1 . Once the choice of royal household, the watermelon has gained popularity rapidly over the years, and an online grocer reported that the fruit’s sales on the platform had increased sixfold from 2020 to 2022, resulting in increasingly high demand for watermelon quality testers.

Lee, 32, is extremely busy in the summer months. Just by holding the watermelon near his ear and knocking on the surface with his fingers, Lee says, he can tell by the sound if the fruit is ripe enough to be eaten or not. He works for a rural cooperative set up by a group of watermelon farmers, and puts thousands of watermelons through the “knock test” daily, before they are shipped to downtown warehouses where the platform sources its supplies.

The practice of knocking on watermelons to determine their ripeness can be found across cultures. In China, it is considered a national habit. Smart buyers tap on the fruit before purchase to ensure their money is well-spent. Some buyers knock on the fruit despite not knowing what the hollow sound means just to negotiate a better deal from the seller.

As fruit sales have moved to online platforms in a big way, those who make a living by checking the quality of the fruits with their fingers are much in demand. Lee is one among the growing group. Their task is to conduct knock tests on behalf of e-buyers and ensure that the fruits selected to be sold online are uniform in size and quality.

Lee, who was once an award-winning soccer player, now describes himself as a “goalkeeper for watermelons”. He quit soccer about four years ago and learned about melon-knocking as an emerging profession and decided to become an apprentice(学徒) to an experienced farmer.

After a year’s trial and error, Lee worked independently as a quality checker. “It is a highly demanding task. During the apprenticeship, I often cracked open melons to confirm my judgment. There are just no shortcuts, ” he said.

1. What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To introduce an emerging profession.

B．To describe Lee’s career transformation.

C．To discuss the importance of fruit quality testers.

D．To explain the cultural role of watermelon-knocking.

2. What has led to the high demand for watermelon quality testers?

A．The popularity of watermelons.	B．The big harvest of watermelons.
C．An increase in watermelon prices.	D．A rapid rise in online watermelon sales.

3. Why does Lee describe himself as a “goalkeeper for watermelons”?

A．He was once an award-winning soccer player.

B．He dreams of being a professional melon-knocker.

C．He was taught by an experienced watermelon farmer.

D．He ensures that customers enjoy watermelons of quality.

4. What can we learn from Lee’s words in the last paragraph?

A．Seeing is believing.	B．Every man has his value.
C．Great efforts and practice matter.	D．Excellence can be found in any profession.

2 . Student Film Festival

Student Film Festival celebrates learning across the curriculum through the exciting and dynamic medium of short film.

Through film, students can tell stories, investigate ideas, document learning in any area of study and express the complexity of their thinking through a range of genres and technical approaches.

With the creative use of digital media, students can integrate their personal perspectives to explore the diverse and challenging issues of our time.

It’s open to all students, regardless of school. We are accepting submissions in the following categories:

Cartoon (up to 30 mins)

Documentary(纪录片)(up to 60 mins)

Music Video(under 10 mins)

Science Fiction Short (up to 25 mins)

Situational Comedy (under 10 mins)

Web Series(up to three episodes, no more than 30 mins each)

So far, more than 20 entries have been selected across all categories. We will gradually announce the chosen entries for each category, giving you a chance to watch all the films online and vote for your favourites. Winners in all categories will be announced on Wednesday, 27 December.

Over the years, our film festivals have attracted thousands of filmmakers from around the world. Each festival features live screenings in our own school theater. Our 80-seat theater is outfitted with a 4K projector and seven speakers throughout the venue, delivering high quality in a first-class screening environment. Filmmakers whose works are accepted into our festival will receive free passes to the school theater, invitations to film masterclasses, and are considered for awards.

1. Which of the following can be a suitable submission to the festival?

A．A 20-minute recording of a short play.

B．A two-hour film recording your daily routine.

C．A five-minute fun video about students’ dormitory life.

D．A 22-minute educational video explaining popular science.

2. What can filmmakers do if their works are accepted?

A．Receive a film award.	B．Watch films for free in the school theater.
C．Interview film masters.	D．Deliver a speech in the venue.

3. What is the text?

A．A schedule for the film selecting process.

B．An invitation to a filmmakers’ celebration.

C．An announcement of a film festival awards.

D．An advertisement for an upcoming festival.

3 . 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。

“I look like a clown (小丑)!” Winston thought sadly. He pulled his cap down, thankful for the cover it provided. He wanted to escape the attention of the people outside the barbershop (理发店). He looked around before hurrying away into the darkness to put some distance between himself and the curious eyes of others.

As he moved quickly down the street,Winston wondered why he hadn’t spoken up to prevent the terrible haircut. He felt sad and questioned why this had happened to him. Did the barber give him this messed-up haircut on purpose? Winston didn’t believe it because the barber looked very friendly. But it seemed so crazy! Could he have unknowingly offended the barber,and this disastrous hairstyle was the barber’s way of getting back at him?

Winston was also worried that Jack would laugh at him. Jack was his cousin and liked playing jokes. But maybe he wouldn’t; he was understanding too. Winston kept thinking about it.Upon entering his new home, ,Winston’s mom greeted him from the kitchen. She called out to him,asking to see his new hairstyle. Winston walked into the kitchen, his cap still on, and slowly took it off.

His mother looked very surprised. She couldn’t help but burst into laughter. “Oh déar,” she shouted. “What happened?” Winston stood silently for a moment before letting out his anger. He blamed his mom for bringing him to this place, torcing him to attend a new school where he believed everyone would make fun of him. He also said he hated this terrible hairstyle, and his hair was beyond fixing.

Just as his anger was about to grow, the doorbell-rang. Winston’s mom calmly told him to answer it. As he opened the door, he forgot to cover his terrible haircut, and there stood his cousin Jack. Since it was Saturday today, they had planned to go skating together. Winston felt extremely embarrassed.

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。

Jack looked at Winston in disbelief.

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That afternoon, Winston returned to the barbershop, hoping to find out the truth.

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4 . 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。

It was a typical Monday morning for Jenny, a diligent high school senior. The sound of her alarm clock woke her up, a rude awakening from her sweet dreams. She unwillingly opened her eyes, knowing what waited for her-another 5 long days at school.

Dragging herself out of bed, Jenny went through her usual morning routine. She hurriedly got dressed, grabbed her backpack, and rushed to the kitchen for breakfast. Her mother had prepared a nutritious meal, but Jenny had no appetite. She was too occupied with thoughts of an upcoming exam in her most challenging subject, mathematics.

As Jenny walked to school, her mind wandered back to the countless hours she had spent studying and practicing equations (方程式). She had put in lots of effort, hoping to improve her grades. However, despite her dedication, she was struggling to achieve the desired results. Doubts started crawling in, and anxiety stayed in her mind like dark clouds.

As students settled into their seats, Mr. Johnson, their math teacher, announced that the exam would take place that afternoon. Jenny started to feel afraid. She suddenly realized that she had forgotten her calculator at home, an essential tool for the exam. Panic turned into hopelessness, as she knew that borrowing one during the test would be strictly prohibited.

Jenny’s friends, Emma and David, noticed her worry and approached her after class. They offered their help. Emma suggested that Jenny be honest to Mr. Johnson and explain her situation. David, however, had a different plan. He proposed sneaking (偷偷给) his calculator to her during the exam, risking punishment for cheating.

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。

Jenny’s heart sank.

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The exam started.

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5 . 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。

It was my very first trip to Africa. We were driving along a track that skirted the southern bank of the Chobe River, when my friend suddenly noticed something up ahead — a large shape jammed in-between a couple of big trees, right beside the road. We edged the car closer and, to our surprise, found ourselves looking at a young calf snuggled (偎依) up against a sizeable elephant (most probably its mother).

Our dilemma now was this: Was it OK to just drive slowly past the pair of elephants on that narrow track? Or would that cause the mother to become upset and charge, in which case we should either wait for them to move on or turn the car around? A bit unnerved by the close encounter, we chose to head back the way we’d come.

In the following days, I had a number of conversations with national park staff and fellow travelers about what to do when you suddenly come across an elephant while driving in the African wilds.

Sometimes people told me it would be OK to slowly drive past the mother and calf, because the wild animals of Chobe have become pretty used to humans in cars. Elephants seldom pose a threat to us. So there’s no need to adopt an attitude of permanent near-panic calm decisiveness is your true ally (助手) in such situations.

But then sometimes I was told to switch off the car and wait until the elephant had departed the scene. The idea was that the rumble (隆隆声) of an automotive engine could be interpreted by the animal as a kind of challenge. Keeping silent would reassure the elephant that you weren’t going to cause any trouble, and eventually it would go on its merry way. OK, that also sounded reasonable enough.

A week later, my friend and I were driving by a river, watching elephants meet on the water for a drink, and were driving back to our lodge (度假小屋) when we found our route blocked by a young male elephant. As surprised as we were, the elephant planted his feet in the dirt and seemingly prepared to fight against our car.

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。

The track was narrow and bordered by thick bush, so we couldn’t go around him.

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The elephant walked right up to the car.     

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6 . 每年的 12 月 5日是国际志愿者日(International Volunteer Day)。作为校志愿者协会(School Volunteer Association)主席，请你用英语在志愿者日发表国旗下讲话，内容包括：

1. 向校志愿者表示感谢；

2. 志愿服务的好处；

3. 发出呼吁。

注意: 1. 词数 80 左右；

2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。

Dear teachers and schoolmates,

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7 . 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。

    1     (create) in 2010, Chinese Language Day was designated to celebrate multilingualism and cultural    2     (diverse), and promote the equal use of the six official languages within the United Nations.

The Confucius Institute at Ljubljana University in Slovenia held an event Thursday     3     (mark) the 14th annual Chinese Language Day. Nearly 300 people participated in the event, teachers, students, lovers of the Chinese language and culture, and overseas Chinese visitors     4     (include).

“The Chinese language is increasingly becoming the very bond     5     links friendly relations between China and the world,     6     (particular) Slovenia, and promotes mutual understanding and trust between Chinese and Slovenian people,” Chinese Ambassador to Slovenia Wang Shunqing said.

The Confucius Institute also     7     (organize) workshops, such as calligraphy, painting, tea art, cultural     8     (perform) and food tasting, to showcase traditional Chinese culture in an all-round way and to build a platform for people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Slovenia.

    9     the end of 2021, more than 180 countries and regions around the world had offered education in Chinese language, more than 70 countries had included Chinese in their national education systems, and     10     number of people studying and using Chinese in countries other than China had reached 200 million, according to the United Nations statistics.

8 . Gail Rodgers, a grandma of three, has become a lifeguard at her local pool. Seeing her local pool couldn’t ________ due to a lifeguard shortage, the 66 year old woman decided that her ________ wouldn’t get in the way while helping her community. “I did this lifeguard thing back in the late ‘60s’.________ , I thought I can do this again,’’ she said.

Rodgers, ________ in the late 1960s, said she had to learn new skills. Jeff Blume, president of Cincinnati Pool Management and Rodgers’ boss, also admitted that the physical examination is ________. “Lifeguard candidates have to swim a 300 yard length, and then submerge (潜入水中) and grab a 10-pound brick off the bottom of the pool,” Blume explained.

Through great ________, Rodgers became a part time lifeguard.   “It’s been fun ________ people enjoying the nice weather in the pool. It’s been more ________ than I expected to be,” Rodgers said. Her boss said it has also been a joy to have her on their team.

Blume noted that fear can ________ a lot of people and he’s glad that Rodgers is such a(n) ________ for being courageous. “I think there’s a ________ of ‘I can’t do this’ or ‘That’s not for me. That’s for the young’ or something like that. So, there’s a lot to ________, but if people want to do it, we could help them with the skills and give them a little bit more of a________ before they actually take the class. If people ________ that is an option, I think they might not look at the skills test as a tall mountain to get over.”   They hope more people are inspired to ________ life-guarding as the country continues to face lifeguard shortages.

1.

A．spread

B．decrease

C．operate

D．change

2.

A．gender

B．age

C．behaviour

D．character

3.

A．However

B．Besides

C．Otherwise

D．Therefore

4.

A．trained

B．employed

C．identified

D．replaced

5.

A．fair

B．severe

C．brief

D．practical

6.

A．opportunities

B．achievements

C．efforts

D．choices

7.

A．keeping

B．catching

C．imagining

D．watching

8.

A．pleasant

B．convenient

C．effective

D．significant

9.

A．strike

B．control

C．threaten

D．restrict

10.

A．creation

B．inspiration

C．attraction

D．motivation

11.

A．horror

B．loss

C．relief

D．guilt

12.

A．doubt

B．deny

C．overcome

D．ignore

13.

A．reward

B．boost

C．try

D．taste

14.

A．complain

B．ensure

C．predict

D．recognize

15.

A．take up

B．make up

C．end up

D．pull up

9 . Lifelong learning and the Future of Work: Challenges and Opportunities

Our world is undergoing dramatic and transformative change technological, organizational, and climatic presenting new challenges to the future of work. These global trends are having a significant impact on skills.    1    . That is because skills acquired today may quickly become obsolete (淘汰的).

The concept of lifelong learning has been around for decades and the ILO (International Labour Organization) has adopted numerous normative instruments and policies related to lifelong learning.    2    . In the old days, we could say let’s go to school, get qualified for a job, enter the labour market and that’s the job of learning done. Now, people need to learn how to learn because learning is going to be a feature of the transitions they are going to go through throughout their lives.

Lifelong learning affects us all.     3     , from early childhood and basic education to adult learning and upskilling to take advantage of change. It is a global concept applying to developed and developing economies. And it requires the active engagement and support of governments, employers and workers.

    4    ? There’s no one size fits all strategy. But there are things we can do. Develop foundational and core work skills. Improve vocational guidance and labour market data. Recognize both formal and informal skills learning. Improve coordination and ensure equitable (公平的) access to learning.

Ultimately, lifelong learning is the key for people to be able to benefit from new ways of working.    5    .

A．Do I need to be active in lifelong learning

B．Many of today’s skills won’t match tomorrow’s jobs

C．How do we adapt lifelong learning to our new reality

D．It is central to managing the transitions we face over the life cycle

E．And it will light the path on our journey to a brighter future at work

F．It is easy to say that people need to keep learning throughout their careers

G．But the transformative change happening now is reshaping its definitions and giving it new importance

10 . Tonal languages use pitch (音调) to distinguish words that otherwise might sound the same. In Mandarin, for instance, mă means horse whereas mã means mother. Nontonal languages like Spanish sometimes include pitch changes to suggest emotion, for example, but not to change a word’s meaning.

As a Mandarin speaker and musician, Jingxuan Liu wondered about the crossover (融合) between language and music. While studying at Duke University, Liu helped analyze the musical abilities of nearly half a million people from 203 countries. Her colleagues had launched an online game in which participants completed several musical tasks, including identifying matching melodies at different pitches and finding beat tracks that fit songs’ rhythms.

On average, native speakers of the 19 represented tonal languages were better at the melody task compared with speakers of 29 nontonal languages. And the effect wasn’t small a tonal first language strengthened melodic understanding by about half the amount that music lessons did, which was also surveyed. But tonal languages speakers tended to be worse at the rhythm task.

Humans must be choosy about what they pay attention to. Pitch patterns are quite important in tonal languages, which might explain the balancing act in music. “You’ve got a finite resource of attention, and you’ve got to divide up that somehow,” says study coauthor Courtney Hilton, a scientist at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

Prior research on language and music often compared just two tongues, usually English and Mandarin. But other cultural influences, such as Eastern and Western music styles, could have affected results. By examining a wide range of people, the new study included languages never estimated in this way and reached more generalizable conclusion.

“Our result here is showing that the language someone speaks which is an important part of culture — also shapes cognition,” Hilton says.

1. Why did Liu’s colleagues launch the online game?

A．To attract more students to do the research.

B．To learn about different people’s musical abilities.

C．To confirm the role of music in people’s language learning.

D．To find the difference between tonal languages and nontonal ones.

2. What were native speakers of tonal languages better at than those of nontonal languages?

A．Finding beat tracks.	B．Suggesting emotion.
C．Distinguishing word meanings.	D．Figuring out matching melodies.

3. What does the underlined word “finite” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．Valued.

B．Limited.

C．Special.

D．Potential.

4. Which of the following words can best describe Liu’s study?

A．Ground-breaking.

B．Brain-washing.

C．Inefficient.

D．Unreliable.