1 . Storytelling has caught the human imagination for thousands of years. People everywhere have told stories to amuse, to teach, to remember, and just to pass the time. People started telling stories long before writing was invented.     1     But people all over the world still tell one another stories out loud. A person who can tell a good story nearly always finds listeners.

Before people developed writing, storytelling was the most important way to pass along information. Anything a culture wanted to protect — its beliefs, its history, and its traditions — had to be told out loud. Each generation would tell the culture’s stories to the next.     2    

Knowledge passed on in this method is called the spoken tradition. Even cultures that know how to write still pass along some information in this way.

    3     In other cultures only special storytellers were trusted to do this important job. A culture’s best storytellers had good memories. They could also make the stories very interesting, so people would listen and remember them. Sometimes people would sing the stories or tell them in the form of poems.     4    

However, stories told aloud change over time as different people tell them. A storyteller might change a story in order to make it better. Or a teller may simply not remember all the details of a story. Unlike written stories, the spoken tradition is not created by any one person.     5    

Sometimes the stories are collected and written down long after they have been created.

A．In this way the stories were passed along.

B．In some cultures everyone would pass along the stories.

C．Songs and poems can both make stories easier to remember.

D．Instead, a whole culture helps shape the changing stories throughout history.

E．Today stories are also written down in books and acted out in movies, TV shows, and plays.

F．Today we aren’t telling stories any more.

G．The storyteller is a special occupation (职业).

2 . Not long ago I wasn’t doing very well in exams and I was full of disappointment and negative thinking. While on the _______, I met many new friends, but one in particular _______. His nickname is Colorful Day and we _______ on the Web. He told me he lost his _______ at age 15, and felt the whole world had closed its door to him.

He was _______ so fast that I couldn’t believe he was blind! But he continued to _______, “Five years ago, I realized it was time to change my life. I had read about Helen Keller and understood her life and _______. So I developed a website about her life _______ mine called Three Days to See.”

I visited his website which was well _______ and vividly presented.

I asked, “How did you __________ to build such a website?” He said: “Owing to the new technology, I can use software specially __________ for the blind. __________ I point the cursor (光标), it will just read it out to me. We can do far more things and __________ more information than we could before.”

I then asked: “Didn’t you have great difficulty with it?”

He hesitated and then began his __________ with a smiling face, “Yes, but I have faith in myself to __________ my colorful day, and modern technology gives me this medium and __________ to do it.”

His __________ attitude towards life made me believe that our fate (命运) offers, not the cup of despair, __________ the cup of opportunity. I returned to my lessons, and this time with a smile on my face and with __________ of a colorful future.

The Internet, which opened to me to experience __________ lives and cultures, has an attractive power you couldn’t find in another wise non-virtual world.

1.

A．stage

B．farm

C．street

D．Internet

2.

A．stands out

B．turns out

C．comes out

D．looks out

3.

A．argued

B．told

C．chatted

D．interviewed

4.

A．hearing

B．eyesight

C．courage

D．confidence

5.

A．speaking

B．saying

C．typing

D．spelling

6.

A．write

B．follow

C．read

D．copy

7.

A．friendship

B．marriage

C．hardships

D．happiness

8.

A．as soon as

B．as long as

C．as hard as

D．as well as

9.

A．helped

B．produced

C．delivered

D．analyzed

10.

A．try

B．come

C．attempt

D．manage

11.

A．imagined

B．suggested

C．planned

D．designed

12.

A．However

B．Wherever

C．Whatever

D．Whichever

13.

A．send

B．lose

C．obtain

D．change

14.

A．webpage

B．speech

C．words

D．complaints

15.

A．create

B．discover

C．recognize

D．organize

16.

A．moment

B．case

C．opportunity

D．occasion

17.

A．hopeless

B．disappointed

C．excited

D．optimistic

18.

A．but

B．and

C．so

D．then

19.

A．eagerness

B．expectations

C．richness

D．nervousness

20.

A．strange

B．difficult

C．various

D．dangerous

3 . It’s two o’ clock in the afternoon. Sophie Hanson is running a marathon. She’s wearing T-shirt that ____“Go the Extra Mile”, but she feels ____. She can hear her schoolmates ____and she knows she has to finish. She grabs a bottle of water,takes a long drink and ____. By the time she ____, she will have raised £200.

Halfway around the world, in Sierra Leone, Africa, Mohammed Koroma is ___, so he picks up a cup of water and takes a long drink. The water is from a new ____ in his village, so it isn’t ____. It’s cool and clear and Mohammed has not been ill for weeks.

Sophie and Mohammed are two teenagers with very ____ lives, but magically they are ____ by charity. Sophie is ____ a huge national event that raises money for people in the UK and abroad — a sponsored ____ for Sport Relief. Mohammed’s village has a new well that was ____ with money from the same event. Every year, Sport Relief and its sister charity, Comic Relief, raise money for good ____. By the end of this year, people will have completed more than 350 events and will have ____ over £50 million. That’s enough money to ____ the lives of thousands of people.

Teenagers play a big role in this culture of ____ . Although they may not have much money to give, they often ____ in other ways. They ____ their free time and volunteer, making a ____ to the world.

1.

A．means

B．says

C．lists

D．replies

2.

A．tired

B．ashamed

C．disappointed

D．abandoned

3.

A．complaining

B．chatting

C．laughing

D．cheering

4.

A．hangs out

B．carries on

C．breaks down

D．shows up

5.

A．fails

B．leaves

C．finishes

D．changes

6.

A．sick

B．lonely

C．hungry

D．thirsty

7.

A．pipe

B．well

C．pool

D．channel

8.

A．stored

B．pumped

C．polluted

D．absorbed

9.

A．distinct

B．comfortable

C．simple

D．busy

10.

A．rescued

B．welcomed

C．trained

D．connected

11.

A．preparing for

B．going over

C．taking part in

D．taking charge of

12.

A．run

B．walk

C．ride

D．climb

13.

A．located

B．dug

C．buried

D．found

14.

A．examples

B．results

C．causes

D．plans

15.

A．raised

B．invested

C．deposited

D．borrowed

16.

A．control

B．threaten

C．devote

D．transform

17.

A．winning

B．giving

C．fighting

D．learning

18.

A．demand

B．volunteer

C．help

D．relax

19.

A．sacrifice

B．delay

C．waste

D．enjoy

20.

A．statement

B．correction

C．comparison

D．difference

4 . The brain function of very late risers and “morning larks(早睡早起的人)” during the hours of the working day is different, according to a study.

Researchers scanned the brains of night owls(夜猫子)with a bedtime of 02: 30 and awake time of 10: 15, along with early risers. The tests performed between 08 : 00 and 20 : 00 found night owls had less connectivity in brain areas linked to keeping consciousness. They were more likely to be scatterbrained and they also had slower reactions and increased sleepiness.

Scientists took 38 people who were either night owls or morning larks (people who went to bed just before 23 : 00 and woke at 06 : 30) and studied their brain function at rest. The volunteers then carried out a series of tasks at various times, from 08 : 00 to 20 : 00, and were asked to report on their levels of sleepiness.

Morning larks were least sleepy and had their fastest reaction time in the early morning tests. They were also found to perform significantly better at this time than night owls. In contrast, night owls were least sleepy and had their fastest reaction time at 20 : 00, although they did not do significantly better than the larks at this time.

The brain connectivity in the areas that predicted better performance and lower sleepiness was significantly higher in larks at all time points, suggesting connectivity in late risers is impaired(减弱的) throughout the whole working day, researchers said.

The lead researcher, Dr Elise Facer-Childs, of the University of Birmingham’s Centre for Human Brain Health, said the findings “could be partly driven by the fact that night owls tend to compromise throughout their lives.” He added, “Night owls during school have to get up earlier, then they go into work and they have to get up earlier, so they’re constantly in conflict.”

Therefore, Dr Facer Childs called for more researches to understand the effects of night owls performing on a work or school schedule to which they are not naturally suited.

1. Which of the following can replace the underlined word “scatterbrained” in Paragraph 2?

A．Unfocused.

B．Satisfied.

C．Recognized.

D．Discovered.

2. What conclusion did the researchers draw from the tests?

A．Morning larks were more tired in the morning.

B．Night owls were more active in the morning.

C．Morning larks perform better all day.

D．Night owls perform better all day.

3. According to Dr Facer-Childs, what should later research concerning night owls focus on?

A．The workings of their brain.

B．The effects of their compromises.

C．Whether they can turn into morning larks.

D．How to help them adapt to the normal schedule.

4. What is the purpose of the text?

A．To solve a problem.

B．To give practical advice.

C．To tell an interesting story.

D．To present a research result.

5 . Using your phone to diagnose (诊断)disease or track your medical condition is the goal for remote health monitoring. So far it’s been impractical to combine the two in a single device. But the University of Cincinnati (UC) engineers have come up with the next best thing.

UC professor Chong Ahn designed a tiny portable lab device that plugs into a phone, connecting it automatically to a doctor’s office through a custom app. With a single drop of blood or saliva on a custom plastic lab chip, the device smaller than a credit card can diagnose infectious diseases such as coronavirus, malaria, HIV, Lyme disease, or countless other health conditions like depression and anxiety.

Ahn’s research team developed the device by creating a novel lab chip that uses natural capillary (毛细血管) action, the tendency for a liquid to adhere to (依附) a surface, to draw a sample down two channels called a “microchannel capillary flow assay”. One channel mixes the sample with freezedried detection antibodies. The other contains a freezedried material to read the results when the split samples combine again on three sensors.

“The performance is comparable to lab tests. The cost is cheaper. And it’s simple to use,” Ahn said. “We wanted to make it simple so anyone could use it without training or support. ”

While the device has applications for diagnosing or monitoring viruses or other diseases, Ahn said he sees potential in the field of mental health. Mental health providers already use smartphones to track the wellness of patients through regular surveys. But psychosocial data can be subjective(主观的). By routinely testing the biomarkers associated with depression or anxiety, Ahn said he could help doctors connect how patients feel with actual changes in their biochemistry. This could improve treatment for countless patients.

Ahn is pursuing a patent to commercialize his device. The biggest barrier could be making people feel confident and comfortable enough to use the unfamiliar device at home. “My dream for the rest of my career is to improve public and mental bealth by providing a new mobile health tool,” he said.

1. What can we infer about Ahn’s device?

A．It is really user-friendly.	B．It has been widely used by doctors.
C．It relies heavily on blood tests.	D．It is designed to diagnose common illnesses.

2. What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?

A．Why Ahn’s device uses different channels.	B．What makes Ahn’s device accurate.
C．What natural capillary action means.	D．How Ahn’s device functions.

3. How can Ahn’s device benefit patients with mental illness?

A．It connects them with doctors by smartphones for timely diagnosis.

B．It monitors their psychological status through regular surveys.

C．It enables doctors to give them evidence-based treatment,

D．It tests viruses to predict other potential diseases.

4. What does Ahn expect of his device?

A．It’ll make a big profit for him.	B．It’ll be fully accepted by people.
C．It’ll help diagnose infectious illnesses.	D．It’ll cut the cost of improving public health.

6 . I had been standing there for five minutes, trying to get across a busy traffic circle in the middle of Istanbul, Turkey. A police officer was gesturing and shouting at me: Olmaz! Olmaz! I thought he was saying Go! I started across the street. Suddenly there was a loud noise as several cars hit their brakes (刹车). One of them almost hit me. The officer had actually been saying, Don’t. I returned to my hotel and didn’t go out again until the next morning.

During my first few months in Turkey, I dealt with the difficult task of learning Turkish. Knowing a little bit of the language kept me from getting in trouble more than once. One day when I got sick, I had to get some medicine from the drug store but, I didn’t understand the instructions at first, and almost ended up taking too much. Having a Turkish friend explain it to me really helped.

After about a year, I was able to speak and understand quite a bit of Turkish and I discovered that I could use this skill to save money. When I went to the Covered Bazaar, I listened to the salesmen bargaining with tourists in English. There appeared to be a drawback to bargaining in English. The prices didn’t go down very much. However, when I started bargaining in Turkish, the process became much warmer and friendlier and the prices really dropped!

Probably the most important benefit of learning Turkish was that it enabled me to develop a deeper understanding of the Turkish people and their culture. Once someone saw I was trying to learn the language, they immediately opened up to me. I would get various insights (见解) into ways in which our attitudes toward life differed and ways in which they were the same.

My own personal safety was the main reason I decided to learn Turkish. However, as time passed, I also discovered other benefits. If I hadn’t decided to learn this second language, my time in Turkey would have been much less interesting and rewarding. What I learned has changed me in some very fundamental ways.

1. What happened to the author when he misunderstood the police officer?

A．He was nearly knocked down by a car.

B．He was taught how to cross the street.

C．He was caught by the police officer.

D．He was forced to stay at the hotel.

2. What advantage did the author get by knowing a little bit of Turkish?

A．Understanding the local culture.

B．Saving money when shopping.

C．Reading the instructions.

D．Keeping himself safe.

3. How did the salesmen react when the author began speaking Turkish?

A．They talked a lot with him.

B．They lowered the price a lot.

C．They asked him about business.

D．They refused to sell him anything.

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

A．Learning Turkish to get a reward

B．Understanding Turkish culture

C．Using language to open doors

D．Sharing a different experience

7 . Explore the Woonasquatucket

Below is a list of the “Explore the Woonasquatucket” summer recreational activities, which include paddles, bike rides, and hikes. The activities are sponsored by the Woonasquatucket River Watershed Council.

Explore Downtown Providence

Explore a beautiful stretch of hidden wilderness from the water and learn about the exciting. Plans for the development of the Promenade/Kinsley section of the Woonasquatucket River. We will start at the boat launch on South Water St.

Date: August 29
Time:5: 00 PM -7 : 00 PM
Cost: $ 10.50

Paddle Georgiaville Pond

Relax on this early evening paddle on Georgiaville Pond in Smithfield. We’ Il launch from the Smith - Appleby House and make our way to the town beach, where participants are invited to take a short hike to the Georgiaville Pond dam.

Date: September 1
Time:5 : 00 PM-7 : 00 PM
Cost: $ 15.50

A Promenade on the Promenade

Join us on a biking tour of the historic Promenade / Kinsley Avenue stretch of the Woonasquatucket River. On this bike tour, we’ll look to the past of this storied corridor(狭长地带).

Date: September 9
Time:5 : 30 PM -7 : 30 PM
Cost: $ 12.50

Hike Connors Farm Conservation Area

Located in the Town of Smithfield, Rhode Island, Connors Farm is a 2.9-mile loop trail (环形线路)that passes by small brooks (溪)and ponds and features a picnic area at the top of a lookout spot.

Date: September 18
Time: 5: 00 PM -7 : 00 PM
Cost: $ 11.50
1. How will people get around during the activity on August 29?

A．By bike.

B．By boat.

C．By bus.

D．On foot.

2. Which activity is history-themed?

A．Paddle Georgiaville Pond.	B．Explore Downtown Providence.
C．A Promenade on the Promenade.	D．Hike Connors Farm Conservation Area.

3. How much should a couple pay for the Connors Farm trip?

A．$11.50.

B．$ 23.

C．$25.

D．$31.

8 . Over the past century, science has made lots of advances in understanding the meanings of body language. Here are some of the most useful findings.

Open palm(手掌)

Have you noticed how someone swears to tell the truth in a court of law? He usually puts one hand on a religious book and raises the other hand into the air, palm facing whoever he is speaking to. He does this because an open palm has been associated with truth and honesty throughout our history.     1     . So we cannot be a threat to anyone.

Finger pointing

If someone is closing their palm and pointing with their index finger, then he is trying to display power, though it doesn’t always work out. Psychologists say, the pointed finger is used like a symbolic stick with which the speaker tries to beat his listeners.     2     .

Forced smile

Researchers say, smile is all about the lines around the eyes.     3     . If he is trying to force a smile, you won’t see the lines and the facial expression tends to be very awkward. Making a genuine smile-also known as a Duchenne smile-is nearly impossible to do on command. So look for a lack of lines around the eyes to detect a forced smile.

    4    

In the same way that real smiles shape the lines around the eyes, worry, shock or fear can cause people to raise their eyebrows in discomfort. So if someone praises your new hairstyle or clothes with his eyebrows raised, he or she may not be sincere.

Crossed arms

    5     While crossed arms typically indicate that someone is closed off, people are also more likely to cross their arms when it’s cold and when their chair doesn’t have an armrest. Be aware of the environment before making a decision or changing strategy based on these types of behaviors.

A．Lowered eyebrows

B．Raised eyebrows

C．When he is just pretending to smile, they don’t

D．We also use this gesture to show that our hands are empty

E．When someone is smiling joyfully, a lot of lines will appear

F．Therefore, it usually leads to negative feelings in the audience

G．It’s easy to detect body-language signs, but it’s important to be aware of the context

9 . We did a quick survey of New Year traditions around the world, and couldn’t help but notice that the traditions might reflect cultural varieties? but the meanings behind them are pretty universal.

Philippines

In Philippines? families hold traditional dinner parties called Media Noche to greet the New Year. Circle-shaped fruits are their favorites, such as grapes, oranges and melons, since they look like coins, you know. Filipinos actually try to choose 12 different kinds of fruit to put on the table—one for each month in the New Year.

Make sure you leave some food in your plate. It’s bad luck to start the New Year off as a hungry wolf.

Spain

Many Spaniards will eat 12 fresh grapes at midnight—one with each strike of the clock. Each grape represents a wish for happiness and good luck for every month in the coming year. This “12 grapes in 12 seconds“ custom came from a grape farmer in the Alicante region who wanted to promote his produce about a century ago. The tradition has spread to other countries too? with a few adjustments. In Portugal? they eat 12 dried grapes. In Peru? they eat a thirteenth grape.

Denmark

In Denmark_? they eat kransekage, a big horn-shaped cake, on New Year’s Eve. When they’re finished with the cake, it’s Danish custom to throw the used plates against the front doors of their friends and neighbors. It’s actually a sign of friendship.

Italy

Pork sausages are usually served on New Year’s Eve in Italy. Italians choose pork because they think pigs are fat and keep moving forward, while other animals, such as chickens or cows, move backward or stand still.

But whatever you eat into the New Year in Italy-pork, fish or chicken-make sure you stay at home. Italians throw old possessions out of the window after midnight as an out-with-the-old, make-room-for-the-new gesture.

1. How many kinds of fruit are usually served at Media Noche?

A．6.

B．8.

C．10.

D．12.

2. Who eat dried grapes at midnight to greet the New Year?

A．The Portuguese.

B．Spaniards.

C．Filipinos.

D．Italians.

3. What do the last two traditions have in common?

A．Eating special meat.

B．Throwing away old things.

C．Leaving food in plates.

D．Preferring coin-shaped fruits.

10 . The three years of high school can produce some of the most memorable moments of your life. To get the most out of your high school experience, it’s important to focus on your studies and spend time exploring your hobbies and friendships.     1    

Open yourself up to new experiences. High school is a great time to try new things.     2     For example, you can try out for a sports team, join a band, or even just sit with new people at lunch. That will help you discover new hobbies and make new friends.

Ask for help if you're struggling academically, socially, or emotionally.     3     If you’re worried about a bad grade, or are feeling a bit down, share it with them, and they will be willing to help you.

Get to know the members in your class.     4     Actually, making friends with a few of them will give you a great support network throughout the school year. If you don’t know them, introduce yourself and hold a conversation with them. If you do already know them, ask them some questions about their hobbies so that you can get to know them a little better.

    5     Your notes will help you with your homework and study for tests. Besides, it will also help you review what you learnt in class. You can create an outline of the main points of the lecture, and take notes directly on them.

A．Develop a good learning habit.

B．Write down what you learn skillfully.

C．They are the people you will see every day.

D．Don’t just stay in your comfort zone but get out.

E．The following suggestions are likely to help you.

F．Your parents, teachers and classmates are always there to help you.

G．Therefore, you should learn to keep the right balance between them.