1 . 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。

The cute “auspicious rabbit” (吉祥兔) figure    1     the first mascot for the “Happy Chinese New Year” celebrations, has arguably been    2    international star. It travelled overseas to various countries, leaping into countless hearts worldwide.    3     (follow) the rabbit’s phenomenal success, the ministry launched the 2024 “Happy Chinese New Year” mascot for the Year of the Dragon global celebrations in Beijing on Oct 7, 2023.

“JiXiang Long”,     4     (literal) lucky dragon, the mascot features a gesture of a smiley face with flame-shaped eyebrows and a gold ingot-shaped(元宝形状) nose. Its body    5     (cover) by yellow and red flame patterns.

Gao Zheng, director-general of the ministry’s Bureau of International Exchanges and Cooperation, unveiled the mascot alongside UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Tan Dun. “Dragon is the only animal    6    does not actually exist in the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. The holy animal is a(n)    7     (separate) part of the Chinese civilization, representing our hope for and pursuit of peace, joy, and good luck,” said Lin Cunzhen, the lead designer of the mascot.    8     (come) up with a design that combined the holiness of the divine creature and adorableness    9    (require) for a mascot, she and her team pooled the wisdom of archaeologists, art historians, artists, and designers. They also interviewed people of various age groups to learn about the    10    (prefer) of a dragon mascot. Aside from being widely featured in the 2024 “Happy Chinese New Year” celebrations at home and abroad, “JiXiang Long” will be developed into a host of cultural creative products, ranging from stationery to souvenir statues.

2 . 阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空。

For people from outside the city, Chengdu is the Land of Abundance with a soft dialect, adorable giant pandas, tea houses     1     (fill) with bamboo chairs and tea fragrance, spicy Sichuan cuisine, Mount Qingcheng and the Dujiangyan Irrigation System, bars in the Yulin community,     2     Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage Museum.

For the locals, Chengdu is their hometown with a charming dialect and delicious food in unattractive restaurants, where lovable “obedient” (服从的) husbands can     3     (find). It is a city       4     people enjoy the sweet taste of fresh pea shoots in spring, where they can relax and enjoy life, where they don’t get       5     (worry) and even earthquakes can’t stop them from finishing off the round of majiang (mahjong). Over the course of Qin and Han, Tang and Song dynasties, and up to the present day, Chengdu has kept a spirit that is unique       6     itself. It is a spirit of a vast vision, of perseverance and devotion when       7     (cross) the ancient road to Sichuan, of resilience (恢复力) and humour in the face of difficulty, of       8     (calm) and composure in daily life. It is a spirit of stubbornness and romance as seen in the story of Sima Xiangru and Zhuo Wenjun, of compassion (同情) for the people as embodied by Du Fu, and of bravery and       9     (determine) as the Sichuan Army showed in the Chinese War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. Today, Chengdu tells people that it has developed into a city of       10     youth for innovation and achieving dreams.

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。

Tomatoes: The Real Magical Fruit

“Fresh tomato plants! Straight out of the ground! 50 cents each!” I shouted in the school hall. In my hands, I carried a shoebox with little tomato plants. Their homes were plastic bottles, without the top half. Most people ignored my product, but some handed me 50 cents and picked out a 2-week-old baby tomato plant.

About a month before this, I started gardening. I pulled up grass in my little garden for several days in a row. Satisfied with my work, I continued to the second step — begging my dad to take me to the supermarket. He agreed!

When my dad turned off the engine and opened the door, I practically skipped inside the supermarket. We headed straight for the garden center. I picked up planters, seeds and dirt. My dad helped and showed me the best dirt and tomato plant types to get. We got to the register, and my dad, knowing what would happen, helped me pay.

As soon as I got home, I began to plant them in my garden. The following days witnessed my visits to the garden and my parents were amazed by my devotion to my new-found love.

Then was the part where I met my problem — I planted too many tomato seeds. I realized this all too late, about 10 days later when they all started sprouting (发芽) up and I counted 45 tomato plants. A few days went by and then I ended up with 85 tomato plants.

I did what all high schoolers would do when they messed up — I asked people around. I even got a notebook to write down their suggestions. Sadly, I got the same answer from most people, “Just let them die.” WHAT?! Let my beautiful plants die? They had so much potential! They could make 20 — 30 tomatoes per plant! We were talking about the possibility of around 2,550 tomatoes!

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。

So, I decided to solve it in my way.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The result was better than I had thought.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4 . Nowadays, people are increasingly interacting with others in social media environments where algorithms control the flow of social information they see. People’s interactions with online algorithms may affect how they learn from others, with negative consequences including social misperceptions, conflict and the spread of misinformation.

On social media platforms, algorithms are mainly designed to amplify (放大) information that sustains engagement, meaning they keep people clicking on content and coming back to the platforms. There is evidence suggesting that a side effect of this design is that algorithms amplify information people are strongly biased (偏向的) to learn from. We call this information “PRIME”, for prestigious, in-group, moral and emotional information.

In our evolutionary past, biases to learn from PRIME information were very advantageous: Learning from prestigious individuals is efficient because these people are successful and their behavior can be copied. Paying attention to people who violate moral norms is important because punishing them helps the community maintain cooperation. But what happens when PRIME information becomes amplified by algorithms and some people exploit (利用) algorithm amplification to promote themselves? Prestige becomes a poor signal of success because people can fake prestige on social media. News become filled with negative and moral information so that there is conflict rather than cooperation.

The interaction of human psychology and algorithm amplification leads to disfunction because social learning supports cooperation and problem-solving, but social media algorithms are designed to increase engagement. We call it functional mismatch. One of the key outcomes of functional mismatch is that people start to form incorrect perceptions of their social world, which often occurs in the field of politics. Recent research suggests that when algorithms selectively amplify more extreme political views, people begin to think that their political in-group and out-group are more sharply divided than they really are. Such “false polarization” might be an important source of greater political conflict.

So what’s next? A key question is what can be done to make algorithms facilitate accurate human social learning rather than exploit social learning biases. Some research team is working on new algorithm designs that increase engagement while also punishing PRIME information. This may maintain user activity that social media platforms seek, but also make people’s social perceptions more accurate.

1. What are social media algorithms targeted at?

A．Improving social environment.	B．Generating PRIME information.
C．Avoiding side effects of social media.	D．Raising the media platform click rate.

2. Why does the author refer to “false polarization” in paragraph 4?

A．To make an assumption.	B．To illustrate a conclusion.
C．To explain a political issue.	D．To present an extreme case.

3. According to the author, algorithms will be improved so as to ________.

A．boost engagement and regulate amplification

B．strengthen social learning and delete biases

C．identify biases and punish PRIME information

D．monitor media platforms and guarantee users’ privacy

4. What is the best title of the text?

A．PRIME information meets with misperceptions

B．Algorithms control the flow of social information

C．Social media algorithms twist human social learning

D．Online algorithm designs face unexpected challenges

5 . 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。

In China, even for the most accomplished chefs, cooking     1     (involve) improvising with the ingredients (原料) on hand: feel and taste. For the Chinese, the idea of exact time and amounts in cooking is an alien concept. In fact, times and measuring cups won’t     2     (find) in a traditional Chinese kitchen. Nor will a Chinese cook asked     3     he or she makes a particular dish respond with clear     4     (quantity) of ingredients and an exact cooking time, for such concrete instructions are almost nonexistent in the world of Chinese cuisine.

    5     (make) Chinese food can be very time consuming. One reason is     6     the preparation before the actual cooking takes time, as ingredients for the same dish are     7     (typical) cut into uniform shapes, and preferably into bite-sized pieces. Chinese cooking employs different methods according to the nature of the ingredients, the     8     (long) of cooking time, and the degree of heat. The major emphasis, though, is on enhancing the natural flavor of ingredients, as well as retaining nutrients.

Almost every Chinese kitchen has     9     bamboo steamer. In this method, food s are put in the steamer above boiling water. This technique preserves the colors, flavors, and nutrients of the food. A good cook knows which techniques to use     10     (combine) the natural flavors of the ingredients for the best taste and nutrition.

6 . The title of “Aaron’s younger brother” was earned when I had won the second place in my first tennis tournament at the age of six. Whenever I ________ onto a tennis court, it was as though a gluey name label, which had been ________ stuck onto me.

I wanted to ________ Aaron, my older brother, whose fame had reduced me to a ________ tennis player. Then came a big tennis match against Aaron. As I shook Aaron’s hand at the start of the match, I stared at him and focused on how this match was going to ________ everything.

The tennis court seemed to stretch out further than usual, but I could still ________ the confident look on Aaron’s face. He knew that my honor ________ in comparison to his. Finally, we were down to the last set, neck and neck in points. That was when the setting sun cast his figure over me, ________ me that I would always be walking in his ________ if I did not prove myself.

I prepared myself for the finishing blow, ________ of Aaron’s past matches flooding through my mind as I ________ the weakness of his smash (扣球) the ball would always fly towards the left of the court. I extended my arm to the left in anticipation of where the ball was going to land. The ball made ________ with my racket and was lobbed over Aaron’s head successfully. He could do nothing but ________ his undefeated status as champion being removed by his younger brother.

While I was still enjoying the unfamiliar feeling of ________ minutes after the match was over, a man, whom I vaguely recognized from a ________ tennis club, approached me. “What is your name, son?” he asked. A smile spread across my face.

1.

A．marched

B．stepped

C．jumped

D．rushed

2.

A．frequently

B．originally

C．permanently

D．occasionally

3.

A．recommend

B．praise

C．evaluate

D．defeat

4.

A．nameless

B．hopeless

C．worthless

D．fearless

5.

A．appreciate

B．change

C．explore

D．settle

6.

A．put down

B．pull out

C．take up

D．make out

7.

A．disappeared

B．wrinkled

C．paled

D．doubled

8.

A．reminding

B．ordering

C．instructing

D．expecting

9.

A．trust

B．shelter

C．credit

D．shadow

10.

A．scores

B．images

C．records

D．highlights

11.

A．hid

B．admitted

C．recalled

D．overcame

12.

A．contact

B．progress

C．movement

D．adjustment

13.

A．maintain

B．improve

C．confirm

D．witness

14.

A．harmony

B．success

C．competition

D．relief

15.

A．previous

B．special

C．famous

D．tiny

7 . 由于许多野生动物逐渐灭绝，当前形势值得注意。(with复合结构；deserve) (汉译英)

8 . 毫无疑问，这位候选人的优势在于他能用英语与外国人交流。(lie in) (汉译英)

9 . 不管走到哪里，我们都努力去适应当地的风俗习惯。(adapt to) (汉译英)

10 . Science Books for Kids of All Ages

To help you choose the perfect education al books for your child, we’ve created this handpicked list of the best science books for kids. The titles featured here spark curiosity, encourage leaning, and are lots of fun, too.

About Time: A First Look at Time and Clocks

Author: Bruce Koscielniak; Price: US $8.55

Long ago people used the sun, the moon, and the water to tell time. Soon after we began using our knowledge about the natural world to build clocks and to create calendars made up of months and years. Centuries later, we have clocks and calendars all around us. This book tells the amazing story of how it all happened!

Animalium: Welcome to the Museum

Author: Katie Scott;Price: US $8.99

This book opens the doors of the natural history museum for your child all year round! It features 200 full-color specimens accompanied by lively, informative text and more. Discover the animal kingdom inglorious detail with unique illustrations that combine science and art.

Bang!: How We Came to Be

Author: Michael Rubino; Price: US $16.00

“Bang! And that was it, the beginning of everything.” So begins this beautifully illustrated story of evolution. This book conveys not only the facts but also the excitement of the scientific explanation of our world, from the origin of the universe to the present reality of our planet.

Bedtime Math: The Truth Comes Out

Author: Laura Overdeck; Price: US $10.99

This book makes learning about math as fun as dessert after dinner! It combines math and cool facts for one fun and wild adventure. Now kids can discover the science behind all their favorite things: marshmallows, soda, ice cream, and more. With over 100 math problems on a variety of topics, kids will find math isn’t just fun — it can be found everywhere!

1. What can kids learn in the book About Time?

A．The tough life of ancestors.	B．The origin of the sun and the moon.
C．The old ways to measure time.	D．The wildlife in the natural world.

2. What do Animalium and Bang have in common?

A．They are children’s novels.	B．They are popular for cheap price.
C．They are collected in the museum.	D．They are illustrated stories for kids.

3. Which book can make numbers fun and easy?

A．Bang.

B．Bedtime Math.

C．Animalium.

D．About Time.