2 . 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 had been a long, tiring day because 48-year-old taxi driver Carl had worked for 8 hours. He’d been picking up and dropping off passengers the whole day. He wanted to get home then, but he noticed a panicky (恐慌的)woman getting off a taxi with a child in her arms.

“Why is she shouting at the driver?” Carl slowed down near them. He realized that the woman was begging the driver not to leave her there. The boy was having difficulty breathing, and his arms and legs were shaking uncontrollably. Carl realized the boy was having a seizure (疾病发作)and asked the woman to get into his taxi.

Carl drove as fast as he could. The hospital was several miles away, so he had to race against time to save the boy. Meanwhile, he grew concerned about why the previous driver had dropped them off during such an emergency. The woman told Carl that she and her four-year-old son, Tyler, returned from the park. She told the driver she would pay him once she got home because she didn’t take her purse. But then her son suddenly had a seizure, so she asked the driver to take them to the hospital instead. But the driver refused.

Half an hour later, they arrived at the hospital. Tyler was rushed inside for treatment as his mother waited outside the ward, crying. Carl was hungry and tired but stayed back. An hour later, the doctor said, “Tyler is out of danger now. But it could have been fatal (致命的)if you hadn’t made it here on time.”

Mrs Thomas immediately looked at Carl and cried in tears, thanking Carl for saving her son’s life. Carl was glad Tyler was out of danger. Later, he dropped them off at home, and when Mrs Thomas came out to pay him, he refused. “I have a policy. NO FARES for those making trips to the hospital!” said Carl “I just did what any good human being would do. And please convey my regards to Tyler!” Thomas was moved by his kindness. Carl never changed his policy of dropping off passengers at hospitals for free.

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。
18 years later, 66-year-old Carl booked a taxi to the hospital.
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The driver said all the trips he made to the hospital were free.
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4 . 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。

Want to learn a second language? There are apps for that. Whether you’re planning a trip abroad or spending your free time doing something meaningful, a language app can help you achieve the goals through its lessons     1     (easy)—all from the comfort of your smartphone or laptop.

The best language-learning apps are also cost-effective, especially when     2     (compare) with formal schooling with a language expert. Many have speech     3     (recognize). It is key     4     ensuring you have proper pronunciation. Others offer several language options for you     5     (pick ) up multiple languages.

There is such an app     6     makes it easy for you to learn a language at your own pace. And you’ll sound like     7     native speaker in no time! When you sign up and select the language you want to learn, the app helps you determine     8     advanced you are with it and what level you are.

I tried Italian with this app and I liked the clean and bright layout（布局）of the app. It also     9     (offer) helpful reminders: The second time I logged in, it reminded me about “weak words” I needed to review to improve my vocabulary. In addition to listening to a phrase paired with a photo of the     10     (correspond) action, this app includes helpful vocabulary tips.

6 . For most people, one of the hardest things to deal with is when someone they love is in emotional pain and they simply don’t know how to help. Actually, it can be a challenge to figure out what to say to your loved ones as they struggle with an emotional blow. But don’t worry too much.     1     You can try the following tips.

Focus on the person’s feelings. Don’t mention the time that you went through a similar experience and pulled through it. It won’t help most people. Instead, let them know that you are sad that they are sad.     2     Even if your friend just lost their grandma and you lost your grandma several years ago, everything can be different.

    3     Make a compassionate(有同情心的) statement and then just sit quietly. Let your loved one talk if they want to. Or you can just give them a hug and let them relax, knowing you are there for them. Instead of offering statements that you think are comforting, stay silent and let them start a conversation if they want one.

Don’t add your opinion. Part of learning how to comfort someone is not to give advice. Even if you think you have the perfect solution to the problem, don’t offer it. Every single person is different. Your loved one has different weaknesses and strengths than you or another friend that has gone through the same thing.     4    

Provide practical help. If you are concerned about how to comfort someone, you can just find some daily stuff to help your loved one.     5     Don’t be afraid to consistently offer the same type of help, such as bringing dinner the same night of every week.

A．Don’t focus on you.

B．Just listen and don’t talk.

C．Remember that no two experiences are the same.

D．They want to talk about what’s happening in the present.

E．Therefore, don’t offer advice unless your loved one asks.

F．This is a great way to show your friend that they can count on you.

G．Simply listening and focusing on your loved one can make a big difference.

7 . Horseback riding might not seem like a typical New York City activity, but one program has several horse farms throughout the city’s busy districts. GallopNYC provides lessons to veterans(老兵) and people with disabilities — horseback riding is their therapy(疗法).

Olivia Diver visits the GallopNYC location in the Howard Beach neighborhood in Queens. Diver has only been riding horses for a few months, but says she’s already felt the benefits. “It helped me come out of my comfort zone and be less shy and less in my shell,” she said. Trying something new shows her she can accomplish other things as well.

James Wilson,executive director at GallopNYC, says there are many ways horses can be therapeutic. “The horse sees the world in the way somebody with post-traumatic stress disor-der (PTSD) might see the world, in a really guarded, sort of anxious way,” he explained. “So,somebody with PTSD and a horse can sort of partner together and see the world in the same way and kind of take care of each other.” Horses can also help with physical disabilities. After two years of therapeutic riding, a teenager, who had so little core strength that his mother had to be in the bathtub with him, had enough core strength that he could be in the shower by himself. Wilson said, “The movement of the horse will loosen up muscles that might be really tight. And the movement helps stimulate other body parts and other muscles that you might not use. ”

“CallopNYC has about 1,000 people on is waitlist for lessons, but prioritizes people with disabilities and veterans. We believe that everybody benefits from the time on a horse, so if you want to ride a horse, come on, let’s go,” Wilson said. Lessons are $55, but the non-profit fundraises to help cover or lower the cost for customers who may need support.

1. Why does GallopNYC offer the lessons?

A．To make horse riding typical in NYC.

B．To provide part-time jobs for veterans.

C．To promote disabled people’s incomes.

D．To offer a cure to special groups.

2. What can we infer about Olivia Diver?

A．She has learned new life skills.

B．She has found her comfort zone.

C．She has gained much confidence.

D．She has changed her attitude to horses.

3. What does paragraph 3 intend to show?

A．GallopNYC’s leader.	B．The effect of the therapy.
C．Profit James Wilson has got.	D．Ways of guarding people’s anxiety.

4. What does Wilson think of the program according to the last paragraph?

A．It is well received.	B．It is highly profitable.
C．It needs to be more creative.	D．It takes ages to see the results.

8 . Shawn Triplett, who now works as a volunteer at a local elementary school, was recently helping out at a shelter when he witnessed a damaging interaction between a mom and her young child after they had been displaced by the tornadoes.

“I saw a child crying in his mother’s arms. She was crying too, but you could tell she was doing her best to look strong,” he recalls. “The boy told his mom, ‘I’ve lost my Christmas.’ It was at that moment that I broke down and had to walk outside.”

After taking a night to think about how he could best help, Triplett decided to ask friends and family to donate money so he could buy toys for the children who were impacted.

“I was going to give them back their Christmas,” he explained. “There was so much support in the community for water, generators and food, but nobody was thinking about the kids. At least, not in the way it should be, so close to Christmas.”

Triplett ended up launching a GoFundMe page to help purchase holiday gifts for the children, which quickly spread on social media. Since launching the page three days ago, he had raised over $44,000. He also partnered with the local supermarket, which provided a 25% discount on all purchases for him.

While the toys were fully covered by the donors, Triplett said he had been footing the bill for wrapping paper. He planned to deliver the gifts in person in a Santa costume closer to Christmas. “We chose to wrap them so that the kids get the full experience of what Christmas should be,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to normalize a traumatic (创伤的) experience for them, even if just for a few hours.”

1. What inspired Triplett to make an effort to help children?

A．A mother’s demand.

B．A volunteer’s appeal.

C．A young boy’s words.

D．His childhood experiences.

2. How would Triplett help the children?

A．By purchasing school supplies.

B．By giving them a normal festival.

C．By launching more GoFundMe pages.

D．By sending them necessities of living.

3. What did the local supermarket do for Triplett?

A．It did the delivery work for him.

B．It provided all the supplies.

C．It offered free wrapping paper.

D．It took some money off his cost.

4. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A．Triplett made full use of the money he got.

B．Triplett ensured the gifts to be more valuable.

C．Triplett tried to make kids have a normal Christmas.

D．Triplett had normalized the traumatic experience for kids.

9 . The area of tropical forest destroyed in 2021 was enough to cover the entire island of Cuba, and sent more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere as India does in an entire year from burning fossil fuels, according to an analysis published on Thursday.

Some 11.1 million hectares (around 43, 000 square miles) of forest was destroyed, mainly by logging (伐木)as well as fires, the analysis by the World Resources Institute’s Global Forest Watch and the University of Maryland found. Some of those fires were deliberately lit to clear land and many were deteriorated by climate change.

The loss was less severe than in 2020, but deforestation (毁林)is still occurring at an alarming rate in the tropics. Of the area lost, 3. 75 million hectares were primary tropical forest at the equivalent of 10 soccer fields every minute, WRI reported.

Primary tropical forests in particular are crucial for the ecological balance of the planet, providing oxygen that supports life and as biodiversity hotspots. They are also rich in stored carbon, and when these forests are logged or burned, they release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.

“What’s important to understand is that forests, especially tropical forests, are part of the global climate system,” WRI senior fellow Frances Seymour told CNN. “So they’re not mechanical carbon storage devices. They actually influence the energy transfer and the moisture content of the atmosphere in ways that affect rainfall and global circulation patterns.”

“When deforestation happens, when forests are lost, it not only contributes carbon to the atmosphere, but also disrupts rainfall patterns and increases local temperatures in some ways. For example, it makes remaining forests more vulnerable to fire, and the warmer, drier conditions that come with climate change,” Seymour said.

1. Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “deteriorated” in paragraph 2?

A．strengthened

B．expanded

C．worsened

D．extended

2. In which aspect are primary tropical forests especially important?

A．Promoting world economy.

B．Balancing the earth’s ecology.

C．Predicting severe weather.

D．Providing wood resources.

3. What did Seymour talk about in the last paragraph?

A．The consequence of deforestation.

B．The cause of forests loss.

C．The methods of protecting forests.

D．The contributions of forests.

4. What can be a suitable title for the text?

A．Logging causes most forests loss

B．Analysts are concerned about tropic forests loss

C．Primary tropical forests are rich in stored carbon

D．Tropical forests are being destroyed at an alarming rate

10 . 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。

When I was a child, my mother told my sister, who had a 10-inch very obvious scar (伤疤) on her arm, “Nancy, if you ignore the scar, other people will ignore it. It does not mean they will not notice it, but it means it will not matter to them if it doesn’t matter to you.”

It never occurred to me that something like this would happen to my son years later. Sending a child off to college can certainly be stressful for concerned parents. It was in 2018 that my son went off to college. He rarely contacted us. I couldn’t help asking about other aspects, which sometimes made him complain that I didn’t treat him as an adult.

To be honest, my son is excellent. Some of my friends always tell me that they admire my son’s characters and they hope their sons could have some of them.

Unexpectedly, it was 4 o’clock in the morning in 2020, when I received the phone call. “This is the emergency room calling and your son was just brought in with severe burns on his face, neck and arms. We have called for an aircraft and are going to fly him to the burn unit in Seattle.” Seattle was 350 miles from his college, so we knew immediately this was serious.

The doctor described the reason, which caused the burns. At 6 am, my son and his friends decided to barbecue hamburgers in the courtyard of their apartment. When they lit the charcoal, it burst into flames because they had sprayed too much gasoline. The flames caught my son’s shirt tail and shot from his waist to well over his head.

Fortunately, one of the boys who was quick-minded grasped my son and rolled him on the grass. While it saved his life, it was not in shape to save him from severe burns and terrible scars.

After he recovered from the treatments, the doctors told him they would not do plastic surgery for 6 months because it takes that long for the skin to stop shrinking and wrinkling.

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。

The doctors suggested he return to college with scars of severe burns temporarily.

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So I told him about Nancy’s childhood.

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