mammal (海洋哺乳动物) Center in Sausalito, California.

“California sea lions are sentinels (哨兵) of the ocean,” Ratner said. Their population to some extent reflects the health of the ocean. Therefore, seeing a large number of California sea lions is clearly a good thing.

For nearly 35 years, the slippery (滑的) residents have been a star attraction for tourists. That autumn in 1989, PIER 39 had just been repaired, but the ships had not yet been moved back. At that moment, the sea lions unexpected arrival not only attracted fans but also created enemies. According to a website, some dock residents and workers were scared away by the strong and very unpleasant smell and noise of their new neighbors, while others saw these animals as a bright spot after the destructive Loma Prieta earthquake.

The officials sought help from the Marine Mammal Center to find a way to deal with sea lions. Ratner said that the final decision is to let the sea lions stay and coexist with humans. “The fact proves that this is really a good thing,” he said. “This is just a proof of how we can truly work together and think about how we can share our coasts with marine mammals and other wildlife in a way that benefits all the parties involved.”

1. How does the author start the text?

A．By describing a situation.

B．By answering a question.

C．By holding a conversation.

D．By comparing different opinions.

2. What does the underlined word “surge” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．Sharp increase.	B．Tight control.
C．Slow development.	D．Sudden movement.

3. What is Ratner’s attitude to the final decision?

A．Doubtful.	B．Uninterested.
C．Supportive.	D．Unclear.

4. What message does the author seem to convey in the text?

A．Sea lions are pretty cool animals.

B．Animals and humans can live in harmony.

C．Watching sea lions might not be a proper action.

D．Sea lions should be driven out of PIER 39.

3 . At some point, something will have to be done about the stuffed toys (毛绒玩具). I haven’t counted them because, truthfully, I’m not prepared to know how many there are. Lately, our neighborhood’s message boards are filled with posts about parents trying to make space, to clear out the things their kids no longer need. The tone of some of these posts can best be described as “emergency”. “Help!” they sometimes begin. “I have to get this out of my house.”

“The proliferation (激增) of children’s toys is the outcome of a long, gradual cultural change,”says Gary Cross, a professor at Pennsylvania State University. To understand how we got here — drowning (淹没于) in all those stuffed toys and bricks — it helps to look as far back as the late 19th century. “Parents were no longer passing their jobs on to the children,” Cross says. “Instead, they connect across generations through the gifting process. From the early 20th century on, goods became the things that define relationships between family members, and the way of marking success as a family.”

Then, how can parents deal with the proliferation of children’s toys at home? Naeemah Ford Goldson, a professional organizer, is also a mom of two. In her own home, Goldson likes to include her kids in the work of sorting out their toys. They know that the items they don’t need anymore will be given to people who can use them, to families who might not be as fortunate as theirs. “Doing so helps them build those habits of letting go,” she says, “so then they don’t become adults who are too dependent on material things instead of experiences, or people, and the memories we make with people.”

Her idea made sense. She told her 5-year-old they should pick some to give to kids in their community who came from another country and had to leave their toys behind. She immediately took a pink bear from the pile.

1. Why does the author present the posts in paragraph 1?

A．To show the popularity of children’s toys.

B．To offer suggestions about choosing children’s toys.

C．To praise the role of social media in buying children’s toys.

D．To introduce the influence too many children’s toys bring about.

2. What has caused the huge increase of children’s toys according to Cross?

A．Children’s demands.	B．The growth of technology.
C．The traditions in the 18th century.	D．The practice of gifting among family members.

3. What does Goldson do to avoid too many toys?

A．Involve her kids in organizing toys.	B．Put away toys for her kids.
C．Buy her kids fewer toys.	D．Sell unwanted toys to neighbors.

4. Which is the most suitable title for the text?

A．The Rise of Toy Stores in Neighborhoods	B．The Importance of Choosing Proper Gifts
C．The Challenge of Managing Children’s Toys	D．The Joy of Collecting Children’s Toys

4 . Popular people are admired and loved by their peers (同龄人).     1     Popular people have plenty of friends and usually have a high social status in their peer group. Here are some general tips that will help you become a more likable and popular person.

Avoid offering help in exchange for approval (认可). Trying to be helpful will have the opposite effect.     2     Popular people help others because they have a useful skill, not because they want to win someone else’s friendship.

Be the glue in your social circle. When you have plans to meet a group of friends for a social outing, make a habit of inviting someone who hasn’t met everyone in the group yet. If you re hanging out with a friend and run into another friend, remember to introduce them to each other.     3    

Practice positivity. People who often complain about life and are more pessimistic have fewer friends. Therefore, it’s important to have a positive attitude and avoid constant complaining.     4     It can be a key step in making close friends. But if you talk about your problems over and over again, your friends might not enjoy hanging out with you.

    5     Many people make the mistake of avoiding social relationships at their school or workplace. They think these places are for work or studying, not socializing. But most of us spend a lot of time at work or college. If you refuse to socialize with people you see almost every day, you’ll miss out on some valuable relationships.

A．Build relationships at work place and school.

B．Otherwise, your friends might feel awkward.

C．Make sure you are popular with your friends.

D．You’ll be regarded as people who need friendship.

E．And many people want to be associated with popular people.

F．However, sometimes sharing your problems with others is a good thing.

G．Peers have a special gift that enables them to make friends wherever they go.

5 . WELCOME

STUDENT HANDBOOK

The administration, faculty, and staff of American Heritage and American Academy welcome you to the new school year. Please take the time to become familiar with the following information. It can be helpful during the school year for the students and an effective means to avoid confusion and misunderstandings.

Academic Reporting

The-175-day academic year is divided into two semesters, each with two grading periods, and report cards are given at the end of each. Plus, progress reports are issued throughout the year, with their distribution dates listed in the booklet’s back.

Conference Days & Exam Days

Conference days are normally held on the Friday, which are required to be attended by all the students, following the distribution of report cards.

Fourth, fifth and sixth graders take exams during exam week at the end of the school year. All students are expected to be present during finals. Any student who must miss an exam date is required to request permission in writing stating just cause for absence.

Requirements for Promotion

To be eligible（有资格的）for promotion, a student must successfully complete all grade level requirements including maintaining a “C” average or higher in Reading and/or Mathematic s for the year and for second semester.

Honors Classes

Honors level classes are offered to scholarly qualified students in Math（Grades 2-6）, Language Arts/Reading（Grades 4-6), and Science（Grades 5-6) . Administration recommends placement based on student testing, motivation, teacher recommendation, and the good of the individual and the whole class. Students in Honors Classes will be moved to a regular class at end of semester if a “C—” or lower is earned.

1. What do we know about academic reporting?

A．Students have three-time marking periods in a semester.

B．Students are not sure when they can get reports cards.

C．Students are well informed to know their grades’ progress.

D．Students have to go to school to get reports in person.

2. What do Conference Days & Exam Days require students to do?

A．Get promoted for next year.	B．Attend a meeting on Friday.
C．Get into Honors Classes.	D．Miss exams without reasons.

3. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To provide rules of managing students’ behavior.

B．To show students’ rights and responsibilities.

C．To sign an agreement with students’ parents.

D．To offer some information about the school year.

6 . 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。

Two giant pandas, Jinxi and Zhuyu,     1     (leave) for the Madrid Zoo in Spain next Monday for a 10-year residency, according to the China Wildlife Conservation Association on Wednesday. The panda couple come from the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in southwest China’s Sichuan Province.

This action     2     (base) on the agreement on international conservation cooperation and research of giant pandas. It is     3     (further) the friendship of the two countries     4     (build) upon pandas. According to the reports, three Spain-born giant pandas, together with their parents, returned to China on February after living in Spain for more than a decade.

    5     all preparations made before transportation, the Chinese and Spanish sides are actively making efforts to ensure that the two giant pandas     6     (safe) arrive at Madrid Zoo. It will be helpful for them to adapt     7     the new environment.

According to the Xinhua News, the base has customized     8     special air transport cage to ensure that pandas can move freely, feed and rest inside the cage, and that the temperature inside the cabin is maintained at a     9     (suit) level. It is also arranged     10     a sufficient amount of fresh and high-quality local bamboo and bamboo shoots in Sichuan are prepared.

7 . Scientists have known for years that plants respond to sounds around them. For example, flowers make sweeter nectar (花蜜) to the sound of buzzing bees. But now scientists in Israel have shown that plants also seem to be doing some “talking”.

Professor Lilach Hadany and her team at Tel Aviv University set up microphones to record tomato and tobacco plants under different conditions. Their recordings showed that the plants made ultrasonic (超声波的) sounds.

When the researchers adjusted their recordings so that humans could hear them, they heard sharp clicking noises. Plants clicked hardly at all when they had enough water. But as their soil got drier, they clicked more and more. When scientists cut off a stem (茎) from the plants, the plants also clicked more. But the clicking wasn’t the same as when the plants needed water.

It’s not clear how the plants make the sounds and whether the plants are making the sounds on purpose. But the plants are definitely making noises, and creating much more noises when they’re stressed (not enough water, stem cut off) than when they’re not.

The researchers trained an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system to identify the different kinds of clicking sounds. The system was able to tell the difference between plants that needed water and plants with cuts about 70% of the time. The result suggests that researchers may one day be able to use a plant’s sounds to figure out when it is having trouble, and what trouble it is having. That could be very helpful to farmers.

The new discovery raises many more questions. One important question is: Do plants make sounds to communicate with each other? Other research has shown that plants do seem to communicate in some ways. Plants being attacked by insects send chemicals into the air. Soon, nearby plants (that haven’t been attacked yet) start to make other chemicals that don’t taste good to insects. It’s possible that the ultrasonic sounds could work in a similar way.

1. What do the researchers find in their recordings?

A．Plants’ stems click less when they are cut off.

B．Plants click harder if they have enough water.

C．Plants make more noises when they are thirsty.

D．Flowers make sweeter nectar to the sound of bees.

2. What can we learn about the plants from paragraph 4?

A．There are still some unknown issues.

B．Not all of them are able to make sounds.

C．There are ultrasonic sounds around them.

D．They make less noises when they’re stressed.

3. What is the purpose of the AI system created by the researchers?

A．To help farmers drive away insects.

B．To identify people who are in trouble.

C．To show the growing process of plants.

D．To distinguish types of clicking sounds.

4. What might the author continue talking about?

A．Methods for plants to protect themselves.

B．Other questions raised by the new finding.

C．When plants communicate with each other.

D．Under what conditions plants attract insects.

8 . 阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容(1个单词)或括号内单词的正确形式。

The very ancient poetry that     1     (write) a thousand or more years ago was simpler and about common things like love, romance and nature that people appreciate. Though much poetry was created in the eras following the Song dynasty, it is thought that the poets became increasingly     2     (academy) and hard to understand so that modern Chinese can’t appreciate the style and meaning.

For foreigners, ancient Chinese poetry     3     (be) more difficult     4     (comprehend). One of the reasons is the nature of Chinese characters     5     (they).Often one character has many meanings,     6     makes the translation of Chinese into English a key part of reading and understanding Chinese poetry. Put simply, good translation is essential to     7     (full) understand Chinese poems.

Another point worth     8     (notice) about ancient Chinese poetry is that itis influenced by Confucian and Taoist thinking. Ancient Chinese poetry has a focus of friendship besides love or being     9     lover. Friendships, to the village, the community, the country or your drinking friends are dominant themes. The poets’ main task seems to be just writing poetry, because a life as a poet is an important thing. In this respect, Chinese poetry is all     10     the poet, the “meaning” for the poet and not what is happening around the poet.

9 . 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。

In 1940, I worked in the checkroom of the railway station. I saw everybody that came up the stairs.

Harry was a young man who came to the station and waited at the head of the stairs for the passengers from the 9:05 train.

I remembered seeing Harry that first evening. He wasn’t much more than a thin, anxious kid then. He was all dressed up and I knew he was meeting his sister, who he hadn’t seen for many years.

Well, the passengers came up and I had to get busy. I didn’t look toward the stairs again until nearly time for the 9:18 and I was very surprised to see that the Harry was still there. His sister didn’t come on the 9:18 either, nor on the 9:40, and when the passengers from the 10:02 had all arrived and left, Harry was looking pretty upset. Pretty soon he came close to my window so I called out and asked him what his sister looked like.

“She’s small and dark. She is nineteen years old and very neat in the way she walk,” he said. “She has a face that has lots of spirit. I mean she can get mad but she never stays mad for long, and her eyebrows come to a little point in the middle. She’s got a brown fur, but maybe she isn’t wearing it.”

“I couldn’t remember seeing anybody like that,” I told him.

He showed me the telegram he’d received: ARRIVE THURSDAY. MEET ME AT THE STATION. MAY. It was from Omaha, Nebraska. “Well,” I finally said, “why don’t you phone to your home? She’s probably called there if she got in ahead of you.”

He gave me a sick look. “I’ve only been in the town for two days. We were going to meet and then drive down to the south of the city where I’ve got a job. She doesn’t have my address.”

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 I came on duty the next day, Harry was still there and I asked more about his sister.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

One day, after about two weeks, I thought I could say something encouraging to him.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

10 . Post Office Locations & Hours

United States Postal Service (USPS) offers mailing and shipping services. Search for a USPS location near you to see the available services and holiday closing hours. You can also find smaller postal units, retailers that sell stamps, blue collection mailboxes, and 24-hour USPS kiosks (小亭).

USPS Holiday Service Schedule

All post office locations will be closed on Christmas Day (Dec.25) and New Year’s Day (Jan.1). Regular post office hours and mail delivery will resume (恢复) after each holiday. Business Customers: Check your Bulk Mail (大宗邮件) Entry Unit for hours of operation.

December 24 (Christmas Eve); December 25 (Christmas Day); December 31 (New Year’s Eve); January 1 (New Year’s Day).

●Local post office locations will be closed. ●Blue Collection Boxes: Mail will not be picked up. ●Regular mail will not be delivered. ●Priority Mail Express mail will be delivered.

Note:

●Deliveries on Christmas Eve (Dec.24) and Christmas Day (Dec.25) are made only in limited locations. An extra fee for those deliveries will be assessed.

●Not a guarantee, unless otherwise noted. For Priority Mail Express shipments mailed from December 22 to December 25, the money-back guarantee applies only if the shipment was not delivered, or delivery was not attempted, within two business days.

●Deliveries on New Year’s Eve (Dec.31) and New Year’s Day (Jan.1) are made only in limited locations. An extra fee for those deliveries will be assessed.

1. On which day can you mail things as usual at a local post office?

A．Dec.24.

B．Dec.25.

C．Dec.30.

D．Dec.31.

2. What should you do to get your mail delivered on New Year’s Day?

A．Pay extra fees.	B．Reserve in advance.
C．Call the local post office.	D．Wait outside the post office.

3. Where is the text most likely taken from?

A．A test report.	B．A travel brochure.
C．An official website.	D．An entertainment magazine.