1 . Common water plant could provide a green energy source. Scientists have figured out how to get large amounts of oil from duckweed, one of nature’s fastest-growing water plants. Transferring such plant oil into biodiesel (生物柴油) for transportation and heating could be a big part of a more sustainable future.

For a new study, researchers genetically engineered duckweed plants to produce seven times more oil per acre than soybeans. John Shanklin, a biochemist says further research could double the engineered duckweed’s oil output in the next few years.

Unlike fossil fuels, which form underground, biofuels can be refreshed faster than they are used. Fuels made from new and used vegetable oils, animal fat and seaweed can have a lower carbon footprint than fossil fuels do, but there has been a recent negative view against them. This is partly because so many crops now go into energy production rather than food; biofuels take up more than 100 million acres of the world’s agricultural land.

Duckweed, common on every continent but Antarctica, is among the world’s most productive plants, and the researchers suggest it could be a game-changing renewable energy source for three key reasons. First, it grows readily in water, so it wouldn’t compete with food crops for agricultural land. Second, duckweed can grow fast in agricultural pollution released into the water. Third, Shanklin and his team found a way to avoid a major biotechnological barrier: For the new study, Shanklin says, the researchers added an oil-producing gene, “turning it on like a light switch”by introducing a particular molecule (分子) only when the plant had finished growing. Shanklin says, “If it replicates (复制) in other species-and there’s no reason to think that it would not — this can solve one of our biggest issues, which is how we can make more oil in more plants without negatively affecting growth.”

To expand production to industrial levels, scientists will need to design and produce large-scale bases for growing engineered plants and obtaining oil — a challenge, Shanklin says, because duckweed is a non-mainstream crop without much existing infrastructure (基础设施).

1. What can people get from duckweed firsthand?

A．Plant oil.	B．Stable biodiesel.
C．Sustainable water.	D．Natural heat.

2. What does paragraph 4 mainly convey?

A．Options for renewable energy.

B．Reasons for engineering genes.

C．The potential of revolutionary energy source.

D．The approach to avoiding agricultural pollution.

3. What is the decisive factor to mass-produce the plant?

A．Industrial levels.	B．Unique design.
C．Academic research.	D．Basic facilities.

4. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Duckweed Power	B．Duckweed Production
C．Genetic Engineering	D．Genetic Testing

2 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What are the speakers doing now?

A．Talking about their jobs.

B．Conducting an interview.

C．Sharing their experience.

2. How did the man find the job?

A．From a newspaper.

B．From a friend.

C．From the Internet.

3. Why does the man give up his last job?

A．He had to work overtime.

B．He couldn’t get on with his co-workers.

C．He expects a more challenging one.

3 . 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。

You enter through a round entrance known as a moon gate. There before you, is a     1    (cover )passage made of red wood, leading you past a walled courtyard. Along the edges of the courtyard are piles of rocks, among which     2    (grow) bamboo. The whole scene is like a painting;     3     every step you take, another part of the painting is unrolled.

    4    (step) into the courtyard, you look over the scene. Latticed(格状) windows in the walls reveal yet more bamboo, suggesting that the courtyard is just one part of a     5    (large)garden. At the far end of the courtyard is a room with wooden chairs,     6     windows that create frames for the scene of     7     (strange)shaped rocks beyond them, just like Chinese ink-wash paintings. This little courtyard is     8     picture of the classic Chinese concept of peace and beauty. Yet, you are not in China, but a copy of Chinese garden. The Astor Chinese Garden Court     9    (create)by a team of 26 Chinese craftsmen in 1981, and it represented the first permanent cultural exchange between America and China. The courtyard is a place of rest for a museum     10     (visit). As a museum piece in and of itself, the garden gives a wonderful view of ancient China.

4 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What are the speakers mainly discussing?

A．Whether to give Marco a promotion.

B．What to do with the new plan.

C．How to choose a manager.

2. What does the man think is the most important for the position?

A．Faithfulness to the company.

B．Ability to carry out the new plan.

C．Experience in creative department.

3. What is Marco good at?

A．Selling ideas.

B．Managing a team.

C．Training new employees.

4. What does the man suggest doing?

A．Arranging a job interview.

B．Talking with the boss.

C．Doing a survey.

5 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Connie hasn’t seen Aida because she thinks 　　　　.

A．opera is terrible

B．it hasn’t opened yet

C．it’s too expensive

2. Marian and her friends 　　　　.

A．might go to the opera

B．have decided to go to the opera

C．may get together on Friday

6 . The Art Institute of Chicago

Visitor Information

Museum Hours

Members: The first hour of every day, 10 a.m. —11 a.m., is reserved for member-only viewing.

Monday—Wednesday Closed

Thursday: 11 a.m.—8 p. m.

Friday—Sunday: 11 a.m.—5 p. m.

●Audio Guide

Audio guides can be rented at the admission counter, audio counter and outside some special exhibitions. The guide is free to visitors with visual or hearing disabilities.

●Journey Maker

With the digital interactive JourneyMaker, you can build custom family guides based on your child’s interests-from superheroes to strange and wild creatures. Start your museum journey in the Family Room of the Ryan Leaning Center, and make your visit to the Art Institute an adventure for the whole family.

●Official Mobile App

Your personal, pocket-sized guide to the collection, this new iOS app features podcast-style audio tours, location-aware technology, access to the digital member card, and so much more. Download it today from the App Store.

●Photography

We encourage you to take pictures of the collection and special exhibitions for personal use. Signs indicate the few works that are not allowed to be photographed due to a lender requirement.

●Phones

You are welcome to use your phone to take pictures, text, and use the museum’s app-anything that does not disturb other visitors. If you need to make a phone call, please do so in a non-gallery space.

●Valet Parking

Art Institute visitors can drop off their cars at the Modern Wing entrance (159 East Monroe Street) and walk right into the museum. The valet service is available daily from 10:30 a. m. until one-half hour after closing.

●Admission

Adult: $ 32

Student: $ 26

Child (aged 13 and under): Free

Help us protect the collection-please do not touch the art.

1. How long at maximum can a visitor stay in the museum per day?

A．1 hour.

B．6 hours.

C．9 hours.

D．10 hours.

2. What can be learned from the Visitor Information?

A．Valet parking is not available after closing.	B．All artworks are encouraged to be pictured.
C．Audio guide is free to every museum visitor.	D．Family guides can be tailored to visitors’ needs.

3. How much would a couple with two children aged 6 and 14 pay for admission?

A．$ 64.

B．$ 90.

C．$ 116.

D．$ 128.

7 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. What did Margaret do last summer?

A．She stayed at her home.

B．She did a summer job.

C．She went on a vacation.

2. Who is Dr. Cohen?

A．The man’s professor.

B．Margaret’s mother.

C．Eric’s employer.

3. What does the man think of the employment procedure?

A．It seems reasonable.

B．It sounds troublesome.

C．It is wild.

4. What is the man supposed to do first?

A．Make an application.

B．See a homeowner.

C．Give three references.

8 . 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。

Recently, a Chinese college research team has released China’s first large language model (LLM) “Xunzi”,     1     uses deep learning techniques and massively big data sets to help conduct research on ancient Chinese books. With the model, more information hidden in our cultural legacy can     2     (mine) for.

This model, named     3     Xun Zi, one of the most celebrated philosophers in ancient China for his Confucian classic Xunzi,     4     (comprise) the majority of Chinese ancient books and documents.     5     (design) to intelligently process ancient texts, the system aims to promote innovative development in the research and preservation of Chinese ancient books, enhance the efficiency and quality of the legacy of traditional Chinese culture,     6     boost integration between LLM and ancient book processing.

The research on Chinese traditional classics is     7     painstaking and laborious challenge. Since 2013, the team have worked tirelessly to digitize Chinese classics like the Siku Quanshu,     8     (lay) a solid foundation for the large language model. Committed to the philosophy of making their data and model     9     (access) worldwide, the team have a broader perspective targeting global users. To this end, they have     10     (handsome) shared the LLM on the Internet, enabling more individuals to appreciate traditional Chinese culture.

9 . If sales generally feel hard to to resist, the sale in front of Aarron Schurevich was the ultimate test: new Kia Soul just like the one he’d had and loved, at a dealership he trusted, at a moment when he really needed a car. And it was priced $4,000 off more than a 20% discount. However, after he sped through paperwork and drove the car off the lot, the deal turned soul. Schurevich now jokes that he paid a tax for being a fool.

This big-ticket example shows vividly all the dynamics that play out in a sale. The discount itself often registers as a win, delivering the joy of both getting the product and the reward that we discovered something, and we’ve earned this extra thing. Thus, spotting something we’d like to buy on sale activates our brain’s reward system. Then there’s the fight in the brain between what can be described as its emotional and rational(理性的)parts. A sale lands like the thumb that tips our mental scale toward buying.

Stores, of course, know all this and try to push our buttons.

Experts say we often subconsciously believe popular things to be more valuable or more rewarding. Plus, there’s our urge to avoid loses — the fear of missing out (FOMO). So stores appeal to our crowd mentality: It’s Black Friday, ana everyone’s shopping, buying that thing you’d like. They create urgency: Your favorite car is on sale today only! And they create scarcity: Shop now while supplies last!

Stores also try various pricing tricks. “How do we make more customers go to the more expensive option? We add a decoy,” says Savannah Wei Shi, who researches pricing and decision-making. For example, picture s store shelf where a medium bag of candy sits next to a larger bag of the same candy. The medium-sized bag is much smaller than the other bag, but only slightly cheaper. It makes the big bag look like the best deal, so shoppers buy that one-the most expensive option on the shelf.

1. Why is Aarron Schurevich’s story mentioned?

A．To illustrate why we fall for a sale.	B．To present how our brains are activated.
C．To stress the importance of rational decision.	D．To prove the flexibility of marketing strategies.

2. What can be inferred from paragraph 4?

A．FOMO postpones decisions.	B．Sales play on people’s fears.
C．Subconsciousness determines everything.	D．Scarcity promotion leads to wise purchases.

3. What marketing technique is used by warning about the limited number of available seats left?

A．Using Pricing tricks.	B．Dealing with emergencies.
C．Creating scarcity.	D．Appealing to crowd mentality.

4. What does “a decoy” refer to in paragraph 5?

A．A candy.

B．A shelf.

C．A larger bag.

D．A medium bag.

10 . Dallas-based Knit Wits is made up of a group of grandmothers with a strong love for knitting (编织) who tum their love for crafting into a purposeful attempt. Meeting regularly, they pour their collective love into every stitch (针法) they make. The group has been working for over ten years, meeting every Friday, to support organizations that help others, locally and around the world. Over the years, they’ve crafted thousands of items insupport of the important things.

Recently the Knit Wits member Mary Ann Stover was inspired to have the group knit hats for infant (婴儿) patients with heart disease at Children’s Health Hospital. The hats, each a unique work of art, designed with holiday themes, reflect the skill of the Knit Wits. More importantly, the special of Knit Wits is its understanding of the emotional effect these small objects can have on the infants experiencing medical treatments.

Bealle, a certified child life specialist at Children’s Health Hospital, explained how the hats are making a difference to the tiny patients and their families. “Caregivers are able to wear the hats on their body to move their smells before placing the hats back on the infants, encouraging connecting and making the infants less stressful,” he said.

Throughout the infants’ admission, many holidays are celebrated. At times, some infants are seriously ill and unable to dress up for holiday photos the families have planned. Thanks to the donations from Knit Wits, the hospital team is able to prove the family with a suitable themed infant hat the family can use for their photos and holiday celebrations.

1. What do we know about the hats from paragraph 2?

A．They centre on spiritual comfort.

B．They have holiday food subjects.

C．They are knitted by the caregivers

D．They are worn on child parents’ birthdays.

2. Why do the caregivers wear the hats first?

A．To hold an artistic activity.

B．To see off the recovered patients.

C．To relax the infants for treatments

D．To welcome the arrival of various holidays.

3. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Why some holiday celebrations are held.

B．What the hats can be used as on holidays.

C．Why some special photos are important.

D．What the hats can be matched with.

4. Which of the following can best describe the members of Knit Wits?

A．Unsuccessful

B．Impractical.

C．Warm-hearted

D．Dishonest.