1 . A doctor walked into an operating room where an operation was being performed. Everything seemed to be going well, but the doctor noticed that no one was wearing a face mask. He was surprised—wearing a face mask is a basic hospital procedure. But he didn’t say anything. The operation was a success, but a few days later the patient came down with a fever. It turned out that she had contracted a serious infection, probably because the doctors and nurses hadn’t followed a simple rule.
Atul Gawande was interested in that story and carried out a research on the importance of a checklist to boost hospital services. Gawande is a doctor himself, and in his research he suggests that if surgeons run through a simple checklist before every operation, then lives will be saved. And he’s got the numbers to prove it. In 2001, an experiment at an American hospital required doctors to use a five-point checklist before they carried out specific procedures. The checklist was just a list of routine things doctor should normally do without thinking—wearing latex gloves, washing their hands before and after every patient, and so on. By making sure that the checklist was followed, there were almost no infections during the 27 months of the experiment, and they estimate that around eight lives were saved. When the checklist was tested again in hospitals in Michigan, infections went down by 66 percent.
In his study, Gawande looks at other professions, too, to support his argument that checklists reduce accidents and improve success rates. He points out that people like engineers and pilots use checklists all the time, and he comes up with some good examples. Just imagine that an airplane crashed because the pilot had failed to follow basic procedures. Suppose a skyscraper collapsed because the engineers hadn’t remembered to do some important calculations. People would demand that officials look into these events immediately.
Gawande’s study finding is really interesting and received much public attention. It reminds us that sometimes the easiest way to avoid making mistakes is to follow a very simple set of rules. It’s relevant for all of us, not just for doctors.
1. The function of the first paragraph in this text is to ________.| A．introduce the origin of the idea for Gawande’s study |
| B．explain the importance of the basic hospital procedure |
| C．explore the causes of infections among patients in hospitals |
| D．emphasize the urgency of providing relevant training to doctors |
| A．Young medical staff need follow the checklists. |
| B．Checklists are necessary for hospitals in particular. |
| C．Hospitals are required to maintain good management. |
| D．Medical infections can be reduced by observing a set of rules. |
| A．Air crashes hardly occurred with the basic procedures. |
| B．Gawande intends to promote his idea to other professions. |
| C．High buildings may collapse due to engineers’ miscalculations. |
| D．People think it a must for a pilot or engineer to use their checklists. |
| A．Unclear. | B．Dismissive. | C．Approving. | D．Doubtful. |
1.表示歉意；
2.推迟原因；
3.后续调整。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80个左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题卡的相应位置作答。
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“Hey! Don’t tell me you’re scared!” Sasha smiled at Rosie, then leaned into her horse’s cheek and circled his head with her arms, as if he were nothing but a big stuffed animal.
“I’m not.” The lie didn’t sound as definite as Rosie wished it did. She turned away from Sasha. How could her roommate be so comfortable around these huge animals?
Rosie shook as Nugget blew out a long snort（响鼻）. After begging to come to two weeks of riding camp, Rosie’s cowgirl riding dreams had dried up like the red -brown dirt at her feet.
All winter Rosie had pictured herself galloping（骑马奔驰）on a horse down the country roads and fields in the camp brochure. Since she was little, whenever she and her parents headed out of town to where Chicago turned into country, Rosie would imagine she was outside the car, galloping on the back of a beautiful horse, hair long and windblown.
“You are so, scared,” Sasha said. “I can tell.” A strange smile grew on her face. “It’s in the eyes,” Sasha said in an odd, silly voice.
Rosie forced a smile and took a small step toward Nugget. “Hi,” she said softly, reaching out an arm.
Nugget gave start, and Rosie jumped back. Her throat closed up, and tears burned the corners of her eyes. “You’ll just scare her, doing that,” Sasha said. She walked over to Nugget and stroked her neck. “It’s OK, girl. Calm down, it’s OK.”
“Sasha, get back to your horse, please.” Callie, the riding instructor, came over, planting herself between Rosie and Sasha. “You afraid, Rosie?” she asked quietly.
“A little,” Rosie whispered to Callie.
“Watch out, Rosie!” Sasha said, and then laughed. “Don’t let Nugget get you!”
“Sasha! Mount up and quiet down,” Callie said.
Sasha reached up to her saddle（马鞍）with the reins（缰绳）in her left hand, and in one quick, smooth move, was up and settled.
“Ready to mount up?” Callie’s eyes questioned Rosie silently.
A cry escaped from Rosie’s throat. Her heart pounded wildly.
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。
Paragraph 1: “You can wait till you’re ready, Rosie,” Callie said.
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Paragraph 2: “I want to get down,” Rosie thought.
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内容包括：
1.获奖情况；
2.个人事迹。
注意：
1.写作词数应为80左右；
2.请按如下格式在答题纸的相应位置作答。
James: Among the Top 10 Most Popular Teachers
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The ancient Chinese built two great engineering wonders: the Great Wall and the Grand Canal (运河). The Great Wall’s function in military defense
The Grand Canal,
Now, it has inspired the name of Chenchen, one of the three mascots of the Hangzhou Asian Games. Chenchen,
The Hangzhou section stretches a total
6 . As humans, we’re meant to be social creatures. In fact, being socially connected is key to our mental and emotional health.
People aren’t thinking about you—at least not to the degree that you think.
You don’t have to be perfect to be liked. In fact, our imperfections can be pleasant.
It’s okay to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes; it’s part of being human.
Overcoming social fear requires practice. Don’t expect to become socially comfortable without putting in the time. That said, you can start small. Take baby steps towards being more confident and social, and then build on those successes.
| A．So give yourself a break when you mess up. |
| B．Most people are caught up in their own lives. |
| C．The good news is that you can learn from them. |
| D．People are much more confident than you think. |
| E．Even our weaknesses can bring us closer to others. |
| F．Many other people feel just as awkward and nervous as you do. |
| G．Yet many of us are shy and feel awkward around unfamiliar people. |
7 . In times of intense stress, people sometimes let it out with a scream and a new study suggests that plants might do the same. Researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel has found that plants let out ultrasonic (超声的) screams when damaged or stressed by drought.
The noises, falling within a range of 20 to 100 kilohertz, are too high-frequency for humans to hear, but other plants and some animals perceive them. Insects might be listening for sounds from stressed plants to assess their condition before laying eggs on their leaves. A moth (蛾) may decide against laying eggs on a plant that sounds water-stressed.
Researchers attached recording devices directly to plants to listen for secret sounds inside their stems (茎). In drought, air bubbles formed, burst and caused vibrations (振动) within the tissue that normally carries water up the plants’ stems. The process was picked up by the attached recording devices, but researchers wanted to know if any plant sounds could travel through the air.
So the team placed microphones 10 centimetres from stressed-out tomato and tobacco plants. They subjected one set of crops to drought and another to physical damage. A third group was untouched.
The microphones did pick up distinct sounds. On average, drought-stressed tomato plants let out about 35 ultrasonic screams per hour, while those with cut stems made about 25. Drought-stressed tobacco plants let out about 11 screams per hour, and cut crops made about 15 sounds in the same time. The average number of sounds from untouched plants fell below one per hour.
The researchers also attempted to identify each plant group just based on its screams. Using a type of artificial intelligence calculations, the team picked out distinct features in each set of sounds and successfully sorted their plants into three kinds: “dry, cut or untouched.”
If it is not too costly to set up the recording in a field situation, farmers might be able to hear these stress signals too. In future, enabling farmers to listen for water-stressed plants could “open a new direction”, which will be increasingly important as climate change exposes more areas to drought.
1. The moth is mentioned in paragraph 2 to show __________.| A．moths need enough water when laying eggs |
| B．some animals are able to hear plants scream |
| C．some insects are picky about their surroundings |
| D．wildlife species depend on each other when stressed |
| A．Plants’ sounds couldn’t be detected by humans. |
| B．Plants can be grouped according to their features. |
| C．Plants’ screams are related to stress types in a way. |
| D．Air bubbles contribute to the lack of water in plants. |
| A．Supporting evidence for the research result. |
| B．Potential application of the research findings. |
| C．A further explanation of the research methods. |
| D．A reasonable doubt about the research process. |
| A．Plants’ Vibrations: Way to React to Stress |
| B．Stress Signals: Secret Newly Found in Plants |
| C．Green Screams: Plants Make Noises When Stressed |
| D．Ultrasonic Screams: Discovery Opens a New Chapter |
8 . “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way,” opens Leo Tolstoy’s novel Anna Karenina. While Tolstoy’s quote is famous, it is also inaccurate. It ignores the fact that happiness is a subjective (主观的) experience. Therefore, happy families and individuals come in all shapes and sizes. Even nations, we now know, can be happy in different ways.
Since 2012, the World Happiness Report has been ranking countries according to their levels of happiness. The latest report ranks Finland as the happiest country in the world, followed by Denmark and Iceland. Happiness matters.
Happier people more often engage in their communities and help others, making them important building blocks for advancing societies. So nations worldwide have increasingly focused on promoting people’s happiness.
Scientists employ “subjective well-being”, commonly termed “happiness”, to include both happiness and life satisfaction. They have identified characteristics typical of countries with high levels of happiness. Studies suggest richer countries are happier. Institutional quality, such as strong courts and good laws, also plays a vital role in shaping happier nations.
A country’s culture also influences subjective well-being. It is frequently analyzed from four main aspects: individualism, masculinity (男子气概), power distance and uncertainty avoidance. In individualistic countries, people tend to put their own interests first, leading to higher levels of happiness. Happier nations usually have lower levels of masculinity, which show a preference for cooperation, care and equal opportunities for both men and women. Happier nations also tend to more evenly distribute (分配) power, called “low power distance”. Finally, happier nations appear to be more tolerant of uncertainty, less anxious about risk-taking, and therefore more likely to seize life’s opportunities.
Although the image of a happy country sounds similar as described in these terms, all happy nations are not alike. That’s because each nation has different cultural, economic, and social factors that shape their unique identities and experiences.
The takeaway from this research is that governments worldwide should adopt a flexible approach to policy making, recognizing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to promoting well-being.
1. Why does the author quote Leo Tolstoy?| A．To give the definition of happiness. | B．To introduce the topic of happiness. |
| C．To show the inaccuracy of his statement. | D．To recommend his novel Anna Karenina. |
| A．It is related to people’s satisfaction with the government. |
| B．Happiness of a nation helps improve its international image. |
| C．Individual happiness contributes positively to social progress. |
| D．Nations worldwide are competing for high happiness rankings. |
| A．The importance of happiness. | B．The differences among happy nations. |
| C．The ways to promote happiness. | D．The impact of culture on happiness. |
| A．Message. | B．Method. | C．Reason. | D．Result. |
9 . Taking toddlers to the hairdressers isn’t always a walk in the park. But worry no more. There are lots of great kids’ hair salons in Singapore that make the whole process a breeze.
LA Kids Cowboy
Wouldn’t it be good if you or your partner could head somewhere for a quick cut and have the kids’ hair cut at the same time? Sure would, which is why we’re loving LA Kids Cowboy. It’s Singapore’s first parent-child haircut and styling concept. Cut s are a great value of $20, making it a cheap and cheerful barber for kids.
Bonbon Blowout Bar
Bonbon Blowout Bar comes with individual tablets and sweets, so haircuts won’t seem like such a terrible affair for kids. The full-service salon provides haircuts, styling, and hair perm services for children from $28; and if it’s their first haircut, your kid will even bring home a First Haircut Certificate!
BabySpa
If you’re looking for a baby haircut, look no further. At BabySpa, your kids’ hair is in good hands. The wonderful stylists will ensure the gentles t of haircuts while your baby watches Barney, sitting in a toy car. BabySpa also offers a bathing service for kids up to age two.
Kids ‘N’ Me
This kids’ hairdressers over at United Square are a firm fan favorite. It’s down to the experienced hairstylists, who are known and loved for their awesome kids’ haircuts for football matches, from simple “short back and sides” to a full-on Mohawk. We hear children can even have their hair sprayed with temporary hair d ye for special occasions!
1. Where will a boy probably have a haircut for a football match?| A．At LA Kids Cowboy. | B．At Bonbon Blowout Bar. |
| C．At BabySpa. | D．At Kids ‘N’ Me. |
| A．An adult haircut. | B．A toy football. | C．A bathing service. | D．A Haircut Certificate. |
| A．Parents. | B．Hairstylists. | C．Children. | D．Athletes. |
10 . The 13-year-old Life Scout named Jonathan in Troop 506 is pioneering new ways to perform acts of kindness.
Like many troops, 506 sells popcorn each fall to raise money. In 2019, while still a Cub Scout, Jonathan watched as kids who’d made $1,800 or more in sales walked across a stage to receive a Lego set as a prize. “I really want that Lego set,” he said.
The next year, he successfully got his Legos. However, Troop 506 not only provides Lego sets but also contributes a percentage of their sales in the form of gift cards for Scouting-related activities. Encouraged, Jonathan spent the next few years developing a surprising sale skill.
The year 2021 saw him achieve impressive sales of $46,193.75, making him a top seller in the nation and bringing him $5,000 worth in Amazon cards, He might have spent it on himself, but he had other ideas. Popcorn season closes in late November, and the holidays were on his mind—particularly the stories his father had told him about his own days in foster care.
“They don’t really have Christmas,” Jonathan said. With $5,000, he could bring Christmas to a lot of kids. With the help of his mother, he made his way to the social services offices.
Anyone else might have simply sent in the money and felt they’d done enough. Not Jonathan. He requested information about each kid, including age, gender and interests. He changed from a big seller to a big spender, personally choosing gifts for dozens of kids, like a Santa.
“The most worthwhile thing,” he said, “is to try to put happiness into the lives of others.”
1. What encouraged Jonathan to improve his selling techniques?| A．The Lego set to be received as a prize. | B．The money to be raised by selling popcorn. |
| C．The cards that could be gained to buy goods. | D．The praise that a sales champion would win. |
| A．To explain why Jonathan had other ideas. |
| B．To show how his father’s story impressed him. |
| C．To compare lifestyles of two different generations. |
| D．To provide information about Jonathan’s childhood. |
| A．Outgoing and selfless. | B．Brave and smart. |
| C．Thoughtful and caring. | D．Gifted and honest. |
| A．A Scout Helps in Social Service Offices | B．A Scout Sells a Record Amount of Popcorn |
| C．A Scout Changes from a Seller to a Spender | D．A Scout Plays Santa for Kids in Foster Care |
