1 . 听下面一段对话，回答以下小题。
1. What does the woman advise the man to do?

A．Go to the Electric Company Office.

B．Pay electric bill first.

C．Open a checking account.

2. How do most people pay the electric bill?

A．In cash.

B．By check.

C．By phone.

2 . —You rode a bike to work yesterday. Why didn’t you drive your car?
—Oh, it __________________ (repair) because of a flat tyre (爆胎). (所给词的适当形式填空)

3 . 根据课文内容填空

Could machines really develop human-like intelligence? And what would happen if they did? Would thinking machines work alongside humans or     1     the existence of humans? How would they be punished if they     2     crimes or even murdered humans? As we become more and more     3     on computers, some scientists are urging us to think about the dangers     4    by the advances in AI. Stephen Hawking, for example, warned, “The development of full artificial intelligence could     5    the end of the human race.

4 . 语法填空

Scientists have created plants that glow (发光) in the dark.     1     (hopeful), they will produce plants that can light up our lives. The scientists,     2     are from a university in the USA, hope their discovery could lead to plant lights     3    (replace)electric lights. Professor Michael Strano, lead author of the research, explained that his team wants to create sustainable (可持续的) light     4     (source) . He said, “The vision is to make a plant that will be used     5     a desk lamp-----a lamp that you don’t have to plug in (连接,通电). The light     6    (power) by the energy of the plant itself.”

The researchers     7     (get) the idea of lighting plants from fireflies. They examined the substance (物质) in fireflies that makes them glow. They put the substance into plants     8     (make) them glow. The scientists were able to make plants that glowed for nearly four hours. The research team tested the substance on     9     (leaf) of some vegetables. Professor Strano thinks plant lights will play     10     important part in our life. He said, “We think this is an idea whose time has come.”

5 . 听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1. How many languages are there in the world now?

A．Around 7,000.

B．Around 3,500.

C．Around 2,000.

2. What may happen by next century?

A．Children will stop learning any new languages.

B．Everyone will start speaking the same language.

C．About half of the world’s existing languages will disappear.

3. Why are people creating “Talking dictionaries” of dying languages?

A．To record what the languages really sound like.

B．To teach the languages to people from other cultures.

C．To help promote communication among people.

4. What does the speaker think of rare languages?

A．They are precious and worth protecting.

B．They are dying out because of technology.

C．They are not meant to be passed down to children.

6 . 听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1. Where is Lucy’s mother from?

A．China.

B．The US.

C．The UK.

2. What does Lucy want to do this summer?

A．Learn about Chinese culture.

B．Look after her grandmother.

C．Relax herself on her uncle’s farm.

3. When will Lucy go to Beijing?

A．In the summer.

B．In the winter.

C．In the fall.

4. Who does the man plan to go to New York with?

A．His friends.

B．His mother.

C．His grandmother.

7 . Just ________ a baby kangaroo must learn to protect itself when it leaves its mother’s pocket, I will have to learn to protect myself when I grow up. (用适当的词填空)

8 . Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming many aspects of modern life, one of which is the field of art. AI image generators have recently blown many people away. [1]Just enter keywords or pictures into the generator, and it will turn inputs into images within a few minutes. Though the tool is a technological breakthrough, some artists are not happy about it. They protested online when they discovered their copyrighted work was used to construct AI-generated art. Many said they felt cheated because they were not informed about it, nor did they receive any payment in return.

Despite the negative response from those whose works were used to assist the development of the AI technology, there is no specific law against AI-generated pieces of art. While copyright laws protect particular works of art made by individuals, artistic styles that AI copies cannot be legally protected in the same way. [2]This issue may pose a problem--if a company finds an image it wants to use, all it has to do is enter the picture into an AI art system to get an imitated one; in doing so, it will not be considered to be violating any law.

Though AI-generated art has sparked a heated debate, it obviously has numerous benefits. [3]One example of this is the ability to quickly create supernatural scenes that may be impossible for humans to produce. On the other hand, there are potential disadvantages to this technology. As seen from the artists’ reactions to discovering their work being used without their knowledge, there are ethical problems. Also, there is the danger of deepfakes, which are AI-created images or videos of people that look incredibly realistic.

For example, people could be depicted as doing something scandalous. [4]Clearly, AI-generated art is a rapidly developing field with many bright sides as well as potential problems. As it becomes more prevalent, numerous issues related to AI-generated art need to be figured out.

1. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A．Why many peopie admire art created by AI.

B．How artists are using technology to produce art.

C．Why AI-generated art has not become accepted yet.

D．How artists reacted to their artwork being used to train AI.

2. What does “in the same way” in paragraph 2 mean?

A．In the way laws offer protection to historically important creations.

B．In the way laws offer protection to specific works of art.

C．In the way laws allow fair use of copyrighted works.

D．In the way laws allow certain artwork to be adapted.

3. Which disadvantage of AI-generated art is mentioned in the passage?

A．This kind of new art breaks the law.

B．It will be easier for artists to create their work.

C．Human artists will not be motivated to make art.

D．Fake images created by AI are becoming harder to detect.

4. The four sentences after numbered [1] to [4] in the passage have to do with different aspects of AI image generators. Which one is most related to the issue the following statement discusses?

The AI image generator is like a washing machine of intellectual property. Put an image protected by copyright into it, and it will give you “clean” stuff you can use freely.

A．[1]

B．[2]

C．[3]

D．[4]

9 . 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。

A stunning performance by Shaolin warrior monks amazed hundreds of audiences in Bowers Museum in U.S. Southern California on Sunday. The event offered a unique opportunity for people to     1     (active) engage with Shaolin culture.

Shaolin Kung Fu is one of China’s most     2     (treasure) cultural heritage items, with a history of over 1,500 years. “Whether it’s     3     (learn) from Kung Fu masters, exploring Zen arts (禅宗艺术),     4     enjoying interactive Shaolin activities, these experiences will help audiences experience the Chinese culture and better understand Chinese traditions,” Anne Shih, chairwoman of Bowers Museum, told Xinhua.

The Shaolin Cultural Day also     5     (feature) a series of demonstrations on Zen arts, allowing visitors to immerse (沉浸于)     6     (they) in the world of Zen Buddhism.

Larry Lee was a 72-year-old man     7     had been practicing Kung Fu for over 50 years. Lee said, “The traditional Chinese martial arts has deep wisdom in it. It relates to a way of life that goes much     8     (deep) than just fighting.” Besides Kung Fu, he was also interested in Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and other aspects of the Chinese culture.

The Shaolin Cultural Day served     9     a fitting finale to the 2023 Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which offered a platform to honor and appreciate the     10     (contribute) of the AAPI community.

10 . Cell phones, tablets, laptops, smart-watches: the modern world is packed with a lot of devices that bring us connectivity, entertainment and information. Our hunger for the latest models leads to the “throwaway” culture, which means consumers often throw away old devices as soon as new ones come to the market, a habit that can have a significant effect on waste streams and the environment.

With concerns about e-waste growing, some companies are now turning to chemistry to develop solutions to recycle items like old cell phones, extracting value at the same time. One such example is the work being carried out by Mint Innovation, a clean tech firm based in Auckland, New Zealand. “We’ve developed a biological process for recovering valuable metals from electronic waste,” said Ollie Crush, the company’s chief scientific officer.

Crush explained that Mint Innovation’s system included grinding(磨碎)waste up into a powder. “The reason why we must do this is that we need to make sure that we’re exposing all the metal contained within to a chemical filtering(过滤)process,” he added.

When it comes to recovering a valuable material like gold, the technique used by Mint Innovation has a number of steps. According to a video, chemicals dissolve (溶解) the powdered waste into a solution, with any materials that haven’t dissolved filtered out. Microbes are then added to the mix. Gold atoms catch on to them in a process called “selective biosorption”. Next, the microbes coated gold are filtered, producing a paste which is then turned into a solid, “recycled” gold.

“Nearly 50% of the value of e-waste comes from the gold,” Cameron Weber, a senior lecturer at Chemical Sciences, said. “In fact, there’s actually more gold in e-waste as a concentration than there is in gold that’s been mined, which shows you the value of being able to take your e-waste and recycle and reuse some of the elements that are found in it,” he added.

Looking ahead, Crush, explained the process could potentially have a number of interesting applications. “The future for Mint Innovation is to prove that our technology works with a number of different materials,” he said. “So, we’ll just keep trying to see where our microbial process makes more sense.”

1. What is Mint Innovation trying to do?

A．To develop eco-friendly products.	B．To change the “throwaway culture”.
C．To collect harmful things in e-waste.	D．To get valuable things from e-waste.

2. What is an important step in Mint Innovation’s system?

A．Mixing e-waste with gold.	B．Reusing elements of e-waste.
C．Turning e-waste into tiny pieces.	D．Exposing e-waste to special chemicals.

3. What does Cameron Weber mainly want to express in the last but one paragraph?

A．The ways of dealing with e-waste.	B．The necessity of reducing e-waste.
C．The difficulty of recycling e-waste.	D．The meaning of recycling e-waste.

4. What is Crush’s attitude towards the company’s technology?

A．Concerned.

B．Positive.

C．Doubtful.

D．Objective.