1 . 阅读下面短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Pandas     1     (live) in China for over three million years. A giant panda has a typical bear’s body but is a distinctive black and white color, with black fur around the eyes and on the cars, legs, chest and shoulders, while the rest of the body is white. Giant pandas are the     2     (nation) treasure of China. A panda’s daily diet consists almost     3     (entire) of bamboo. Sometimes, however, they do not just eat bamboo. Only about 1% of their diet consists of other plants and even meat such as small rodents (啮齿动物).

2 . Discover the Huge Health Benefits of Strength Training

One of the best ways to stay fit and healthy as you age is to do strength and power training exercises. It is known that when you are in your thirties, you will begin to lose muscle mass. This loss actually contributes to achy joints, the increased risk of injury, and the “middle-age spread” we all fear. What’s more, the older you get, the faster muscle mass loses. It means that eventually, simple tasks like getting out of a chair and climbing stairs can become more difficult.

Strength training can help you build muscles, make you strong, increase your staying power and make everyday activities easier. By combining strength and power training exercises, you’ll not only get stronger, but also improve your reaction speed. As you grow older, that’s critical because it can help prevent falls. Here is a book, Strength and Power Training for All Ages, for your reference.

Common sense about fitness in the book:

·The key muscles to work for an injury-free body

·How to tell how much weight is suitable for you

·How to strengthen the bones most likely to break

·How to take pressure off your knees when walking or running

·Why you’ll want to apply heat to sore joints before you exercise

Four total body workouts in the book:

·Build bones

·Fight diseases

·Improve balance

·Strengthen muscles &Increase muscle power

Get a copy, start training, and then you’ll discover a whole new self.

1. What will happen as people age according to paragraph 1?

A．They will need less exercise.

B．They will improve reaction speed.

C．They will experience muscle loss.

D．They will have better staying power.

2. What does Strength and Power Training for All Ages mainly teach people to do?

A．Train their brains.	B．Build a sound body.
C．Treat bone diseases.	D．Cut down their weight.

3. What is the text?

A．A notice.	B．An oral folktale.
C．A scientific paper.	D．An advertisement.

3 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

It’s 5 p.m., and you’ve just realized that report you’ve been putting off is due tomorrow. It’s time to buckle down and open your computer. Actually, you should probably make dinner first. You usually like cooking, though it’s hard to enjoy with this work hanging over your head, and oh—it’s actually pretty late! Maybe you should just try again in the morning. This is the cycle of procrastination, and I promise you, we have all been there.

Procrastination is when we avoid a task we said we would do, for no good reason, despite expecting our behavior to bring negative consequences. Obviously, it’s irrational to do something you expect to harm you. But ironically, procrastination is the result of our bodies trying to protect us, specifically by avoiding a task we see as threatening.

We’re most likely to procrastinate tasks that evoke negative feelings, such as dread, incompetence, and insecurity. Because procrastination is motivated by our negative feelings, some individuals are more susceptible (易受影响的) to it than others. People who have difficulty regulating their emotions and those who struggle with low self-esteem are much more likely to procrastinate. However, it’s a common misconception that all procrastinators are lazy. When you’re feeling lazy, you’re more likely to sit around doing nothing than distract yourself with unimportant tasks. In fact, many people procrastinate because they care too much. Procrastinators often report a high fear of failure, putting things off because they’re afraid their work won’t live up to their high standards.

Whatever the reason for procrastination, the results are often the same. Procrastinators are likely to suffer from anxiety and depression, ongoing feelings of shame and physical ailments (轻病) associated with high stress.

So, how can we break the cycle of procrastination?

Traditionally, people thought procrastinators needed to cultivate discipline and practice strict time management. But today, many researchers feel the exact opposite. Being too hard on yourself can layer additional bad emotions onto a task. What we really need to do is to address and reduce these negative emotions.

1. What is procrastination?
_____________________________________________
2. What kinds of people are more likely to procrastinate?
_____________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
Ø Procrastinators are affected by negative emotions, are all lazy and are likely to suffer from physical ailments associated with high stress.
_____________________________________________
4. What strategies can you use to break the cycle of procrastination in your daily life? (In about 40 words)
_____________________________________________

4 . While I was in hospital for a heart surgery, something affected me and made me do something meaningful. Before my surgery, my doctor showed me a video, in which there were patients like me and they each had a heart pillow, so I decided I would get one.

Right after my _______, I asked about the heart pillow. Unluckily, I was told they didn’t offer it but it could be _______ at the hospital gift shop. So my daughter bought one for me. It was comfortable and became my “security blanket”. However I was _______ that many patients couldn’t get that comfort. So I took this whole mission upon myself. I called various hospitals to find out what they used for patients after heart surgeries. I also found a site _______ that the cloth pillows were considered dangerous because it might spread bacteria to patients. I _______ understood, but that didn’t stop my mission. I continued to call the manufacturers. Finally, a lady called back and told me about the heart pillow that they had produced, which could be _______ and disinfected (消毒).

I did all my _______ so that no one could think of a reason why this wouldn’t work. It took me over a month to be able to meet with the hospital authorities to _______ my finding. I’m glad that they agreed and are _____ getting these pillows for patients. I cannot be ________— I actually did something that will help many patients.

1.

A．operation

B．experiment

C．search

D．checkup

2.

A．examined

B．purchased

C．allowed

D．observed

3.

A．satisfied

B．upset

C．scared

D．grateful

4.

A．hoping

B．complaining

C．stating

D．promising

5.

A．secretly

B．suddenly

C．currently

D．totally

6.

A．washed

B．abandoned

C．repaired

D．packed

7.

A．essay

B．homework

C．practice

D．magic

8.

A．grab

B．trace

C．present

D．return

9.

A．depending on

B．carrying on

C．insisting on

D．working on

10.

A．happier

B．calmer

C．wiser

D．luckier

5 . 阅读下面短文，根据题目要求用英文回答问题。

There’s a difference between being nice and being kind. Being nice involves being polite and pleasing to others. If you’re people pleasing, you’re placing an expectation on the person you’re being nice to that they respond to you in a certain way. Being kind is less self-serving. On the one hand, kindness involves being generous without expecting anything in return. The other half is the purpose behind the action. A kind person is acting out of sympathy and genuine concern for another.

The difference is intentionality, said Dr. Catherine Franssen, an associate professor of psychology at Longwood University in Virginia, noting that a kind person tries to really understand what someone else is going through.

Practicing kindness rather than niceness allows people to develop deeper genuine connections with others, said Franssen. The more you do it, the easier it will get to relate to others and build more meaningful relationships in all aspects of life.

The warm feeling you get from performing an act of kindness is your brain releasing a ton of feel-good chemicals. Franssen said being kind boosts production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter (神经传递素) involved in mood, including happiness. Kindness also releases dopamine, a brain chemical in charge of reward and pleasure. It’s the reason why doing one act of kindness feels so good that you want to do another.

Being kind gives the same health benefits, regardless of how big or small the gesture. Acts of kindness might feel strange and out-of-character at first. However, this feeling goes away the more you keep practicing. Soon enough, it becomes so familiar you’ll notice the benefits on yourself and others.

1. What does being kind involve?
_____________________________________________________________
2. Why do you get warm feeling when showing kindness?
_____________________________________________________________
3. Please decide which part is false in the following statement, then underline it and explain why.
> The more you practice niceness, the easier you will connect with others and establish more meaningful relationships in all aspects of life.
_____________________________________________________________
4. In your daily life, what can you do to show kindness? (In about 40 words)
_____________________________________________________________

6 . The CAUSE Leadership Academy (CLA) for students is a paid nine-week internship (实习) program that connects college undergraduates to communities through local political experiences and prepares them to lead and advocate for the civic engagement.

General Information:

·Program Duration: June 24th, 2024 — August 23rd, 2024

·Location and Time Commitment: CLA will be an in-person, full-time program (5 days per week, about 40 hours per week).

·Payment: Each intern will receive $4,000 upon satisfactory completion of the program.

Program Goals:

·To gain new skills and knowledge

·To deepen understanding of issues that impact the local community

·To explore civic leadership career paths

·To develop professional experience and skills to be effective in political advocacy and campaign support

Program Components:

·Interns will work together to develop a project.

·Interns will be placed in a public, private, or non-profit host office.

·Interns will learn about and support civic engagement efforts with their Host Office.

·Interns will develop leadership skills and expand understanding of civic engagement.

Requirements for the applicants:

·Have a minimum GPA (Grade Point Average) of 3.0

·Be a current student with at least one year of college completed or a recent college graduate

·Be able to actively participate in all major events

For full consideration, applicants must ensure both Application and Letter of Recommendation are received by Sunday, January 28th, 2024 at 11:59 pm.

1. The program aims to help participants _______.

A．lead political campaigns	B．make high academic achievements
C．choose civic leadership career paths	D．deepen understanding of civic issues

2. CLA will provide interns _______.

A．a training online	B．a project to finish individually
C．a leader position in a Host Office	D．a $ 4,000 payment for great work

3. Which is a requirement for the applicants?

A．Participating in all events.	B．Having a GPA no less than 3.0.
C．Applying after January 28th, 2024.	D．Being a current high school student.

7 . With a two-year-old behind me and fliers in my hand, I knocked on another door in my neighborhood. I had volunteered to spread the _______ about some changes at the local primary school, so I was excited to see a _______ with a baby in her arm and a preschooler tightly wrapped around her leg.

Within seconds, I realized I needed to _______ my rusty Spanish to connect with this mom. That initial conversation explained the lonely, desperate look in her eyes. I wrote my phone number on the flier and told her to _______ if she ever wanted to walk to the park with the kids.

I hadn’t _______ much about Maria until a month later when she called. Many walks around the neighborhood later, I _______ more details about her life that offered me some viewpoints about my own.

One day I sat at Maria’s kitchen table and shared some of my own family’s _______. Her eyes got big, saying “I thought I was the only one with problems.” I thought my stress was _______, but from her viewpoint, my life seemed to be a pretty package from the outside. By _______ the details of my life, I was able to give her the same gift of viewpoints she had been giving me.

Friendship can be discovered in unexpected places, as long as we find common ground with those who ________ might seem different.

1.

A．cost

B．word

C．classroom

D．workload

2.

A．babysitter

B．friend

C．mother

D．schoolmate

3.

A．speak of

B．pull out

C．deal with

D．give up

4.

A．leave

B．visit

C．watch

D．call

5.

A．thought

B．doubted

C．promised

D．complained

6.

A．predicted

B．learned

C．repeated

D．assessed

7.

A．progress

B．efforts

C．research

D．struggles

8.

A．emotional

B．low

C．obvious

D．false

9.

A．checking

B．recording

C．sharing

D．refreshing

10.

A．initially

B．easily

C．quietly

D．consequently

8 . Below are several things that will have happened by the mid-point of this century both for the good and bad.

Right now, people are focused on AI potentially causing job losses but the reality could be far worse. George Stakhov said, “By 2050, AI will have profoundly(深刻地) reshaped the world. There is a dark AI future where those who control AI will gain huge power, while 99 percent of the population will be disenfranchised(剥夺权利) .The AI lords will control the world’s data and turn the rest of us into their serfs. The alternative is a bright AI scenario, where everyone benefits from AI through better healthcare, faster transport and less pollution.”

Futurist and former Google engineer Ray Kurzweil says that people will merge with machines by 2025. In an event he describes as the “Singularity”, Kurzweil predicts that by 2045, people will connect their brains to machines. “I have set a date for the Singularity in 2045, which is when we will increase our effective intelligence a billionfold by merging with the intelligence we have created.”

Alien-hunting astronomer Seth Shostak bet fellow astronomers that we should find aliens within two dozen years. That means we could be in contact with ET by 2036. Shostak has since doubled down on his prediction, saying that newer measurements suggest there could be billions of Earth-like worlds. That means if the Earth is the only place with life, it’s like a winner in a lottery where the odds are a billion to one. That may be the strongest argument for life in space.

Soaring humidity (湿度) and heat will lead to heatwaves where it is almost impossible for humans to survive outdoors in areas including South Asia, the Persian Gulf, and the Red Sea. By 2070, this will also be true in areas of Brazil and China. “Wet bulb” temperatures refer to conditions where temperature and humidity are high, making it hard to survive outdoors. Humans can survive temperatures of up to 50℃ when humidity is low, but in high humidity, humans cannot survive because there is no way to cool down by sweating. Even extremely strong and fit people die within hours. Large areas of the Earth might be uninhabitable.

1. What is the dark AI future according to George Stakhov?

A．AI will hold power over humans.

B．Humans will earn a basic low wage.

C．Humans will have to serve as AI’s masters.

D．AI will become the owner of the Earth.

2. What is Shostak’s attitude towards the existence of aliens?

A．Doubtful.

B．Approving.

C．Cautious.

D．Negative.

3. What is the last paragraph mainly about?

A．Heatwaves occur in most areas in the world.

B．High humidity causes people to sweat a lot.

C．Huge areas of the Earth might be uninhabitable.

D．People can’t live in low humidity for a long time.

9 . 阅读短文，根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词，在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was accustomed to putting it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and     1     (carry) out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone, I was picked up by a small boat which was bound for London. It was a long and     2     (storm) voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor. When I stepped ashore in London my clothes were ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money     3     (feed) and sheltered me twenty-four hours. During the next twenty-four I went without food and shelter.

10 . 阅读下面短文, 根据短文内容填空。在未给提示词的空白处仅填写1个适当的单词。在给出提示词的空白处用括号内所给词的正确形式填空。

Speaking of medicine, through new technology, people who have brain     1     other injuries will be able to find new hope. There     2     (be) recently, for example, technology which can help blind people to see using cameras and deaf people to hear using microphones that     3     (connect) to their brains. Future technology will assist people in overcoming all sorts of physical disabilities.